{TTT} Books to Keep You Up at Night

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the awesome ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. Apparently, they are overly fond of list-making and love to share their bookish lists with the rest of us book nerds.  =) We're game.

This week's topic is a Halloween-themed freebie.
(10 best ghost stories, 10 things that scare you in books, 10 literary Halloween costumes, 10 vampire novels, 10 books that WILL scare you, 10 non-scary books for Halloween, 10 scariest covers, etc.)

Jen's Picks:

I love re-reading some of my favorite creepy reads this time of year, and the snapshot above has it all: aliens, vampires, zombies, red-haired devil boys, magic, ghosts, gargoyles, demons…if you were scared of it as a child, it's included. =)

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - ravens, ghosts, psychics, murder & mayhem
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke - that red-headed devil boy I mentioned
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan - magic, a sleepy English town and murder most foul, plus HUMOR
The Diviners by Libba Bray - ghosts, murder, magic, all manner of special abilities
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan - zombies!!!
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride - HUMOR and dead things
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - a vengeful ghost and sarcasm to boot
Arclight by Josin L. McQuein - a futuristic nightmare of a story featuring nanobots that utterly creeped me out
The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan - gargoyles and Victorian charm and demons
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey - genocidal aliens masquerading as humans
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black - scary-ass vampires

And might I recommend the following anthology -- edited by one of my favorite authors -- which just released in August? It's seriously got something horrible for everyone. :P

Other spooky posts here at The Starry-Eyed Revue that might interest you:

Bookish Costume Ideas
Recommended Halloween Reads
Scary Covers and Freaky Reads

What are your favorite books to read at Halloween? Be sure to share a link to your TTT post so we can visit!

And something to amuse you because it always amuses me:

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Labels: creepy, halloween, scary reads, top ten tuesday

Spooktacular Giveaway Hop 2015 - INTERNATIONAL!!!

Big thanks to Kathy at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer for organizing this hop!

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays and I've always loved joining on this hop to share my love of the holiday -- and my love of scary reads! Below is a list of creepy books you can choose your prize from. Some I've read and some I'm dying to read but all sound perfect for this time of year! And if you're just looking for some scary recommendations, check out our Halloween recs post from last year.

Rules:

• This giveaway is international. As long as The Book Depository ships to your location and the book is available from them, you are good to go. (You can double-check that here.) 
• One entry per household. 
• Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
• Please note that if you use your Twitter account solely for giveaway entries and you enter using the Tweet about the Giveaway entry, that entry will be disqualified. Please remember that this entry method is to spread the word about the giveaway, not simply increase your chances of winning.
• Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!! 
• We are not responsible for lost packages. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now that you've entered here, be sure to check out all of the other stops on the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop:



Thanks for entering & happy reading!

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Labels: creepy, funfunfun, giveaway hops, giveaways, halloween, scary reads

{Review} There's Something Horrible for Everyone in SLASHER GIRLS & MONSTER BOYS by @apriltucholke

Title: Slasher Girls & Monster Boys
Author: Stories selected by April Genevieve Tucholke
Narrator(s): Robbie Daymond, Emma Bering, Nora Hunter, Jorjeana Marie, Julia Whelan & MacLeod Andrews
Series: n/a, horror anthology
Length: 13 hrs 12 mins
Publisher: Listening Library
Publication Date: August 18, 2015
Source: borrowed audio from library
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

For fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Lois Duncan, and Daphne Du Maurier comes a powerhouse anthology featuring some of the best writers of YA thrillers and horror.

A host of the smartest young adult authors come together in this collection of scary stories and psychological thrillers curated by Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’s April Genevieve Tucholke.

Each story draws from a classic tale or two—sometimes of the horror genre, sometimes not—to inspire something new and fresh and terrifying. There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat. From bloody horror to supernatural creatures to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, this collection has something for any reader looking for a thrill.

