Category Archives: Horror

Horror, Kindle Unlimited

#Review – You Can’t Hide: 30 Tales of Terror by Blair Daniels

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I found a note I don’t remember writing.
It says ‘Don’t look under the bed.’

“ATTENTION SHOPPERS: Please hide at the back of the store immediately.”

I created a chatbot. It said some deeply disturbing things.

I was in a bus crash with five other passengers. After the crash, there were six.

YOU CAN’T HIDE brings you 30 terrifying tales for your darkest nights. This collection has every flavor of horror, from murderous husbands to malevolent doppelgangers, from terrifying photos to sinister board games. Read… if you dare.

Praise for You Can’t Hide
“This was absolutely fantastic, from start to finish.”

“This suspenseful collection of short stories perfectly captures the energy of sitting around a campfire, telling gruesome tales of horror.”

“A few of these stories had some AMAZING twists that I never expected.”

“You Can’t Hide” is a superb work of horror fiction that’ll appeal to aficionados of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”, “Scary Stories”, and “Goosebumps,” but with decidedly mature twist.”

“Blair Daniels never disappoints me. Her stories are short, sharp, and devious.”

About Black Widow Press
We’re passionate about scares, thrills, and all things that go bump in the night. Stay tuned for more books this year to keep you up all night! Don’t Scream and other Black Widow books contain mild to moderate violence and sexual content not suitable for those under 18 years of age.

This collection of horror stories, was so much fun to read!

This is my first book by this author and I really enjoyed the journey through each and every one. Some were creepy, some were disturbing, some even made me laugh. I’m a huge fan of two sentence horror stories, so I knew going in that I would enjoy this. Looks like this is part of a 7 book series. So I’m excited to read more by this author.

There were some stories that I would love a full book about but I also realize that it’s not that kind of book, so I’ll get over it.

I can’t remember which story it was, but it had someone crawling on the floor in an inhuman way and it creeped me right out. It’s one of the things I hate in horror movies but love at the same time because it scares the crap out of me.

So good job to the author!

Can be read in Kindle Unlimited – https://amzn.to/45zg0Qc

Audio Book, Horror, Novella, Standalone

#Review – The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir

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Hildur Knútsdóttir’s The Night Guest is an eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjavík that’s sure to keep you awake at night.

Iðunn is in yet another doctor’s office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something’s not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven’t revealed any cause.

When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same — have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps.

Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night . . .

What is happening when she’s asleep? Why is she waking up with increasingly disturbing injuries? And why won’t anyone believe her?

I’ve been listening to more audio books lately while I’m walking. I’m trying to beat my yearly goal of books read/listened to. But I find longer audio books aren’t for me at the moment and it takes me forever to listen to them. So I came across some 3 hour audio books and it’s the perfect length! With that said, please see below.

TRIGGER WARNING: Animal death, specifically cats.

Now that we got that out of the way, I read a few reviews for this audio book and was nervous to start but also intrigued.

A woman randomly walks 40k steps during the night and doesn’t know why or how or where the heck she went? Sign me up!

But then I learned about the animal cruelty, cats especially and was extra concerned but I started listening to the book anyway. As a reader, can I just say that I love love love the short chapters?

I really enjoyed the narrator for this book and I also loved learning a little bit about Iceland. I will get there one day as well.

I will start by saying that I expected way worse after reading some of the reviews but I’m also thankful for them as well, so at least I knew what to expect in a way.

Maybe it’s because I read extreme horror that I could be desensitized because I’ve read WAY worse.

In this short novella, we learn about Iðunn and her what she does day to day, her friends, family and her partners and ex partners. She’s someone who doesn’t sleep overly well – welcome to the club, sweetheart – but tries to make it so she does. With some tips from her friends, she gets a smartwatch and begins her daily allotted 10k steps.

But she soon learns that she’s also walking while sleeping. As a walker/runner myself, that would freak me out. At the same time, I would be thankful for the extra steps. I would also want to know where I’m going at night and why I wake up so sore.

It takes a bit for Iðunn to figure out what’s going on with her.

I was left feeling a little confused at the end but maybe that’s just me.

Was it all in her head? Did she really experience sleep walking during the night? Was it something else? Split personality maybe?

Either way, even though I was left with a few questions, I still really enjoyed the story and I think the narrator helped with that a lot. I would totally listen to more books that she narrated and also listen to more books from this author as well.

