Maeve Fly by CJ Leede is a horrifically bloody, sinisterly sexual, and darkly unhinged tale set in Los Angeles. 

Maeve Fly loves her job. She’s a popular princess at a park alongside her best friend, Kate, who plays her princess’s sister. While Maeve’s day is all sunshine and happiness with some drugs mixed in, her evenings and nights are filled with various dark elements and she’s hanging on to her sanity by a thread. 

When Kate introduces Maeve to her brother Gideon, something starts to unravel in Maeve, leaving her vulnerable to the darkness that she can no longer contain. 

Boy, the power of CJ’s writing is powerful! There are so many scenes that are absolutely seared into my brain that I could have done without ever experiencing. From the egg to the cocaine spoon, my stomach turns just thinking of them! 

The author takes her time giving readers a wonderful slow burn of a story that really shows you the internal workings of the main character’s mind. Then, at the very end of chapter XIII (page 90), we finally see the horror displayed right in front of us, confirming what the author had been hinting at. But that’s just the beginning! Things get much more bloody and intense from there.

Music can make a place feel your own, and this time of year, for one month without fail, my music plays everywhere. The world becomes a little more mine.

This is a failing of men. This same violence, applied to a woman, she does not ask why it is being inflicted upon her, she only struggles unsuccessfully to free herself and grieves the fact she has grieved her entire life, one that she understands fundamentally and innately. That violence simply occurs.

I give his fingers each a little chop and shower them around the bus, place a couple of the pieces in fun hiding spots for someone to find later. Like a scavenger hunt. Finger confetti for everyone!

My goodness, this tale was something! I kept seeing it related to American Psycho, but with a female lead, and I can certainly see that! From the content the main character watched, the internal monologues, the questionable hyper-fixations, and of course, the violence. But there’s also a deep love for family and friends on display here. 

Fans of darkly erotic horror, this will definitely please you! I just hope you haven’t recently purchased eggs… those may expire on you before you’re ready to eat them again. 

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher is a slow-burning gothic horror tale about blood and roses.  

After her latest job got delayed, Sam traveled back to the scene of her childhood to live with her mom for a bit. Once there, Sam has a difficult time coming to terms with being back in the house that they had grown up in. She recalls many bad memories and has odd dreams. She even starts experiencing some sleep paralysis. 

To make things more complicated, Sam had been previously warned by her brother that something seems off with their mother. Sam sees this immediately after her arrival as her mother’s personality has been completely wiped from the house, a racist painting is hanging up, and her mother won’t allow a single negative word to be mentioned about her mother who had passed away. 

Sam realizes it’s like her mother is trying to appease her late grandmother, but why? Was she just in delayed mourning? 

Sam digs for answers but only gets more and more unsettled as time goes on until this hit their breaking point. 

I had such a blast reading the first half of this book and seeing the unease and confusion slowly build. This gave us the perfect amount of time to really get to know each character. 

I was just waiting for the main character to snap and demand answers, but as she was so delicate with her mom, what actually happened was so much more satisfying! 

Once the action started, I couldn’t put the book down! As a reader, you can just sense that something is coming, but you’ll never guess what’s in store.

It wasn’t my place to police what color Mom painted her guest bedroom. Or the rest of her house, for that matter. Still, ecru. It’s like if you couldn’t decide on white or beige and combined the two for maximum blandness.

My phone informed me that it was absolutely talking to the internet, it was happy to talk to the internet, it loved talking to the internet, then as soon as I tried to check my email, it told me it had never heard of the internet and wasn’t entirely sure it existed.

T. Kingfisher’s style of writing here was such a blast to read! I loved that the narrator had such a humourous internal monologue even in times of stress.

By the time I hit the last page of A House With Good Bones, I couldn’t decide if I was ready to dig up the rose bush I had just planted this year or if I wanted to plant more! 

Disasterpieces is a novella that houses two dark and horrific tales from Wesley Southard and Wile E. Young that will have you holding your breath, nervous to see what will come next. 

When I first heard that these two were partnering up for this book, I absolutely could not wait to get my hands on a copy! When my order from Wesley’s online bookshop arrived, I started reading the very next day, not looking up once I had begun until I had devoured the book. 

Here are my thoughts on each tale! 

