A Haunting in the Arctic
Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle Edition | Audiobook
By C. J. Cooke
Publisher: Berkley
Paperback Release Date: February 27, 2024

The mysteries of a shipwreck off the coast of Iceland are at the center of A Haunting in the Arctic, the arctic exploration horror novel from author C. J. Cooke.

This atmospheric tale intertwines two major timelines, each dealing with the enigmatic Ormen, an arctic whaling ship that was refitted as a research vessel that eventually became shipwrecked off the coast of Iceland and now scheduled to be destroyed.

What Kind of Mother
Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook
By Clay McLeod Chapman
Publisher: Quirk Books
Release Date: September 12, 2023

My grandma always says, “Where there’s a thought, there’s an image; where there’s an image, there’s an event.” If, like Grandma, you believe that thought projection leads to manifestation, then the events of What Kind of Mother will make perfect sense to you. If not, then when you get through the last third of this book by Clay McLeod Chapman, you’ll probably be like, “What the hell did I just read?!” Actually, you might think that either way, because wow does this story take a wild turn.

The September House
Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook
By Carissa Orlando
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: September 5, 2023

Bleeding walls, nightly screams, and mutilated apparitions are what Margaret and Hal are up against in their new home every September in The September House, the debut novel from Carissa Orlando. When the empty-nesters first moved in, this large, beautiful, and surprisingly affordable Victorian domicile was their dream home. But with their fourth September as homeowners fast approaching, Hal has had enough of this place and its eerie inhabitants. He wants his wife to move out with him, but Margaret refuses because as strange as it may seem, this is the only place she’s ever been able to call her own. Sure, the ghosts can be menacing and there’s some kind of evil lurking in the basement, but there’s also a live-in housekeeper… albeit a dead one, but she’s actually really good at her job. Margaret has figured out the “rules” of the house to follow in order to maintain the status quo and make it through to October; therefore, she’s staying put. But after Hal suddenly leaves, their daughter, Katherine, becomes suspicious. Where did her father go and why isn’t he answering her calls? When Katherine insists on visiting her parents’ new home for the first time during September of all months, Margaret struggles to keep up appearances as the hauntings become more frequently intense.

How to Sell a Haunted House
Hardcover | Kindle Edition | Audiobook
By Grady Hendrix
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: January 17, 2023

If this book had a title like Coming Home Again, I’d probably be starting this review by saying something like, after her parents die in a car accident, Louise reluctantly returns to her South Carolina hometown to sell her parents’ house and must face the childhood memories that have haunted her for years and some she’s forgotten about… till now. But since the title is How To Sell A Haunted House, what haunts Louise aren’t just her memories, but real entities that aren’t too pleased with how she’s handling her parents’ estate. And they’re gonna let her know it.

The Final Girl Support Group
Hardcover | Kindle Edition | Audiobook
By Grady Hendrix
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 13, 2021

“The line between being too careful and not being careful enough is a line you only get to cross once” is a belief Lynnette Tarkington still holds true even 20 years after she survived a Christmas Eve massacre that left her a “Final Girl.” That’s “final girl” as in the last female standing at the end of a serial-killing spree in horror films, but for Lynnette this is no slasher flick… this is her reality.

In The Final Girls Support Group, Grady Hendrix explores the mindset of the now middle-aged Lynnette, whose been unable to live a normal life since her traumatic Yule Tide experience as a teenager. She sees danger around every corner and will go to extreme lengths to protect herself, including barricading herself in her booby-trapped apartment, where she can control her surroundings. Or taking different routes and modes of transportation hours out of her way each time she ventures outside, going so far as to ride the airport shuttle so that potential stalkers won’t be able to ascertain her routine.