Summary: This two-novella collection twists together the beauty and horror underlying the seeming simplicity of small town life. Sally Ann is a bright and bubbling farm girl, still caught in the thrill of a brand-new husband and a shining future ahead. When a careless exploration leaves her trapped underground, she learns to live again in the absence of everything she once knew. Even driven by love and light, Sally Ann finds the deepest darkness within herself in When Darkness Loves Us. Beauty Is… – Old Martha Mannes has been a part of Morgan, Illinois since her birth. The whole town knows h ..read more

Summary: Nebraska city, 1901. There’s a curse on Arbor Lodge—an elusive demon reclaiming the illustrious home in the name of the prairie—and its owner, J. Sterling Morton, proud statesman, is desperate. It couldn’t be more fortuitous for lumberjack Neville, whose greatest desire is to prove himself a true man to the world. Morton offers respect, security, pride, even the father figure Neville never had; and all the lumberjack has to do is find and kill this creature. There’s no doubt in Neville’s mind that he deserves to rise to the status of legend. He will prevail. It’s in his blood. Or else ..read more

Summary: The pink mold growing on the walls isn’t the worst thing about Elenya and Myles’ brand new fixer upper. There’s also the inexplicable footsteps in the night; the sealed-over windows and doors; the neighbor that hears their screams but can’t be bothered to help. Soon, there’s no leaving at all. No hope of cleaning. And that encroaching mold? It’s practically become a second skin. Welcome to the House of Rot. You’re never getting out. Content Warnings: Body Horror, Gore Review: Several years back, I was introduced to the bizarro genre through Danger Slater’s book, He Digs A Hole. The ex ..read more

Summary: A grave could be visited. Ashes could be scattered. But vanishing? That ripped a hole in the world the size of a life, and through that hole sighed a terrible wind repeating a single note: Gone. For years, Aggie had forgotten the real Joanne, the way her sister had laughed, fought, been. But now that the videotape made her real again-no matter how many times the recording changed, no matter how terrifying the flickering images-it was all Aggie wanted. To trade the Gone for the One. She owed Joanne that much. To say she was sorry. That it had been her fault. It had been all their fault ..read more

Summary: Blackwood, Vermont has one legend to its name—Benny Rose, the Cannibal King. Every local kid knows him and tells his stories, especially on Halloween. When a new girl moves to town in the autumn of 1987, the legend inspires high school junior Desiree St. Fleur and her friends to pull a Benny Rose-themed prank. A few laughs and screams, and they’ll have a Happy Halloween. But a vicious storm crashes into Blackwood and interrupts the festivities. Soon the girls find themselves trapped and hunted in a strange neighborhood where no one will help them. There’s nothing made-up about Benny ..read more

Summary: Have you ever wanted to live inside your favorite horror film? Prove you have what it takes to fight Freddy? Destroy Jason? Mangle Michael? Cousins Carson and Sophia are in town for their grandma’s funeral and are, unknowingly, about to live out the nightmare that is every horror fan’s dream. After they find an old unfamiliar VHS tape tucked away in grandma’s house, they figure the worst that can happen is a few cringeworthy moments and 90 minutes wasted. Instead, the video summons the movie monsters-local urban legends called melon heads-into their very real lives! The destruction ca ..read more

Summary: Eddie’s parents may be arguing about the disappearance of his infant brother Danny, but Eddie’s facing a terror all of his own. There’s a strange figure outside that claims it has Danny safe and sound-all Eddie needs to do to get his brother back is open that window. Eddie’s father is filled with guilt over his relationship with his own lost brother. His mother has been abandoned to navigate her grief and terror alone. And his grandmother carries a disturbing, all-too-relevant truth about their shared family history. As minutes tick by and hope for Danny grows ever smaller, the very f ..read more

Summary: New Mexico Territory, 1882: She comes to the Klein ranch at sunset, a strange naked pregnant woman dragging a cavalry saber. Annette Klein and her husband have built peace between their marriage and secret relations beyond, but their serenity dies in bloodshed tonight through a cannibalistic demon and a mad preacher. Annette barely escapes the bloodbath to the nearby town of Low’s Bend, where she might find safety with a shotgun-toting barkeep, two no-nonsense boarding room ladies, and the gunslinging bounty hunter who’s captured Annette’s heart. But hell is at her heels. If she’s goi ..read more

Summary: As the world’s climate swings rapidly between oppressively hot and freezing cold, the remnants of civilization huddle in small communities to scrape together what they can to survive. All except the Zhu family. Yi has lived in her ancestral house her entire life, sheltered and safe from the scarcity that plagues her community. Her family enjoys a secret life of running water, electricity, and an abundance of food. But as Yi seeks a way to share their fortune, she learns the terrible secret of the Zhu house. Content Warnings: Mild Gore Review: Every year, I notice more and more climate ..read more

Summary: You may think you know how the fairy tale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes. On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three “saints” who control them. The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruelest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive. Content Warn ..read more