Books of Horror Indie Author Brawl! Look, I didn‘t finish it. Not because it‘s bad—actually, it‘s good. REALLY good. The premise of the story, necrophilia with consent being legalized, is scarily realistic. But it was the necrophilia itself I couldn‘t handle. Plus, I had some feelings about the narrator, and looking up the ending I was right. And I‘m not in a place to read that right now. But for everyone into extreme horror with…

I did not enjoy this. Calaena was incredibly annoying; in between he thinking how she could kill everyone and thinking how beautiful she was in her dresses, she pouted and flirted acted like a child. Which I guess she is, because she‘s only 18. The scene where she ate the candy was just awful. The romance between potential suitors was almost an afterthought, stuck in as random paragraphs during training or fights. I‘ll take ACOTAR instead.

I almost stopped reading it, because it seemed like maybe too much for me. An autistic non-verbal child being abused? Not while I‘m on vacation. But I‘m glad I stick with, because it was much more that. The story was sad, hopeful, and at times creepy. While it could use a touch of editing, it was a beautiful horror story.

Loved it! Everything Junji Ito is amazing.

I really liked the book until the end. Until then, the story was great, the mystery was interesting, and there were spooky scenes. But then, something at the end didn‘t get resolved with Leah. And I felt like we were missing a chapter. We kinda jumped from what I thought was going to be the big end action scene to several months later, where we got a brief rundown of what happened. So that was kinda disappointing...

Y‘all…whew. This built me up, ripped me apart, then stole my heart, then stomped on it, then I loved again and swooned. Just aaaaalllll the feelings and emotions. Would recommend.

Books of Horror Indie Author Brawl! This was fun; I enjoyed it more than Jones 1963. It‘s a quick read with some fun gore.

Welp, it was my favorite book of June. #sorrynotsorry

What an awesome revenge story. The kills and gore are top notch, and the satisfaction was great. Loved it.

Very beautifully written, and very dark. The teen angst/love got a little repetitive and annoying, but overall enjoyed it a lot.

I mean…what? Good grief but that was a lot. 1970s horror was WILD. The last fight drove me crazy, because Holman is an idiot.

Indie Author Brawl! It was refreshing to read an indie book with so few mistakes. I found one. ONE. That‘s better than many big house publishers.

Anyhooters, interesting story. I enjoyed the different big incidents, but Malcolm‘s attacks got a little repetitive. Overall, I enjoyed it, though not sure how I feel about the ending.

More fascinating stories from the author of Murder, Madness and Mayhem! All the stories in this new book are interesting, with many being creepy also. I LOVE the way Mike tells a story; he‘s an excellent writer and great storyteller.

Indie Author Brawl! This was a fun story. I would‘ve liked to have the MC actually have seen spirits, rather than just be told he could see them. Otherwise, this story was good, creepy, and a fun time.

Whew. I could not put this down. Indeed, I gave a vulgar gesture to everything in my life and just read this. The raw power radiating off the book made my toes curl. Loved it!

Favorite read of May!

I haven‘t read something by Ito that I haven‘t liked, and these are no different. Can‘t wait for the 2nd one!

I didn‘t realize until my daughter saw my book that I started watching the anime of this. I don‘t ever remember things. But this was a fun read. Cute art, but something creepy is going on!

Interesting story, with lots of tie-ins to the other books. It felt like there was a huge build up to the game, then the game, then an incredibly rushed ending. But I enjoyed it.

While it dragged just a bit in the middle, this was super fun. The end did escalate ridiculously, but I was here for it. Interesting premise, interesting execution. (Aren‘t J and K from Men in Black??)

I love it. Couldn‘t put it down, better than the first.

Here‘s the thing. “Indeed” must be SJM‘s favorite word. Indeed, it was used so often that it became distracting. As were the animal sounds that the characters constantly made (growling, barking, hissing, etc). Indeed, are they more animal than not? Although I guess it‘s a good description of the noises we make when emotional…

Carnivore by Justin Boote. Human remains are being found around the town; some are what appears to be the work of a serial killer, others are…eaten? Are the wild animals attacking humans?

Books of Horror Indie Author Brawl! This was fun, but it had some grammar issues and the story was a bit choppy. The gore was great though.

The book made me very thirsty. I think I was drinking something the entire time. The story was interesting, though I didn‘t like any of the characters. I didn‘t care enough about them to be sad if they died, but I enjoyed the book. Doesn‘t seem that far-fetched.

Well, this book gave me all the feels. Tansi is a sex worker, and she meets a female client who claims to be a serial killer. When the men who control and abuse Tansi and the other women start to turn up dead, Tansi has to navigate the danger among her friends, abusers, love interest, and a dangerous woman intent on killing men. It‘s a very satisfying revenge story, although incredibly sad.

I‘m late to the party, but decided to try it. I‘ve heard mixed reviews, but I love romantasy, so here I am. And I enjoyed it! It was a little all over the place, but it was fun. Definitely needs more 🌶️.

I really enjoyed this, though it was so sad. The despair and hopelessness are the true horror. And I get it‘s a horror version of the little mermaid, but some of it was so representative of that that it took me out (Ursula, Ariel, the dinglehopper I mean fork, etc). But the story itself is great.

