Every twisted theme park needs an origin story, and Smileyland’s is deliciously deranged. Before the cotton candy and creepy mascot, there was an orphEvery twisted theme park needs an origin story, and Smileyland’s is deliciously deranged. Before the cotton candy and creepy mascot, there was an orphanage. And inside that orphanage, there was Sister Eustice—better known as Sister Killjoy. She ran the place with the kind of grim devotion that makes you wonder if the rosary beads were for prayer or restraint.
Inside these pages: a nun who refuses to be bullied, a possessed crucifix, and something breathing in the dark corner of the basement that she's instructed never to enter. It’s creepy, it’s corny, and it’s exactly the kind of horror-camp cocktail I want more of.
Spencer Hamilton is building a universe where the grotesque and the goofy hold hands—and I’m already in line for the next ride. ...more
This was a total impulse buy—the cover and jacket copy caught my attention instantly. I had a feeling it might not deliver, especially after skimming This was a total impulse buy—the cover and jacket copy caught my attention instantly. I had a feeling it might not deliver, especially after skimming a few reviews beforehand, but I took the plunge anyway.
Three generations of women live together in the so-called "blind house," named for its windowless front-facing wall. Twelve-year-old Valentina longs for a normal childhood, but normal isn’t in the cards—especially when, on the night of her first period, a crack in her bedroom wall begins to bleed. Their home is a magnet for bizarre phenomena: overrun by infestations of frogs, flies, and locusts. The neighbors whisper about witches, while Valentina’s grandmother insists it's the weight of an old family curse.
Either way, Valentina refuses to heed her grandmother’s pleas for prayer. Instead, she nurses a growing resentment toward her mother—trapped in a relationship where neither seems able to reach the other. Her solace comes in fleeting escapes: the steady presence of her best friend Ilaria, the tentative spark with Marco, and the few, stolen moments with her estranged father.
The Empire of Dirt spends most of its time on the shifting insecurities of adolescence and the complexities of familial bonds, while barely skimming the surface of the paranormal intrigue that made its synopsis so compelling.
It was fine, and I’m fine with that. If you’re more drawn to the coming-of-age elements than the eerie undertones, this might be exactly what you’re looking for....more
Religious horror for the win! And it comes with an unreliable narrator, too? Yes please, bring it on!
I snagged this bad boy on kindle for less than 3Religious horror for the win! And it comes with an unreliable narrator, too? Yes please, bring it on!
I snagged this bad boy on kindle for less than 3 bucks, which is a steal for a new release, but I would happily have spent full price on the print copy because this book was fire.
It follows Sister Rafaela as she attempts to settle in with the Sisters of the Divine Innocence. Rafaela, who has recently transferred from a disbanded Sisterhood, comes carrying some baggage, and is looking forward to a fresh start. That is, until an unexpected visitor knocks on the secluded abbey's door. She is unwell, coughing up blood, and doesn't make it through the night. Her arrival had Rafaela already feeling extremely unsettled, but when Mother Superior has the body placed into the Chamber of Divine Decomposition, a dark reeking place where the Sisters carefully collect the fluids that drip from the rotting corpses of their deceased, Rafaela begins to slowly lose her shit. And when they all notice that the body of the stranger fails to decompose like the others, and they begin to make claims of miracles and sainthood, everything Rafaela believes in comes into question.
We find ourselves questioning everything too, girl. We do too!
It was incredibly atmospheric and unsettling, and oh so fucked up. Themes of isolation, corruption, and past trauma perfectly drive the narrative forward and crank up the sense of dread.
I received this as an unsolicited review copy from the publisher and while it's not something I think I would have picked up on my own, I decided to gI received this as an unsolicited review copy from the publisher and while it's not something I think I would have picked up on my own, I decided to give it a read because I'm being more intentional with knocking out the arcs I have and saw no reason to slow that roll right now.
It's a quick read for two reasons: (1) it's barely over 100 pages and (2) it's all surface, no substance. If you're looking for something to check a box on a reading list, or you want something light that you can power through in a few hours, this would be a good choice.
Ultimately, it's monster vs man but with a monster we've never encountered before. Oh, and there's a little monster-rom com sprinkled in there too, I guess, for funsies.