While working in a tall office building, something happens. What was once a nice day has turned into a fight for survival after an explosion occurs, leaving most dead. One survivor, Miguel, is injured, but determined to get out of the building. Along the way, he tries to save any other survivors he comes across. 

Set up in a storyline that jumped between the present and his past friendship with a man named Rocky, we really learn who these two are before the big ending. 

I absolutely loved Miguel. His sheer determination to help people was certainly something I can relate to. I could also relate to his struggle of letting go of a bad friend. He is clearly a people pleaser. How unafraid he was to stand up and call out hate was admirable. We need more people standing up like that. 

But ugh, the reveal of this one made me instantly nauseous. Wesley did a perfect job showing the totally deluded line of thinking and how close-minded people like this are. It’s terrifying!

There’s truly nothing worse than people who only see things from their point of view, absolutely refusing to even try to understand anything from someone else’s perspective. 

Heading out on a three-day river trip, this grieving woman wishes the time will fly by. 

Before even getting into their canoes, there are little glimpses of tension that hint that not everyone wants to be on this trip. Later on, we learn that the women would prefer to take an actual vacation rather than do this annual camping trip. But little do they know, the men have a very different plan this time around. 

My gosh! I was already super irked by these men when they kept doing little disrespectful things like splashing the wives or making little jabs at them. When the action starts, I hated them even more with each turn of the page! 

That scene in the abandoned cabin… absolutely terrifying. 

A severed leg stood up against the wall, as if the owner had left it and hopped away.
— Wesley Southard

Dark blood stained the carpet, gushing out of him rapidly. What bothered Miguel the most was seeing the man’s lower half… which was sitting a few inches away from his upper half.
— Wesley Southard 

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, like every bit of reason these two had between them had dried off with their swim trunks.
— Wile E. Young 

My reflection stared back at me from the dark water and I didn’t recognize the dirty and dripping thing with empty eyes staring back at me. For all I knew, this was my soul, truly reflected and bared, released into the world, and it wondered how many other dead things were swimming beneath the keel of our canoe.
— Wile E. Young 

Covering the horrors of mankind, both of these stories were pure nightmare fuel! 

Horror fans, you gotta pick this one up. Just make sure you’re in an okay place mentally before diving in as these authors take us to very dark places. Enjoy!

This One’s Gonna Hurt by Cody J. Thompson is a tale of road trips, beef jerky, and full-on terror. 

Taking their father’s brand-new electric vehicle for a road trip to Las Vegas, these two teenage siblings and their friends are excited for the weekend ahead. Deep into their road trip, they realize they need to pull over to charge the vehicle. 

With their first stop, they stock up on snacks and try a local delicacy to make up for the fact that the charging stations there don’t work. Luckily, they find another station nearby and just barely make the drive over. 

When they arrive, the area seems deserted as there are broken-down buildings, leaving a massive parking lot with a charging station. Creeped out, but determined to not let that affect their vibe, they do what many teenagers would do while waiting; they bring out distractions of booze, pot, and fireworks. 

The group has a great time until they go to look for one friend that had gone out to pee but took far too long to return. Checking the car, they find that someone had unplugged their charging cable. They’re frustrated, but that feeling is soon overpowered by terror when they learn they’re not alone out there like they had previously assumed. 

Welp, this is just one more reason why electric cars make me nervous! I already get super nervous worrying about running out of gas, but needing to find a charge station and having to sit and wait is so much more terrifying. 

Right from the start of this book, we see an absolutely brutal scene take place. This sets the tone for the rest of the book wonderfully. From this first scene, I was so hopeful for a terror-filled gore fest, and that’s exactly what I got here!

This book follows so many of my favorite horror tropes when leaning into the more extreme side of things. First of all, we have a setting out in the middle of nowhere, complete with spooky-looking run-down buildings and trailers. We have a cast of characters that had the classic personalities; the hot head and his over-the-top girlfriend, the jokester, the seemingly innocent one, and the quiet one that has gone through some stuff. We have a “what could possibly go wrong while we do all these silly things because we’re invincible teens” focus going on. And of course, we have the bad guy and the killer foreshadowing…

The foreshadowing dropped early on in the book and just like so many of my favorite movies, this drop happens at a gas station. I mean, how perfect is that?!

However, very unlike a horror film where there are rays of hope here and there to keep viewers hopeful, this book shuts off the lights quickly and forces the readers to stay in the darkness. 

