Category: Horror

Blog Tour (Book Spotlight): Survivors – Amy Marsden

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Book Spotlights, HorrorLeave a comment

Hello!

A little belated, but today I am joining the Escapist Tours blog tour for Survivors by Amy Marsden, with an extract to whet your appetite and also a chance to win a copy for yourself! Please do check out the rest of the tour.

Book Summary:

Jennifer planned to spend her 24th birthday having fun with her friends. Instead, she ends up running for her life through the dark streets of London.

Her world is torn apart by a new disease, the likes of which have never been seen before. The government’s decision to conceal its deadly nature exacerbates the panic, and in all the confusion Jennifer is bitten.

That’s it, right? Her life is over.

Wrong.

Immune to the viruses ravaging effects, Jennifer finds herself with a small group of survivors. Together they must fight to stay alive long enough for a cure to be found. Humanity won’t be beaten to easily.

But madness looms large, and safety seems forever out of reach.

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Spotlight): Survivors – Amy Marsden” →

Blog Tour (Book Review): Not Good for Maidens – Tori Bovalino

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Fantasy, Horror, Review, YA2 Comments

Hello!

Today I am joining the TBR & Beyond Blog tour for ‘Not Good for Maidens’ by Tori Bovalino, a horror-fantasy retelling of Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market.”

Disclaimer – I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own.

Book Summary:

Salem’s Lot meets The Darkest Part of the Forestin this horror-fantasy retelling of Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market.”

Lou never believed in superstitions or magic–until her teenage aunt Neela is kidnapped to the goblin market.

The market is a place Lou has only read about–twisted streets, offerings of sweet fruits and incredible jewels. Everything–from the food and wares,to the goblins themselves–is a haunting temptation for any human who manages to find their way in.

Determined to save Neela, Lou learns songs and spells and tricks that will help her navigate this dangerous world and slip past a goblin’s defenses–but she only has three days to find Neela before the market disappears and her aunt becomes one of them forever.

If she isn’t careful, the market might just end up claiming her too.

Content warnings: on-page gore, on-page body horror, violence, trauma

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Review): Not Good for Maidens – Tori Bovalino” →

Blog Tour (Book Review): Dread Wood – Jennifer Killick

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Childrens, Horror, Review, Traditionally-Published1 Comment

Hello!

A little belated as the new job has knocked me for a loop, but today I am delighted to be joining The Write Reads blog tour for Dread Wood by Jennifer Killick a middle-grade horror that was a pleasure to read.

Please do check out the rest of the tour, as well as this wonderful book.

Disclaimer – I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own.

Book Summary:

Turn the lights on. Lock the door. Things are about to get SERIOUSLY SCARY!

The brand new must-read middle-grade novel from the author of super-spooky Crater Lake. Perfect for 9+ fans of R.L.Stine’s Goosebumps

It’s basically the worst school detention ever. When classmates (but not mate-mates) Hallie, Angelo, Gustav and Naira are forced to come to school on a SATURDAY, they think things can’t get much worse. But they’re wrong. Things are about to get seriously scary.

What has dragged their teacher underground? Why do the creepy caretakers keeping humming the tune to Itsy Bitsy Spider? And what horrors lurk in the shadows, getting stronger and meaner every minute…? Cut off from help and in danger each time they touch the ground, the gang’s only hope is to work together. But it’s no coincidence that they’re all there on detention. Someone has been watching and plotting and is out for revenge…

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Review): Dread Wood – Jennifer Killick” →

Book Review: Where Blood Runs Gold – A.C. Cross

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Fantasy, Horror, Review, Self-Published, Weird West, WesternLeave a comment

Hello!

The blog will be getting back into full swing at the start of February. I’ve been using this month to try and build up a bit of a buffer with posts, and just to rest and reclaim some activities that had fallen to the wayside in the last year or so.

However, today I am delighted to be reviewing ‘Where Blood Runs Gold’ by A.C. Cross which turned out to be an incredibly fun and compelling read.

Disclaimer – I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own.

