To celebrate the month of Halloween this year we thought we would share with you a selection of books suited to the Halloween theme. Yesterday we posted our Recommended Halloween Horrors for Young Readers, Teens and Young Adults (11yrs+), and today we are recommending reads for the more adult reader. The books that have been selected are some that we have reviewed or are hoping to review in the not too distant future!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Caroline and Tina :)
Demonica by Will Davis (reviewed by Caroline)
Dark, psychological, modern day fairy tale and horror
When spoilt eighteen year old Miranda suffers a terrible accident she survives, but her face is hideously scarred.
Unable to bear what has happened to her, she locks herself away. Her only companions are Veronica, her cruel and beautiful mother, and Nelly, the sympathetic housekeeper.
As time passes Veronica inflicts cruelty after cruelty on her disfigured daughter. Lonely and filled with despair, Miranda is astonished when Bernard, Veronica’s handsome younger boyfriend, takes an interest in her circumstances.
For Bernard believes there is an operation that can restore Miranda’s face. But it will involve committing an unspeakable crime. A decision that will haunt her for the rest of her life…
In the tradition of Angela Carter and Daphne du Maurier, Demonica is a terrifying modern fairy tale.
Available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Tatterdemon by Steve Vernon (reviewed by Caroline)
Terrifying tension, horrific, violent and gory, with some humour
In 1691 the town of Crossfall taught the witch Thessaly how to die. They beat her, they shot her, they hung her – but nothing worked. When they finally tried to bury her alive Thessaly set the field against them. The first man died as a gust of wind harrowed the meat from his bones. A root,flung like a dirty javelin, cut a second man down. Many more deaths followed. The Preacher Fell impaled the witch upon her very own broom but she dragged him down into the field to wait for three more centuries.
Three hundred years later Maddy Harker will murder her bullying husband Vic. She will bury him in the field as she buried her abusive father years before that. The very same field where the revenant spirit of Thessaly Cross lies waiting.
In three days Vic will rise again – a thing of dirt, bone and hatred.
Men will call him the Tatterdemon.
And hell – and Thessaly – will follow.
Available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
On the Lips of Children by Mark Matthews (reviewed by Caroline)
A Marathon like no other
Meet Macon. Tattoo artist. Athlete. Family man.
He’s planning to run a marathon, but the event becomes something terrible.
During a warm-up run, Macon falls prey to a bizarre man and his wife who dwell in an underground drug-smuggling tunnel. They raise their twin children in a way Macon couldn’t imagine: skinning unexpecting victims for food and money.
And Macon, and his family, are next.
Available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Control (The Soul of Voodoo #1) by M.C. Lavocat (reviewed by Caroline)
Dark paranormal horror with romance and comedy
‘Control’ is a paranormal romance, about three lives that are thrown together in a desperate battle where love and lust are the catalysts that release a blood voodoo curse so dark that it could alter their destiny, as well as time itself.
******************
After spending three stale, miserable years in a neuroscience doctoral program, Cecelia Milonas throws caution to the wind and walks out; right into the arms of the man who has had the starring role in her panty-melting fantasies for over three years.
Andre St. Clair had never shown any romantic interest in Cecelia or anyone else, so she had resigned herself to the role of fangirl and very willing employee, since moving to New Orleans and into the apartment above his restaurant. Cecelia thinks that their relationship is a fantasy come true, but neither are prepared for a desire that burns hot enough to ignite a hatred, long thought dead.
As if one gorgeous man and deathly struggle aren’t enough, in walks Lance Bradley, with whom she has some kind of freaky-deaky, psychic-hotline connection that is determined to pull them together no matter who gets torn apart in the process.
So, nothing is easy in The Big Easy, where the past and the present are caught up in a struggle so dangerous and deadly that it’s changing destiny, and possibly time itself.
The Moon Trilogy by Tim O’Rourke (reviewed by Caroline)
Paranormal horror adventure
When eighteen-year-old Winter McCall is offered a chance to leave her life of poverty behind on the streets of London, she reluctantly accepts, and moves to a remote part of the south west of England.
Here she takes up the job as housekeeper to the young and handsome, yet mysterious, Thaddeus Blake.
Warned that he has some curious habits, Winter soon realises that not all is as it firsts appears at the remote mansion where she now lives and works.
Blind to the real danger that she is in, Winter finds herself becoming attracted to Thaddeus.
With nowhere to run and no one to turn to, she slowly succumbs to his strange requests. But none of them are as strange as his requests for her to stand each night in the moonlight.
Moonlight (The Moon Trilogy #1)
Moonbeam (The Moon Trilogy #2)
Moonshine (The Moon Trilogy #3)
Author post/bio by Tim O’Rourke
Moonlight (The Moon Trilogy, #1) is available at Amazon for £0.77/$1.24 at the time of writing. (Please be aware prices are subject to change.) Check it out at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
The latest release, Moonshine (The Moon Trilogy #3) is also now available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
The Purple Haze (short story)/After the Haze (sequel/full novel) by Gary Richardson (reviewed/to be reviewed by Caroline)
Crime thriller to action-packed horror
In the small town of Leyland, a group of thieves plan to pull off their final job and steal three million pounds from a bank. The job seems to be a success, until the alarm is tripped and the police surround the building. A standoff ensues, and the police try to negotiate a resolution before the thieves begin to kill their hostages.