Fans of TV’s The Walking Dead, True Blood, and American Horror Story will tear through tales by these talented authors:

Stefan Bachmann
Leigh Bardugo
Kendare Blake
A. G. Howard
Jay Kristoff
Marie Lu
Jonathan Maberry
Danielle Paige
Carrie Ryan
Megan Shepherd
Nova Ren Suma
McCormick Templeman
April Genevieve Tucholke
Cat Winters

I find it really interesting to listen to anthologies these days. I still want a physical copy of this book for my shelves so I can leaf through it and re-read my favorite stories when I'm in the mood for a little horror or need to share a good scary story. But there's just something about hearing these creepy tales from some of my favorite authors…and having some of my favorite narrators give voice to the things that go bump in the night...

The Birds of Azalea Street by Nova Ren Suma - 3.5 stars
I think using this story to kick off the anthology was a brilliant idea. Nova's writing style is always eerily beautiful. It's not gory but still just creepy enough in the most human way. I don't know if it would have had the same impact if I'd read it after some of the others in this collection.

In the Forest Dark and Deep by Carrie Ryan - 5 stars
This story was inspired by Alice in Wonderland and it was epically epic in its creepiness. It seems like one thing and then morphs into something else, and I kind of loved it. The use of flashbacks only served to make the story seem even more otherworldly. Dat white rabbit, tho!

Emmeline by Cat Winters - 3.5 stars
I liked the writing style in this one, but I just found it too predictable. I just didn't connect with it, though the French accent the narrator used was lovely. I'm also not all that familiar with the stories that served as the inspiration for this piece, so that could have been responsible for some of the disconnect.

Verse Chorus Verse by Leigh Bardugo - 2.5 stars
I thought for sure this would be one of my favorites of the collection because of who the author is, but I was underwhelmed. It was eerie to an extent, but it never gave me chills or anything like so many of the other stories did, and I know that Bardugo can write such darkness into her story if she deigns to. Maybe it was because she was tackling a contemporary setting instead of her usual fantasy? Whatever the case, this story left me feeling very meh.

Hide and Seek by Megan Shepherd - 4 stars
I have a thing for Death personified. Or harbingers of Death. Really, anything where Death or the Afterlife is involved. And games of chance. This story was kind of fun, all things considered, but it was also dark, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Dark, Scary Parts and All by Danielle Paige - 4 stars
I didn't know what to expect from this story because I read the prequel novella to Dorothy Must Die and I enjoyed it so little that I didn't continue the series. But I actually found that I enjoyed this addition to the anthology, despite the fact that I figured out the twist pretty early on. But I do tend to connect to characters who embrace both the light and dark within. ;0)

The Flicker, the Fingers, the Beat, the Sigh by April Genevieve Tucholke - 4.5 stars
Tucholke really knows how to build up to the creepy after just a hint of it in the very beginning of the story, especially with all the talk of "best scary movies", etc., between the characters throughout. That only adds to the atmosphere and sense of foreboding. And the not knowing...eeek!

Fat Girl With a Knife by Jonathan Maberry - 3 stars
Typical zombie story. I haven't read anything by this author previously, but I'm interested...mostly because of the character development. Dahlia was fierce but compassionate in spite of all of the bullying she'd succumbed to, and she makes a frighteningly good zombie killer.

Sleepless by Jay Kristoff - 5 stars
Dude. It's scary to get inside the head of a killer. Even scarier that Kristoff does it so well. Though, he did have a hand in creating the homicidal AI in Illuminae, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. I liked the inspiration for this one, as well, though I was also reminded of that Supernatural episode Houses of the Holy with the supposed avenging angel.

M by Stefan Bachmann - 3.5 stars
M is for murder. Mwahaha. I didn't get any creepy vibes from this story...just an urgent need to help Mischa discover the murderer's identity before it was too late. The story felt very much on the surface, like I could have read an entire book based on this premise and still never connected with it more than I did in this short story. It was rather bland to me.