Someone else described this as feeling like AI was fed scripts of Golden Girls and told to write a cozy mystery, and this is what came out. I 100% agree. It was just…not for me. I love the GG, but I couldn‘t do this one. I made it 100 pages, and was so tired of St Olaf wedding traditions. 😔

My favorite book of April! I need the sequel!

Books of Horror Indie Author Brawl 2025! I‘ve loved everything I‘ve ever read from Ben Farthing, and this was no different. What a fun ride! It had some genuinely creepy moments, and some great body horror.

I just reread this book for a bookclub; the first time was in 2021. In these ensuing 4 years, I remembered nothing. None of the plot, not the ending, nothing. Now I don‘t normally remember books that well since I read so many, but generally when I reread something I‘ll start to go “oh yeah…that‘s familiar…”. Not with this. But hey, I enjoyed it, so maybe in another 4 years I‘ll enjoy for the first time again!

This had me until the epilogue. If it hd ended at the end of the last chapter, I‘d have been a lot happier.

Besides the epilogue, this was fun. I enjoyed the gore, and I laughed out loud a couple times. And I REALLY want to know what happened at Applebees.

I was not expecting this to be as good as it was. It‘s a bit of a slow start I guess, but when it gets going, it REALLY gets going. I got so frustrated with the main characters, which I think we‘re supposed to. The slow and insidious horror…so good. And 50 years later, it still seems timely. “Whatever I‘ve done, you‘ve let me do.” (Shivers)

Red Inside, by Bridgett Nelson. I‘d say 3 1/2 stars. I was here for the beginning, when the spiders were first appearing. It quickly became…a lot. Like, the characters would be together and then someone new would say something, and I‘d think “wait where did they come from??” That happened I think twice. And I know they needed to explore the whole hospital for the book, but immediately jumping to “the children‘s cancer ward!” was flimsy…cont…

Mall horror is fun! I do wish there was more of it. This story was fun, and art was great, and I loved all the creatures.

Mall horror is fun! I do wish there was more of it. This story was fun, and art was great, and I loved all the creatures.

I absolutely adored this book. The world-building was so much fun! All the characters had so much personality; I loved the Five. I‘m in love with Aspeth and Hawk‘s love, I‘m in love with the beautiful book itself (the cover and the edges are gorgeous!), and even Squeaker has a bit of my heart. All the stars and hearts and spicy pepper emojis.

This was fun! It was like a call-back to the stories I‘d read my kids about cute animals and their lives in a small town. Except here we have serial killers. And Samantha is pissed that someone is murdering people in her hometown, which she never does; she goes to the big city for that. What will she do??

I loved this! Is this the next ACOTAR/Fourth Wing?? I hope so! I loved the world building, this world of fae. The magic, the intrigue, coming war…I need the next book like NOW.

I‘m so glad I went to Kansas City‘s comicon and found the booth for Lexi Night. Read this!!

While it wasn‘t the most exciting month for reading, this was definitely my favorite.

Since a new book is coming out, I figured I needed to catch up and read this one. I did see the movie, so I knew the overall story, but I still enjoyed the book. Could‘ve been shorted; it dragged on in several places. It‘s a little clunky, but was interesting to see all the tie-ins to the original trilogy.

This was cute. Though my least favorite of the trilogy, the ending to the wives‘ story was very satisfying. Overall a delightful journey.

This was a fun, wild ride! It had some creepy moments, some laugh-out-loud moments, and a lot of statements about society. And I want to say that I am one of those people that watch the Oscar nominated shorts. I seek them out, and go to theater to see them. Also, I have this thing with the word “vast.” I love it, and take note of it in every book I read. Cont in comments…

This was surprisingly poignant. While not as creepy as circus tent or puppets, I found the exploration of being an older woman intriguing. As my kids are getting older (my youngest is 13), I‘m staring down that shift in life, from care-giver to empty-nester to needing to be cared for. And that change in life, that trying to accept a new life, is so scary.

This was an interesting read. Like the author, I love basketball. I played it as a kid, though in high school I focused on soccer. I grew up going to University of Memphis basketball games (Memphis State at the time!); my parents have stories of me being a baby and being passed up and down the row with other season ticket holders. March madness is my favorite time of year.
Cont…

This was good, but not reeeaaaallllyyyy good. I got very frustrated with Cass. She was so over emotional that I got to the point I was rolling my eyes. Like she flat out panicked every time she heard any sound. It got old. Still, it was fun, and while the ending was pretty predictable, it was satisfying.

Definitely my favorite book of February!

I loved this book! To use my teenage daughter‘s favorite word, it was whimsical. The writing is beautiful; the magic seems to come off the page. The characters are so great and alive, though I admit my favorite is the apple tree. I loved every minute of the story.

Absolutely fantastic book. I had all the feels while reading it. Just…heartache and hope and terror and light and darkness and sorrow.

This was a quick read. I enjoyed the drawings, and did NOT see the ending coming. I had a whole other idea of what was going on. Glad to be wrong—this was a fun ride!

Domestic abuse books are hard to read; they sometimes bring back bad memories. This one was harder than normal, so I looked up the end—I had to know what happened before I could proceed. Still, the book was a very quick read and very tense.