I’ve said many times that summer is the best time to read horror. The sun’s out longer, chasing away those pesky shadows that always seem to move of their own accord, and it’s hot, so the occasional chill is always welcome.
And for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere where it’s currently winter … well, I mean, hang in there? Summer will come along soon enough, I’m sure. There, there.
For the rest of us, it’s time to get our horror on! I’ve been feeling the familiar itch, so I’m here with a small selection of horror books for different age ranges, with different levels of scare factor.
Ghost Squad
by Claribel A. OrtegaPublished by: Scholastic on April 7, 2020
Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Paranormal
Pages: 245
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Shortly before Halloween, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, cast a spell that accidentally awakens malicious spirits, wreaking havoc throughout their hometown of St. Augustine, Florida. Together, they must join forces with Syd's witch grandmother, Babette, and her tubby tabby, Chunk, to fight the haunting head-on and reverse the curse to save the town and Lucely's firefly spirits before it's too late.
I’d been dying to read this book for a while. I follow Claribel Ortega on Twitter, and she’s just delightful, and I wanted to support her debut. Plus, it just sounded fantastic. I specifically had to get the cover with the cat with the glowing eyes because, one, it’s fabulous and, two, it feels like all the covers of scary books I grew up with in the ’90s and early 2000s and that makes me love it all the more.
Ghost Squad has a Latina protagonist, warm and fuzzy family vibes, and an adorable abuela character, and some strong Ghostbuster vibes.
This was actually a buddy read I did with Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads waaaay back when, and it’s just taken me that long to write this review, because I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t love the book, but I didn’t hate it, either. It just … was, and then I moved on.
There’s some great Dominican #OwnVoices rep in this and a nice peek into the culture.
There’s Spanish! Okay, sure, this’ll probably annoy some people. But you know what? Spanish is a gorgeous language, and Latinx people tend to incorporate Spanish in life, and I absolutely loved seeing it in this book. Especially given that it’s #OwnVoices, because it sounds natural and not included for diversity points, like a lot of the Spanish I’ve read in books.
No, it’s not always defined, but most of it is in thoughts right after, and the few phrases that aren’t are pretty obvious from the context. This is something I love seeing in kids’ books, especially in the area I live, because we have a decent sized Hispanic population (for a town that’s, like, 98% white, anyway), and I’ve seen time and time again that kids tend to be curious about other cultures/languages when they’re given the chance to explore them.
And for little Latinx girls? I imagine they’ll be able to see themselves in Lucely and her interactions with her family, and that’s also so very important!
Despite some of the odd and funny moments, there’s some nice family feels here, and I enjoyed seeing Lucely interact with her family.
It’s quite a large family, considering that when they die, they become fireflies, but each one had their own separate personalities. This is where the Coco comp comes into play, and while the feels definitely didn’t get as deep as Coco, there were so many great family vibes and connections going on! Especially considering that mid-grade tends to be full of dead or absent parents, it was so refreshing to see a family coming together and supporting each other.
There are a lot of pop culture references in this, but they’re older pop culture references.
This is really going to end up as a personal preference thing. It’s something Leelynn and I talked about, and it didn’t bother her, but I liked it less and less the more it happened. First, there’s really no grounding in the setting, so this could easily be taking place in the ’90s. I don’t know. Maybe it is. Maybe it says and I missed something. I think there was cell phones, though, if I recall, so it felt more modern to me, but it’s been a while since I read it, so I’m not for sure on that.
To me, though, it felt a lot like the author inserting herself and things she enjoyed as a child into the character, and the more older references that popped up, the more it felt that way to me. One or two, yeah, sure. Who doesn’t grow up liking older things because of their family? But there were so many here that this book felt like it was set during my childhood from the references alone.
Again, this is going to be a personal thing. I’m not a huge fan of a lot of pop culture references in the first place (mostly because I’m usually out of touch and tend not to get them), but it’s pretty common in middle grade, so I’m used to it. They just stood out here for me, personally.
Syd cocked her head to the side. A knowing look on her face.
“Okay, maybe it sucks a little, but be less harsh, Syd. Sheesh. I’m delicate and a Hufflepuff.”
This book just felt like it was trying to do a lot, like it was pulled in too many directions.