One click – https://amzn.to/3IAXmQa

Fantasy, Horror, Novella, Paranormal, Standalone

#Review – Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

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A USA TODAY BESTSELLER • A Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy Award Finalist! • An Indie Next Pick! • An October LibraryReads Pick! • 2022 RUSA Reading List: Horror Winner!

Cassandra Khaw’s Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a gorgeously creepy haunted house tale, steeped in Japanese folklore and full of devastating twists.

A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company.

It’s the perfect venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends, brought back together to celebrate a wedding.

As a horror reader, I really enjoyed this novella. I found the writing smart and it pulled me right into the story.

Kat and her friends are spending a few days at what is known to be a haunted mansion in Japan. Personalities don’t always mesh as we find out there is some animosity between a couple of the characters.

As things progress, they have a night of food, drinks and chatting where secrets come to light and things that should stay hidden, don’t. Friendships are tested but while this is happening, the house they’re staying in has secrets of its own.

They end up coming face to face with a ghost who’s only looking for some company. Nothing wrong with that right?

One click now – https://amzn.to/4lN5BqB

Horror, Standalone, Teen & Young Adult Contemporary

#Review- You’re Not Supposed To Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

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Instant New York Times bestseller!

At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game . . . but can you survive the night?

This heart-pounding slasher by New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Fear Street.

Charity has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.

But the last weekend of the season, Charity’s co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity’s role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they’ll need figure out what this killer is after. As they unravel the bloody history of the real Mirror Lake, Charity discovers that there may be more to the story than she ever suspected . . .

This was a fun read! I haven’t read teen horror since I was a kid. It was actually my favourite genre to read. much to my daddy’s dismay of course.

This story is about Charity and her friends who work at a camp during the summer. But it’s not your typical camp. They use it for a terror simulation that customers can pay for, which sounds super fun. Only things start taking a turn for the worse. People go missing, although Charity and others think said people just up and quit, people start getting hurt and weird things just start happening.


The camp holds a dark and dangerous secret and unfortunately for Charity and her friends, they get to find out what that secret is. Against their wishes of course.

When I got to the delicious twist, I gasped. I suck at predicting things, so it made my heart super happy that I wasn’t expecting what happened to happen.

So things come to light, people get killed, all at Camp Mirror Lake.

One click now – https://amzn.to/3IrxeHs

Anthology, Extreme Horror, Horror, Splatterpunk

#Review – Scraps: A Splatterpunk Anthology

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Featuring new stories by Judith Sonnet, Mique Watson, Stephanie E. Jensen, Ruth Anna Evans, Cassandra Daucus, Harrison Phillips, Chaz WIlliams, and MORE . . . SCRAPS is an obscene, absurd, and disturbing anthology of splatterpunk and extreme horror. Curated by Judith Sonnet, each story is designed to shock, sicken, and surprise! If you like your horror raw and unflinching, then this anthology is for you!

WARNING: This is extreme horror and splatterpunk. Don’t like being grossed out? Don’t read it!

Oral Fixations by Judith Sonnet: I’ve read a few of Judith’s books and she never disappoints in the extreme and depraved department. We meet a couple teens who are heading to a party but the night doesn’t go as planned. They wake up in an unknown location and try and figure out every possible way they can to survive. This one actually hurt my heart a bit. So good job, Judith!

I also love Judith’s introductions, narrations? to each story. It’s like a story within a story.

The Book of Revenge by Cassandra Draucus: Cassandra Draucus is a new author for me but one I definitely want to read more of. This little story was so well written and was a bloody mess of fun! I felt like I was actually there. I could picture things clearly and really enjoyed that. While I have seen horror movies based in the 13th century, I’ve never read a horror book that had it in it until now.

Filth by RE Shambrook: This was the grossest little story I’ve ever read and I am absolutely here for it. When I finished, I was like “WTF WAS THAT?!” I couldn’t stop reading. But man oh man. I feel like the author thought to himself, “Hmm…what’s the grossest bodily function and I’m going to write a book about it?” This is definitely not for those with weak stomachs.

Sober by Chaz Williams: Richard and Susan are helping a certain person who hurt their daughter, detox. If that’s what you can even call it. When they complete their mission, they show her what it’s like to live with the pain of losing someone while sober. Disturbing, extreme and on point with the theme of this anthology!

Rita by Ruth Anna Evans: I love books like this where you think it’s going one way and then it goes another, throwing you off. Clearly I am not on my game, because I should have predicted this ending.

FF by Brian G Berry: Um…wow. I have no words for this one.

