Everyone knows the story of Cinderella. But what if the story we know was always a lie? We never got to see the events leading up to it or the world that emerged after her happily ever after. Magic exists in that world, so who's to say magic wasn't influencing things the whole time? Cinderella has been dead now for 200 years and the kingdom seems a lot more like The Handmaid's Tale than a loving fairy tale. Teenage girls are now required to go to the ball each year to be "chosen" by a man - is this some form of control and misogyny or is it an attempt to honor Cinderella and provide each girl her own fairy tale ending? If the girl is not chosen, she is forfeited and no one ever sees her again. What is going ON??

Our protagonist, Sophia, is a queer Black girl, and she is fierce, strong, and she starts to suspect something is grossly wrong with the way the world is. Why can't she be with the girl of her dreams and why is she being forced to get chosen by a man at the ball? Her awareness and wit force her in a situation where she is starting a resistance and uprising in the kingdom, whether she knows it or not. This rebooted "retelling" is unique, entertaining, and had so many twists! I absolutely devoured this book and cannot wait for more from the author. 4 stars!

Halloween Season is a fun collection of short stories and a few poems, each with a different theme and exploring different terrors. As the synopsis indicates, there are a couple of Christmas stories thrown in... because as we know, Christmas is always being shoved down our throats before Halloween even happens! I like the idea of how/why the Christmas stories might have been included, but I would have rather have had 2 more Halloween stories since it IS the season, after all!

This collection spans topics like cults, evil twins, a foodie's worst nightmare, misophonia-adjacent horror, singing witches, disappearing trees, and more! My absolute FAVORITE story in the bunch is "Cosmic Cola" as it seems like one of the most Halloween-centric tales and has a lot of what I look for in a fun, creepy story! I do not want to go into it too much for fear of spoilers, but I think this story is worth buying the book all by itself! I also loved the opening poem, "Beggars' Night" and other stories "Hazlenuts and Yummy Mummies," "Visions of the Dream Witch," "In The Family," "The Kind Detective," and "A Preference for Silence." The last one mentioned, while only a couple of pages, is my second favorite because I totally connect with it! I can't stand hearing noises like: chewing, breathing, snoring, etc in certain situations and I feel like that story resonates with me on a spiritual level.

4 stars to this collection and thank you so much for Raw Dog Screaming Press for the review copy! Add this to your Halloween collection!

Queen of the Conquered is a revenge-filled story centered around slavery, colonialism, corruption, privilege, and power. It takes place in the Caribbean and is full of so much sensory imagery that you will think you're there smelling all the spices and hearing everything. Our protagonist, Sigourney Rose, survived her wealthy family being massacred when she was a child and is now a woman and she is the only Black person in power on the islands. While she is free, and opposes slavery and the system that has made these islands prosperous, she has her own slaves. The plot has already thickened and you are just getting a glimpse into how complex Sigourney is. Is this an example of the oppressed becoming the oppressor? Sometimes she is full of her own self-loathing for playing part in the further suffering of her people, but she will then counterbalance and justify her actions by telling herself she has to do these things in order to sneak in correct the system and change the balance of power. Want to kick it up a notch? She has a gift called "kraft" which allows her to see peoples' thoughts and manipulate them into doing things that she wants. Yep-- everything just got even more heightened here! Traditionally on the island, any Black person who has the kraft is killed and the white people are allowed to maintain this divine-given magic. There are so many layers of oppression and slavery that exist.

There's quite a heavy story in this book, and I would have enjoyed it better for two things: pacing and naming. The pacing is slightly off in that sometimes I was super intrigued and other times I was mind-numbingly bored at some rambling. And throw in all of these names and locations that have so many similarities I found myself getting confused and zoning out and having to re-read a bit to grasp what was happening. This is definitely a solid read and the first in a duology... and it is one that I recommend! 4 stars!

Roald Dahl truly is the best storyteller and he proves it once again with The Witches. This book is quite dark for children as it is all about children-hating witches who want to eat and kill them all. Yikes! From the lore to the physical descriptions, these witches are quite scary and I remember being terrified as a kid. The Grand High Witch is absolutely one of the scariest witches I have ever read/seen on screen in my entire life. One of my favorite elements to this story is the relationship between Luke and Grandmamma. They have such a unique bond and they both truly get one another. I found Bruno, the gluttonous "friend," to be quite intolerable in the book, however. I know I was not a fan of him in the original movie, but I really just got annoyed by him here for sure. For parents wanting to transition their kids into some "horror" books and movies, I think this is a great choice as it has a lot of creepy elements but is still fun, light-hearted, and adventurous!

