The Perfectly Fine Neighborhood edited by Kayleigh Dobbs, Stephen Kozeniewski, and Wile E. Young is an anthology of amazing tales where ghosts occupying space amongst the living is totally normal, but all is not perfectly fine.

Per usual, the copyright page joke had me chuckling! Don’t miss it when you give this anthology a read!

Diving right into the collection, I was so pumped to find that I loved each and every story. Sitting on this review for a few days after closing the book, I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that choosing a few favorites here is impossible. Each story brings so much to the collection overall, while still standing perfectly strong in its own way.

Here are my notes on each tale!

Breaking down how this collection came to be, readers will be extra pumped to dive into this collection after reading this! 

Traveling on an expensive, ghost-free trip, this couple has been enjoying themselves immensely. The only thing that’s bothering them is the ghost light that is always on. They decide to try to turn it off just once and soon learn what a mistake that was. 

What a story to kick off the collection! When this type of vacation was described, I was already on edge. This story took an absolutely brutal turn that I never could have seen coming. Many of the scenes toward the very end are going to be ingrained in my brain for a very long time. 

When parts of a body show up in various places all over town, this investigator soon learns it’s not just the living that can be killed…  

What an unsettling thought to have, that ghosts that can be killed! 

After discovering their friend dead, but their ghost missing, this character falls into a terrifying transformation process.

My gosh, the ending of this is brutal. Content warning there for people who can’t do brief extreme kid horror. 

Still traumatized by their violent deaths, this group of people are terrified when their killer returns. 

I loved seeing how this group had bonded and figured out how to pull each other out of their funks together. But I felt so terrible for this group! Reliving your death on a loop when you relapse is terrifying enough, but what happens next just may be worse. 

Convincing an assassin to take out her husband so she can sleep with him again, this man thinks it’s going to be an easy job. Of course, he has no idea what he’s getting himself into. 

This was a wild ride!! That ending!

An absolutely brutal tale of the fallout of suicide.

A perfectly fine family made up of a deceased husband, a living and aging wife, and an adopted living daughter struggle with their current dynamic. Not only that, but something is happening that appears to be targeting the wife… 

My gosh, this was so much fun! I loved the humor added here while the main story was powered by a combination of grief and love. 

Determined to catch a killer who murdered his wife, this man goes to a place that has ghosts locked up. He’s warned against going, but is it truly a warning against danger or something more sinister?

Every step of this story was nerve-wracking. I was so excited to see what would come next! At the same time, my heart broke for these poor souls. 

As the title states, this man is addicted to killing people. Even though some of his victims stick around his home to berate him, he keeps bringing back new victims. But how long can he keep this up?

This was SO GOOD! I loved the premise and the pacing. That ending…

Haunted by his late partner, this character is desperate to stop seeing ghosts and will do whatever it takes.

What an interesting take that focuses on NOT wanting to see your loved one for the rest of time.

A tale of a wonderfully heartwarming relationship between a living man and his ghost wife. 

I so didn’t want this one to have a horror element, but alas… here we are. This tale shattered my heart. 

Playing off the arrest and death of his father, this man opens their home for touring for true crime enthusiasts. 

Ugh, this son profiting off their trauma with no empathy for his father’s ghost… I loved the focus on the father and his history. What an upsetting premise overall though.

Stolen and kept as this man’s plaything, this poor woman is losing hope of being rescued. But little does the wicked man know, there’s a ghost who is out in the forest looking to help people that is watching.

I both loved and hated this tale! I hated to see the brutality that was happening to this poor woman, but man, what a killer storyline! I loved the driving scene toward the end of the tale.

Living in a place where the ghosts are supposed to be kept away, this father is desperate to get help when a storm knocks out the power, threatening to let the ghosts of his past visit him and his family that he had kept things from.

What a fun tale centered around how money has its advantages for some people, as long as things go to plan.

Sibling rivalry goes to an extreme here when one twin does something truly wicked…

MY GOSH. What a tale to end the collection. This was so wonderfully petty and devious. Whether you’ve had a sibling or a friend like this, you’ll be ready to rage right along with the main character. And the DOODLE BEAR! My goodness, I forgot all about that toy. That was one of my prized possessions as a kid as well.