The Girl Without a Face by Marie Lu - 3 stars
I love stories that totally lead me astray in the beginning, only to throw the shocking truth at me later. I also like stories where characters get their comeuppance. Marie Lu has proven to me time and again that she can write characters who are unaware of what they are, who struggle with right and wrong. But I most enjoy the characters who leave me on the fence, deserving of my contempt but also strangely deserving of my appreciation.

A Girl Who Dreamed of Snow by McCormick Templeman - 3.5 stars
Short, sweet and to the point. There are those who think that one sacrifice is worthier than another, and this story serves to highlight that fact. Magic, sacrifice, hunters...I can't pinpoint what exactly helped me to connect to this story more than others in the collection. I just know that I did.

Stitches by A.G. Howard - 4.5 stars
Most Frankenstein retellings I've encountered -- and I haven't read all that many -- focus on the brothers' relationship to validate the need to revive a person using some crazy science and medicine. This Frankenstein story, however, stems from a family's need to survive a tremendous loss that leaves them broken beyond repair and another family's need for redemption. Equal parts tragic and eerie, this story reminded me of why I like Howard's writing so much. She touches on many of the same themes as the original tale, from inconsolable grief to what makes a person human.

On the I-5 by Kendare Blake - 2.5 stars
I just did not connect with the voice in this story. Not as the main character described the monsters and not when it became apparent that she was a monster herself. I expected the anthology to end with a bang of a story, but it sort of just fizzled. Maybe I'm biased, though, because hitch-hiking seriously weirds me out. :P

I am sososo glad I listened this anthology. I may never look at some of the narrators the same again, but that just means they did their job thoroughly. ;0) I mean, obviously it appealed to every little evil bone in my body, but it's just such a good collection of stories. There's really, truly, honestly something for everyone in this anthology. And now I reeeeeally can't wait for April's new book in 2016 -- Wink Poppy Midnight -- because she makes reading creepy, abhorrent things such a delightful experience.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

April Genevieve Tucholke is a full-time writer who digs classic movies, redheaded villains, big kitchens, and discussing murder at the dinner table. She and her husband—a librarian, former rare-book dealer, and journalist—live in Oregon. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is her first novel.

Find April:

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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Labels: anthology, april genevieve tucholke, favorite authors, favorites, halloween, horror, must-read, penguin, scary reads

{Blog Tour} Into the Spooky Swamp Setting of Mary: The Summoning with Hillary Monahan

I just love this time of year: the turning of the leaves, the smells, the chill in the air, but most of all, the thrill of Halloween! The ladies over at The Midnight Garden must feel the same way because they're celebrating by hosting this awesome Halloween Thrills and Chills Event. This promotion features intriguing guest posts and interviews from three Disney-Hyperion authors releasing some very spooky tales this year: Hillary Monahan, author of Mary: The Summoning; Jonathan Stroud, author of the Lockwood & Co. series; and Laurie Stolarz, author of Welcome to the Dark House.

I just love all of the scary reads at our disposal these days. I don't enjoy being scared out of my mind as much as I used to, but there's just something so exhilarating about things that go bump in the night...something that keeps me reading into the wee hours of the night, with the blanket tucked up under my chin and all the lights on, lol. And in that vein, author Hillary Monahan is providing a deeper look into the setting of her eerie YA debut for us today. Check out a little about the book and then read further for the author's guest post and a giveaway featuring all four books from these authors!

MARY: THE SUMMONING

By Hillary Monahan

In stores now!!! 

Order Mary: The Summoning: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | The Book Depository
Here's the blurb:

There is a right way and a wrong way to summon her.

Jess had done the research. Success requires precision: a dark room, a mirror, a candle, salt, and four teenage girls. Each of them--Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna--must link hands, follow the rules . . . and never let go.

A thrilling fear spins around the room the first time Jess calls her name: "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. BLOODY MARY." A ripple of terror follows when a shadowy silhouette emerges through the fog, a specter trapped behind the mirror.

Once is not enough, though--at least not for Jess. Mary is called again. And again. But when their summoning circle is broken, Bloody Mary slips through the glass with a taste for revenge on her lips. As the girls struggle to escape Mary's wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships are torn apart, and lives are forever altered.