So basically, the girl is a monster who can pass as human but with magic powers and millions of teeth who, by nature and necessity, is compelled to devour men of violence, which they dub Alexanders. Her ill and aging mom teaches her to hunt so she can be self sufficient. On their first hunt together, girl and mom kill a guy who beats his family, then wipes the wife and son's memories and charms them into letting them crash at their place. The girl and the son hit it off, bff style, reading penny dreadful books in his mom's shop while her mom sleeps off the hunt and heals, because hunting and using magic drains you, and soon the girl decides she has to hunt on her own to allow her mom to conserve her energy, and to bring back the bad guys she kills so her mom can eat, because eating Alexanders replenishes their powers and strength.
Meanwhile, a bad priest and even badder cop are aware that these monsters exist and are keeping an eye out for them, and while trying to avoid being caught by them but still needing to prowl the town for Alexanders to eat, the girl befriends another of her kind, and then all kinds of hell breaks loose.
That's the book in a nutshell. Am I giving too much away? I mean, much of this is on the back cover and it's a novelette and I'm aware that I'm probably making it sound more exciting and interesting than it really was. The writing wasn't doing it for me and the whole thing was just kind of meh. The characters are flat as pancakes and so is the world they are navigating. I nearly DNFd it a few pages in but stuck with it because it wasn't like it was a huge time commitment. That sounds horrible doesn't it? But you guuuuuuys, DNFing is so haaaaard!...more
Eh. #Bookstagram let me down a little with this one. It was just ok. Nothing super special. Not a book I'd be running around telling other people to rEh. #Bookstagram let me down a little with this one. It was just ok. Nothing super special. Not a book I'd be running around telling other people to read but if they asked me about it, I'd not deter them from giving it a try.
It's actually quite a scary hell for bookworms like us - being told you'll be surrounded by near infinite shelves of books, stuck in that endless library until you find the story of your life, where almost every book you pick up is complete gibberish, and where every night, every book gets returned to its place.
I can't pinpoint exactly what bothered me, and I generally liked it, but I wasn't wowed or hanging on to the edge of my seat with it.
If you are into books like The Divine Farce by Michael Graziano, or The Hubris of an Empty Hand by Mahyar Amouzegar, that focus on religion from very unique angles... you'll find something very similar here....more
I downloaded the review copy and entered into it cautiously because... PUPPETS! There are few things that scare the beejesus out of me but puppets, esI downloaded the review copy and entered into it cautiously because... PUPPETS! There are few things that scare the beejesus out of me but puppets, especially marionettes, are creepy as fuck and make my skin crawl something fierce so tucking them into a horror novel... oh lordy! But I really like Bad Hand Books so I took the plunge.
And I'm glad I did because I really, really enjoyed it!
Father Gaetano's Puppet Catechism starts off slow and atmospheric. It's set in a church rectory in a small town in Sicily that's been ravaged by war. A group of orphaned children were taken in by the nuns of the church and then suffered the unexpected loss of their priest. So in comes Father Gaetano. A young man of the cloth who agrees to take on the temporary work of teaching the children the Catechism. Many of their hearts have been hardened by the brutal loss of their parents at such a young age and they actively challenge the young priest, questioning God and his allowance of such horrible events. Gaetano realized he has his work cut out for him but it's while he befriends the shy nine year old Sabastiano that he learns of an abandoned puppet theatre in the basement of the rectory. The puppets, he hopes, will help him teach his bible lessons and reconnect to the children to God in a fun and interactive way.
But the puppets... well... they have other ideas.
I'm sure you can guess where things go from here. A heavy wooden box long hidden in the basement. Stuffed full of handcrafted creepy ass dolls. Just waiting for someone to come along and release them? It's all fun and games until the sun goes down and the strings come loose.
It's a quick, engrossing read that's really well written. It's dark and chilling and sure, there's a lot of set up and exploration into the church and the nuns and Father Gaetano before the good stuff really starts to kick in but there's enough build up and tension working its way through the storyline that I was ok with the whole thing. Oh, and... I'm only just now learning that the author is the dude behind Hellboy. Which, ok, yes, I admit I must live under a rock because I had no clue. But honestly, Hellboy is a bit outside of my usual tastes and if I had known of the connection prior to, I might not have been as open to reading this, so there's that, too!