There were bad ghosts out there, of course, the same as there were bad people. They might accidentally kill you, or possess you without consent, but those were just little things.
– The First Ghost by Stephen Kozeniewski

Murder wasn’t unique to living humans.
– Jurisdiction by Bev Vincent

Tombs was dead quiet at this hour. Even the cicadas hung it up and went to bed. Since there weren’t a lot of towns this far south, the sky wasn’t stained with light, making the brightness of the stars all the more vivid. They stretched on for miles, a field of shattered diamonds.
– The Blue Mausoleum by J.C. Smith

You’d think with all his designer bullshit he’d be a stunning snack, but the packaging was deceiving. He tasted like stale bread. Boring, flat, and a little stringy. Strong citrusy aftertaste.
– The Blue Mausoleum by J.C. Smith

Should old acquaintances be forgot? Not a chance in hell when they were the ones who murdered you.
– Auld Lang Syne by Wile E. Young

I got paranoid and couldn’t stop looking over my shoulder. It took several weeks of nothing happening, but eventually I let it go. The birthday resentment seemed to be in the past. Oh, what a fool I was to think the calm wasn’t a sign of the shitstorm that was coming.
– The Last Word by Kayleigh Dobbs

She cut the last page out of every one of my books.
– The Last Word by Kayleigh Dobbs

I had an absolute blast with the collection! I love that there was a mix of spooky, heart-breaking, thought-provoking, and just all-around fun tales included here.

Go pick up a copy today!

Ready to kick start your Halloween reading if you haven’t done so yet? The Spirit of the Season by Somer Canon is a snack-sized horror tale that is sure to terrify and entertain! 

Set in a mall, readers follow the evening closing practices for two staff members; a mall security guard and a store manager. 

Things seem pretty normal at first, but the security guard has some major internal distress going on. 

As the tale continues, we learn more about how that night’s bloodbath was inevitable. 

I was hooked with this tale immediately and as the dread built, I couldn’t help but read faster and faster to see what would happen!

While the seasonal change from verdant green to the warm, cozy colors of fall certainly had an aesthetic appeal that almost everybody seemed to like, the season of Halloween was a different creature altogether. It wasn’t anchored in an obligatory family gathering like so many other holidays, nor was it force-feeding the masses saccharine sentimentalities that were sometimes more hurtful than inspirational, especially to those who were alone in the world, like herself.

Time makes fools of us all, and it was her turn to experience that painful truth.

While this Halloween treat of a story has many tricks, readers are going to love seeing the monsters that come out! Go pick up a copy and dive in today!

Impulses of a Necrotic Heart: and Other Afflictions by Red Lagoe is a collection of short stories that will both haunt and shatter readers’ hearts into a million pieces.

I loved that you could never know what to expect with this collection, even though there is an underlying theme. One minute you could be enjoying a dark body-horror tale, and the next, you’re ready to cry with the gut-punch horror.

And as a bonus, each tale had an AMAZING illustration to go along with it!

Here’s one of my favorite illustrations:

My favorite stories from the collection include: 

Per usual, here are my notes on each tale!

My gosh, this line: Some of the best and worst people in the history of mankind have followed their hearts.

While his father is on his deathbed, this man has tackled one more job for his father. Now, he’s ready to cut ties. But how will his father react? 

I was so nervous to see how this situation would play out! I loved that the author teased just enough information to assume we know what’s going on with their back story, but didn’t lay it all out so we could be absolutely certain. Instead, we focused on their relationship and mental health.

With a distant mother and bullies at school, this kid is just looking for anything to latch onto. When he accidentally visits the yard of a nearby house, he quickly learns that the tall tales about the old owner may not be that far from the truth. 

My heart broke for this poor kid! Understanding how upset he was and how little it could have taken to turn things around, the ending hits even harder. 

Distressed when her breasts start “budding” and then growing in fully, this thirteen-year-old girl just wants to play football. But of course, she’s given a very hard time by the boys.

Ugh, I hate what a common experience the first half of this story is. But that ending was wonderful! What beautiful body horror!

After her husband passes away, this woman fills her time with online shopping to try to find something that will bring her joy. But rather than trying to enjoy what she’s purchased, she just keeps shopping. 