Having seen this movie, I can say the adaptation is pretty much a straight forward and scene by scene walk-through... so that's good! The writing style is average for a novelization and knowing the story... It felt so different READING a Halloween story instead of watching it as that has been my experience my whole life! Fans of Halloween will definitely enjoy this experience, change of pace, and being thrown into a world where Myers is all in your head as opposed to the screen in front of you! 3.5 stars rounded up for Goodreads! Happy Halloween!

If you need witchy realness and a variety of styles, themes, and plots then this is most definitely the set of short stories for you! I cant believe I held on to this one so long before reading it -- not fully knowing what it was about. I thoroughly enjoyed these stories-- some from authors I've never read before and some from authors I've come to love! Highly recommend this one!

The thing I love most about Stephen Graham Jones books is that you never know what you're going to get. You can expect a good story, but the details, shocks, and the way each book makes you feel are always different and always a surprise.

I was hooked at the beginning and totally entranced with the story and the backstory. Of all the friends who we are introduced to, I thought Lewis had the most captivating story as well as the most shocking and gutwrenching. I literally gasped twice and moaned out loud on a separate time during his story. "AH NOOO!!!" The despair, paranoia, fear, and anxiety here... ugh! But for me, the book took a slight dip downhill once we moved on from Lewis. The pacing shifted a bit and the story was not connecting (enough?) for me. The fear and threat factor dropped a bit as well. I still enjoyed the storytelling itself, but it almost felt like a separate book to me. I got slightly lost a time or two and had to reread and regroup... but by the end I was gutted all over again. This is definitely a story that will make you feel hollow, sickened, and almost lonely. Its heartbreaking horror and there are no happy fairy tale endings. As certain alien movies have made me fearful of owls and owl faces, this book has ruined elk and deer for me from a comfort level. I will always be wondering... and I will always think of this book! 3.5 stars rounded up on Goodreads!

Ahh! That was some serious spooky fun as well as just fun in general! Its probably been 25 years since I've read a BSC book, but because I've seen the 1995 movie about 3,000 times I was instantly on board with who each girl is, her family, her attitude and style, etc. It really felt like reuniting with friends from 5th grade and I had such a fun time reading this! I've gotta get more. Is there a REAL ghost?? You gotta find out!

Pumpkinheads is my introduction to Rainbow Rowell. I have seen the name all over the place for some time and just never quite understood or knew the stories, books, or really anything! I picked up Pumpkinheads for its seasonal goodness, but even then I had no idea this was a graphic novel (despite it saying so right on the cover - don't judge me!) I loved this so much! It embodies all things fall and has lots of great puns, jokes, and shenanigans that go awry all throughout. It has a deeper lesson of friendship, love, and making memories matter in the present while maybe not necessarily knowing the downstream nostalgic implications they will have. The style was great and I just ate up the story from cover to cover. I am definitely going to be looking into more Rainbow Rowell!

Oh my goodness... I can't even begin to explain why I do this to myself! But ... that title... that cover... how could I not?? Following the "success" of Kissing the Coronavirus, this author decides to release this story about Beth, a busty and big bootied woman who is one of the world's top artificial intelligence virtual reality development coders. She has a thirst for great sex and is not getting it... and she realizes she reaches climax while reading the President's powerful Tweets. His audacity and confidence are everything to her... and she accidentally changes the coding while attending to herself while wearing VR goggles which naturally brings forth the President's Twitter feed in the form of a robot. All I can think about is a T-800 spouting off Tweets and it's wildly disturbing. On many levels. I can't even with this... I wish I could give it 0 stars. I definitely laughed a lot... but... ahhh... why do I torture myself?! Here are some of my "favorite" quotes..

"Then he slowly pushed his love wand into her cave of desires."

"That was the moment Beth realised she was turned on by the most powerful power in the entire world. The President's Twitter feed."

"...thinking of the night before when Trevvy had rammed her like she was a castle door in the middle of a medieval battle."

"Then, the President's Twitter feed grabbed her by the..." okay so I think we all know how that sentence ends...

"Litres of semen powerful enough to impregnate numerous killer whales."