A haunting trail of clues leads Shauna on a desperate search to uncover the legacy of Mary Worth. What she finds will change everything, but will it be enough to stop Mary--and Jess--before it's too late?

Into the Spooky Swamp Setting of MARY: THE SUMMONING
By Hillary Monahan

Let's talk swamp. Hockomock Swamp to be exact, because that's where I put Bloody Mary Worth's hometown of Solomon's Folly. In Wampanoag, Hockomock means "where spirits dwell." It's appropriate considering how much ghost activity is attributed to these 17,000 acres of wetlands in Southeastern Massachusetts. Women in white, phantom fogs, unexplained lights—if you're from the area, you've heard a tale or two about the Hockomock.

Its lurid reputation makes it perfect story fodder.

The terrain is miserable—dense undergrowth, brambles galore, and lots and lots of bog land. This is no place for adventuring unless you're good with that pesky nature thing, especially considering one of the swamp's most charming features is quick sand. But no one around here calls it that. To the locals, it's Black Betty. People have drowned in it before. People will probably drown in it again. And, if you don't succumb to the pits of sinking mud, there's always the wild dogs to contend with. They roam in packs, more coyote than not, and are more than eager to meet anyone stupid enough to go into the swamp unprepared.

Putting Solomon's Folly in the Hockomock made sense, not only because of the oppressive nature of the flora, but because of the history. The Hockomock swamp was King Philip's primary base of operations during the earliest parts of King Philips War. The Wampanoags knew how to hunt and move through the swamp. As such, the raiding parties had a period of open season on ill-prepared colonists, staging attacks across a two hundred square mile area.

Though Providence, Rhode Island had burned to the ground and the Massachusetts colonists were driven back to their major settlements, the war all but ended a year later when King Philip—AKA King Metacomet—was shot and killed. His corpse was beheaded, his body drawn and quartered as per English tradition at the time. For twenty years his skull was displayed in Plymouth as a warning against any further Native American insurgence.

Thirty-six hundred people died during King Philip's War, a good bulk of them in or near the swamp. Legend was bound to pop up with that much concentrated death and destruction. Along with the aforementioned ghost claims, there are rumors of Native American curses involving Thunder Birds—eagle-like birds of vengeance that wreak havoc on any foolish enough to cross them. Messy deaths in spectral talons doesn't sound like a fun way to go.

Of course, there's also that whole bit about the marauding Sasquatch population living in the swamp, but I'm not going to go into that too much, if for no other reason than it evokes images of this, and that sort of ruins the mood:

About the author:

Hillary Monahan is Eva Darrows is also an international woman of mystery. Holed up in Massachusetts with three smelly basset hounds, she writes funny, creepy things for fun and profit.

Find Hillary:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Photographs are courtesy of the author. Review and giveaway copies courtesy of Disney-Hyperion.

Ooooooh, creepy! This is definitely one to read with the lights ON, folks. :) Thunder Birds and Sasquatches? As if the swamp wasn't scary enough on its own! And yet...I kind of want to visit it for myself.

Win a Thrills and Chills box of horror! Includes copies of the following new releases:

Mary: The Summoning

The Screaming Staircase

The Whispering Skull

Welcome to the Dark House

The box will be delivered just in time for spooky Halloween reading. Open to US and Canadian residents, see complete rules on entry form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out the rest of the blog tour, featuring guest posts, interviews, giveaways, and more!

Thrills and Chills: Halloween Event Tour with Jonathan Stroud, Hillary Monahan, and Laurie Stolarz

Wednesday, October 1   The Midnight Garden        5 Questions with Jonathan Stroud 
Thursday, October 2       The Starry-Eyed Revue    Into the Spooky Swamp Setting of Mary: The Summoning
Friday, October 3            Supernatural Snark           Rules for Surviving a House of Horrors (guest post by Laurie Stolarz)

Monday, October 6          Xpresso Reads                Deleted Scene from Mary: The Summoning
Tuesday, October 7         Love is Not a Triangle      5 Questions with Laurie Stolarz
Wednesday, October 8    For the Love of Words     10 Great Horror Films with Jonathan Stroud
Thursday, October 9        Winterhaven Books         How I Became a Horror Fan (guest post with Hillary Monahan) 
Friday, October 10           YA Romantics                  Quiz: What Dark House Character Are You? 