Go on, dive in, and get your freaky marionette horror on!...more
Protect your fingers and your ears my friends, as you attempt to survive the horrific bliss that befalls the starving masses who hide within the wallsProtect your fingers and your ears my friends, as you attempt to survive the horrific bliss that befalls the starving masses who hide within the walls of the Aymar Castle during a six month long siege. In the moment before the last of the food finally runs out, four saintly beings appear and offer relief in the form of a fabulous feast - glistening dripping meats, the freshest juiciest fruits.
The King and his servants are immediately enthralled and welcome them with open arms. But our three protagonists - Phosyne, an ex-nun with a habit of performing minor miracles; Ser Voyne, one of the King's most loyal knights; and Treila, a serving girl with a taste for revenge - are not so easily fooled. They know this is too good to be true and band together in an attempt to banish the angelic creatures from the castle and restore what little control they might.
As bizarre as it is beautiful, this book is brimming with cannibalism, self mutilation, dark entities, and honey bees. Yes, you heard me right... honey bees. What starts off slowly soon becomes a fascinating deep sea dive into the divine, the devout, the devious, and the delirious.
Once it gets going, you're basically putty in Starling's hands.
Now I'm itching for some more medieval and religious horror. I've got Lauren Groff's Matrix, and Christopher Buehlman's Between Two Fires in the tbr pile and I can hear them calling to me rather loudly right now.... ...more
I desperately wanted a review copy of this book because of how much I loved Tender Is the Flesh. And while I did not love The Unworthy as much as thatI desperately wanted a review copy of this book because of how much I loved Tender Is the Flesh. And while I did not love The Unworthy as much as that one, it definitely stands on its own amongst its dystopian peers.
Ecological disaster has caused humanity to fall and those who have survived are seeking protection and solace anywhere they can. Our protagonist scribbles out her story using anything she can find - ink, dirt, her own blood - in the hopes that someone may find it in the future and understand what she and the other women cloistered away with her in the Sacred Sisterhood had to endure for their continued survival.
As an Unworthy, she witnesses and is sometimes forced to participate in unspeakable religious rituals that are meant to cleanse, humiliate, torture, and (when push comes to shove) unalive others under the supervision of The Superior Sister and some mysterious man they hear but never see. She does her best to fly under the radar, generally avoiding the wrath of her peers and the ultimate bodily mutilation when one is chosen to ascend into the higher ranks.
Yet when a stranger claws her way through the convent walls, our narrator willingly puts herself at risk in the face of their growing friendship, and begins to seriously question the things that are going on under the roof of the Sisterhood, most especially with what's taking place behind the locked door where the Enlightened are kept.
A bleak, bizarre, brutal, violent, cultish religious existence in which everything is worse than it first appears, The Unworthy pokes and prods at you, testing your tolerance. It starts off rather curiously, and once it has your attention, begins to dig its nails in, pinching and scratching, relentlessly picking at the sore spot, watching patiently until you begin to reach your breaking point, and then it pounces, going straight for jugular....more
This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024 (even though it doesn't come out till March 2025). I tried so hard to land an advanced copy. And maThis was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024 (even though it doesn't come out till March 2025). I tried so hard to land an advanced copy. And maybe that should have been a sign? Because holy hell, once I had it my hands, it took me forEVer to finish it! I think it's partially because I was reading it on my kindle app and not in actual print format, but also because the damn thing is just so frick'n meaty and chewy.
The writing is much heavier than I'm used to from SGJ and the story seemed to take ages to fully unfold. Even after you got the gist of where it was headed, it felt like it just kept rehashing the same things over and over again. It's like ok, honestly, I get it, I promise. Let's move on already. And then when you get to the last section, all of a sudden the damned thing just moved at warp speed. So the pacing felt all thrown off. Like, it literally took me two weeks to read the first 80% and then the final 20% of the book was over in the blink of an eye.
In true SGJ fashion, there is so much death. Gory, horrific, necessary death. There are monsters, in every sense of the word. It's a book within a book within a book and its pages drip with bloody, generational, Indigenous history. It's a revenge story with an empathetic bad guy. And when it finally ends, you don't feel as though that's the end of things, you know?
So don't get me wrong. I one hundred percent appreciate the book for what it is and how he's breathing new life into this genre. SGJ is a masterclass in revamping classic horror tropes. But good loooord my legs are tired from slogging through it all!!...more
I have been waiting to get my hands on this book for quite some time so when it suddenly appeared on the shelf at the bookstore, I wasted no time in sI have been waiting to get my hands on this book for quite some time so when it suddenly appeared on the shelf at the bookstore, I wasted no time in snagging it.
