Oct 25 2025

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

When T. Kingfisher, whose real name is Ursula Vernon, was re-reading “The Fall of the House of Usher” two things struck her. The first, as she writes in her author’s note at the end of the book “was that Poe is really into fungi. He devotes more words to the fungal emanations than he does to Madeline.” (p. 171) The second was that, for all the story’s staying power and cultural footprint, it’s short. The length left her wanting explanations. “I wanted to know about Madeline’s illness and why Roderick didn’t just move … it was blindingly obvious to me that Madeline’s illness must have something to do with all that fungus everywhere.” (pp. 171–72) Poe’s first-person narrator remains unnamed, but Kingfisher quickly came up with a name, and a backstory, and quite a lot of cultural background, including locating the Ushers’ house in Ruravia and bits of the narrator’s native Gallacian language.

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

The setup echoes “Usher”: the narrator travels to the isolated country manor house of an old friend, answering a summons that alludes to a mysterious illness, only to find the patient in dire straits and the surrounding circumstances far stranger and more disturbing than could have been expected from the letter. Alex Easton and Roderick Usher had been soldiers together in the recent war; before that, they were acquainted in their younger years with Roderick’s sister Madeline in the same circle. In expanding the story to novella length, Kingfisher adds characters and background. For example, the Gallacian language has an improbable number of sets of personal pronouns, including ka/kan, which is used exclusively for soldiers.

The Gallacian army fared poorly in many of its wars, leading to a shortage of men available for service. Some years before What Moves the Dead, a woman had presented herself to a recruiter and noted that nothing in the statutes said that she could not serve, as all references to soldiers referred to ka or kan, not once to he or him, nor she or her. She became the first sworn soldier of Gallacia and was ka/kan thereafter. Easton is similarly sworn.

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Oct 24 2025

Tantalizing Tales — October 2025 — Part Four

Halloween is only a week away, dear readers! Let’s check out some of the books coming out mere days before the holiday, with plenty for readers who love spooky season, as well as for those whose interests veer off in other directions.

Since I love witchy stuff year-round, I’m thrilled to start this column with the latest in Angela M Sanders’ Witch Way Librarian series, Witch And Tell. The seventh book finds small town librarian Josie Way feeling pretty down in the dumps. Her relationship with sexy sheriff Sam has cooled since she revealed to him that she’s a witch. To make matters worse, her magical abilities are on the fritz, with her connection to the library books that she draws her power from seemingly stymied by forces unseen.

When she’s awakened one night by a pounding from the atrium of the library that she lives over, she hurries to investigate… only to discover a dead body. She calls Sam, who lives conveniently next door. But when he arrives, there’s no body, and all the doors and windows are still locked tight. Does the disappearing body have anything to do with the town’s on-going renovation of an old movie palace into a brew pub? Josie will have to figure out why her life is starting to resemble a classic movie while sorting out her paranormal powers and personal affairs.

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Oct 23 2025

How To Fake A Haunting by Christa Carmen (Guest Post)

Hello, readers! We have a spooky season treat for you today, as Christa Carmen joins us to talk about her latest book, How To Fake A Haunting, and the Rhode Island legends that have inspired her writing.

But first, a little bit about the novel. Lainey Taylor wants out of her marriage to her alcoholic, erratic husband Callum. She’s convinced that it’s only a matter of time before he puts her life and the life of their daughter Beatrix in danger. Unfortunately, he has no interest in ending the marriage and giving her the full custody that she wants. He’d rather die first, as he’s more than happy to remind her.

Since Lainey isn’t the murderous type, she and her friend Adelaide hatch another plan to take advantage of Callum’s increasing drink-induced hallucinations. They’re going to stage a haunting. Nothing too wild: just some odd noises, some weird smells, a few dead flies by the windowsill. If she can drive him out of their home, maybe she’ll be able to drive him out of her life for good.

But what if faking a haunting means inviting a real haunting into their lives? As everything goes horribly awry, Lainey will have to join forces with Callum to put an end to something far greater and more terrible than their own marital woes, if either if them is to have a chance of surviving.

