Yes, it’s that time of year, folks! Spooky season is upon us, and there were a few spooky reads enjoyed in the lead-up to Halloween. I hope you check some of them out, since I consider November prime spook-time still, and I am hardly done with my horror for the year.
Before we get into the Reading Round-up, I want to point you back to a reading I did with a bunch of amazing, award-winning authors at the beginning of October! I assume you’re here to expand your TBR, so check it out!
Now, with no further ado….
Hollow Folk by Andrew K Clark
Clark is a new-to-me Appalachian author I met recently. We’ll be doing an event in November, so I scored an ARC. Heck yeah! But of course it takes me forever to write anything up so you’re just now hearing about his awesomeness.
Hollow Folk takes place in a hotel on top of a mountain in Appalachia which reminded me a great deal of a more gothic Mountain Lake. I got to visit Mountain Lake a few times last year and had some delightfully eerie experiences, including hiking out into the dead lake. But that is another post. Hollow Folk features a Rip-Van-Winkle-esque tale about a group of hotel workers who get trapped in an endless supernatural night. This is a surprisingly erotic, very gothic horror twisted enough to keep me reading but not overly gory — a wonderful start to my spooky reads this season.
Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo
The end of the trilogy that kicked off with Ninth House, this book continues to be a meditation on getting back up when life knocks you down. Alex Stern faces off against her past, her personal trauma, and a whole lot of demons. Bardugo really took the gloves off for this one. It’s peak Dark Academia, and I really enjoyed it.
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I absolutely loved this psychological thriller, which contains three POVs and a braided timeline. Moreno-Garcia nests these plots expertly with a fine hand for pacing. It also takes place in different seasons and settings, providing some lovely atmospheric moments no matter when you are reading. An ideal Halloween read.
For everything else I read in September/October, tune back in next week!
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