You know, I find I’ve said this lately about several books, and so I’m wondering if this might just be me. But there was a storyline about family, the fireflies, Lucely’s father struggling to keep afloat financially, a history with a coven of witches, spooks running amok, etc. As I said, it was a lot.
I think because of that, I didn’t really warm up to any of the characters. It seemed like from one thing to another, and I didn’t get the chance to really like any of them except Syd’s grandmother, Babette (who seems pretty awesome). The book is comped to both Coco and Ghostbusters, and while I see the comparisons, trying to do both meant that neither one shone through strongly for me. The heartwarming family aspects are waylaid by the light-hearted, joking, irreverent atmosphere of ghostbusting, and the ghostbusting was constantly shoehorned into one section at the end of the book, where all the action takes place, and basically destroys all the feels that have been built up until then.
Buddy Read Discussion
Lucely has the ability to see spirits, but during the day, they hang out as fireflies in jars in the tree in the yard. If you had to have your ancestor’s spirit hanging around your house all the time, what animal form would you want their spirits to adopt?
Leelynn: I mean… dragons obviously. Even if they are mini dragons so that they can fit in the house without feeling like they are going to knock over any of the furniture. Or if they don’t want to be dragons because not everyone can handle being majestical creatures all the time, they can be lions.
Sammie: I know we both want to say dragons (duh), but just for diversity of opinion, I’m going to go with wolves! First, I absolutely love wolves. They’re such majestic creatures. They could be fiercely loyal or eat your face, and I’m okay with those utter opposites being embodied in one beast (*cough*likedragons*cough*). But also, how fierce would it be if you just step outside to hang with your wolf pack?
Lucely loves having her ancestors living with her and discovering stories about them and their lives. What’s one story you’ve heard about one of your ancestors that you’d like to be able to ask them about?
Leelynn: Unfortunately I haven’t learned a lot about my ancestors like I want to but I do want to learn more about how the start of the Haniu family happened in Guam since that’s the family that everyone really talks about. I want to know how it was coming from Japan and Spain to Guam, and how it was like living during Magellan’s time and dealing with his reign.
Sammie: My great-grandmother was actually a flapper, back in her day and age. Maybe that’s not quite as shocking if you didn’t know her. Imagine, if you will, a little 5′ tops (maybe shorter by then), white-haired lady whose hair was stark white, always perfectly permed, with an utterly mild demeanor. Well, except when she tripped over her words, because her fourth stroke left her with a stutter, and then she’d occasionally swear, but that aside? Perfect stereotype of a little old lady grandmother. So to realize that she was a flapper?! I didn’t know until after she’d passed and we were going through pictures and found one of her in her late teens in a flapper dress!
In this book, the “Ghost Squad” is obviously modeled after Ghostbusters. If you had to form a gang with your friends for hunting any sort of fantasy creature, what show/book would you base your squad off of?
Leelynn: I feel like it would have to be a mix between Charmed, Supernatural and Buffy. Not like I have sisters or anything, but definitely girls that I feel like I have that kind of relationship with, my brother if he’s willing, and then very close friends like with the Scoobies. So a whole gang-gang if you will.
Sammie: … Leelynn took my answer, and it wasn’t very nice of her. Oh well, I’m still going with it. I’m going with a mix of Supernatural and Evolution, which are both trios of men, except one has an angel and the other has an idiot, and I can’t decide which one I want. xD Maybe an idiot angel?
In a lot of lore, cats not only play a special role regarding ghosts, but they’re also the traditional witchy sidekick. What animal would you rather choose as a witchy sidekick?
Leelynn: Dra. Gon. Not Lizard. I don’t do that tongue thing.
But I mean cats are cool. I’d maybe choose my girl Nyla because she’s always with me like no matter what and she’s the sweetest. Or I’ll pick a lion.
Sammie: I want an owl, because imagine how effective that’d be. They’re both cute and terrifying, so you would want to melt but also maybe not get too close because it might eat your soul, you never know.
There’s a mention of la chancla in this book, which is a stereotype often made fun of in Latino cultures, where women use their sandals to dole out discipline. What’s one fun stereotype about your culture that you like to make fun of?
Leelynn: I make fun of one of the (unofficial) Chamorro stereotypes that Chamorro women are deaf because we are always yelling because… well if you get me and all my female family members in the same house together, we are all yelling and we are all deaf trying to hear what the other person is saying. I miss it. I love it so much. Oh, and we all sound alike that whenever one of us calls my Grandma on the phone, she can’t tell who it is. Or if any of us call the other person, none of us can tell who it is, so that’s pretty funny too.
