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This book is quite the ride! The beginning half is a little clunky, but once the characters actually reach the town of Dust the pace picks up to breakneck speed in a near continuous flurry of gunfire of splattering body parts

I wasn’t really emotionally connected with any of the characters, and found myself skimming until I got to the gory parts. My favorite character is probably the lead James Dee (a grizzled Clint Eastwood type), who wields some pretty awesome magical powers, and the most problematic character is Denarius, who is written in a way that made me uncomfortable

Still, there’s a lot of fun to be had here. The violence is gleefully gratuitous and abundant, and the creature design of the horrors found in Dust are very interesting and vividly graphic. When I just let go of all pretense and saw this for the schlocky tale it is I was able to find a good deal of enjoyment (just think of it as a sleazy B-movie or ultra-violent video game and you're good) I'm down for anything that riffs on the Lovecraft mythos, so that was an immediate plus for me. Some bloody good times to be had under the old-world Western sun

I haven’t read a lot of slashers, but I know enough about the genre to recognize this as an old-school throwback to 80s nostalgia and horror. Not only is it tense and bloody, but it’s also a lot of fun! I realized just how fun once I put the book down and could breath again. I’m not kidding when I say this book had me on the edge of my seat for the entirety of the second half!

Despite an extended first half void of many scares, I sped through this book. I actually enjoyed the longer set up: getting to know the kids and understanding their dynamics to each other and the camp. As a teacher I felt like protagonists are incredibly realistic characters, and I’ll admit I felt for Counselor Sheehan having to put up with their shenanigans haha

But again, that second half

Grief addicts unite! This book should come with a free therapy session, or at the very least a box of tissues. What a heavy read. I could feel the sorrow and pain coming off the pages as I read, and after finishing it I was completely wrecked.

Briefly, this book is about a single mother named Chris who recently lost her only son, Trey, to a tragic car accident. After accidentally cutting herself at the spot he was killed, Trey suddenly appears in the middle of the night before fading away again. Desperate to see her son, Chris makes a crossroads deal with the devil and begins down the dangerous road of "how much would you sacrifice for a loved one?"

I've always said that horror involving children became much more horrifying once I had kids of my own, and this story is certainly no exception. As a parent I can't imagine going through what happens to Chris. The moments of brief interaction with her dead son, the agonizing when he disappears again - all of it hit me hard. Chris goes to some intense lengths in the book, but at the same time I can understand her reasoning for the tough decisions that she makes (decisions that grow increasingly grim as the story progresses).

The writing is excellent, tone and mood both handled with deft precision. The story begins with a consistently wistful/forlorn tone, before devolving into a mix of fearful desperation and calculated resolve. And all the while the grief (that's the keyword for this review) is palpable. It's in the power of the storytelling that from the very first unknowing sacrifice Chris makes you know exactly where this book is headed, but you also can't look away at the same time. I will say there's a dark ambiguity to the final act of the book, a wonderful building of dread, and a twist that left me cold fear I still can't shake.

I loved the stripped down nature of the book, in that there are only a few characters and essentially two locations. I also liked the format of the plot, with its back and forth rotation between the place of Trey's death and and Chris's house. Every time Chris goes to the location of the accident you're anticipating with grim fascination what she's going to do, and every time she returns home you hold your breath to see if it worked. This is not a book of jump scares and over the top gore (although there are some very graphic scenes), but rather one of subtle horror and mounting dread.

My only complaint, small as it is, involves the secondary character Dan. I appreciate how he allows himself to be a selfless refuge for Chris's varying temperament, but I couldn't help getting frustrated at his enabling tenancies (especially when he fully sees the road she's on). He's certainly an interesting character, just one that I wanted more action from.

Overall this is an incredible novella, and one of my favorite reads of the year so far! It's certainly a different kind of horror, but I'm a big fan of stories that focus on the human emotions and relationships (think Haunting of Hill House or Hereditary). Go check it out! (4.5 stars rounded up for Goodreads)

Review to come

Writer Jeff Lemire enjoys adding elements of the strange and uncanny in his stories, but this is his first move into outright scares. Gideon Falls is a delightfully bizarre combination of psychological thriller and cosmic horror. And as always from Lemire the writing is strong, from a fantastic opening hook to a narrative full of twists you will never see coming. Not only is the story gripping, but the art by Sorrentino plays with the medium in a way I’ve never seen before in comics, providing another layer of disorientation and immersion. It’s a perfect example of how art can compliment and even elevate a story.

30 Days of Night gives you the vicious, violent vampires you know and love, but puts them in a setting you may not have seen before. The swirling, freezing cold of winter lies heavy on every page, brilliantly illustrated by artist Ben Templesmith. I’m a huge fan of his work (something of a cross between Dave McKean and Ralph Steadman), and it’s showcased wonderfully in a backdrop of ancient evil and dripping viscera. The stakes are clearly set: a horde of vampires versus a band of small town residents who must find a way to make it through the next thirty days of darkness. Will they survive to see the light of day?

As interesting as the story is, I found it incredibly rushed and even hard to follow at times. Really wish it had taken its time with everything because the set up/story ideas are great.

The mood hangs heavy over the house at High Place, creating a sinister and unnerving atmosphere that fits perfectly in the gothic genre. The thick fog, the overgrown cemetery, the ancient underground caves, the massive house that stays in almost total darkness – all work together to create a very foreboding setting for our young protagonist. The prose is excellent, lush with detail and vivid in its imagery. One can almost feel the rot and smell the miasma, so pervasively prevalent and perfectly described.

Noemí is such a fantastic character! She’s immediately likeable, with her gaiety, quick wit, and fierce sense of determination. But she’s also a realistic character, prone to a quick temper and vulnerable to fear. She truly carries the story along, through the tense moments but also through the parts that are plodding or perplexing in their ambiguity. She also manages to hold her own against forces that would seek to harm her, from the racism and violence of the other characters to the demonic forces hiding within the walls.

This is definitely what one would call a slow burn, but it also serves the story well. The first third of the book sets up the characters and inciting incident. The second third builds the tension with mounting dread and bursts of nightmares. And finally the last third veers into outright horror, laying bare the grotesque motives and hideous backstory of our antagonists. I don’t fully understand everything that happened in that final act, but I know it was visceral, mind-bending, and utterly memorable.

I’m a big fan of gothic stories, and I loved all the traces of Horace Walpole, Mary Shelley, Emily Bronte, Daphne du Maurier, and, perhaps most heavily, Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Overall this is an incredible book, and takes a place among other favorite reads for the year!