Starting out very real world, this one takes a wicked dark turn! My gosh. The thought of being in this woman’s house makes my anxiety spike. I can’t do clutter, let alone hoarding. 

After a red giant goes supernova, the public wants to see it. But when night falls and they look to the skies, many people freeze, only awakening the next morning as zombie-like beings. One man and his neighbor are still present in their minds and go out to try to reach someone important. 

Deeply unsettling, this one had me squirming. I loved the zombie-like element, but my gosh, the little worms were gross! I also loved the Bird Box reference! Overall, this was a fun and tense tale of terror!

The illustration for this one made me say “ew” out loud when I turned the page and saw it! 

Traveling to fix up a property that he and his wife are planning to rent out, this man is distressed to find that he has a bit of a spider problem there. But he has no idea what else he’s about to find…

This one is a big nope for me! Ugh, I hate spiders. And wolf spiders at that?! Noooo thank you!! We had plenty of those in my hometown. I would have been out of that house so fast. 

After a traumatic scene during his childhood, a glass maze and the girl trapped inside has stuck in the back of this man’s mind. Unable to move on, he returns when he’s an adult for closure. 

This was such a quietly eerie tale! So much emotion was packed in while we see a life that attempted to be lived normally while the ties of childhood trauma held him back. 

When his daughter goes missing, this father is desperate for answers. When a kid dressed as a ghost starts to appear, he finally follows it into the woods. 

Ugh, what a heartbreaking tale of how quickly things can go sideways. 

Haunted by his choices, this man is willing to take extreme action to stop the screaming from his previous loves.

This tale gets darker and darker with every sentence! I loved it!

Seemingly cursed to bleed gallons at a time, this poor girl suffers alone in the cabin of the man she believes did this to her. She doesn’t want to die, but she has no idea what to do. 

Such a brutal body horror tale! Menstruation is no joke! This extreme level had me cringing for the poor girl. This is a very real nightmare that I’ve had similar thoughts of, mainly the, “what if it never stops” worry. 

Haunted by her childhood trauma of her sister being kidnapped, this person has become part of law enforcement and has recently taken down a trafficking ring. But rather than going out to celebrate, they have other plans. 

I loved that this one centered around a therapeutic art project! Seeing the grief and anger this person has been drowning in for so long finally released on the canvas was perfect! 

Giving her all to be a mother, this woman fades away more and more every day. 

An absolutely brutal and heartbreaking tale of motherhood. 

Two siblings struggle with the death of their mother, making it clear that they had very different relationships. 

Oofh, having such wildly different relationships with your parents than a sibling had is so tough. This tale takes that to a supernaturally spooky extreme, but the main point hits hard. 

After an apocalyptic event for humans, being outside has become dangerous as microorganisms lurk. Determined to really live before they die, these two decide a trip to the beach is the perfect plan.

So unsettlingly sad, this tale certainly tugs in your heartstrings! What a terrible situation to be in. 

A month after the death of his father, this man is deeply haunted by a whistled tune… 

Ah! I love the connection between this tale and the first tale of the collection. What a cool way to end the book. This poor man though. 

Dad’s shoulders broadened and his body swelled as if being filled with ammunition, ready to fire at will.
– Impulses of a Necrotic Heart

“What if I go out now and it gets in my eyes?” Devon says.
“You could close your eyes.
“And what? Bird Box my way to the lab in a blindfold?”
– Infectious Glow

In the off-season, the seaside town carried on its salty breeze the ghosts of Isaac Tripp’s childhood memories. Stomping barefoot in the ocean, sunburns, salt-water taffy, and aggressive gulls swooping down for bits of French fries or funnel cake. But those glimpses of his past had been viewed through the naïve goggles of innocence for too long. Much like an ice cream cone on the beach, melting away and leaving nothing behind but sticky fingers and disappointment, so did Isaac’s rosy picture of his childhood.
– The Glass Labyrinth

Ryan’s lip curled in disgust. “When people leave this earth–if they’re lucky -they get to make a mark on the world. Ma didn’t leave just a mark…she left scars.”
– Legacy

Sideways sunbeams pierced the fog over dewy grass and decomposing corpses.
– Fourteen Gallons 

This author has such an amazing writing style. Each and every tale sucked me right in and I was so pleased to experience the range of topics here!

