I found a small pile of miscellaneous SHIVERS books at that Shoprite book sale, so, since I loved any horror as a kid and vaguely remembered a couple of these, I picked them up. They’re short books; this one had about 115 pages. The funny part is that after reading a couple of them, I can see where the ideas came from. The sources include fairy tales, but also, in the case of THE ANIMAL REBELLION, I can definitely see at least a couple scenes […]
Madness, Illness, Grief, and The Haunting of Hill House
Beware of mild spoilers … I recently finished watching The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix. But it is still with me. It was at times an uncomfortable watch, but it also may be one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time. It can’t really be called an adaptation of the immortal Shirley Jackson novel. That classic book could be considered more of a jumping-off point for this, an original, deeply-felt horror story. The original novel, first published in 1959, concerns a […]
Welcome?
Improbably, this is my “cover art” selection, because despite a cult podcast with a large following, I had no idea this wasn’t just a standalone book, and gosh is it pretty. Plus, the art suggests something lighthearted or irreverent, and an NPR endorsement on the cover? Good enough for me. Plus, somehow I got my facts twisted and thought it was written by Blake Crouch and I REALLY liked Dark Matter. I wish I liked it more. I think some of my issue with the […]
A Quick, Intense, Faulted Read
I don’t know why “my kid is evil” books terrify me so much, since I’m never having kids anyway. But they do. We Need to Talk About Kevin FUCKED. ME. UP. when I read it. I suppose the true terror is being in an untenable situation without any way to get out: it’s not like you can return your kid at the New Kid Store and get a replacement, so the stress the protagonists feel in these types of stories feels inescapable and horrifying. Knowing […]