Take a photo of a barcode or cover
1.17k reviews by:
catsluvcoffee
Horror comedy is one of my favorite genres so any story named Psycho Hose Beast from Outer Space has to be a hidden gem, right? The name itself doesn't necessarily scream horror but more of a Up All Night B-movie fest or even a cheesy sci-fi being MST3K'd. And let's take a moment to talk about that cover, shall we? The man in the lake might be taking a late evening dunk on his way home from too many at the pub. I'm sure he's totally fine! Maybe hate-himself-tomorrow drunk but certainly not dead. Even the font with its letters all willy-nilly surely lends credence to this being more of a comedy of errors. Something so absurd as a psycho hose beast couldn't be horror. Well, yes but...not quite.
Pre-teens Niall and best friend Pius are ready to spend another uneventful summer week together doing all the things that kids do. The last week of the summer they are joined by cousin Harper, whom Niall has a big crush on. Of course, this is a never-ending font of inventive teasing from Pius. The weird weather coming in means that Harper's dad, a local Fisheries and Wildlife Officer, needs to be out in it, Harper gets to spend time with the boys. Only this is the summer a big, bad supernatural entity has finally cast aside its imprisonment from the fathomless depths of the sea.
These pre-teens are something of a delight. They are well-written with all the melodrama and internal strife that pre-teens have. They actually remind me a lot of the Losers Club from Stephen King's IT. Nerdy, quirky, a little bit out in left field but quick to believe in something otherworldly that the adults would struggle to understand. Even while under threat, they are resilient and continue to hurl quips, calling each other out in a way that only kids can do. All the side characters are great as well from weird kid Skidmark to the neighborhood bully, Keith. Typically, in horror the adults are there but barely involved. Not so here. Parents are not only present, but involved, which is refreshing to see.
To make things even better, this is a fun, nostalgic trip into the 90s. Everything from music to video games, popular movies, and cartoon strip characters breathes life into this setting. Even the names that the friends call each other are reminiscent of the popular slang of the era. If your own childhood was lived somewhere in the 90s, you'll find memories of your own quickly recalled.
While there were some of the typical horror tropes (abandoned military base, kids save the world, ancient evil), there's nothing repetitive about the execution of the story. The author has a great storytelling voice throughout. The relationship between the kids and the well-timed humor made this a quick, entertaining read. This is one book that gets you interested and invested in the characters long before anything in the plot goes sideways and oh, boy does it!
Website | Twitter | Pinterest
Pre-teens Niall and best friend Pius are ready to spend another uneventful summer week together doing all the things that kids do. The last week of the summer they are joined by cousin Harper, whom Niall has a big crush on. Of course, this is a never-ending font of inventive teasing from Pius. The weird weather coming in means that Harper's dad, a local Fisheries and Wildlife Officer, needs to be out in it, Harper gets to spend time with the boys. Only this is the summer a big, bad supernatural entity has finally cast aside its imprisonment from the fathomless depths of the sea.
These pre-teens are something of a delight. They are well-written with all the melodrama and internal strife that pre-teens have. They actually remind me a lot of the Losers Club from Stephen King's IT. Nerdy, quirky, a little bit out in left field but quick to believe in something otherworldly that the adults would struggle to understand. Even while under threat, they are resilient and continue to hurl quips, calling each other out in a way that only kids can do. All the side characters are great as well from weird kid Skidmark to the neighborhood bully, Keith. Typically, in horror the adults are there but barely involved. Not so here. Parents are not only present, but involved, which is refreshing to see.
To make things even better, this is a fun, nostalgic trip into the 90s. Everything from music to video games, popular movies, and cartoon strip characters breathes life into this setting. Even the names that the friends call each other are reminiscent of the popular slang of the era. If your own childhood was lived somewhere in the 90s, you'll find memories of your own quickly recalled.
While there were some of the typical horror tropes (abandoned military base, kids save the world, ancient evil), there's nothing repetitive about the execution of the story. The author has a great storytelling voice throughout. The relationship between the kids and the well-timed humor made this a quick, entertaining read. This is one book that gets you interested and invested in the characters long before anything in the plot goes sideways and oh, boy does it!
