I loved how this story unfolded! From going to love with their Aunt to where she lives and how she lives. I loved the lake and the leeches. I just loved the entire aquatic, gloomy vibe from this book. I just dont understand how no one but the kids can ever tell it's really Count Olaf! But I guess that's part of the whole point! Looking forward to seeing just how much more terrible and unfortunate life can get for these kids...!

This is one AWESOME Goosebumps book! It evokes all kinds of nostalgia vibes with the kids being on vacation and how they ended up on their own to have fun and ultimately survive all the Horrors at the theme park. I was able to connect with the kids and share in their fears throughout the entire book and I loved that! The twist in this story was really cool too as I really had about 3 guesses as to how it would pan out - but none of my assumptions turned out to be true! Bonus points for really surprising me in a book from 1994! I loved this one and highly recommend any Goosebumps fans to read this one if you have not already. It's some good, fun horror!

A solid lesson hidden beneath the story here about appreciating what you have while you have it. This story gave me semi-Honey I Shrunk The Kids vibes and that was cool, too! 3.5 stars but rounding up to a 4 because it reminded me of a time in 5th grade where I could have been in the same situation!

3.5 for this one. I just couldn't totally get into the new setting and I definitely couldn't get into Count Olafs new disguise. At all. But at least now the kids are totally on the lookout at all times and spend most of the time trying to expose Count Olaf as opposed to him sneaking up on them and so on!

I never understood the Monster Blood craze with this series, and this sequel does not help that at all. It just continues with the same 2 kids being just as dumb if not dumber here than in the first book. How did they not learn?? Like... I dont get it! And the "twist" with this one actually had me say, "Oh, COME ON!" because it was so out of left field and a little ridiculous. I'm just glad that as an adult AND as a kid I am consistent in not being a fan of Monster Blood that much! 2.5 stars.

3.5 out of 5! Full review to come! Thanks so much to Sinister Grin Press for this copy in exchange for my (upcoming) review!

I really enjoyed this installment in the series. It has a great pace, an introduction to some fun, interesting, and new characters, and I most enjoyed the fact the kids executed a different plan to expose Count Olaf than they have from the previous books. They decided to form a plan instead of straight up calling him out for the fraud in disguise that he is, and I loved the mystery that came along with it. I also really enjoyed the introduction of the Quagmire siblings! Just a good story and I am rejuvenated to finish this series even quicker now!

5 stars!!! Loved it! Full review to come

The Dreadful Objects is a blend of paranormal/suspense/horror/cozy mystery to me. And I love all those genres separately so you can only imagine how much I enjoyed this perfect blend. The protagonist of this story, TJ, receives a call from a stranger telling him that his uncle has passed away and that he is now the sole heir of all of the inheritance, estate, etc. TJ's uncle was a famous horror author who killed himself and shortly after TJ moves in to his uncle's home he finds himself caught in the middle of a paranormal mystery.

The writing is clean and purposeful and it was hard for me to have to put the book down for even a minute. The descriptions of the house give me ALL the spooky and cozy (yes, I am using those adjectives together) vibes and it just sounds like a really cool house in which to live.

This book is not your typical horror trope of a haunted house, but a house with haunted/haunting elements that form together as pieces of a larger paranormal puzzle. Readers who are tired of the same old spooky house story will feel relieved and refreshed to know this story is not like most.

This one gets 4.5 stars from me and I am eager to start reading something else by Chris Cooper! I recommend this to anyone who loves a good atmospheric blend of paranormal/horror/cozy mystery!

This may be my first run-in with flash fiction or flash horror. I am not sure what the difference is between that and a short story, so I will be making comparisons between this book and short story collections because it is the closest thing I can think of. I need to get educated!

Short story collections are usually a total hit or a total miss with me. I find myself either loving every story or 2 and 3-starring each individual story and dragging through a lot of them. The Sea Was a Fair Master, however, is definitely a collection that held my attention the entire time. Each short story had this twist to it that I could never see coming. Some of them made me gasp. Two of them were SO good that I immediately re-read them and read them out loud to my husband just because I needed to see someone else's reaction immediately.

I read this book in one sitting while working on one Mai Tai at the pool. It was the perfect book to start off my vacation reading! These stories are quick and fast-paced and they can be enjoyed at almost anytime: in the waiting room at a hospital (okay you may need Tolstoy there actually...), waiting on the train, waiting on your food to re-heat, etc. The point is: this book can be read in one sitting or each story individually and it can work ANYTIME.

4.5 out of 5! Thanks so much to the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I can't wait to see what dark and twisted stories come out of his mind next!