connorjdaley's reviews
1046 reviews

The Tickle Monster by David Washburn

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I grabbed this in paperback in my quest to buy all indie novellas. 

The author does a very good job of painting the picture of a loving family in a small number of pages. A working father, a dutiful wife and learning daughter, and a son that wants to prove himself while making his father proud. Time period appropriate, while still allowing the daughter and son their playtime. They eat dinner as a family and both children are tucked in each night lovingly…with maybe a couple visits from the tickle monster. 

Teddy is soon to be a man, so his father is letting him know more and handle more responsibility. Carrying the water in from the well, attempting to swing the woodcutting axe on his own, and hearing all about his father’s traumatic childhood experience in the woods by their house. Of course a story like that would stick in a young boy’s mind, and of course it’s only a matter of time before something forces them back into those woods. Forces the past and the present to collide. 

The first instance involving the entity is creepy, ambiguous enough to let your mind wonder, and of course fast enough to leave you asking, “what just happened?” And with that being said, the second does much the same for the reader while being entirely different. A house in the woods, the dog trapped, a woman in all black. But when Teddy’s sister wakes him up, was any of it real? 

Much like the visits in the night that follow, as well as the echoes of what happened to his father’s best friend, Teddy’s decent into madness comes at a loss of sleep and a few bumps in the night. The descent might be quick, but the creepiness is awfully high. 

I really love horrors that take childhood fears/monsters and turn them into real, flesh and blood nightmares. My main gripe with this one (while small) is that it didn’t actually do that, not entirely. The Tickle Monster is a manifestation of fear and anxiety for Teddy, and I suppose I was more so expecting a creature feature. Still very worth a read! Personally 3.5/5*. 

Zodak: The Last Shielder by Max Moyer

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A big thanks to the author for sending over an audio code. Dallin Bradford absolutely knocks it out of the park, this is some of the best narration I’ve heard in quite a long time. 

This is a classic (in this case, farm boy) origin story, pulling from those of before like Frodo, Rand al’Thor, Eragon, even Jon Snow. So regardless of the genre tags you’d add to this, the one thing that stood out to me the entire time was “classic”. And I could definitely see this series going down as one. It feels so over the top professional, the author has whittled down the prose to the point where there is not a single unnecessary word throughout the entire novel. 

Zodak lives with his aunt and uncle. Their two children, as well as his aunt, find him at best to be a nuisance, and at worst a complete mistake. And of course they can’t stand the fact that Ardon, his uncle, is so fond of him. It makes for one tinderbox of a household. 

The impetus that sets Zodak in motion again feels very classic, very Luke Skywalker even, but it’s done so well and flows so brilliantly that I was 100% along for the ride. And while he does meet some help along the way, as well as a ranger-type that made me super happy, he does offer up an experience that's all his own, and his path isn't decided by those that came before him. 

I really had to think over what to write here, as otherwise it would have been tons of ramblings and spoilers. And because of that I'd like to stress just how much I loved this! I love that Zodak appears to be the easy chosen one, just to have his newfound dreams crushed…but just maybe? This needs to be added to every TBR. Immediately. 

The Naughty Corner: Horror Novella Collection by Mark Towse

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A big thanks to the author for the e-ARC. So glad I got to read it. 

The Generation Games is perhaps Towse’s darkest elderly horror yet. The decision has been made to no longer allow people to grow old and die on their own. In an all-too close future, a mandate has been made due to earth’s depleted resources, that no one can live over 70. That is, unless they are incredibly successful, rich, or influential. Since most people aren’t, one television station decided to capitalize on this, seeing the death of millions as an opportunity. Those selected for this program have the opportunity to win millions, and to afford the age passport they so desperately need. What do they have to do, you ask? When you remember that the outcome for them is death either way because of their age, you can get an idea of just how unhinged the things they’re forced into really are. Horrific, gruesome, bloody, gory, and unbelievably wicked. 