The book kicks off with an unnamed writer who has earned a three month long all-expenses-paid stay in Madrid. She visits the local bar and meets a man with a very strange story to tell. He is running from a ninety year old nun who is part of a shady underground TV talk show he recently appeared on. Instead of being reconciled with his terminally ill wife after admitting, and begging forgiveness for, his extramarital affairs on air, the nun is sending her henchman after him to collect her due. Feeling bad for him, the writer allows the man to crash at her place and finds herself pulled deeper than she could have ever anticipated into his dark and twisted story.
Carnality is chock full of sex, religion, humiliation, and violence. It's a book about how far people might go to receive, and provide, the salvation they think they deserve. And it's quite the little mindfuck! I loved every weird minute of it!...more
Ok, now this is more like it. It's a down and dirty, read it in one sitting, queer zombie novella unlike anything you've ever read. And those poor zomOk, now this is more like it. It's a down and dirty, read it in one sitting, queer zombie novella unlike anything you've ever read. And those poor zombies! They are people who contracted a new virus that keeps them alert and aware as they rot away to nothing, but it also takes control of all of their motor skills, so they can't help but chase after you screaming at you to please kill them and run like hell and then apologize to you for the gorefest they are about to unleash on your bodies.
And in this chaotic new world, there's Quinton, an HIV+ gay man who has been holed up in a cabin for decades, far removed from this horrorfest until a group of hillbillies break in, destroy his meds, and threaten his safety. Forced out into the zombiepocalypse to scrounge up as many bottles of the life saving medication as he can before going to back into hiding, he meets another HIV+ guy named Billy who is on a similar mission, and the two head off towards the Mayner Pharmaceuticals warehouse where they hope to hit the motherload. Instead, they discover much more than they bargained for.
Bloody but with a bunch of heart, The Only Safe Place Left is the Dark is a perfectly quick, cheeky read for a wet rainy afternoon. ...more
This book was hand selected for me by my bookish pal Drew as part of a curated 'blind box' of books he recently sent my way. And boy does he know my tThis book was hand selected for me by my bookish pal Drew as part of a curated 'blind box' of books he recently sent my way. And boy does he know my tastes!
Welcome to Black Wells, a small town with some pretty dark stuff swirling beneath its surface. Enter Lauren, who moves there after a bad breakup, with the hopes of starting over somwhere fresh at the recommendation of her BFFs. But one visit to a local bar bathroom changes everything when she becomes the vicitim of a violent supernatural haunting.
Unable to shake the spirits that have attached to her, she ends up connecting with William Daniels, an excommunicated exorcist who, after witnessing one of her 'episodes' is just as determined as she is to understand what is happening to her and together, they take plan to action to make it stop.
Trauma and demon possession for the win!
Not sure I would have ever picked this one up on my own, as it had flown under my radar when it released last year. But I'm so glad I read it because I really enjoyed it.
And, oh no! I see that it's planned to be a loosely connected book series set in the the town of Black Wells with the second installment, All the Prospect Around Us, already out in the world.
Damn it you guys... another series for me to keep track of, lol!! ...more
I was really blown away by Eric's novella Things Have Gotten Worse. I was so impressed with it that Eric immediately became an auto-buy author for me.I was really blown away by Eric's novella Things Have Gotten Worse. I was so impressed with it that Eric immediately became an auto-buy author for me. So when I saw that Clash Books was putting out their debut novel, onto the wishlist it went, and when I saw that Eric was seeking reviewers for it, I showed no shame in the request game and recieved a gifted kindle copy.
If you're looking for dark and bleak, you've come to the right place. You'll meet Ghost, a widower who continues to suffer physical and mental damage after a car accident claimed his wife and unborn child; Gemma, mother to a young blind girl and whom Ghost meets during one of his routine visits to the hospital; Malik and Brett, a young gay couple who recently moved into the neighborhood and are finding the place less than welcoming; and Heart Crowley, who has discovered a way to harness a god-like power and who will forever change the lives of these very different but very necessary people.
There were some cranky plotlines that bugged me a little and a few moments where I REALLY had to let go of my inner critic, because this IS a horror novel, so there's the implied expectation to suspend reality while reading it. Each time I encountered one of moments, I treated them much like I do when I'm watching a scary movie and keep screaming at the stupid actors to not go into the basement or get pissed at the people who can't seem to run without falling every five seconds while they're being chased... I breathe out an "I told you so" or just shake my head and shrug and move on.