Wet Hair by Jayson Dawn: Wow…can’t say I’ve ever read a story like this one. I hate pulling hair from the drain and get my husband to do it. Now I’m going to be thinking of this story every time he does.

Bonemeal by Harrison Phillips: Well I wasn’t expecting that in the least but did I love it? Yes. Yes I did.

Amateur Surgery by Mique Watson: First, I have to say that this my favourite horror author, so I was super excited to read his story! Mique never disappoints and this one was a doozy. All I gotta say is poor Teddy.

Putrefying Malediction by Stephanie E Jensen: This one was awesome and gross. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

Fetal Back Wash by Judith Sonnet: Well this was something that I did not expect to like but really did! Not sure what that says about me. And again, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! Flo really got her revenge with this one.

One click here: https://amzn.to/3P2fHpg

Extreme Horror, Horror, Kindle Unlimited, Novella

#Review – XXX by Rayne Havok

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Xavier: “I escaped from prison, hauling ass in a stolen car, putting space between me and that barbed wire fence- when the damn thing runs out of gas.Luckily, I come across an old farmhouse that looks empty, even luckier, it is not.The threats about daddy coming home don’t scare me… maybe they should have.”

First off, this book deals with sexual assault and is quite detailed, so if you have triggers, please do not read this. This is extreme and short but packs a punch.

This book starts off with Xavier or X is released from jail and is on a mission. He ends up finding a house in the middle of nowhere that he thought was abandoned but learns that it is not. He meets a family and does unspeakable things to the mom and her two daughters living there. I’ve read a lot of extreme horror but these scenes definitely made me wince. 

Then we meet the dad. I don’t want to give too much else away but let’s just say, X gets what’s coming to him and I enjoyed every second of it.

Can be read in KU – https://amzn.to/4jVqPTd

Audio Book, Dark, Dark Dark and more Dark, Dark Humor, Dark Romance, Horror

#Audio #DarkRomance #Horror – Scythe & Sparrow by Brynne Weaver

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From the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the genre-breaking international TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird and Leather & Lark comes the final book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy—a friends-with-benefits dark romantic comedy packed with murder, mayhem, and spice.

Doctor Fionn Kane is running from a broken heart, one he hopes to mend in small-town Nebraska, far away from his almost-fiancé and his derailed surgical career. It’s a simpler life: head down, hard work, and absolutely no romantic relationships. He wants none of the circus he left behind in Boston.

But then the real circus finds him.

Motorcycle performer Rose Evans has spent a decade on the road with the Silveria Circus, and it suits her just fine, especially when she has the urge to indulge in a little murder when she’s not in the spotlight. But when a kill goes awry and she ends up with an injured leg, Rose finds herself stuck in Nebraska, at the home of the adorably nerdy town doctor.

The problem is, not every broken heart can be sewn back together.

. . . And the longer you stay in one place, the more likely your ghosts are to catch up.

Goodreads

Amazon

Review by Twinsie Angie

I purchased this audio book.

I loved Sloan and Rowen’s book.  I enjoyed Lark and Lachlain’s book.  Rose and Fionn I was so looking forward to reading.  We have seen these 2 dance around each other in the last 2 books .  When we hear Rose declare she loves Fionn in book 2 before saving Lark….I was a gasp!!  I needed to know what happened.

This book takes us back to when Rose and Fionn meet and how they fall.  The story and the slow burn to their love store is soooo freaking good.  I think they are right up there with Sloan and Rowen for my favorite story line.

Fionn has always wanted to be the “good” brother and not like his siblings.  But he isn’t happy until some Mayhem AKA Rose enters his life and asks for help.  These 2 are perfectly imperfect for each other.  They are both so scared but want so much more…MY GOD did I scream so many times at them to just tell the other the truth.

This book was soooo good.  Barbara was a great serious break when needed.  I mean a rabid raccoon is a great way to break the serious right?  Matt coming for Rose and Fionn making sure his girl is safe is what makes us love the hero right??

I just cannot say enough about this book.  The slow burn is what made it.  The suture sisters made me laugh and what they helped Rose and Fionn build is classic!!

But I am so excited for what seems to be coming per the epilogues!!!

Brynne is a fan of velociraptors, the Alien movies (well, most of them), red wine, and wild adventures. She can relate nearly anything you say to a line from the movie Hot Fuzz. She has been trying unsuccessfully for years to convince her husband that they should acquire a pet mink to add to their menagerie of animals (what could possibly go wrong with that plan?!). When not busy writing, Brynne can be found with her husband and son on their family farm in NS, Canada, or enjoying her other passions which include riding horses, reading, motorcycling, and spending time with family and friends around a raclette and a bottle of wine.