Needless to say, I am obsessed with this tale! 

What they didn’t know, and could not see, was the curtain at the far end of the trailer had been moved aside ever so slightly. A pair of dirty fingers from the inside pulled the curtain away from the glass, as two dark eyes peered out at them, watching their every move. Little did they know, they were not alone. And, though they were not in fact telling horror stories to one another, whether they liked to or not, they were about to experience one of their very own.

Teenage love – Always exciting, always toxic. 

The back of the building was covered in shadows, even at night, creating an eerie darkness. Even the minimal light of the moon was blocked, almost like evil itself was present.

“Now, close your eyes, little girl,” He said. “This one’s gonna hurt.”

This story is like an IV sliding perfectly into the same vein as my favorite horror movies. And just like those films, I couldn’t look away from the text of this book; each scene getting more intense than the last!

For horror fans that enjoyed films like The Hills Have Eyes, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tourist Trap, and The Cabin in the Woods, this is a must-read for you! 

Bone Saw Serenade by Cody J. Thompson is a dark and twisted crime thriller filled with coffee dates, reminiscing, and terror all orchestrated by an absolutely unhinged character hiding in plain sight. 

After running into an old high school friend one day while at a coffee shop, Emma knows exactly who to call when her husband, Eddie, goes missing. Her old friend is named Charlie and he immediately steps in to be her night in shining armor. 

While Emma tries to process the situation while keeping up with the house and her daughter, Charlie lends a shoulder to cry on, brings takeout, and tries to be her protector. Meanwhile, two detectives, Angus and Frank, are desperate to find Eddie. 

This story kicks off with a terrifying scene before taking a step back and slowly dialing up the unease. 

The slow-burn molders like kindling just waiting for more fuel. Here and there, the author tosses on another piece, but that burns down quickly. But a bit after the halfway point, the author begins to pile logs on, causing the fire to rage! 

I absolutely loved the dynamic between the two detectives, Angus and Frank. They were by far my favorite characters of the mixed bunch. Each time I saw them pop in, I was so excited to see what banter they would have.  

One last note – Holy cow… Chapter 34!

She wasn’t left with much confidence. She felt she would have a better chance at a positive outcome if she found herself in a desolate desert, her feet buried deep within quicksand, and the only rope to pull herself out had been tied to a block of ice left to melt in the blazing sun.

Two storms can not materialize at once. That would be pure chaos.

Emma was beaming. So much so, Charlie thought if she opened her mouth for too long, actual beams of light may shoot out of her throat and be mistaken for a spotlight.

No matter where you go in the world, no matter who you are, pizza can bring everyone together. Having a bad day? Order a pizza. Celebrating an accomplishment or a birthday? Pizza party.

This is certainly a crime thriller that I won’t be getting out of my brain any time soon.

Fans of slow-burning, deeply unsettling, and psychologically terrifying tales… You need to check this one out! I can’t get over how well this all played out… and the horror scenes were truly something of nightmare!

Be warned – This story will definitely leave you questioning your relationships.

Vicki Beautiful by Somer Canon is a tale of perfection, friendship, and just how far one will go for a friend’s last wishes.

Attending an extravagant birthday dinner and overnight for their friend Vicki, Sasha and Brynn immediately notice that something is wrong shortly after arriving at Vicki’s perfect home. Giving their friend space, the women and their husbands share a beautiful dinner. Her picture-perfect facade begins to crack under the pressure of the news that she must share with her friends; her cancer is back, but this time it’s a death sentence.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, that’s not the only bomb Vicki is about to drop on them…

When they find out that she had killed herself during the night, they are also handed letters she had written to each of them, asking for one last perfect thing. But will this push the friends over the edge?

Oh gosh, the unease that the main character picked up on when she first entered the house made me uneasy! Things only got more and more intense from there!

I loved the journey I went on with my emotions while reading this. At the start, I was in awe of and even a bit jealous of their long friendships! But once the big ask was made, I was furious and immediately dispised Vicki. I couldn’t wait to see how the characters would react!

It was a delicate happiness and it was easy to break. 

A must-read for horror fans! This one will have you feeling all kinds of emotions while the situation in the story continues to get more and more disturbed.

And a word of caution, don’t read this while eating!