My Name Is Brian is the second of the novellas collected and it features a new student that’s just a bit strange. Brian is heavyset, a book worm, and unerringly calm, even when the school bullies want a rise out of him. The problem with bullies, is that they are forced to up the ante, rather than lose face value. When humiliation, name calling, and dumping Brian’s own food onto him don’t work, they’re forced to even greater heights…or in this case greater depravity. The main issue I had with this one, is although anyone of any size eating their dumped food off of their own head or lunchroom table would be disgusting, it’s often only ever used when describing fat people, and therefore can read as fat phobic. This is ultimately completely erased though by the novella’s climax, it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way while reading. But there is more to Brian, his size and shape, than you may have previously thought. 

The Naughty Corner, the novella collection’s namesake, as well as its third entry, is a madhouse of desire, neglect, infatuation, and control. Set in what appears to be an Idyllic town, it may not take long for them to remember that looks can be deceiving. Sheila, Frank, and Charlie move into a new house, in a new neighborhood. What appears to be a good deal, comes with a set of ‘guidelines’ for their behavior. With the list in the dozens, they may have gotten more than they bargained for. This novella, which could be argued to also include some terrible elderly horror, mixes some of the more unusual with its doses of horror. In this case, it does that by mixing, and thus distorting, pleasure. 

Personally a 4/5*, the first was definitely a favorite. But this is a great showcase of the author’s skills, as there are three very different stories on display. 

All Who Wander Are Lost: Destination Horror Stories by Gemma Amor

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

Many thanks to Cemetery Gates Media for the physical arc! 

Not that this proclaims itself as a short story collection, as it does just say ‘stories’, but I would be willing to bet that most of these are actually around novelette length at the very least. There is not that many stories, only featuring ten, and yet this is actually rather long. Not that that is a bad thing! 

This is a solid mix of horror, comedy, sexual deviance, the disturbing, and wit from the author. With things like aliens, gods, ghosts, and even more creepy crawlies to haunt your imagination. And of course, my all time favorite there is, Christmas (in Antarctica). 

One I particularly enjoyed was ‘Let Sleeping Gods Lie’. It read kind of like a precursor, or even its own take on those old school monster movies…The Mummy in particular. It’s atmospheric, with just the right amount of building, written in just the perfect style, to make it slowly creep up your neck. Told entirely through journal entries and letters to a beloved, it features the lead of a dig site in Egypt as his team slowly loses their nerve to knocking deep within the tomb. And I’d honestly read an entire novel. 

My favorite of the bunch though, was ‘The Ancient Ram Inn’. Featuring a group of friends taking a Halloween night tour through a very haunted Inn. Their guide, a real creepy lookalike, deadpans the history of the place as they get further and further inside…and things get weirder and weirder. For such a short story, this one packed on hell of a twist that I really enjoyed. I’ve found that since writing BestGhost, I just really love different takes on the paranormal and haunted places. 

This just released, and regardless of what you’re looking for, there’s something here for everyone. Will you let me know your favorite??

Araña and Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow by Alex Segura

adventurous inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Grabbed this on audible during a 2-for-1 sale, and Victoria Villarreal brought an authentic feel to the characters, and overall the narration was a lot of fun. 

First and foremost, I am a Peter Parker Spider-Man fan. The OG animated series from when I as a kid, as well as the Tobey McGuire movies. Unless you’re counting the PS4 game and Sony-verse, I know next to nothing about Miles Morales, and my knowledge of Spider-Man 2099 (other than random things) mostly starts with Oscar Isaac. So I gave this a shot simply because it was Marvel and Spidey adjacent, I actually didn’t even know who Araña was at all. 

Anya, who takes on the spider-identity of Araña, has a familiar, tough upbringing through her abilities. She must juggle school, a secret identity while living with her father, and the loss of a mentor, all right before a short tussle with an artifact called El Obelisco sends her crashing into the future. Don’t let my condensed version fool you though, because I actually felt like all that set up went on a little longer than I expected, at least for me, who did not read the blurb before jumping in!