Ms Carmen talks a little about her inspiration for this book, as well as the ghost stories of her Rhode Island home, in the fascinating essay below:

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Oct 22 2025

The Luna Sisters Battle For The Moon Blossom by Dan Yaccarino

OMG, Idk why I assumed this would be based on Asian mythology. That one’s on me, lol.

The Luna sisters are actually extraterrestrial and live on the moon. The house they live in is perfectly divided between the Bright and Dark sides. Lucy stays on the Bright side, whereas Nera prefers to stick to the Dark. While the sisters have similar interests, they tend to go about them in very different ways. When it comes to flying, for example, Lucy creates fanciful fairy wings with fantasy magic while Nera builds a jetpack with science fiction.

One day, both sisters spot an intriguing flower growing right on the border between Bright and Dark. Both covet the plant, and neither wants to share. This sets them on an epic battle for control… until they discover an even bigger threat to them both.

This is a super cute graphic novel about sibling rivalry that will speak to anyone who’s ever wondered how they could possibly belong to the same family as some weirdo (never mind that they probably don’t have the monopoly on normal to begin with.) Lucy and Nera are such opposites in everything except goals, so it’s nice to see them learn how to put aside their differences in order to work together to achieve those. It’s a terrific lesson for young readers, told with an engaging fantasy vs sci-fi twist.

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Oct 21 2025

Of Prophecies & Pomegranates by T. C. Kraven (EXCERPT)

Hello, dear readers! Today we have an exciting excerpt for you that reimagines Greek myth in unexpected but cathartic ways.

In her debut traditionally published novel Of Prophecies & Pomegranates, T C Kraven reframes the passive myth of the Goddess of Spring into a story of female agency and transformation. This modern, feminist reimagining of the story sees Persephone choosing power — and her partner — on her own terms.

When her mother Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest, tries to force her into an arranged marriage, Persephone chooses freedom instead, forging a pact with the brooding and unexpectedly kind God of the Underworld. But what begins as escape blooms into a partnership unlike any Olympus has ever seen — until betrayal, war and grief turn gods into legends and love into lore.

A bold, spicy fantasy that explores power dynamics and healing through a kink-aware lens, OP&P combines romantic heat with thoughtful representation of consent. This first book in the Dark Fates series sets the stage for more bold and blisteringly romantic mythological retellings that feature queer representation, kink-positive themes, richly diverse characters, and the lore and culture of New Orleans.

Read on for a telling excerpt, as Persephone reunites with Demeter after her time in the Underworld:

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Oct 20 2025

Universal Monsters: Frankenstein by Michael Walsh & Toni-Marie Griffin

Hunh, I think I would have liked this better if I’d known going into it that it was based on the classic movie and not the novel. I know, I know, the “Universal Monsters” bit should have given it away but the Universal bit is in relatively small text on the cover there. I guess I just default hard to literary versions unless explicitly told otherwise, especially since the movie version is, in my memory, less dominant than the book.

This comic book retelling does bring fresh insight to the movie’s story, however, as it examines what makes a monster from a slightly more literal angle than its predecessors. The book begins with a boy grieving not only the loss of his father, but also the circumstances that that loss has plunged him into. Having run away from the home where he’s been placed, Paul is by his father’s grave in the rainy night when he hears voices. He quickly hides but manages to see that two men, Henry Frankenstein and Fritz, are digging up and stealing his father’s corpse.

Paul stows away in their wagon, and is brought to the tower where Henry is intent on bringing life to a creature cobbled together from human parts. Much of the rest of the story is told through Paul’s eyes, barring the flashbacks that seem disorienting at first but make perfect sense once you figure out how they’re all connected. Those aside, the book stays faithful to the original cut of the movie, at least until the end. While I do think the book’s final scene is a better closer than the film’s wedding toast, I didn’t understand who the guy talking to Paul is supposed to be: if you’ve read the book and know who, please do share in the comments!

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Oct 17 2025

Tantalizing Tales — October 2025 — Part Three

I can’t believe we’re already most of the way through October! Before we get into the really spooky part of the season tho, let’s take a look at several books publishing next week, that definitely lean harder into other genres than horror.