The Clairvoyant by E.C. Hanson is a tale of deep grief, visions, and paranormal activity. 

Shout-out to the author for including the quick content warning at the start of the book!

Sutton Frost is a teenager struggling with her mental health. She constantly beats herself up over her appearance and struggles with having no friends and no mother. One day, when she finds out her father has a date, she goes into full-blown wicked daughter mode, bluntly doing something to let him know she disapproves of him getting back into the dating scene. 

That same day, while in school, Sutton gets one of her visions. At first, she isn’t sure what this one was about, but when she recognizes some of the elements, she’s desperate to try to stop it from happening.

Oh, this poor girl. Seeing her struggle with so many elements of her life is heartbreaking and frustratingly relatable. The author does an amazing job putting you in the head of this teenage girl. Even if your logical brain tries to kick in, you won’t be able to look away from the emotional side of things. 

This whole tale reads so easily as the people and situations just jump right off the page. It was so much fun to see the level of humor and teasing that was present, mixing very well with the darker emotions. So many of the conversations that occurred had me chuckling.

People, mostly those who never shared a single word with her, were quick to offer whatever she needed. But she wanted and needed both of her parents to be alive.

“Can you make a sound?”
Nothing.
“I’d settle for a fart. Come on. Give me something.”
A loud vibration from a nearby table. Terry jumped backward. Then he realized it was his phone. He laughed, feeling grateful that none of his team members were around to witness his extreme reaction.

While Terry waited in his van, he flipped through various stations on the radio. He told a jockey preaching about politics to shut up; he said, “We get it” to an Adele song that seemed too repetitive, and he yelled at a speaker asking for donations so their classical music station could survive a few months more.

After a heavy sigh, Terry said, “Google the following: priests near me.”
“We’re in front of a church!”
“Oh, right.”

While this definitely had me recalling some past trauma, I just loved that this tale is a spin-off to a series of tales in All Things Deadly! Those short stories were some of my favorites from the collection and I loved seeing how they were progressing. Getting this spin-off was such a treat!

While it doesn’t shy away from the darkness, this tale also makes sure to focus on the light and the hope that comes after going through difficult times. But please tread lightly if the content warnings have you nervous. 

Orchards by Katherine Silva is a quick short story in The Wild Oblivion world filled with darkness, terror, confusion, and desperation.

In a collection of memories that filter through like the images in a carousel slide projector, we follow Brody Aritza through his recollections of his childhood as well as more recent events. But between many scenes, we also get very unsettling pages that make it clear that something is very wrong here.

Brody is clinging to a very thin rope of sanity as he fights to remember where he is and what he needs to do to get back.

My gosh. This is such an unsettling read to begin with, but the format makes it so much more intense!

If you haven’t yet read other books in The Wild Oblivion world, this one may be a little confusing. OR it may just draw you in, desperate for answers as to what is going on!

I had previously read everything in this world that has been released, so I thought it was really interesting to get more insight into poor Brody’s experience. With each glimpse into the darkness that he was stuck in, I got more and more nervous for him.

I am nine again, all pluck, calloused hands and sun-soaked skin.

What a quick and unnerving read! I read quickly, my eyes absolutely flying over the pages to absorb all of the information as fast as I could. I felt a level of desperation right along with the character; as much as he wanted to break out of the darkness, I wanted to see more within!

I would recommend this to horror fans that have already read The Wild Dark. Having the appropriate level of context is super helpful with this one.

The Wild Fall by Katherine Silva is a tale of survival in a world where the woods, wolves, and humans are all out for blood. Being forced to remain on high alert, our crew faces various terrors as they just try to live in this new normal.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a review for the second book in a series. Please proceed with caution if you haven’t yet read the first one as there will be slight spoilers for the first book.

Ten years after The Merging began, Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Raleigh, has been living with Hank and his daughter, Evie, and a small group of people. In this group, everyone has a role they play, but they all band together to try to help them all survive. One day, they realize they had gotten a bit too comfortable and that the woods are getting close.

The group is forced to flee. Luckily, they had heard of a town in Vermont that sounded promising. Once there, they find a new building to settle in and work hard to make it feel like home again.

Of course, the darkness isn’t far and it’s got its eyes on them… But what’s even worse is that this darkness holds more unknowns than before, making it even more eerie and dangerous.