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Book Summary:

Sheriff Errol Thorpe’s life is chaotic, brutal, and above all, solitary. After an unimaginable loss years ago, all he feels is the compulsion to seek vengeance. But when a vulnerable family arrives in town, facing an ugly future, he is pulled headfirst into a web of violence, secrets, and things he never imagined. In search of truth and answers, Thorpe finds himself battling deadly flesh-eating Dust, acidic golden blood, and the political designs of powerful people – all the while learning how to be a person again. When Dust rises in San Dios, people hide indoors. When Sheriff Thorpe arrives, people run.

Continue reading “Book Review: Where Blood Runs Gold – A.C. Cross” →

Blog Tour (Book Review): Mestiza Blood – V. Castro

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Horror, Indie, Review1 Comment

Hello!

Today I’m here with the first blog tour of 2022, and I am delighted to be helping to kick off the Random Things Tour for Mestiza Blood by V. Castro which is out from Flame Tree Publishing later this month. This was a stunning collection that caught me completely by surprise.

Disclaimer – I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own.

Book Summary:

From the lauded author of The Queen of the Cicadas (which picked up starred reviews from PW, Kirkus and Booklist who called her “a dynamic and innovative voice”) comes a short story collection of nightmares, dreams, desire and visions focused on the Chicana experience. V.Castro weaves urban legend, folklore, life experience and heartache in this personal journey beginning in south Texas: a bar where a devil dances the night away; a street fight in a neighborhood that may not have been a fight after all; a vengeful chola at the beginning of the apocalypse; mind swapping in the not so far future; satan who falls and finds herself in a brothel in Amsterdam; the keys to Mictlan given to a woman after she dies during a pandemic. The collection finishes with two longer tales: The Final Porn Star is a twist on the final girl trope and slasher, with a creature from Mexican folklore; and Truck Stop is an erotic horror romance with two hearts: a video store and a truck stop.

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Review): Mestiza Blood – V. Castro” →

Book Review: Nothing But Blackened Teeth – Cassandra Khaw

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Horror, Review, Traditionally-Published1 Comment

Hello!

The first of three reviews today as I am once more playing catch up. This is one of the books I got for my birthday, and that I had been waiting to read for months, but unfortunately ended up as one that left with me very mixed feelings.

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Book Summary:

A group of thrill-seeking friends in search of the perfect wedding venue plan to spend the night in a Heian-era mansion. Long abandoned, and unknown to them, this mansion rests on the bones of a bride, and its walls are packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company.

Their night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare, as the house welcomes its new guests. For lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart.

And she gets lonely down there in the dirt.

Continue reading “Book Review: Nothing But Blackened Teeth – Cassandra Khaw” →

Blog Tour (Book Review): The Nightmare Tree – Paul O’Neill

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Horror, Review, Self-Published1 Comment

Hello!

A little belated due to a diary blip on my part, but here is my stop on the Random Things Tour for The Nightmare Tree by Paul O’Neill.

Disclaimer – I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own.

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Book Summary:

The debut short story collection from a fresh new voice. Thirteen tales of horror and suspense.

In the forgotten places of Scotland, terror awaits.

Contains the chilling stories: The Great Slime Kings – Three’s a Crowd – The Summer Bullet – The Only Emperor – Down Below is Silence and Darkness – Guardians – In a Jar of Spiders – We the Dark Deniers – Blocks – Nightmare Soup – The Dumps – Once Upon a Flame – The Nightmare Tree (novella).

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Review): The Nightmare Tree – Paul O’Neill” →

Blog Tour (Book Review): A Ritual of Flesh (The Dead Sagas #2) – Lee C. Conley

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Fantasy, Horror, Review, Self-Published3 Comments

Hello!

Today is my stop on the blog tour for ‘A Ritual of Flesh’ by Lee C. Conley organised by Storytellers on Tour. This is the second book in Dead Sagas, and you can find my review of the first book ‘A Ritual of Bone’ HERE. I’ve read and reviewed A Ritual of Flesh before, and I had always planned to do a Halloween reread, so I leapt at the chance to join this tour during spooky season.

I hope that you will check out the book and the author, and enjoy the rest of the tour with the schedule in the banner below or (HERE).