In this far-flung future, Anya finds out that there was a Spider-Man in the year 2099, and having only arrived a few years later than that, she figures he must still be active. A lot can change in only a few years though, and the Miguel O’Hara she finds is as far from the tights-wearing hero he was can be.  He’s not only jaded, but thinks the world is better off without his costumed help. 

Personally, I can always get behind the reluctant mentor trope, and I really liked that it was a retired Spider-Man too, so that she was getting the help from the actual source. But what lacked for me, was the world he came from. Miguel is a rich, business runner with a virtual assistant that arguably does more than her fair share of the work. He even comes from the future where NYC has been renamed Nueva York, and yet I found that the author really didn’t describe it or any differences. As someone unfamiliar, this would have been a huge opportunity to sell me. 

Then throw in another dimension’s Ghost Spider out of left field in the third act and you’re really cooking with fire. It seemed like a lot of work to simply not include Peter, who is “off planet”, so I’m curious if he just wasn’t on the table. Regardless, the heroes hero, and this was another interesting and fun spider-people adventure. It had all the necessary touch points, a newbie, great responsibility, middle-story self doubts, emotional pulls, and self sacrifices. All things that make superheroes what they are. Personally a 4/5*. 

When the Devil by Emma E. Murray

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

A huge thanks to Shortwave for the physical ARC! Such a good cover too, I’m so glad I own one. 

This novelette is short, a little sweet, and kind of a lotta dark. A tale of abuse, both from a husband and grandfather, this story showcases some of the horror stories women face daily. Yet it’s also mixed with a bit of hope and sapphic desire. 

Now, you may know from some other reviews of mine that I really struggle with any form of cheating/adultery, but this is more so about having the ability, the autonomy, to want and decide for yourself. When all you’re shown is abuse, that ability to decide, to feel, to want, is part of that ability to claw yourself back from it. And that’s what this felt like. 

Then there is of course, the more horrific elements. Deceit, deception, avoidance, perhaps a little murder? But isn’t all of that just another angle at being free, at fighting against the structured injustice being showcased in this rural community?

My favorite thing though, perhaps, is how Libby goes from one kind of prison to another. And as the bodies start to pile up, June’s hold over her is just another type of chokehold. 

Undead Samurai by Baptiste Pinson Wu

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A huge thanks to the author for the physical ARC. So glad to have this for my shelf. 

A mixture of historical Japan and the undead? From the very beginning, the cover reveal even, I knew this was for me. And right from the prologue I was hooked! I’ve been working my way back through TWD universe, so zombies are a hit for me at the moment. And U.S gives a unique and thrilling take on the bloody genre. 

I loved Wu’s obvious research and dedication to historical accuracy. Several of the characters even being real themselves. It gives this lush, believable, real backdrop to the craziness that follows. A last ditch effort to save Japan itself, a chance for several warriors to regain their honor, prove themselves for the first time, or prove they’ve still got it. The multiple kinds of fighters/warriors was just enough to make each action bit feel different and enjoyable. Of course they are incredibly fast, bloody, and nuts, too. 

I happened to be reading this at the same time as Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House. The juxtaposition of the slowed down, slithering, creepy-crawly horror, to the zombies, swords, and action, just really sold the experiences. And it really sold Wu’s ability to write a highly tense action adventure. 

My favorite bit, that has impressed me greatly (as this is a first read for me with this author) was his ability to convey so much emotion. This is not just a zombie novel, it is the story of an incredible journey between friends, partners, mentors. The author made me not only like, but care about, characters that started out as unlikable. Not only showcasing how dynamic they are, multilayered, but such incredible growth too. And in an action filled, only 320 page book too. Wow!

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A huge thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the e-ARC! Malerman has been an auto-buy author for me since reading Bird Box and he does not disappoint!

Incidents Around the House is written entirely in the perspective of Bela, an eight-year-old that has frequent nightly visits from the Other Mommy in her closet. Unsettling, creepy, and often nauseating, the prose is somehow simplistic—as a child’s writing demands—yet surprisingly elegant and powerful. I was so impressed by the balance the author struck between the two, and it heightened my enjoyment throughout. I really found it hard to put this down (while sadly training at the new job). 

