bookswithlydscl's Reviews (639)

4.5* 

A crew are brought in to rid the old Danvers State Hospital of asbestos and get far more than they bargained for!

Based on the 2001 movie of the same name, Session 9 is a quick, creepy read and one that is ideal for Spooky October. The building itself is as much of a character as Gordon and crew and is perfectly captured in all its eerie, dilapidated glory in the author's writing.

The book also captures so many tropes that work well for me in horror - The setting of an abandoned asylum with a cast of characters that have a lot of genuine tension between them that helps create a truly creepy and foreboding atmosphere.

Overall the pace of the book was quick but nothing in comparison to the final quarter with the quick changes between character profiles building to an awful and haunting crescendo.

I've never seen the movie this book is based on but based on the storyline here it's something I would watch in a heartbeat based on this book.

A highly effective psychological horror/thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for a digital review copy of "Session 9" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Some repetition it felt like (structures of each book definitely very similar) but felt like this was the strongest installment so far!

Kicked October off with a suitably spooky read. I'd seen a lot about The Haunting of Velkwood on BookTube and loved the premise and the overall book lived up to it for me. 

Can't beat kicking off a month with a 4.5* read and one that was absorbing, creepy, chilling, sad and hopeful.

A modern, gothic, suburban ghost story with a lovely romance sitting alongside it.

Recommend the audiobook, the narrator was excellent!

not as strong as the last one, the case wasn't as absorbing for me but still really solid and enjoyed.

My favourite Non Fiction of the year to date. I loved the mix of ancient myth and modern pop culture within each folklore area. It's so so well researched and feels a lot richer and fuller with more depth than a lot of books I've read of this topic and style. It's thoughtful and insightful with important messaging to take on board. Easy to dip in and out of and was a thoroughly fun and engaging read with plenty of facts and titbits to share with those around you. Loved it!

3.94 average - overall a strong collection of crime/mystery/thriller short stories. 

5 star re-read. This time audiobook and I definitely think I prefer reading it as a physical book. Still amazing and this time I really appreciated how many elements of the story have been used in the other films in the JP/JW franchise!

10 tales of horror set on Halloween or Halloween adjacent holidays, an absolutely winning pitch for me.

This is a fantastic horror short story collection that feels aimed at the older YA crowd and which read like Point Horror or RL Stine for a new generation. It feels modern and fresh even whilst utilising classic horror tropes and monsters. A good number of the stories were genuinely scary, gory and incredibly tense. I loved it as a collection and loved dipping in and out of the stories over a few days. From a favourites perspective I especially enjoyed Easy Pickings, Keeping Up Appearances and Rain, and whilst a few were weaker than others there wasn't a dud story in the collection.

My individual story ratings and notes as I read along:
- The Russian Dollhouse- 4* 
- Dia De Los Muertos - 4.25* - this one has grown on me the more distance I get from it 
- Easy Pickings - 4.5* - a true horror story 
- Keeping up appearances - 4.5* - short, sharp, shocking. The stories in this collection keep getting better and more horrific as we go. 
- A Not Not-So-Scary Halloween - 4* - Not the scariest or most horrifying but a quick one with a good twist at the end - probably bumping up a .5* because it's set in Orlando and references the theme park - Halloween events which I love (title is partially in reference to Disney). 
- Rain - 4.25* - honestly that was so tense! Things that go bump in the night dialled to 11

- Black - 3.5* - still good but didn't quite click as well as some of the others 
- Ride like the devil - 3.5* 
- Last Halloween - 3.75* 

Even though this collection was teenage character focused for the most part I wouldn't let that deter you. These stories have genuine creep and ick factor and will be an ideal spooky season read for all horror fans!

 Thank you to NetGalley and Corpus Press for a digital review copy of "Mischief Night Massacre" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review. 

This series is getting better and better and Ruth has really grown on me. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.

A little slow moving at times but overall a fantastic after arrival, dystopian Alien scifi story. This is how modern scifi telling classic science fiction style stories should be written. It's about family and society, the power struggle following the power grab by an elite few and the corruption of those left in charge. It's not big and outlandish, even the alien scenes feel pretty subtle and designed to add to the story rather than give a wow factor. Very glad I picked this up on kindle unlimited and will check out some of the author's other work.