Book Summary:

As evil ravages the north and the dead walk, all eyes fall to Arn… The apprentice journeys south, home to the College, unaware of the dark events that transpired in the High Passes after his departure. His leg in ruins, and haunted by watching shadows, the College council in Arn awaits him, but he does not travel south alone.

Arnulf and his warriors must travel to Arn also, with tidings for the king of the risen dead and the terrible curse which has destroyed all that he knew. Arnulf seeks vengeance upon the College, but must choose wisely if he is to save his son.

Meanwhile in the west, Bjorn and his strange Wildman companion report back to High Lord Archeon at Oldstones with grim news of cannibal Stonemen encroaching from the Barrens, but is embroiled in news of war and invasion as Archeon requests his service once more.

In the capital sickness awaits them all, Nym has fled to the city and must now continue her struggle for survival on the plague ridden streets of Arn, keeping all who she cares for safe from the halls of Old Night.

The many threads of this Saga converge on the city of Arn, but amid plague, invasion and terror, a greater darkness is looming. Dark forces are seeking to unleash evil upon Arnar, honour and renown is all, and sword, axe and shield is all that stands between the living and the grasping hands of the dead.

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Review): A Ritual of Flesh (The Dead Sagas #2) – Lee C. Conley” →

Book Review: Blood & Bone: An Anthology of Body Horror by Women and Non-Binary Writers – A.R. Ward (Editor)

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Horror, Indie, Review1 Comment

Hello!

Today I’m reviewing Blood & Bone: An Anthology of Body Horror by Women & Non-Binary Writers, which is a perfect read for the spooky season.

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Book Summary:

Since the earliest creation myths, womens’ bodies have been a site of conflict, venerated and feared in equal measure. In this collection, talented female and non-binary writers let rip with twenty-two powerful, visceral body horror stories that explore, celebrate and dissect (sometimes literally) femininity and the female experience. The stories traverse difficult and sometimes controversial ground, digging into subjects like eating disorders, the beauty industry, pregnancy, infertility, body dysmorphia, domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse–all done with passion, humour, and creativity.

Approach with an open mind and a strong stomach.

*****

Contributors:
A.J. Van Belle, Alice Austin, April Yates, Caitlin Marceau, Cecilia Kennedy, Emma Kathryn, Evelyn Freeling, Faye Snowden, Kristin Cleaveland, Lindsay King-Miller, Michelle Mellon, Nico Bell, Nicola Kapron, Nicole M. Wolverton, Petina Strohmer, Sally Hughes, Saoirse Ní Chiaragáin, Varian Ross, Vashelle Nino, Victoria Nations, Vivian Kasley

Continue reading “Book Review: Blood & Bone: An Anthology of Body Horror by Women and Non-Binary Writers – A.R. Ward (Editor)” →

Blog Tour (Book Review): The Ancient Ones (The Ancient Ones #1) – Cassandra L. Thompson

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Indie, Review3 Comments

Hello!

Today is my stop on the blog tour for ‘The Ancient Ones’ by Cassandra L. Thompson organised by Storytellers on Tour, this is the first book in The Ancient Gods trilogy and the second book in the series ‘Liminality’ is due for release on the 31st October!

I hope that you will check out the book and the author, and enjoy the rest of the tour with the schedule in the banner below or (HERE).

Disclaimer – I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own.

Book Summary:

Some things are not meant to die…

When David stumbles upon a tragic young woman in a sordid Limehouse pub, he has no idea she’d recognize him as the last vampyre alive, nor that she’d be the one to pull out his story. Yet as he recalls his life from the sweltering vineyards of Ancient Rome to the cold horrors of Medieval Romania – as well as his tumultuous past with the mad and mysterious Lucius – he realizes she is much more than what she seems.

Gothic horror and mythological fantasy blend seamlessly together in this thrilling adventure, breathing new life into vampire lore as it reveals its true origins. The Ancient Ones is a tale of myth, mayhem, and magic … with a dash of romance that bites.

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Review): The Ancient Ones (The Ancient Ones #1) – Cassandra L. Thompson” →