Swerve by Vicki Pettersson

photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Released: July 2015

Swerve is a thriller and standalone novel by Vicki Pettersson — author of the popular "Sign of the Zodiac" urban fantasy series. Like the urban fantasy series, Swerve takes place in Las Vegas, too (as well as in Primm and on the I-15), so if you live in Vegas or have spent time there, you'll most likely really enjoy this novel.

Swerve is a quick read and everything a thriller should be — it's extremely suspenseful and fast-paced, and well written to keep you interested to the last page. It's bloody, gory, and scary, and could easily be adapted for the big screen. In fact, Pettersson's writing in Swerve is so vivid and colorful that I could see the story unfolding in my head as if it were an actual movie.

Wireman by Billie Sue Mosiman

My beloved copy of Wireman

Released: October 1984

I found Wireman in the horror section at my local used bookstore. I read Deadly Affections by Billie Sue Mosiman a few years ago, so I was familiar with the author and couldn't resist the cover of Wireman. This novel is a brief, though satisfying read if you appreciate the horror, thriller, & suspense genres.

The boy is evil!

Ten-year-old Nick Ringer and his younger brother Daley often fend for themselves since their mother devotes her time to drinking, drugs, and "whoring" the streets of Bloomington. In summer of 1960, Nick realizes he's only having fun when he's hurting or killing frogs, rodents, and other small animals. Fast forward to Vietnam 1974, and Nick and Daley are lone American survivors in a forest near Quang Ngai. Daley finally understands his brother's true evil nature when Nick easily kills a Vietnam soldier using a garrote without batting an eye. From that point on, there's no denying Nick is dangerous and needs help.

Urban Gothic by Brian Keene

fantasticfiction.co.uk

Released: August 2009

Brian Keene is one of my favorite horror novelists, so of course I couldn't resist picking up Urban Gothic when I found it in the bookstore. I flew through this novel in two days! I absolutely loved it. A great prelude to Halloween.

White suburban teens get stranded in the ghetto

After attending a hip-hop concert somewhere in Philadelphia, three teenage girls and their boyfriends are stranded in a broken-down, low-income neighborhood when their car breaks down during a wild goose chase for a bag of weed. While trying to fix their car, the teens are frightened away by a group of scary-looking black teens who only wanted to help. Desperate to get away, the teens escape to a nearby deserted, boarded-up house.

The Association by Bentley Little

goodreads.com

Released: September 2001

I usually devote the entire autumn season to horror, but this year, I've gotten an early start. Bentley Little is another horror novelist I can't stop obsessing about. His work is so creepy.

Check out the back cover synopsis for The Association. Isn't the summary irresistible?

Congratulations, Barry and Maureen: You've been approved by the Association and are encouraged to move into your exclusive gated community as soon as possible. Please be aware that we reserve the right to approve your decor, your landscaping, your friends, and your job. All relationships with neighbors should be avoided. Any interference from the outside will not be tolerated. Any attempt to leave will be stopped. Any infraction of the rules could result in severe fines, physical punishment, or death. Please send all other inquiries to the house on the hill. Preferably before dark. P.S. You're being watched.

Sincerely,
THE ASSOCIATION

Slither by Edward Lee

photo by Amazon.com

Released: November 2006

I grabbed Slither from my bookshelf with high hopes of indulging in splatterpunk. This is the first novel I've ever read by Edward Lee, and I'm happy to say I loved it, and I'm looking forward to reading The Golem and Infernal Angel --  both of which are already on standby at Mt. TBR.

Though Slither is plenty violent and terrifying, I was hoping it would be a bit more splatterpunky than it was. But the novel's ending is wholly satisfying and justifies everything...I can't wait to read more of Edward Lee's backlist.

Death Instinct by Bentley Little

amazon.com

Released: 1992

Death Instinct is Bentley Little's third novel, and was originally released under Little's pen name, Phillip Emmons. This novel is superb; it seems as if the horror genre in general was at its peak during the 1990s. If you want to feel horrified, shocked, grossed out, or (insert any other creepy adjective here), I'd suggest stocking up on horror novels by any author during this time period. I originally picked up Death Instinct after having read and enjoyed The Store by Bentley Little.