A must-read for horror lovers who aren’t afraid to be hurt by the stories they consume.

Immortelle by Catherine McCarthy is a grief-soaked tale of mystery where readers quietly sit with the main character as she slowly works her way toward the answer she seeks while also losing herself in her work and her magic.

Living in a small ocean-side community, a mother and daughter have begun to drift apart. The mother tries to gently talk to her daughter to see if she will tell her what is going on. Meanwhile, the daughter has begun asking some big questions that only result in her drifting even further away from her mother. 

But is the daughter just getting angsty as she approaches her teenage years, or is there someone in the community who is negatively influencing her?

When tragedy strikes and the daughter is found dead, the mother is forced to look for answers while everyone else believes the death was an accident or self-inflicted. However, her mother’s instinct has zeroed in on the new pastor.

This slow-burning tale is such a wonderful mix of tension, grief, darkness, and the beauty of memorializing the lost. 

The feature of creating the immortelle’s was really interesting. While being created for a sad reason, the care and time the mother put into these were so wonderful to see. I also loved seeing the signs that the mother kept pointing out throughout the story. These two elements kept shining a light on the otherwise very dark tale. 

And my, how dark it was… I won’t dive in here as you’ll need to experience these elements for yourself! Just know that the author has such a perfect blend here. 

It is late February and the banks bordering the hedgerows are sugar-frosted with snowdrops, Rowena’s favorite flower.

Every single day, before I open my eyes, the shock of her death hits like a wave, and again and again I am swept away with the tide.

Rescuers, thigh deep in foaming waves, try their best to gain progress, but the ocean is enjoying the thrill of the chase and is unwilling to relinquish its contraband.

The crab, which scurries sideways, proving one’s life does not always follow a straight path.

My mind is as turbulent as a storm. It cannot decide in which direction to gust, not which towns to destroy.

I will never be able to get enough of quiet horror tales like this! I love how atmospheric this one felt from the start. That feeling sank deep into my bones, leaving me feeling like I was right there, still feeling the chill of the salty breeze and a set of eyes watching me long after I had closed the book. 

If you’re a fan of woe-filled murder mystery tales with a heavy helping of ghosts, then this is a story for you!

Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories is a collection of stories where each tale is unique and layered. I can’t remember reading a short story collection where every single tale brought you on an emotional rollercoaster like this, but also centered around such wonderful elements of everyday life, family, and great food! 

What a collection! I had a blast learning about the lore and spooky creatures from Latin America. A few sounded familiar, but most were totally new to me! There were just so many powerful tales here. 

My favorites from the collection include:

Per usual, here are my notes on each story. 

On her fifteenth birthday, this young girl is finally ready for her first hunt. But first, she meets with the boy she loves, a boy that she is not allowed to see as their families have deep history. Will love win over the duty of family? 

What a tale to kick off the collection! This one had me so nervous throughout, just waiting to see where this girl’s loyalty would take her. 

After months of being asked, this family goes to visit relatives in Florida. The young girl is looking forward to reconnecting with her cousin, but when they arrive he acts like he can’t remember them. The girl soon learns why. 

This was so unsettling. Especially one of the story elements toward the end that makes you question if they really just wanted a visit, or if there was more going on here. 

When a new child is brought to this home, the group tells a scary story while at the dinner table. Little do they know. There’s more truth to this tale than fantasy…

This was so eerie! What a bad idea to tell tales like this in front of an already skittish child. 

Living a life as a lougaru isn’t easy. A tale told in two different timelines, we learn about this girl’s rocky upbringing and how she ended up in New York City while we also see her surviving in the city. 

I absolutely loved how this one jumped around, slowly giving us more information. I really enjoyed the line about fate or choice. And the two scenes that let you fill in the gaps! Brilliant. 

After her 18th birthday, this young woman is thrilled to get away from her awful stepmother but isn’t quite sure what to do next. When lawyers call her into their office and tell her about the inheritance her grandmother left her, she is stunned. But just one thing is missing, her rosary. 

This tale, while focused mainly on grief, also had a wonderfully spooky element. When the two merged, I was so excited to see what would happen!

After learning of her grandfather’s sudden death, she’s immediately suspicious. Her mother tries to assure her it was an animal attack, but she isn’t buying it. Traveling to Costa Rica for the funeral, she immediately goes to investigate and finds much more than the answer she was seeking. 