Sammie: My family’s Scotch-Irish, so we’re cheap and we drink a lot. It’s sad but true. I always make fun of how “frugal” (read: cheap) we are. It used to drive hubby insane, but then he just gave me control of the finances and, like the professional my grandmother taught me to be, we’ve always found a way to stretch a dollar in the hardest times. I’ve learned to loosen up a little bit, because it’s nice to enjoy things, but man can I tighten the belt when I need to.
Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 1
by James Tynion IVPublished by: BOOM! Studios on May 20, 2020
Genres: Horror, Fantasy
Pages: 128
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
When children begin to go missing in the town of Archer’s Peak, all hope seems lost until a mysterious woman arrives to reveal that terrifying creatures are behind the chaos - and that she alone will destroy them, no matter the cost.
IT’S THE MONSTERS WHO SHOULD BE AFRAID.
When the children of Archer's Peak—a sleepy town in the heart of America—begin to go missing, everything seems hopeless. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories—impossible details of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows. Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger, one who believes the children and claims to be the only one who sees what they can see.
Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. That is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.
Many thanks to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for a review copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Images are taken from an unfinished version and may differ from the final product.
I read the first few pages of this before deciding whether I was interested, and phew, okay, this premise got me right away. It’s so freaking creepy right from the start, and it definitely lives up to its horror tag.
Something’s Killing the Children, Vol. 1, will leave you wanting more, guaranteed. It blends horror and the supernatural for some spine-chilling moments, but also some dark comedy for a bit of levity.
The thing with graphic novels is they always stop when things start getting good, darn it! I will say, this arc was satisfying. It left things with a promise of more, but also having sufficiently wrapped up this introduction. The ending gave me a “greater things to come” sort of vibe, and I just cannot freaking wait to revisit this world.
This was so much gorier than I thought it’d be, but the premise was so interesting that I didn’t even care.
Normally, I can get squicked out pretty easily by gore, but this was what I’ll call “fuzzy gore.” Yes, you get the horror-inducing sense of people getting torn apart, but it’s not particularly detailed. The image appears a little “fuzzy,” so it’s almost gore lite.
I mostly thought this approach was great, and it made it easier for me to stomach. The one part I felt suffered a bit from this was the monster. I love the art style here, but the monster? Eh. I mean, I suppose it’s supposed to be scary, given what you see it doing to people. But when it’s actually shown, it doesn’t exactly creep me out. I’m sure this says more about me than the book, but it is what it is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe instead of checking for monsters in the closet, you should check for me, because clearly, I’m the more terrifying of the two.
While I confess that I may not know much about Erica Slaughter, but I’m already totally in love with her.
At first, you’d think Slaughter’s totally a fake name, right? Which when I read it made me laugh, but GUYS, I totally saw an interview with someone whose last name was slaughter the other day on TV, so … mind = blown.
Still, Erica’s name obviously fits her. She’s a bundle of mysteries and contradictions, on top of being a total badass, so … you know, she’s kind of got a lot going for her right now. There’s very little I actually get to know about her personally, but she’s in the monster hunting business, and that’s enough for me. I’m easy, what can I say?
I was already interested in the story by the time she showed up, but she sealed the deal. I couldn’t get enough of her, and I can’t wait to learn more about the people she works for/with and more about her story.
The atmosphere of this book really harkened back to the old-school, small-town horrors.
I’m not sure what it is about small towns that make them perfect for horror settings. No, scratch that, I totally do. Because small towns are safe. Everyone knows each other. Everyone looks out for each other. Right? RIGHT?! All that murder and crime and stuff happens in the big cities.
Having grown up in a small town, I found the setting both charming and alarming, which was a perfect blend. Add to that the natural suspicion that small-town folks feel when a stranger comes to town, and it really lends itself to a tense situation.
Out of Body
by Jeffrey FordPublished by: Tor.com on May 26, 2020
Genres: Horror, Fantasy
Pages: 170
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
A small-town librarian witnesses a murder at his local deli, and what had been routine sleep paralysis begins to transform into something far more disturbing. The trauma of holding a dying girl in his arms drives him out of his own body. The town he knows so well is suddenly revealed to him from a whole new perspective. Secrets are everywhere and demons fester behind closed doors.