First up is Peter James’ The Hawk Is Dead, a police procedural inspired by a suggestion from Queen Camilla. Her Majesty is both a literacy advocate and a huge fan of murder mysteries, particularly the thrillers featuring Mr James’ creation, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. She herself plays a significant role in this book, as DS Grace is challenged by the most daunting case of his career.

Queen Camilla is on her way to a scheduled visit to two Brighton hospices when her train is derailed inside a tunnel just north of the city. Just as she and her entourage are escorted out to daylight, a sniper assassinates a key member of her household. Was Sir Peregrine Greaves the actual target, or had the bullet been meant for the queen?

As DS Grace investigates, he must resist pressure from the Met Counter Terrorism Command to hand the case over to London. The more he uncovers, the more convinced he becomes that Sir Peregrine had indeed been the intended victim, and that the reason for his murder lies somewhere in the chaotic renovation of Buckingham Palace, involving hundreds of people. When another member of the Royal Household turns up dead, it looks like DS Grace is on the right track… even if it’s one that places him in gravest danger.

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Oct 16 2025

Benny On The Case by Wesley King

I continue to stand by my claim that contemporary Middle Grade fiction is the most consistently affecting, life-affirming genre currently publishing, with this terrific mystery novel being only the latest excellent example.

Benny has Mosaic Down’s Syndrome, which for him manifests in physical appearance, but not in any intellectual or health issues. For the longest time, he was in special classes in his Newfoundland school. Now that he’s 11, there’s no denying the fact that he’s on the same educational level as his mainstream peers, so he’s about to be integrated into standard classes. He’s pretty nervous about this, as is his mother, who’s verged on the overprotective ever since the death of his father four years ago. His best friend Mr Tom is more encouraging, with plenty of life experience to back it up. Mr Tom is, after all, one of the elderly residents of the Starflower retirement home that Benny’s mother owns and operates, and where she and Benny live, too.

Fortunately, Benny finds an ally pretty quickly at school. Salma recently moved to the area from Seattle, as her dad found a great job in Newfoundland that allowed the whole family to be close to her grandmother Mrs Price, another Starflower resident. Salma is smart, athletic and just as much of an outsider as Benny due to the way she looks like the Tunisian side of her family. But she’s also funny and kind, and she and Benny quickly become fast friends despite his concerns that she’ll become way more popular than he is and not want to hang out with him any more.

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Oct 15 2025

League Of The Lexicon: US Edition by Two Brothers Games

Word nerds, rejoice! If you ever wanted something like Trivial Pursuit, only dedicated to linguistics and requiring slightly less table space, then this is the game for you!

Considering the amount of money I’ve thrown at tabletop games on Kickstarter, I’m genuinely baffled that I didn’t notice this when it first came out on the crowdfunding platform in 2023. I’m super glad that the lovely people at Adams Media reached out to me tho, with the publication of the US Edition of this game.

Here are the basic rules: you play a member of the League Of The Lexicon, who’s in search of several artefacts to complete their collection. You gain an opportunity at claiming one of those artefacts every time you correctly answer a question from the deck. Once you collect five artefacts, or the equivalent, you win!

There are actually two quiz decks in the box, to make the game more accessible to all players. The larger deck is the Tricksy deck, written with word nerds like myself in mind. There’s also a Ticklish deck for those less confident of their abilities. While playing with my 14 year-old, I answered questions from Tricksy while he opted for Ticklish.

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Oct 14 2025

Snap! Crunch! Munch! by Diana Castillo

Oh, I shouldn’t have read this while I’m hungry, now I’m craving Cuban food!

This delightful picture book* tells the story of a young boy whose relatives come over for family dinner. As they all sit around the table and dig in to the various dishes that they’ve contributed, the narrator begins to imagine everyone as a kind of animal, based on their dining preferences a/o eating habits. As he himself loves all the food on the table, he imagines himself as an omnivore, and thus turns into the cutest fox as he tucks into his meal.

There’s really not much else to this story but there doesn’t need to be, as the point is just to talk about things that will engage beginning readers — in this instance, animals, family and food — in simple enough language that they’re encouraged to follow along, whether with a more seasoned reader or by themselves. It’s what goes unsaid and is, instead, depicted in the illustrations that really sets this lovely book apart from the crowd.

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