This poor family has been through so much. The grief and focus on just trying to move forward was fully present, even faced with this recent tragedy. I really admired the girl’s determination to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps! 

Returning to visit family, this young girl keeps being teased about the time she went missing for a bit when she was younger. But while she brushes everyone off, she can’t help but be called to the woods. 

Such a wonderful reflection on family ties and traditions hidden in the shadows. 

All this young woman wants is to be seen and to live a good life. After turning eighteen and being kicked out of the system, she lives on the streets. Headstrong, she decides to call out to the man rumored to have been killing people from her group… and he answers. 

This tale had so much beauty mixed into the darkness. A perfect blend!

Growing up learning how to kill vampires, this young woman knows what to look for, but she has her eyes on one specific vampire. 

This was such a fun vampire tale! There was plenty of humor and drama mixed into the bloodshed! 

While on a camping trip during their senior year, this girl just wants her boyfriend’s attention. He’s distracted and she thinks he’s angry with her, but she’s about to learn exactly what he was up to. 

This was a blood-boiling tale of high school relationship drama and how cruel people can be, mixed with a beautifully gory element. 

Determined to find his sister after she was taken, this young man asks for help from a family friend. But what dangers will he run into during his search? 

I loved the determination of this character. His innocent willpower was infectious, but as a reader, you just know things won’t end well. 

A woman who has reached rock bottom due to a dangerous and abusive situation tries to end things. Surprised to meet an older woman in the forest, she begins to take care of things for this woman as she reflects on her life and life in general. 

This one doesn’t shy away from the darkness! My heart broke for this poor girl. 

When a 23-year-old suddenly begins hanging around the local pizza shop with the Pac-Man arcade game, this 16-year-old is the only one who can see right through him. Watching what he did to her friends, she bides her time until she finally steps in. 

Oh boy, a story all young girls need to read. The “cool older man” just isn’t as cool as you think. 

When her mother passes away, this young woman travels back to their hometown to be with her family. She feels lost, but once she learns more about where she came from, she realizes what she needs to do. 

This tale starts out so sad and only gets worse as we learn more about this girl’s life. But as soon as she meets her family, that time changes. 

All this girl wants to do is successfully sneak in to see a horror movie. But of course, fate has other plans. Between the drunk boys and her school bully, things don’t go as planned. But that’s not the only danger lurking. 

I loved the quiet horror of this one and how the monster was both very much present, but also off on the peripherals. 

An occasional streetlight cast a cone of warmth and clarity where Esther could make out ancient marble crypts and statues of poured concrete. But in the dark those same shapes turned into sleeping giants and gardens for monsters.
– El Viejo de la Bolsa by Alexandra Villasante

Each tale is taller than the last, tiny bits of truth baked into the center of an entrée of lies.
– Beware the Empty Subway Car by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite

I couldn’t continue that thought. The power of it pushed down on my shoulders and was going to shove me to the floor until I was nothing more than a puddle of sadness. I took a shower in the hopes of washing it away. It helped. A bit.
– Dismembered by Ann Dávila Cardinal

They share smiles that speak volumes I hope to read one day.
– La Boca del Lobo by M. Garcia Peña

I had such a blast with these tales. I absolutely loved the range here and how so many of the stories played with mixing grief and family with the horror. 

If you enjoyed the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark collections, you’re going to love this collection as well! 

The Only Safe Place Left is the Dark by Warren Wagner is a fast-paced tale of lingering memories, survival, and taking the chance to let love back in. 

During a zombie apocalypse, one man has been isolated in his cabin the whole time while another has been on the run. 

After bumping into each other one day while on a supply run, they realize that they’re looking for the same medicine as they share a diagnosis. Next, they’re forced to partner up and make a journey to a pharmacy warehouse for medicine. 

But will they make the trip safely in the first place? And if they do, is what they’re hoping to find even still there? 

While many elements here were heartbreaking and absolutely gut-wrenching at times, there was also so much hope as well! But of course, that’s not all. As this was indeed a zombie tale, there was also a ton of action and bloodshed! 

This tale drew me in immediately. I already love zombie tales, but how unique this one was had me so interested to see what was going to happen next!