Wanna play naked horsie?

Death Instinct opens with a disturbing prologue that offers us a glimpse into the childhood of the novel's heroine, Cathy. Throughout Cathy's pre-teen years, her older brother David includes her in his many perverted games, one of which involves forcing her to watch him play naked on a toy horse. The author lets on that Cathy is an innocent young girl being taken advantage of by her sinister older brother.

The Store by Bentley Little

amazon.com

Released: July 1998

If you're prone to judging books by their covers, the copy shown here of The Store will have you thinking there's not much to this particular book. It looks like another one of those ruthless, desert horror stories that take place in a hobunk small town in the middle of nowhere, and creepy shit happens there, like in the movie U-Turn featuring Sean Penn.

So again, if you're a person who often judges a book by its cover, let me tell you that the story in this book is much bigger than its lame cover may indicate.

The Book of Common Dread by Brent Monahan

www.amazon.com

Released: June 1993

The early 1990s: a lovely era during which some of the best vampire fiction was released. Anne Rice's vampire chronicles featuring Lestat were going strong, Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series was just starting out, and LJ Smith's Vampire Diaries had just made its debut on the teen scene (before The CW ruined it for me. Long live LJ Smith and her original works!).

Considering the early 1990s were great years for vampires, I wasn't surprised to find that The Book of Common Dread was ranked right up there with them.

Night Rituals by Gary Paulsen

www.amazon.com

Released: July 1989

I'm a sucker for vintage thriller and suspense novels such as this one. I've had Gary Paulsen's Night Rituals lying around for a few weeks, and decided to read it immediately to take part in the February monthly keyword challenge over at Bookmark to Blog. "Night" is one of February's keywords.

Its gruesome synopsis is what originally drew me to Night Rituals. The novel begins when a janitor at the Denver airport finds a severed boob in an abandoned carry-on bag. Ed "Push" Tincker - the homicide detective assigned to the case - soon learns that a serial killer is cutting up women and scattering their body parts across the western part of the United States. Push also learns that the murderer is trying to follow a crazy ritual that could be satanic, or just merely part of an ancient Indian or South American ritual.

Addison House by Clare McNally

fantasticfiction.co.uk

Released: November 1988

I'm addicted to old-school horror novels. They remind me of my middle-school days, when I used to walk over to the library after school and check out stacks of horror novels by V.C. Andrews, John Saul, Dean Koontz, and any others I could get my hands on. (My reading list was NEVER supervised by my parents.)

I scooped up Addison House at my local indie bookstore. I thought I'd devoured every Clare McNally novel ever published, but this one somehow fell off my radar.

Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton

laurellkhamilton.org

Released: 1995

Circus of the Damned is the third novel in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. Anita Blake is actually an animator who raises zombies for a living, but also has the ability to kill vampires as long as they are legally considered "criminals."

I originally read the first several books in this series shortly after they were released about 20 years ago, but lost interest somewhere around book #8. I've decided to re-read the series a few decades later to see if I would enjoy it more the second time around. So far, so good!

A Catch in Time by Dalia Roddy

fantasticfiction.co.uk

Released: April 2010

I decided to read A Catch in Time this month for the January Monthly Keyword Challenge over at Bookmark to Blog. One of the January keywords is "clock," so I figured the word "time" would work as an acceptable variation.

A Catch in Time is about a group of people who band together after the majority of the population dies due to a mysterious global blackout. For 3 minutes, everyone in the world falls unconscious during the blackout, but only a few are enlightened with visions that help them grasp and understand the true meaning of life.

The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton

laurellkhamilton.org

Released: September 1994

The Laughing Corpse is the second book in the "Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter" series by Laurell K. Hamilton. I first read this novel about 15 years ago, but the humor in this series failed to entertain me, so I quit around books #4 or #5. With renewed interest in the paranormal romance genre, I've decided to start over with the series. Just for fun. To see if I've changed my mind.

Vampire hunter and zombie animator Anita Blake continues to spend her nights raising the dead by profession. When a number of families are found brutally murdered and torn apart inside their homes, Anita suspects that a very old and very powerful zombie is behind the gruesome killings.