Going into this, I had really high hopes, and while it didn't fully meet them, it was still a heck of a read. Everything the Darkness Eats is part cosmic horror, part missing persons mystery, and part smalltown secrets you're better off not uncovering....more
Good lord, the next time I decide to pick up a book this long, do me a favor and stop me. Just knock the damn thing out of my hand, or deny my netgallGood lord, the next time I decide to pick up a book this long, do me a favor and stop me. Just knock the damn thing out of my hand, or deny my netgalley or edelweiss request ok?!
It wasn't a bad book by any means, it was just toooo damn loooong. I'm postive we could've achieved the same outcome in oh, say, 300 less pages?
In a nutshell, a boy is born to a father who has a magnificantly terrible ability to communicate with an evil darkness and has inherited his powers. His father is sickly, dying a slow death, and is endlessly abused and forced to perform Rites and Ceremonials at the hands of his adopted family, who want to harness this darkness for their own dark, demented means. His father knows nothing will stop them from coming after his son once he's dead so he protects him, marks him so that his family will never be able to find him and force him to suffer the same destiny.
All of this is basically covered in the first section of the book. During the remaining 75% of the novel, we are frustratingly bounced around at a snails pace across a multitude of time periods and by a handful of connected narrators who continue to shed their particular light on what we already knew, the whole time wondering where we are being led and if we are ever really going to get there. And we do, readers, we do. But man, if there was short cut to get there, I would have gladly taken it!
Also, to be fair, this was a big buzz book in 2022, and by now I should know that me and big buzz books don't usually get along so well. So I'm not surprised to find myself underwhelmed.
Here's looking forward to seeing what 2023 has in store for me!!...more
I requested a review copy of this one after seeing the glowing things Michael Kelly had to say about it (for those of you who don't know, Michael drinI requested a review copy of this one after seeing the glowing things Michael Kelly had to say about it (for those of you who don't know, Michael drinks the best beers, reads the best books, and publishes some of the most amazing small press literature out there!)
This book was a brain bomb of post apocalyptic dystopian western religious fanaticism (yes, I'm aware that's a mouthful). It takes place out in the middle of the desert. The world has been ravaged. Those who are still clinging to life do so against all odds, surviving in a brutal landscape, fighting off horrific "stuffed men" who have been infected by the desert, and avoiding other survivors who most certainly mean you more harm than good. Many are making their way to the city of Las Vegas, where religious relics for various saints are housed, in the hopes of being healed of their many afflictions, while others are deemed heretics and appear to be "saint touched", demonstrating an ability to do strange and miraclous things.
Told in three parts, we follow a young girl named Magdala over the span of many years, beginning when she first convinces her father to allow her to make the pilgramage to the holy city in an attempt to cure her clubfoot, through all of her trials and tribulations, to all the weird and wonderous people and places she encounters. It's deliciously dark and bleak and eerie and was just what the doctor ordered!
This one took me by surprise. I definitely wasn't expecting it to go where it went and ended up reeeeaaally enjoying it!
Set in an alternate version ofThis one took me by surprise. I definitely wasn't expecting it to go where it went and ended up reeeeaaally enjoying it!
Set in an alternate version of Philadelphia, where climate change has ravaged the world, we meet Nina, who's barley keeping her head above water, when she recieves a call from an old friend with a request that she can't turn down. He needs her to sneak into the Saturn Club - a super elite social club she broke away from three years earlier - and retrieve something for him. The timing is perfect, the city is celebrating Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival that has become a trendy 'mardi gras' like block party, and it will provide her the perfect cover.
At first it's all carnival masks and flashbacks to when she was part of the upper echelon and discovering the reason she turned her back on it all... but once she learns exactly what she it is she has stolen, all the wheels fall off the bus and we find ourselves on one roller coaster of a ride. Out of nowhere, we're suddenly thrust into a strange underworld of mayhem and magic and alchemy and secrets darker than anything Nina could have ever imagined.
And it's just.... so.... good! If this wasn't on your radar, it is now, and now you've got no excuse!
