Do not be fooled by the size of this book. While under 100 pages, The Easton Fall's Massacre: Bigfoot's Revenge is packed with love, grief, & betrayal as well as intense survival instincts for fear of a heinous, gruesome, and painful death.

It's hard to know who to root for in this story. You feel empathy towards the humans and the race of Bigfoot and you are constantly going back and forth. Because the race of Bigfoot *do* exemplify some human behaviors and traits that make them more than just a low IQ hulking beast with a lust for ripping apart people and smashing them into the ground. It would be a lot easier to hate these creatures or to feel like they are 100% the villain.

This novella does a wonderful job at making the reader really think while balancing the terror inflicted by the creatures. I found myself cringing while observing the demise of so many in Easton Falls. To say the creatures are strong and horrifying is an understatement. Definitely recommended for fans of creature features, survival horror, and grief!

Finishing this book feels like finishing a race around the globe. I am exhausted! So much happens in this epic dystopian novel that serves as the cornerstone for the genre. This is more than just a book about a superflu killing 99.4% of the world's population. It is more than just a story about the evil Randall Flagg. The Stand is an epic novel. We have themes like society vs government as an agent of destruction, good vs evil, rebuilding a society, betrayal, love and death, religion, and so much more. King's insanely huge cast of characters is impressive.

I loved MOST of this book so much! So many characters stole my heart (Stu, Fran, Nick, Tom, Mother Abagail) while others just annoyed me so much and I dreaded their pages upon pages of meandering activity and bland conversations (Larry, Trash Can Man, Harold). I really enjoyed Randall Flagg and looked forward to his sections... but... he really did not seem to be in this book NEARLY as much as I have lived my entire life thinking he would be, even in the extended/uncut edition where we have some more scenes. I wanted more Flagg in this story - so that kind of let me down (Trash Can Man seemed to be in the book more and his parts were excruciating for me to read).

Finishing The Stand is definitely a feat and one that I am happy I completed! I will re-read this at some point in my life... but it will be a long time from now. It will be in a time that my own future life experiences and knowledge can better connect with more characters. It will be in a time that is not being completely shrouded by the pandemic that is Covid-19. Our current global situation definitely adds to the exhaustion and impatience while reading The Stand - it severely impacted my reading journey.

This is super difficult for me to rate. I want to respect and honor the extreme epicness that IS The Stand... the entire plot, the saga that was created, all the character development, everything. That alone is a 5 star rating for me. But there were just too many parts where I wanted to close up shop and stop reading. There were too many parts that slogged along and felt like more of a chore than a pleasure. I am going to land SOMEWHERE between a 4 and a 5. I loved it more than a 4 but not a full 5 in its entirety. The Stand is incredible and a book I will always recommend and I know it will stay with me forever.

So this book is so perfectly Goosebumps-y that *I* got goosebumps! It's even got a great cover!
This is the first book in the Twisted Books to Leave You Shook series and I can definitely say I want more and will be reading more! Everyone knows I am a huge middle grade/nostalgia horror fan and this is certainly right up my alley! I would recommend it to any of you who feel the same way and I think it could be read by any of your kids 8-13+ or so, too!

Each chapter has its own mini cliffhanger that keeps you tearing through the story. The characters are extremely accurate and this book has a modernized and technological twist: filter apps on your cell phone are becoming a reality for the user! I think this story is extremely relevant (and on a deeper level it covers "filters on life" and not just an app on the phone), teaches great lessons about kindness and friendship, and it explores forgiveness and letting go of the past. I know it seems wild to get all of that out of this book, but I did!

I believe this could be the start of a fresh new series for our young readers and will groom future horror lovers of the world! HIGHLY recommended! So, now, the only real question is: are you ready to be SHOOK?

Bad Hare Day is not the "traditional spooky" that most of the other Goosebumps books are. There is a magical element to this one, as the title and cover may indicate, but that's mostly all it is. I had hoped for a little more evil or sinister scary vibes with this but it was still a quick, fun read.

Review to come

This book has so much happening! It's got lots of science discussion, tons of underwater action, a lot of shark/Megolodon presence, and character development that exceeded my expectations. I saw this movie when it came out a year ago and was skeptical about the book. While I enjoyed the movie, I wondered how all that "ridiculousness" would play out in a book. Well, 98% of that ridiculousness is only in the movie so it turned out great!

Reading about this GIGANTIC Megolodon swimming around, stalking the submersibles, and attacking whales/humans/etc had me on edge. It was stressful reading this but in a way that I had hoped Jaws would have made me feel but didn't. Yes, I went there. I compared this wild ride of a book to Jaws. And I will gladly defend why it is better than Jaws to anyone whenever I see them (the book only, not the movie!) For starters, I didn't spend almost ~100 PAGES reading about some boring, lame affair when I should have been reading about... A SHARK.

Alten did a great job at keeping my interest piqued. I was never bored and could hardly turn these pages fast enough! There is a blurb on the back of the book from the Los Angeles Times that calls this one "Jurassic Shark" and they are not wrong at all! I am READY to read the rest of the series - I did not even know it was a series until I picked up this copy! 5 sharky stars from me!

I am absolutely having the best time with these creature feature novellas that are taking over! In The Buck Stops Here, we get a half-human, half-animal beast that has the power to decapitate someone as well as essentially rip through bronze door knockers. If I needed another reason to NEVER go into the woods again, then this is it. I like my head attached to my body, thank you very much!

The writing in this story is great - the characters are exceptionally crafted in this short novella. The deaths are brutal and the mystery/intrigue is quite compelling. Definitely a fun and wild read that I hope to discuss with more people!

Note: this is another book with purchase proceeds benefiting the World Wildlife Federation!

Well, dang! What did I just read? That was wild and went in a totally different way than I expected based on that first chapter. Everything I thought was flipped completely upside down. I actually felt sorry for someone in this that I never thought I would. This is a short story but it packs quite the gut punch! Deeply twisted and gross at times, but also heartbreaking. If you like weird, creepy, and messed up then this is a great read!

With this collection of short stories, Andersen Prunty really lets us into his creative and weird mind... and I am thankful for that! These stories were unique and crazy odd and interesting. My absolute favorites were "The Library of Trespass," "The Spot," and "Bury the Children in the Yard." Prunty finds a way to break your heart in all the weirdness. The stories aren't just bizarre or gross, they also have meaning and open your eyes. This collection of unsettling stories is the second body of work of Prunty's I have read, and I am definitely going to keep down this spiral of irksome depravity and see where I land! 3.5 rounded up on Goodreads!

*uncomfortably grinning ear to ear and shaking my head in disbelief* WHAT DID I JUST READ? I love some Mellick, don't get me wrong, but he continues to blow my mind with his creativity and imagination. He explores the wildest scenarios and somehow just makes them all mesh together so well. In this obese/overweight dystopia, you buy your meals with credit cards AND calorie cards. You read that correctly! You have a certain amount of calories you can purchase a day. And one way to get more is to insert your calorie card into an exercise bike. Our protagonist fills her caloric intake in a wild variety of ways and decides to get a special bike that can add 3x the amount of points to her calorie card than a normal exercise bike. And... it is crazy! See for yourself - but I will not be held responsible for your reactions or nightmares!