Monday, October 13         My Friends Are Fiction   Fashion Accessories for Ghosthunters (guest post by Jonathan Stroud)
Tuesday, October 14        The Flyleaf Review         5 Questions with Hillary Monahan 
Wednesday, October 15   Books with Bite               Top 10 Items to Survive The Dark House Amusement Park
Thursday, October 16       The Social Potato           A Tour of Jonathan Stroud's Writing Space

Thanks for checking out this spooky post from author Hillary Monahan! I hope your interest in Mary:The Summoning has been piqued and that you're ready to give all of these creepy tales a try!

Thanks to Wendy at The Midnight Garden for putting together this tour!

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Labels: blog tour, disney hyperion, giveaways, guest post, halloween, hillary monahan, mary: the summoning, scary reads, thrills and chills

Our Favorite Spooky Reads and Recs + Our Spooky TBRs

Trick or treat! Smell my feet! Or...don't. Whatever. :)

April and I had so much fun planning out our summer reading and recommending great summer reads to all of you a few months ago that we thought we'd incorporate our spooky reads into a similar post...just in time for October and all of the scary, Halloween-type books that will be popping up soon. I thought it might be a tad too early for this type of post, but several of my neighbors already have their houses completely decked out for Halloween, so apparently not. Guess it's time to head to the attic to dig out the fall wreaths, at least. :)

We've separated all of our scary recommended reads by theme or the creatures they feature and have gone on to explain why we picked these particular novels. At least one of us has read the novels depicted below, so you know our recommendations are heartfelt. We'd never intentionally steer you wrong...or would we? ;0) At any rate, we tried to recommend some titles that maybe aren't super popular but that are beloved to us, that would make great recs for those who maybe don't read as much as we do.

Jen: Salt & Storm was a recent read for me and it really stuck with me, maybe because of the bittersweet effect it had on me. I've had Born Wicked on my shelf forever -- with the old cover -- and my library finally got the audio...so good. Just wish they had the other two books on audio. :( The Hex Hall series was fun, magical, and included a lot more than just witches. I've never even attempted to read Blood Magic, though I do own a copy...loved her short stories on Merry Sisters of Fate with Maggie Stiefvater and Brenna Yovanoff. Beautiful Creatures is the only witch story on which (ha) April and I differ...I've tried reading and listening to the book so many times and can't get past the first quarter, let alone move on to the next book. I did like the movie okay, though. o_O

April: I have yet to read Salt & Storm and Born Wicked. Born Wicked is one I'm hoping to get to this fall though! Hex Hall was just okay for me, but Blood Magic and Beautiful Creatures rocked my world. I've only read up to book two from the Caster Chronicles so far, but I'd like to continue them someday.

Jen: I discovered the 13 to Life series completely by chance, but it really grabbed me, especially the werewolf brothers. Hemlock reminded me a lot of Veronica Mars, which is why I need to make every effort to finish the series. Rachel Vincent's Shifters is an adult series and was so much fun from start to finish, and I wasn't ready for it to end when it finally did after the 5th or 6th book. The Others series by Anne Bishop is absolutely phenomenal. It also includes other paranormal creatures, but one of the main (and one of my favorite) characters is a werewolf, so I stuck it in this category. I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes, but I couldn't make myself read past the first book in the Raised by Wolves series...I just didn't find it as compelling as some others.

April: Stray and Raised by Wolves are the only two I can vouch for. I really loved them both, and I need to get to their sequels!