Worst of all, he discovers a serial killer who has been preying on the area for over a century, one capable of traveling with him through his dreams.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor.com for a review copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
The premise of this was super interesting in a “there’s more to the world than you know” sort of a way.
It really speaks to that primal feeling (or maybe fear?) that there’s a whole world lurking out there at night that’s divorced from the world of the day. One where monsters lurk. I wanted to know more about this world. I loved the idea of the librarian playing detective with a nosy old lady (who was absolutely fabulous, by the way).
The introduction of the paranormal, even, and the way that there are older, more mysterious things afoot was really interesting, too. I thought the ideas were absolutely great, even if it seemed a bit lacking in execution. I would’ve loved if the novella had been a bit longer to really get a chance to explore these things.
This felt a bit like two competing storylines shoved together, and it wasn’t long enough for either to feel entirely complete.
The beginning is slow. Certainly not what I expected out of something marked as a thriller. It’s also very introspective, and not particularly scary. I thought it was kind of neat to explore the night world. There are “threats” in the night world, but they seemed rather contrived and convenient to me (and I knew right away that they would obviously play a big role in the end of the story, and they did).
But what I particularly loved about the night world is the little secrets of people’s lives that the characters collect. I loved the idea that everyone is someone different at night, in the perceived safety of their own home. It really forced the character to reconsider his judgments of people, and it gave me, as the reader, a lot to think on.
The end of this book, though? Felt like an episode of Buffy. There was definitely action, and a bit of murder mystery and secrets and supernatural. Which felt very out of place with the beginning of the book, and it sort of popped up out of nowhere. I think both ideas on their own, separated, might have done well, but they just didn’t quite fit together well enough for me.
Novellas often leave me feeling like I want more, like the story hasn’t had a chance to completely unravel itself, and this was no exception.
I didn’t feel like there was time for … well, much of anything, if I’m honest. I didn’t get a good sense of the characters, and the protagonist’s voice was kind of meh. There were hints of interesting quirks about him, but he was at a bit of a humdrum time in his life, and that indifference seemed to seep through to the narrative, which wasn’t all that fun to read.
Most things wrapped up fine, I suppose, almost conveniently, but without ever actually resolving anything. It was one of those moments where we’ve taken this journey and by the end, I just sit back and go, “Okay … and?” I enjoyed Ford’s writing style, so it was a pleasant read, but I didn’t get a sense of completeness out of the story. I didn’t sit back and go, “Ah, okay, everything’s come full circle now.”
I never really thought about horror being such a great genre to read in the summer (normally saving it for All Hallow’s Eve of course) but you made some pretty valid points… I guess I’ll have to pick up on the horror anthology I stopped reading in March.
OwlCrate just gave me my first graphic novel, so I will try it out and see if that genre is for me, even though the one you mentioned seems to be exactly the type of storyline to keep me going graphic novel or not… definitely checking that one out!
Kudos for being able to give a solid review from a book you haven’t read in a while. It sounds like that the middle-grade book had all the makings of two great books… without the pop culture references of course. I feel like I would gag a little every time I would run past one in any book I’m reading. 😅
I used to read horror just during October, too, but at the end of last year, I fell in love with several thrillers and was like … why don’t I read these more often, again?!
My goal this year was to read more graphic novels, and I do love being able to squeeze them in as a nice break. Sometimes, it’s a great palette-cleanser, almost, when I get bogged down with a bunch of longer books.
I know people that love pop culture references, but I’ve just never been that person. xD I have the same reaction, unless it’s something witty and niche. Like a gamer book mentions Leeroy Jenkins? Yeah, okay, that’s fair haha.
Yes on Leeroy Jenkins!!! He’s everyone’s hero… if someone referenced that, I’d swoon myself 😅
*cough* Dragon Ops by Mari Mancusi. You’re welcome. xD
GHOST SQUAD! That book’s been on my radar for a while.
Leah recently posted…{Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge} Favorite Poems, Short Stories, and Novellas
I hope you end up liking it! Now that I’ve read it, I’m looking forward to see what Ortega comes up with next. :3
Hi Sammie, all the three book reviews are nice and you represent it neatly. I especially like something about killing children though it is a horror I will read it once for sure. Thanks for the review and keep posting.
Thank you! Definitely liked that one, and I’m really looking forward to more!