I went into this one expecting a bit more from it than it meant to deliver, I guess. I had really high hopes because I was so taken with his novel SufI went into this one expecting a bit more from it than it meant to deliver, I guess. I had really high hopes because I was so taken with his novel Suffer the Children. I mean hell, I read that book back in 2014 and I STILL catch myself thinking about it...
Plus, cults! religious nuts! and mysterious disappearances! How could I not love it?
It was definitely a slow burn, and I can totally see the comparisions to Stephen King's IT - the book follows four cult survivors as they reconnect around the 15 year anniversary of the Family of the Living Spirit masscare. Emily, the fifth survivor, just committed suicide, and the four who remain decide it's time to head back to Red Peak to uncover the mystery surrounding the Family's brutal murder-slash-suicide. The story bounces back and forth in time between present time and the past, slowly showing the reader just how F'd up the cult became, and exposing the trauma, guilt, and confusion each one has been carrying around with them all these years.
While there's no giant alien spider creature hiding out at the summit of Red Peak, there is certainly something terrifying and strange calling to them, and they plan to go and meet it head on regardless of what it wants.
There were a few times I considered chucking it, just due to the pace and the fear that it was all leading to a very disappointing end. And while I'm glad I kept reading, I wasn't disappointing in assuming it was going to be a disappointing end. If that makes sense. LOL.
Mary's made a career out of making herself invisible. As a child, she was bullied relentlessly at school. Her parents died in a fire when she was younMary's made a career out of making herself invisible. As a child, she was bullied relentlessly at school. Her parents died in a fire when she was young, and she was sent to live with her crotchety old aunt. As an adult, she now lives alone with her little porcelain Loved Ones, works in the basement of a local bookstore, and generally tries to Be Good. Though there's more to Mary than meets the eye. And now she's starting to worry that she might be losing her mind.
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, strange things are happening to her. The sight of her reflection in the mirror terrorizes her. If she looks for more than a second, her face starts to bubble and ooze and rot. And if she happens to look other woman her age in the eyes, their faces do the same. She's suffering from horrible nightmares, and the undervoice, a dark and nasty voice inside her head, is encouraging her to Be Bad. To do Very Bad Things. The doctor at the clinic chalks it up to menopause, but Mary doesn't buy it for a second. Something is very very wrong.
One panicked phone call from her estranged aunt seems to offer the perfect distraction, at the moment she most needs it, and she willingly heads back to her hometown. Though when she arrives, long forgotten memories begin to surface, and the mysterious Cross House begins to beckon her for reasons she will soon wish she never knew.
The perfect read if you enjoy unreliable narrators, small towns with dark secrets, and possession stories! ...more
Set in Missouri in the 1800's, in an alternate reality where women can still be tried for witchcraft, Tomaino thrusts us into the middle of a search fSet in Missouri in the 1800's, in an alternate reality where women can still be tried for witchcraft, Tomaino thrusts us into the middle of a search for a missing girl. Jack, the town's sheriff, leads the investigation and find himself facing off against aggressive newcomers Preacher Elijah and his Native American companion Chata, who not only want to help locate the girl, but are also determined to bring God and discipline back into the hearts of the wayward townsfolk.
Though I don't normally go in for historical fiction, I'm a sucker for alternate/speculative histories. Small towns hide dark secrets and New Madrid certainly had its fair share. I had really high hopes going into this one but I think the book's brevity ended up working against it. The characters remained sort of stagnant, and the storyline felt a little rushed. I would have loved to spend more time getting to know each of the characters, diving deeper into each of their pasts, developing more of an understanding of what was driving them. And when the real action finally started to wake up on the page, rather than blaze hot and strong, it flashed and fizzled much too quickly.
I'd be interested to see where Robert's writing takes him next. It feels like he has more up his sleeve than he's showing us...
This was sent to me by the publisher. Not a book I would have requested on my own but one I'm definitely glad they put on my radar.
It's a strange litThis was sent to me by the publisher. Not a book I would have requested on my own but one I'm definitely glad they put on my radar.
It's a strange little thing, easily devoured in a matter of hours. I started this on the couch while I was waiting for my husband to finish packing for our weekend trip to Sleepy Hollow NY, and finished it in the car on the way there.
Catherynne pulls the reader along teasingly, keeping us guessing right up until the very end. Although once you know, you realize you've kinda sorta known since the beginning. I've seen it compared to The Stepford Wives, and Gone Girl, and while there are aspects of each bubbling within this story, it's very much an animal all of its own....more