Horror, Kindle Unlimited, Novella, short story

#Review – Test Town by Leigh Kenny

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Welcome to Test Town.
Population: Zero

When Savannah and her friends decide on a sightseeing pit stop at a long-abandoned nuclear testing facility, something feels off from the outset.
Dilapidated houses. Quiet, dusty streets. And mannequins.
So many mannequins.

With a growing sense of unease, the group soon learns that even in an abandoned town in the middle of nowhere, you’re never truly alone.

Oh this was a fun and super creepy little read. There’s just something about dolls and mannequins that give me the heebie jeebies. 

Savannahs, her brother and his friends, are driving through the dessert and decide to stop at Test Town. There’s no human life and only mannequins. So not unsettling in the least right? Unfortunately for the group, things take a turn for the worse.

Although this was a super short story, I really enjoyed it! Now I need to find more books about creepy dolls and mannequins.

Can be read in KU – https://amzn.to/3PJdmQJ

Horror, Kindle Unlimited, Novella, Psychological Thriller

#Review – Writer’s Block: How a desperate search for inspiration went terribly wrong by Geoff A. Wilson

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A psychological short story by the author of ‘Depravity’, ‘The dream’, ‘Meltdown’, ‘The machine’ and ‘(Un)happy Christmas’.

Ross Stubbard is a failed, angry, and depressed writer who struggles to find inspiration for his next book. One night a strange apparition stands by his bedside – an apparition that embodies Ross’s ghostly alter ego. The apparition urges Ross to write a short story. At first, working with the apparition helps Ross to rediscover his lost writing skills, get him out of his writer’s block, and to develop a gripping story. But then what his alter ego suggests takes on a much darker hue and urges Ross to write a tale of darkness and despair based on himself and his own failed life.

The apparition unlocks a Pandora’s box of Ross’s suppressed emotions and memories where accounts of his deep depression intermix with his fear of alcoholism, where the abuse he has metered out on his wife and kids bleeds into narratives about his darkest suicidal thoughts, and where memories of wanting to hurt people and his readers, who have so selfishly abandoned him, intertwine with his darkest visions of extreme violence and murder.

Too late, Ross realises that his alter ego has become his puppet master, guiding him down a path of self-destruction. The apparition has made him slip further into the abyss, forcing him to lose his grip on reality, urging him to re-enact the horrors he has written, to make the story a reality. The failed, angry, and depressed author, has himself become the embodiment of the darkness he has conjured up in his own, final, story. He, who has sought solace in the cold embrace of his alter ego’s story writing, has unwittingly become the protagonist of his own macabre masterpiece, a story of a man consumed by his own demons, and a cautionary tale of the perilous path that lies at the intersection of creativity and madness.

Oh this one is creepy and disturbing. Especially since I’m an author as well. 

We meet Ross who is a failed author and tries so desperately to find his words again. He looks to an unknown source for inspiration and while it helps him get the words down, he slowly slips into insanity as a result. 

Can be read in KU – https://amzn.to/40jGXX2

Horror, Kindle Unlimited, Novella, Zombie

#Review – The Zed Conspiracy by Meera Masen

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Previously published under S.M. Phoenix
Based on a writing prompt.

These short stories will have you second guessing how much control the government has over its citizens and whether zombies can be created in a science lab.

PART ONE
On trial for murder, Jonathan Bigwell must prove his innocence after killing what he thought was a zombie. But how innocent is the judge?

PART TWO
Successfully creating a genetic mutation isn’t easy, but scientist Tonya Farris did it. What will her new gene do and why does the government want it?

PART THREE
The government elite must now tie up loose ends and figure out their next move. Will they successfully launch Project Zed?

This was a fun short little zombie read. The government has a gene created that can turn people into zombies. Nothing could go wrong with thay right? Clearly these people have never watched a zombie movie in their life. The story shows the gene being created, the zombies being formed and an attack from some zombies. Cause again, creating zombies is alwahs a good idea. Insert eye roll here. The story also shows a court hearing and how one guy gets convicted of murdering a zombie. While this is just a story, it makes me wonder if it could actually happen. Good thing I’ve watched a lot of zombie movies. You know…for research purposes and all. 

Can be read in KU – https://amzn.to/40hErjG