Website | Twitter | Pinterest
Marcy has a very interesting curse. Every time she falls for someone, she becomes more of what they want, losing herself. Sure, we've all done that at some point in our early dating lives but Marcy REALLY does. So much so that she loses and gains tattoos, hair color, and styles, clothing styles!! It's not even her own doing either. She's completely at the mercy of the curse to tell her who she'll be. The worst part is no one else can remember any changes and if she tries to tell anyone about the curse, it mixes her words. (She ends up talking a lot about purses.) When she lays eyes on the hunky new firefighter, she's convinced that the curse has its hooks into her and is just waiting for the changes to start happening...but oddly enough, she doesn't see anything changing. She does her best to avoid him but in the crazy paranormal town of Everlasting, that's easier said than done.
Nicholas has just arrived in Everlasting and he has absolutely no clue that it's just not a normal town. However, he definitely ended up where he was supposed to because Nicholas is hiding his own paranormal ability—he sees dead people! He has spent his life not realizing that there are people out there like him and with abilities of their own. He can't help but feel like the townspeople are hiding something. To add to that, someone in town is starting fires, but who?
Man, I just love this series. Everlasting is such a fun place and every book, while they don't need to be read in order, build upon one another. We get to visit again with the eccentric Aunt Polly, the resident witch, and her lobster pet, Herman. Polly's magic doesn't exactly work out the way it's planned. It comes with some very usual side effects that add to the hilarity. The mystery here is who is starting all the fires and sending Marcy threatening pictures. Even more so, who set the curse on Marcy to begin with? This series is just so entertaining. I love the quirky characters and their paranormal weirdness, which is completely normal to them! Curses and Cupcakes delivers!
Nicholas has just arrived in Everlasting and he has absolutely no clue that it's just not a normal town. However, he definitely ended up where he was supposed to because Nicholas is hiding his own paranormal ability—he sees dead people! He has spent his life not realizing that there are people out there like him and with abilities of their own. He can't help but feel like the townspeople are hiding something. To add to that, someone in town is starting fires, but who?
Man, I just love this series. Everlasting is such a fun place and every book, while they don't need to be read in order, build upon one another. We get to visit again with the eccentric Aunt Polly, the resident witch, and her lobster pet, Herman. Polly's magic doesn't exactly work out the way it's planned. It comes with some very usual side effects that add to the hilarity. The mystery here is who is starting all the fires and sending Marcy threatening pictures. Even more so, who set the curse on Marcy to begin with? This series is just so entertaining. I love the quirky characters and their paranormal weirdness, which is completely normal to them! Curses and Cupcakes delivers!
Historical fiction isn't one that I gravitate to often, and although I have been known to enjoy one of two along the way, I couldn't resist one that might have vampires. Drawing lots of similarities to the newly released Dracula novel by Bram Stoker made it that much more engaging. This one has been sitting in my TBR for a while and I regret not picking it up sooner.
When Lucy Pembroke is found dead with puncture marks on her neck and her sister, Tillie is not going to sit back and let the police solve her death. Tillie is one heck of amateur detective in a time where it is not couth to be anything other than a woman in preparation to be a perfect wife. She's spunky and hard not to root for as she scoffs societal expectations, even if it is while no one is watching. While there were quite a few moments where you are practically yelling at Tillie, she's a smart cookie with dreams and aspirations that you want to see her achieve.
One of those (frequent) moments that you want to reach into the page and shake some sense into Tillie was with the titular opium. The addiction that Tillie experiences is difficult to watch. Laudanum in case you didn't know was a tincture of opium. Made from a species of poppy, it has been recorded throughout history back to ancient Sumatra and Egypt as a pain reliever and became popular in the 1800s as a cure for everything from headaches to cough to colic! However, while not recognized in Tillie's time, we now know that it and its derivatives are extremely addictive. Given honestly for a broken bone, Tillie found that she liked the feeling of it and needed more and more to obtain that feeling. It's honestly amazing that she managed as much free-thinking as she did while constantly high on it.
There's a large enough cast with quite a few less-desirables that the mystery of the killer wasn't an easy one to figure out. There are also plenty of characters to adore along the way like the paper selling kids that Ian is familiar with, and Ian himself. While there's a smidge of romance in the book, it's definitely not at the forefront at all, which is honestly my preference. Instead, it's watching Tillie come into her own that makes this historical thriller/mystery what it is.
