Tag: horror

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Best of List Books Memes

Ten Deliciously Dark Reads

Happy Halloween! And right on cue, we have Top 10 Tuesday giving out a Halloween freebie treat. I’m by no means a horror fan, but I will try to wrap up the month with top 10 spooktastic and deliciously dark reads.

1 / The Shepherd King series by Rachel Gillig

Phenomenally gothic and creepy. This duology took me completely by surprise and got me out of my reader’s block. Absolutely mindblowing world-building, plot AND writing.

2 / The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

In Udolpho, young Emily St. Aubere finds herself orphaned and in the clutches of her wicked uncle-in-law, Montoni. Montoni is up to no good, and more than one skeleton hides in his closet. This is Gothic suspense at its finest, and is highly recommended.

3 / Cry Baby Hollow by Aimee Love

I found this on Goodreads for lesser known Urban Fantasy reads. One of the reviewers said that the “Hollow” was for “holler” — and this is not about your friendly neighborhood wolf. It was such a change from the usual Urban Fantasy, recommended.

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Recommendations Watchlist

Movie Review: The Inugami Family

The Inugami Family (Japanese Movie)
Year of Release: 1976
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Based on the Book: The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo
Recommended for fans of: Gothic, Foreign Period Dramas, Eerie Mysteries, A touch of Horror, Brilliant Plot, Golden Age of Detective Fiction

Some time back, Words & Peace had recommended The Inugami Curse and I’d wanted to read the book ever since. I decided to take the shortcut when I accidentally discovered there was a subtitled movie adaptation too.

It’s a superb plot. The patriarch of the Inugami family clan dies, leaving behind several competing successors and a really crazy will. I don’t think it’s giving away spoilers to say that the will goes along the lines of “If A dies, B gets the property. If B dies, C gets the property….” It’s like the dreadful old man was setting them all up to murder, starting with A! Along the way there are some red herrings – the challenge is to identify which ones are red herrings and which ones are not.

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Books Recommendations

Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge

I once read that the cuckoo leaves its eggs in other birds’ nests to avoid the effort of raising its own young. Imagine the duped bird’s shock to find that the egg hatched into some other species!

And so in Cuckoo Song, young Triss wonders if she is a cuckoo among the crows. She’s just had an accident that no one wants to talk about, but she knows she’s changed. For one thing, her memories are hazy and detached. For another, she is so hungry all the time…

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Memes Miscellany Recommendations Watchlist

Ten Recs for Halloween

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday, you pick ten books on that week’s topic. This week, we have a Halloween Freebie. Well, it’s a freebie, so I’ve put together some random (mostly) book-related videos and articles that I really liked recently. Hope you’ll enjoy these too!

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Memes To Be Read Books

Fall 2021 Reading List

September is nearly gone and I’m still struggling with the reading/ blogging blues that first showed up for me in July. Still, a reading list for Fall 2021 for this week’s Top 10 Tuesday seemed doable — even if I (probably) won’t end up reading through. 🙁

The reading list is tailored for:

► The R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril (RIP) XVI Reading Challenge 2021 hosted @perilreaders on Twitter and Instagram, where you get to try out spooky stuff, at least once a year (in my case), and

► The Treason & Plot #WitchWeek2021 Challenge hosted by Calmgrove and LizzieRoss Writer, where you get to try out books involving gothic mayhem and dark magic.

If these reading challenges interest you, here are a few suggestions!

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Art & Illustration Recommendations Watchlist

Alice: Bizarre & Compelling Czech Film

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland gets a makeover in this old Czech film from 1988. And what a makeover it is!

The movie starts off on an eerie note, when little Alice, troubled and lonely, begins to tell you about her dream. It’s told like a child’s story, even a nursery rhyme, but the movie is clearly intended for older audience.

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