Dearest by Peter Loughran

amazon.com

Released: 1983

I actually found Dearest by accident (literally) at my local bookstore. While browsing horror novels by Bentley Little, this novel slipped out and fell to the floor. As if the front cover weren't quite creepy enough, the back cover blurbs convinced me to give this novel a try.

The book's synopsis reads:

"He was a taxi driver with very definite ideas about women. The trouble was that no woman - no matter how much he might love her - could ever live up to his expectations. 

Then he met Jacqui. She was a beauty. Really gorgeous. And after she began to carry his unborn child, and he gave her a ring in the prospect of marriage, he knew he had to take certain steps to preserve her and their relationship permanently."

Cries of the Children by Clare McNally

www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

Released: September 1992

It's been years since I read any horror novels by Clare McNally, and I've missed her! I have fond memories of reading McNally during my pre-teen years spent living in Hawaii, after a new library opened and began carrying fresh and spankin' new copies of all her novels. I've always been a huge fan of McNally.

Cries of the Children tells the story of three young children who are left confused, abandoned, and alone in various parts of the country. First, there is 8-year-old Julie, who awakens to find herself in the care of Samantha, a 35-year-old doctor who lives near the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Then there's Lorraine, a 5-year-old girl who finds herself in New York City alone and with a suitcase full of money, who eventually gets taken in by a homeless woman. Lastly, there is Steven, a 10-year-old boy who is taken in by a close-knit and loving family of four who live in Columbus, Ohio.

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

www.laurellkhamilton.org

Released: October 1993

Guilty Pleasures is the first book in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. I first read this novel and a few of its successors nearly 15 years ago, but don't quite remember why I ended up losing interest in the series. On a recent venture to my local indie bookstore, I decided to restock my shelves with the first few books in this series to try it again, and to see where my opinion of the series now stands as a professional reviewer.

In the end, I'm glad I decided to give Guilty Pleasures another try, because I truly enjoyed my time with the novel, and thought it very original.

Castaways by Brian Keene

www.briankeene.com

Released: February 2009

Brian Keene first managed to catch my eye with The Conqueror Worms in 2006. I even remember the first time I saw this novel; I was walking down the center aisle of my local Barnes and Noble, and there it was, chillin' on the round center display that houses newly released mass-market paperbacks. The book's cover featured an image of scary-looking killer worms devouring an entire city. After visiting Barnes and Noble several more times that spring, I finally gave in and bought a copy. I was hooked on Brian Keene's novels from that day forward.

Latter-Day of the Dead by Kevin Krohn

www.goodreads.com

Released: March 2012

Latter-Day of the Dead is Kevin Krohn's third novel. Krohn is also the author of the Severed Ties thriller series.

On a seemingly calm night, a man with a developmental disability named Benjamin (in real-life, I would say "retarded," but this is the Internet so shhhhhh!) crosses the Utah border into Arizona to visit a strip club. Benjamin is from an isolated, polygamist, Mormon compound, so visiting a strip club is absolutely forbidden, and of the utmost taboo.

The Troupe by Robert Jackson Bennett

photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Released: February 2012

Robert Jackson Bennett has won multiple awards for his novels, including the Shirley Jackson Award, the Sydney J. Bounds Newcomer Award, and the Edgar Award. The Troupe is Bennett's third novel.

George Carole is a talented, 16-year-old pianist searching for the father he's never met after having lost his mother at childbirth. In an effort to locate his father—a man he believes to be the infamous vaudeville troupe leader Heironomo Silenus—George joins the vaudeville industry with hopes of coming one step closer to a reunion with his father.

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

FantasticFiction.co.uk

Release Date: June 2012

This is Not a Test is the 4th novel by young-adult novelist Courtney Summers.

Dreamworld's Synopsis

In the near future, teenager Sloane Price is ready for her life to end. Her mother has died, her older sister Lily has abandoned her, and her father is an abusive, violent monster. Sloane is nearly relieved when a zombie apocalypse threatens to wipe out the rest of the living humans in her town, yet is compelled to flee for safety. Sloane then spends the next several weeks locked inside of her high school with 5 other students hiding from zombies. It is there inside the high school that Sloane realizes that she still has reasons to fight for survival.