Focusing heavily on what goes bump in the night, Malerman takes childhood fears and turns them into adulthood traumas. There was a single line about how Other Mommy was hiding in the dark corner, but her eyes were up near the ceiling that truly gave me chills. And that’s where this story excels, within its endless possibilities, within what it leaves unsaid. It’s childhood stories, it’s Goosebumps and Fear Street and Are You Afraid of the Dark, yet it’s deconstructed, enhanced, and rewound into an entirely unique and adult novel. 

Bela’s Mommy and Daddo are great characters in their own right, but they’re also great characterizations of polar opposites in parenting. One feels trapped, ungrateful, and the bearer of bad news. The other is the optimistic, uplifting one, and Bela’s best friend. The light and the dark to their daughter. But what I enjoyed about this dynamic the most, was Malerman’s ability to showcase them so well that I stopped believing that I knew which parent was the “good” one. The rock-bottom feel of their desperation and disparity is something I would say is wholly unique and integral to the experience. And Bela is constantly drawn to the two for different reasons. And to Other Mommy too. 

I also really enjoyed that the author gives us a mixture of modern things thrown in. A modern “hippie” exorcism that goes a bit wonky, a slew of cameras and alarms that could make my crew in BestGhost’s heads spin, two well behaved guard dogs that never seem to take a break, running away from home, both short and long trips, and of course, an occult specialist that’s absolutely not a sham. It kind of felt like taking absolutely everything you could do to save yourself, and finding out that all of it wasn’t the right thing. 

I happened to be reading this at the same time as Baptiste Pinson Wu’s historical fantasy, Undead Samurai. The juxtaposition of zombies, swords, and action against Malerman’s slowed down, slithering, creepy-crawly horror, just really sold the experiences. And it really sold Malerman’s ability to sell an incredible story with a slower burn. 

Can Other Mommy be trusted? Can she be let into Bela’s heart? Why is she named that? The absolutely unhinged act of twisting the dynamic of mother and daughter into something OTHER is truly brilliant. And gross, so gross. 

Malerman is at his best, delivering readers with something to think about for years to come, especially before we turn out the lights. I genuinely feel for any reader that has a young daughter. 

Someone Else’s Horror Story by Rebecca Crunden

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Decided to give this one a go to get in another short read for the month, and it was already on my TBR. A tiny review for a tiny read. 

This is a 26 page short story, and somehow it packed in a solid and unique plot! Although this isn’t for children, it did have kind of Goosebumps vibes to it! That could be because of its bite-sized format though, making it feel like a TV episode. 

Jace is taking over and cleaning up his father’s farm after his passing. He wants to get his affairs in order and perhaps give the country life a try. The solitude is working for him, but one night when he finds a runaway in his barn, he ends up feeling like he’s living someone else’s horror story. 

I absolutely love when authors drop their story’s name in the writing. I personally think I’ve done this for everything I’ve ever written. Sometimes it’s even where I pull the names from. It feels like a little wink from the author whenever I read them. 

Well written and concise, this short packed a punch with its unique plot and fleshed out atmosphere. Honestly until the author mentioned phones and laptops, I wasn’t even sure what the time period was. It really lended itself to the atmosphere building.

Marshbank by Josh Hanson

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Grabbed this one to get in another short read before month’s end! A short review for a short read. 

This is a weird little tale about a village near the marsh that has a string of children disappearing. Although often left alone, these disappearances have drawn attention to the old witch in the marsh. Through a growing need, an obsession, a love, the spirit of the marsh takes its first steps to be near the old witch. Together they seek to uncover the horrors haunting these young children. 

This novelette is like a visual smorgasbord, with rich descriptions and heavily described characters and set pieces. One that stuck out to me the most was the witches favorite mug, something so simple, yet so effective. The marsh spirit, through drawing in beings of the marsh, alive, dead, even rotten, has become something both monstrous and horrifying, but regardless how you feel, it’s so easy to picture. 

I will gladly read more from this author and even this one again!