I was SO excited to see that there was a bit of happiness at the start of this book. Boy, did our main characters deserve a break! But like the weather in New England, it wasn’t long until those sunny skies were crowded with storm clouds.

I loved that this book was set in two perspectives. Like the dual timeline in the previous book, this made it really difficult to put the book down. It was also neat that the author wrote many tense situations in a way that makes readers really sympathize with both characters as we were able to see things from both of their perspectives.

The cast of characters was amazing. I really enjoyed the way that they treated one another. No one was too afraid to speak their minds, but they also knew when to hold back and talk in private when appropriate. This gave me so much hope for them especially where this isn’t a dynamic I have seen in other apocalyptic worlds.

Per usual, Katherine has created a killer novel here. The plot was totally captivating, the characters sprang to life, the action was intense, and the gore and grief were absolutely brutal. There were a handful of scenes that haunted me to the point where I refused to look outside at night, afraid I would see a shadow lurking at the edge of our woods. There was also a scene that gave me a total jump scare!

When I hit the last page, I shouted out loud, “NOOOO, IT’S THE END!” and sighed. My husband chuckled at my grief over not being able to live in this book a bit longer. Logically I could sense things were winding down, but as I was reading an ebook, I couldn’t see how close to the end I was.

Guess I’m off to read another side story that Kathrine wrote about this world! 🙂

“Of course, I’m concerned. But it doesn’t mean I want to run headlong into danger just so I can know how close it is to me.”

Emptiness was its most defining feature. A plain of undulating sand, the husks of long-dead trees with naked branches puncturing spots here and there. Once-proud structures gathered to create something vaguely urban. Each one crumbled, the structures bleeding their bricks and stones out into the open roads. Windows leered, black and unoccupied. Everything was blasted with windswept ginger sand.

What Astor had said was like medication slowly dripping into an IV in my arm, deadening my thoughts.

This was such an amazing follow-up to The Wild Dark. I was so excited to dive right into this one after reading The Wild Dark and Hallowed Oblivion right back to back. I just didn’t want this one to end!

Filled with unsettling scenes mixed in with full-blown terror, this book had me on the edge of my seat, nervous to see what was to come.

This is a must-read for all horror and supernatural fans!

Hallowed Oblivion by Katherine Silva is a tale of a search and rescue mission on Halloween night that suddenly becomes a terrifying life-or-death situation for the rescue team. 

When a group of teenage paranormal seekers heads into the mountains to try to create a video to win a contest, one teen forgets to check in with family to let them know they will be staying out another night. Luckily for them, this kicks off a rescue mission. But will search and rescue get there in time or is it already too late? 

Our main character, Hank, just wanted to have a nice Halloween with his daughter Evie. But when the call comes in about the lost teens, he has no choice. Bringing a volunteer with him, the two are hoping they’ll quickly find the kids and give them a lecture before sending them home. But when they find the first body, their mission becomes much more urgent than it already was. 

While kicking off light, this tale very quickly spirals into the darkness just as nighttime begins to fall on the mountain. 

The character development is lovely, and during the search for the teenagers, we get awesome glimpses into the strange things that are occurring in the woods. Of course, these strange things are focused on in more depth in The Wild Dark, but this is a lovely tease if you haven’t read the first book yet. If, like me, you have read the first book already, you will love this story as you get to see more from certain characters. 

Definitely pick this up when you can read straight through. You’re not going to be able to put it down! 

AND OH MY GOSH! That cover. I didn’t notice the wolf peering out directly at the reader or the other two off to the sides until I took the book photo! What a great cover!

Hiking Franconia Ridge was like crawling along the spine of some enormous beast. Its jagged rocks made the exposed trail treacherous.

All at once, the trees enshrouded like a closing mouth and the brutal wind diminished. Branches quaked overhead, their last clinging leaves like teeth chittering all around them.

While just 60 pages, this story really packs a brutal punch! From the terror of being hunted to the creatures that are doing the hunting, that was scary enough! But there’s also an element of grief riding just below the surface of the tale like a deadly undercurrent, ready to pull the characters down. 

I read this after finishing The Wild Dark, and would recommend doing the same, though you could absolutely read it before that book as well! That’s such a neat thing about this world Katherine has created, you can dip into whichever tale strikes your fancy and read that first before exploring the others (other than reading The Wild Dark before the Wild Fall of course!).