Today’s book that he’s reading is entitled Edible Flora and You and as he turns a page, he hears a scream in the distance. A bloodcurdling scream. The kind of scream that keeps you up at night. That kind that tells you something dreadful is out there and you had better be prepared.

Highway 28 no longer belongs to civilization. The road is covered in high grass and plants that have overtaken many of the vehicles that were, at some point, abandoned. Some vehicles are empty, while others have skeletons in them. Some have families of skeletons.

Postcards from the past, leaving a haunting reminder of what was lost.

What a fresh take on the zombie trope! These zombies are the most unsettling I’ve ever come across! 

Pick this one up when you can read straight through! You won’t be able to put it down! 

Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke is a psychological horror tale of a man stuck in a supernatural nightmare who is forced to constantly second-guess what is going on. 

Based on general appearances, the relationship that Phil Pendleton and his son have is a typical father/son relationship. There’s only one problem. Phil just met the boy in a local Walmart before a car accident changed everything. 

Feeling like he’s either losing his mind or being horribly gaslit by everyone, Phil struggles to understand what is happening. Feeling like he’s constantly one step behind what’s actually happening, he plays along for a while. Finally reaching his breaking point, he makes a plan. But little does he know, he’s still one step behind. 

This is one of the most unsettling reads I’ve encountered. The constant second guessing what was happening was absolutely terrifying. You can’t read this tale without questioning what you would do in this situation.

Four months to the day he first encountered the boy at Walmart, the last of Phil Pendleton’s teeth fell out. 

The bones in his chest felt like shards of broken glass and he feared if he stood, he’d shatter into pieces.

Somewhere along the line his life had jumped the tracks and he had found himself in a nightmare, and like the worst kind of nightmare, he could not move, the people around him too busy chatting, redirecting traffic, or filming the scene with their iPhones to realize the very real and possibly dangerous drama taking place on the edge of it.

What a twisted and intense psychological tale! While I do love my sour candy, I don’t think I’m going to look at it the same way ever again…

The Leaves Forget by Alan Baxter is a tense and suspenseful tale of a brother desperate to find answers. 

Months after this family has realized that the sister, Olivia, has dropped off the face of the Earth, her brother Craig has begun to think the worst. But one day, his neighbor who had been traveling comes to him with a stack of letters from Olivia that had been misaddressed and piling up in his absence. 

Craig immediately sits to read them, feeling cautiously optimistic, but also fearing the worst. As the letters go on, he fears more and more for her safety. Then as he finishes the very last letter, he springs into action. 

Can Olivia be saved or is it already too late? 

My goodness. I absolutely loved the chilling opening. As Craig began to read the letters, I was totally hooked. I really enjoyed that the letters were interrupted by Craig’s thoughts throughout! Many times, I found myself thinking very similar things that he did, and couldn’t help but laugh.

When he jumped up to get things in motion, my blood was pumping, and I was ready to go on this journey with him! 

The pacing was absolute perfection. I loved getting to know both the main characters and the supporting characters as we went deeper into the story. 

And the mention of the Blind Eye Moon cap… I love it!

“…Family, huh? The cause of all our joys and all our dismays.”

Justin stares at us, his dark eyes suddenly boyish. Lost. “They’re doing harm, aren’t they.” It’s not a question.

I guess we’re all thinking the same stuff. How lives can turn sour. How some people don’t even get a start, but are born into generational trauma. It’s not an excuse for anything, of course. But maybe it’s a reason.

I picked this up late one evening telling myself I’d read just a couple chapters before bed. Bad idea. While I was successful in putting the book down and going to bed, every single time I woke up, I looked at the clock to see if it was a reasonable hour to get up and read… and at almost 38 weeks pregnant, I was up every single hour. 

Fans of very suspenseful tales with a cult and supernatural feature, go grab a copy right away! 

Crime Scene by Cynthia Pelayo is a gut-punch epic poem of murder, grief, and the determination to solve cases so those lost do not go forgotten. 

Kicking off with a wonderful author’s note, Cina explains the work as an epic poem. This is a narrative work of poetry where each poem is meant to be read in order to properly tell the overall story.

Next, we jump into an introduction by Sara Tantlinger who outlines how potent Cina’s words are here and how each poem demands that we remember not only those that have been lost but that we also remember our humanity during the grim moments. 