Things take a strange turn, however, when an eerie purple mist renders everyone unconscious. When people begin to wake up, they find that they are among only a small few who haven’t been killed and mutilated by the mist. Then, the dead return to feed on the living, forcing the surviving police, thieves and hostages to band together in a bitter struggle for survival.
The Purple Haze is available at Amazon for £0.99/$1.69 at the time of writing. (Please be aware prices are subject to change.) Check it out at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
The sequel, After the Haze, is available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Cursed: A Werewolf’s Tale (Cheyenne Clark, Werewolf #1) (otherwise known as ‘Frostbite’ in the US) by David Wellington (reviewed by Caroline)
Urban fantasy with panic and horror
For Cheyenne Clark, there’s a bad moon on the rise . . .
There’s one sound a woman doesn’t want to hear when she’s lost and alone in the Arctic wilderness: a howl.
When a strange wolf’s teeth slash Cheyenne’s ankle to the bone, her old life ends, and she becomes the very monster that has haunted her nightmares for years. Worse, the only one who can understand what Chey has become is the man–or wolf–who’s doomed her to this fate. He also wants to chop her head off with an axe.
Yet as the line between human and beast blurs, so too does the distinction between hunter and hunted . . . for Chey is more than just the victim she appears to be. But once she’s within killing range, she may find that–even for a werewolf–it’s not always easy to go for the jugular.
Available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
That Risen Snow: A Scary Tale of Snow White and Zombies (The Scary Tales #1) by Rob E. Boley (to be reviewed by Caroline)
Zombie horror with a twist to the Snow White fairytale
The zombie sequel to Snow White begins where the classic fairy tale ends, with the Prince’s kiss waking Snow from her cursed slumber. Snow wakes up, but she doesn’t wake up right.
Now a deranged zombie, Snow infects both the Prince and the seven dwarfs’ leader. That leaves the young dwarf Grouchy, who is secretly in love with Snow, to find a cure for her malicious curse. So begins an epic journey that pits the lovesick Grouchy against dwarf-hating human soldiers, Snow’s ever-growing zombie horde, and his own bad temper. But when Grouchy and his motley crew of survivors escape Snow’s clutches and seek refuge in a nearby human village, he soon finds that her affliction has spread faster and further then he ever could have imagined. Snow is hell-bent on spreading her horrid curse across the land, and it’s up to Grouchy to stop her before it’s too late.
So begins THE SCARY TALES, a dark fantasy series featuring mash-ups of traditional fairy tale characters and classic horror monsters.
Available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Stilts (Tessa Dark Trilogy #1) by Tim O’Rourke (reviewed by Caroline)
Edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting, excruciating excitement
‘Stilts’ is the first book in a new dystopian trilogy by #1 bestselling author Tim O’Rourke.
While eighteen-year-old, Tessa Dark was serving her prison sentence for murder, the world beyond her cell walls changed forever. The thunder came and destroyed the world she had once known.
Trapped inside the prison and faced with no future, Tessa’s only glimmer of hope is her friendship with fellow inmate Joe McBride.
Despite Tessa’s fear, Joe decides to go beyond the prison walls to seek help. But when he fails to return, Tessa is determined to go and search for him.
To gain her freedom, Tessa must first learn to walk, run, and fight on stilts if she is to survive the new and terrifying world on the other side of the prison walls.
Available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Child of Woe, Dark Hunter (Children of Woe, Dark Hunters #1) by Simon Goodwin (to be reviewed by Caroline)
A horror journey through hell
The reports were growing in number: the Dead rising, zombies attacking people, others being found across the world drained of blood, and still others being torn apart by supposed wild animals in the middle of big cities. Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves and they are just the beginning.
The Walls between myth and reality are faltering and soon those walls will be gone and the Earth will become a battleground of chaos. As governments falter and civilisation tips ever closer to the abyss, one man and his dog find themselves on a journey home. It is a journey that will take them through hell and back.
Available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Bellmere Common: There’s Nothing Common About Bellmere by Mark Steen (to be reviewed by Caroline)
Supernatural horror
Patrick never knew he had an aunt until he was told she was dead. No one had ever mentioned her. He organises a family trip to sort out the house she has left him. Everything starts off well, but it isn’t long before an old sinister family secret rears its demonic head, and his wife’s recurring nightmares turn out to be visions. There is death and destruction all around them. Who can they trust? Will they survive?
Review Excerpt’s
E. Kerry (Amazon.co.uk) – “I really enjoyed this book.
I read a lot and enjoy thriller and horror novels, this was a really good example of the genre. Plenty of bits that made me nervous to be alone in the dark, some really good twists (which I love trying to see coming nice and early to ‘beat’ the author to it when I can – I failed here!) and a shocking and dramatic ending.
Great debut novel and an author I will be watching out for in future!”
S. Pearson (Amazon.com) – “I enjoyed this story very much and found it to be engrossing and exciting.”
Violence and explicit scenes.
75,000 word length
Available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
For more great reads and best sellers in the horror genre for adults please visit Amazon UK or Amazon US.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