Jen: I think the Blood of Eden series is one of the best vampire series I've ever read. From start to finish, it was one of those edge of your seat reads. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, though, my be my favorite vampire read ever...I've read and listened to it several times and I still swoon for Gavriel every single time. I listened to the entire Vampire Academy series in one fell swoop over summer vacation a couple of years ago and fell hard for Rose and Dimitri...and poor Adrian. And I fell harder still for Adrian and Sydney in the Bloodlines spin-off series. The only one I haven't read of these is The Hallowed Ones, but I believe I have this first book on my Kindle. I have to admit, the promise of the Amish and vampires in such a story has intrigued me since it was first rec'd to me.

April: The only vampire book in this group that I haven't read is The Coldest Girl in Cold Town. I cannot freaking wait to get to that, and it's on my spooky read list, so soon! I have to agree with Jen on the Blood of Eden books. They were awesome. Vampire Academy and Bloodlines are amazing too. The Hallowed Ones though, is one of the scariest vampire novels I've read to date. It's seriously fucking creepy. Vampires + Amish = instant win.

Jen: I adore Kendare Blake and everything she writes, but it all started with Anna Dressed in Blood. I also thought that the Shade series by Jeri Smith-Ready was fantastic, but for me, it was even better on audio because the narrator is fabulous at Zachary's Scottish brogue. ;0) I started reading Velveteen before it was released but had to put it aside...but what I did read of it was so unique and completely awesome...I need to make time to finish it. I've heard great things about Karina Halle and Dark House, enough that I purchased a copy, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

April: Ahhh, Anna Dressed in Blood! Best ghost book I've ever read. Hands down. Shade, was kind of meh for me. I just couldn't get into those as much as others have. Velveteen, I honestly have not heard of that one, but I may have to add it to my goodreads. I really enjoyed Dark House, but I think it's an acquired taste. I've had a couple of friends say they couldn't get into it, and others that blew through the series. I stopped at about book 5, and I really need to pick them back up. Her writing gets better as the stories go on. And they are pretty scary. Great for this time of year.

Jen: I think gothic horror stories might just be my favorite reads because they are so atmospheric and all-encompassing. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea was beyond phenomenal for me, as was its sequel...full of red-headed devils and crooked-smiling liars. And I don't know a single person I haven't told to read Sarah Rees Brennan's Unspoken...I'm dying for the third and final book to release next week! Each of the stories in Megan Shepherd's The Madman's Daughter series is based on a gothic classic and each has a beautiful cover to match. Blythewood is set at a boarding school, where magic and the fey linger, and the story within is just as gorgeous as the cover on the outside. (I had some other recs for this category, but I'm not trying to rec my whole library. :P)

April: I have never read a gothic horror. This disappoints me, so even though my spooky reads list is big, I added Unspoken to the pile.

Jen: Those first two series are two of my very most favorites ever! They deserve so much more recognition than they get. Sanctum is the book that made me jump on the Sarah Fine bandwagon, and I can't wait to read the final book very, very soon. MALACHI!!!! I just helped out on the blog tour for the second book in the Rephaim series by Paula Weston, but Shadows was outstanding...angels, angel/human offspring, demons, hellhounds, the search for the fallen angels. Probably the best angel-themed series I've read next to Angelfall by Susan Ee....which could also probably be placed on this list, what with those evil angels and their "locust" creations. I'm obviously a Sarah Rees Brennan fangirl, as she's made it into two different categories now. But the snark, oh, the snark, in The Demon's Lexicon series...it's sooo good. Haven't read Exiled, but that cover has definitely piqued my interest, April.

April: I think I own Sactum. I'm not entirely sure though, I think I may have grabbed it on sale. I thought about adding Angel Fall to this group, so it's funny seeing Jens commentary now as I'm filling out mine. I tend to stay away from angel or demon books. They just don't call to me, but Angel Fall was recommended to me by Jen, and it was amazing. Exiled was pretty good. I bought it because I loved the cover. It's self published, so I was wary, but the writing was great.