As readers take their first step on this Crime Scene path, they will quickly learn that Cina won’t be holding back here. The grief that is displayed in Report No. 0002 is heart-stopping.

From there, we follow Agent K as she first views the crime scene and her determination to solve the case. However, over the years, we also see the great toll that this job takes on Agent K which adds another layer of grief to the already ever-growing pile. 

However, there is a faint light of the one thing that carries most of us along in the darkest of times; hope.

“This first look could destroy you,” Agent M warns
Agent K shakes her head. They do not know her fractures
“I’m already broken,” she says, feeling fissures widening within

It was a day like today, they are all, wrapped
in kindness and care, but as hours tick
a scythe appears, splintering expectations
There will be no safety here or anywhere

Dried flecks of blood like shimmering stars sweep across a face asleep in infinite.

A system that plays into
destruction of communitues
is a vulture embodied

At home she covers her floor in newspaper clippings
Black, white, and red confetti, THE LATEST VICTIM,
Headlines taunt, excite, people like to be teased with grief
so long as it’s not their own personal pain to experience

Epic poems are my absolute favorite poetry format! What Cina has done here with her epic poem is incredible. There’s so much beauty woven into the darkness. As a reader, you’ll both hang on to every word and dread what’s to come next as the case slowly develops. 

I’m kicking myself for taking so long to get to this one after meeting Cina and snagging a signed copy at Merrimack Valley Book Fest! I read this in one sitting, unable to pull myself away. 

Horror fans, don’t delay. Go grab a copy today! 

Posthaste Manor by Jolie Toomajan and Carson Winter is a tale of a house with a name and a long history of darkness from the energies that have seeped deep into the walls over the years. 

A book organized in two main parts, in part one, we get a glimpse into the house before the fall. Splitting the time between two characters, with little bursts of others that peek in, we learn about the house and its stories of the past. 

In this section, we follow Otho and Adira. 

Otho is a young man in the 90s who bought the house based on the stories he’d heard about it. He can’t wait to meet all his neighbors and spend time in the basement to get to know the house as well. While he’s a bit shocked at the behavior of his neighbors, the house has no problem welcoming him in. 

Adira is a woman running from her abusive husband, determined to start a better life. She buys Posthaste Manor as it’s the one place she knows he won’t go. But when he does show up, the house provides, setting her down a new path. 

Then in part two, we see the downfall of the house in a format that’s a bit like a quick slideshow. With each quick snippet, you’re able to get just enough detail to understand what’s happening in the quick segment of life within the slide, but nothing close to the full story. 

I thought this was such a cool method that leaves readers with information on the bits of energy each person living in the home left behind.

Toward the end, we get a lovely chapter from the real estate agent who takes these snippets and weaves them into a report for the house listing. But before things can all fall into place, we’re off on another story from the home. 

Throughout the book, there are also a few illustrations included. My goodness, the one of the face… this is SO MUCH CREEPIER than what I pictured while reading the text. That one is something of nightmare. The choose-your-own reality sections were so fun!

Life here existed, he had to remind himself, although sometimes it felt like it was carefully hidden. 

That’s how it is in moments of panic. You just don’t know what to do. Everything smart inside of you shuts off and you’re left scrambling for whatever’s closest. 

Posthaste stood tall and screamed. Where most houses were content in their silence, Posthaste was loud. Its boards creaked, its boiler clanked and whistled; its being shook the bars of whatever cage it was trapped in. 

“Lady, you might have a ghost,” I said aloud to myself, joking.
“Yes, probably. But you’re here to fix the boiler.” 

Tenebrous Press has done it again; publishing a killer bizarre horror tale from Jolie Toomajan and Carson Winter that sucked me right in! If I were asked to explain exactly what this book was about, I honestly couldn’t tell ya I knew for sure! What I can tell you is that I enjoyed it immensely. 

This is a must-read for fans of bizarre and spooky horror spiked with gore and terror that reads like you’re looking at a giant mosaic far too closely at first. As the read goes on, and you slowly take a step back with each page, you begin to see what the image is. And yet, at the very end, you’re still left a bit puzzled, like you’ve realized the mosaic you were trying to figure out is actually a Rorschach test! 

Enjoy!!