Website | Twitter | Pinterest
When Lucy Pembroke is found dead with puncture marks on her neck and her sister, Tillie is not going to sit back and let the police solve her death. Tillie is one heck of amateur detective in a time where it is not couth to be anything other than a woman in preparation to be a perfect wife. She's spunky and hard not to root for as she scoffs societal expectations, even if it is while no one is watching. While there were quite a few moments where you are practically yelling at Tillie, she's a smart cookie with dreams and aspirations that you want to see her achieve.
One of those (frequent) moments that you want to reach into the page and shake some sense into Tillie was with the titular opium. The addiction that Tillie experiences is difficult to watch. Laudanum in case you didn't know was a tincture of opium. Made from a species of poppy, it has been recorded throughout history back to ancient Sumatra and Egypt as a pain reliever and became popular in the 1800s as a cure for everything from headaches to cough to colic! However, while not recognized in Tillie's time, we now know that it and its derivatives are extremely addictive. Given honestly for a broken bone, Tillie found that she liked the feeling of it and needed more and more to obtain that feeling. It's honestly amazing that she managed as much free-thinking as she did while constantly high on it.
There's a large enough cast with quite a few less-desirables that the mystery of the killer wasn't an easy one to figure out. There are also plenty of characters to adore along the way like the paper selling kids that Ian is familiar with, and Ian himself. While there's a smidge of romance in the book, it's definitely not at the forefront at all, which is honestly my preference. Instead, it's watching Tillie come into her own that makes this historical thriller/mystery what it is.
Website | Twitter | Pinterest
The House That Fell From the Sky sounds intriguing and certainly starts strongly. Scarlett is with her father when strange things start happening; A strange hum, booming noises, flashes of light, a coldness settling over everything. All of this happens within the first pages as does the discovery of the house that appeared from nowhere and could have simply fallen from the sky. Only no one can access the house as it seems to choose when and who can access its interior and those that do come out changed.
Imagine my surprise then when nothing happens with the house for a year. It just sits there. After the exciting first chapter, the first half of the book focuses on Scarlett, her friends, and what journeys they took to get them to this place and time. However, the timeline of the story is not linear, which I found distracting. I just wanted them to hurry up and get in the house already! The back and forth time jumps exploring the characters' relationships were intended to secure an emotional attachment to the characters but left me impatient instead.
Then comes the actual house. Its massive Gothic facade covers several city blocks. With "menacing" verandas and "pallid" eaves, there seems to be an attempt to anthropomorphize the house. I feel like the author really missed his calling as an architect. Onion domes and Cyclopean masonry--the descriptions are lengthy and wordy to the point of tediousness. Every new room explored inside the house involves description upon description. While, yes, we want to be shown what they are seeing, the focus on crown molding was unstimulating.
The House That Fell From the Sky unfortunately fell flat for me. The idea is fascinating but I didn't find myself caring about the characters or cheering them on to win, except for Vincent the magician. There's potential for real horror here, but it's lost under all the copious amount of filler.
Website | Twitter | Pinterest
Imagine my surprise then when nothing happens with the house for a year. It just sits there. After the exciting first chapter, the first half of the book focuses on Scarlett, her friends, and what journeys they took to get them to this place and time. However, the timeline of the story is not linear, which I found distracting. I just wanted them to hurry up and get in the house already! The back and forth time jumps exploring the characters' relationships were intended to secure an emotional attachment to the characters but left me impatient instead.
Then comes the actual house. Its massive Gothic facade covers several city blocks. With "menacing" verandas and "pallid" eaves, there seems to be an attempt to anthropomorphize the house. I feel like the author really missed his calling as an architect. Onion domes and Cyclopean masonry--the descriptions are lengthy and wordy to the point of tediousness. Every new room explored inside the house involves description upon description. While, yes, we want to be shown what they are seeing, the focus on crown molding was unstimulating.
The House That Fell From the Sky unfortunately fell flat for me. The idea is fascinating but I didn't find myself caring about the characters or cheering them on to win, except for Vincent the magician. There's potential for real horror here, but it's lost under all the copious amount of filler.
Website | Twitter | Pinterest
