I can see what Lindy Ryan was trying to do here, given my steeping in world mythology, but I think it needed a little more explaining so that the average reader can figure out what’s actually going on in this horror novella of guilt and grief. Just a few weeks ago, Derek Sinclaire died, falling …
Category: Horror
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/19/cold-snap-by-lindy-ryan/
Nov 08 2024
A Christmas Ghost Story by Kim Newman
I don’t know if this is the perfect complement or counterprogramming to my eldest child and I watching and really enjoying Agatha All Along together. Probably a little of both — tho my kid will likely have little interest in this book, alas. That might be for the best tho, as it’s A Chilling Tale …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/08/a-christmas-ghost-story-by-kim-newman/
Oct 24 2024
Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson
Oh my God, this was incredible and terrifying all at once. Spicy, sweet and hardcore revolting, this sapphic horror novella breathes new life into the trope of obsessive love as a lonely young woman falls hard for a mysterious figure she meets at the fair. Ro’s recovery from being betrayed by her ex-boyfriend, and the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/24/bloom-by-delilah-s-dawson/
Oct 22 2024
MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark & Mysterious — The Graphic Stories by MrBallen, Robert Venditti & Andrea Mutti
I am genuinely loving the resurgence of horror comics, as well as the myriad channels by which they’re coming onto the market. Some cynics may say that books like these are just a cash grab, but I’d honestly never even heard of MrBallen before this engaging volume landed on my desk. Call me an old …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/22/mrballen-presents-strange-dark-mysterious-the-graphic-stories-by-mrballen-robert-venditti-andrea-mutti/
Oct 09 2024
Spinetinglers 3 by R. L. Stine
When R. L. Stine started making headlines as a writer with the Fear Street novels, I was already aging out of his target audience. I know that that’s a weird thing to say given how I voraciously read books across all age ranges now, but having grown up on Nicholas Fisk and Scary Stories To …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/09/spinetinglers-3-by-r-l-stine/
Sep 30 2024
UFO Mushroom Invasion by Shirakawa Marina
translated and edited by historian Ryan Holmberg as part of Smudge, “a line of vintage horror, occult, and dark fantasy manga”. Honestly, this was rad and creepy all at once. The original manga was published in 1976, and has been translated and repackaged here for English-speaking audiences, with illuminating essays and notes to boot. Shirakawa …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/30/ufo-mushroom-invasion-by-shirakawa-marina/
Sep 28 2024
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
One of the things that science fiction writers have learned how to do in the 206 years since Frankenstein was first published is how to bring their readers along with the new elements of the world that they put into their stories. Most of the time, they take care to make the fantastic elements plausible …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/28/frankenstein-by-mary-shelley-2/
Sep 18 2024
The Strange Tales Of Oscar Zahn: Volume 1 by Trí Vương
Me while reading this book: Why am I crying?! Me reading the artist’s bio at the end: Oh, because this is one of the creators behind Everyday Hero Machine Boy, which was another extraordinary graphic novel that I also did not expect to make me cry. If you’ve read my last two reviews, you’ll know …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/18/the-strange-tales-of-oscar-zahn-volume-1-by-tri-vuong/
Sep 16 2024
Camp Twisted Pine by Ciera Burch
Oh wow, getting into this hit hard. Like Ciera Burch, I never went to sleepaway camp, and wound up writing a book/game on the subject. I designed that roleplaying game on my former best friend, the same way choreographers create dances on certain performers. Unfortunately for me, that person I relied on and trusted more …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/16/camp-twisted-pine-by-ciera-burch/
Sep 11 2024
Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker
I wonder why this was published by sff stalwart tordotcom instead of by its horror imprint, Nightfire, as the also creepy (and just as speculative, if not more so) Crypt Of The Moon Spider was. Regardless, I’m so glad that this novella has been released as a standalone book, perfect as a quick-ish read as …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/11/haunt-sweet-home-by-sarah-pinsker/