Jen: Zombies used to be my favorite paranormal/supernatural creature to read about. Now, I love them all equally, but I still have some mad favorites in this genre, tops being The Forest of Hands and Teeth, though the second book in this series is actually my favorite. The Ashes trilogy is about zombies that aren't zombies and human nature; in other words, it's heart-stopping and jaw-dropping and just so, so good. Enclave was my first experience with an Ann Aguirre book, and I've been a fan ever since. Feed by Mira Grant is about bloggers and zombies and more human nature and it's pretty effing good on audio. I still need to catch the rest of the series. I've never read a zombie book that felt so contemporary before, but leave it to Courtney Summers to write a book like This is Not a Test. Warm Bodies was different and humorous, but I actually kind of think I liked the movie better. (The soundtrack was killer, too.) I haven't read the other two.

April: The Forest of Hands and Teeth is one of my favorite zombie series. Loved those books hardcore. I love zombie stories, but there are a ton out there that I still haven't read. This Is Not A Test was great. Graveminder was pretty cool, a different take on the whole living dead phenomenon. Warm Bodies, that one I felt the movie was better than the book. Might be a first ever. Red Hill, is also really good!

Jen: I blame my dad for my love of sci-fi. Also, good stories like these. The 5th Wave is probably my favorite novel featuring aliens because they are evil aliens hellbent on destroying the humans. The Host has a similar premise, but more like the aliens want to use the humans. In These Broken Stars, I kind of feel like everyone's an alien, but there are some beings that are more so than others. Super-psyched for the companion novel! What I like best about all of these, though, is the exploration of human nature and the human instinct to survive at all costs.

April: I loved all three of these books for different reasons. The Host is one of my favorite books of all time. If I had to choose a spooky read with aliens, The 5th Wave fits that bill the best. While it's not really spooky, it scared the living crap out of me. Those aliens are no joke.

We're also including our projected spooky TBR piles for now through the end of October. These include review copies, as well as scary books from our shelves, though with the time constraints of finishing by Halloween, we may be a little overzealous once again. Okay, okay, April, I know you finished your piles this summer. I mean me...I'm the one who didn't finish my stacks of books for my proposed summer reading. But I gave it my best, and that's what we'll do again with these books.

April's Spooky TBR

So these are my spooky picks. Jen loved the Coldest Girl in Coldtown, and to be honest, it wasn't even really on my radar before I knew that. Girl of Nightmares has been on my tbr list for ages. Rot & Ruin seems like it will be a solid zombie choice. It was a toss up between that one and Enclave. The Raven Boys, I'm not really sure what its' about, but it came up as a spooky Halloween-ish book under the Goodreads Listopia, and I've been curious to try this series. Those are my solid 4.

As some of you may know, I just started a new job and it's double the amount of hours I've been working, so reading will be somewhat sparse for a while until I can get acclimated to a full time schedule again. I would like to try and get to Born Wicked, Unspoken, Beware the Wild and The Bargaining. Beware the Wild and The Fall are both review books for this fall, so I really want to get those read. Here's to hoping! :)

The one thing going for me is that fall brings colder temps, and that means more time on the couch on the blanket and not outside in the cold. Plus the view from my new office will put me in the mood to head home and read those scary books!

As you can see the leaves are changing already!

Jen's Spooky TBR

As per usual, my spooky TBR is very ambitious, but as I have most of these for review, they need to be read anyway, so I'm killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. I just wish I had access to more of them on audio...that would help me knock a few out quickly AND make for a very atmospheric listening experience. And I'm really, really looking forward to each and every one of these, so it should be easy to read all 15 in a month's time, right? Now, reviewing them, that's a whole different story. :P

I did have The Infinite Sea on this list, but I read it earlier this week. I thought about leaving it so that I could have one marked off already, but that seems like cheating, lol. If I haven't reviewed it by the time this post goes live, soon. But it was a PHENOMENAL sequel.

What books are on your spooky TBR list? Plan on reading any of the ones we have listed here? Have any recs for us? :D

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Labels: 2014, demons, discussion, funfunfun, ghosts, gothic horror, halloween, scary reads, spooky reads, TBR pile, vampires, werewolves, witches, zombies