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Horror and Crime Book Club 📖 👻 🔪
Current read: THE PLACE WHERE THEY BURIED YOUR HEART + TOO OLD FOR THIS
➟ Hosted by @readbydusk

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🎸 THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM 🎸
By Victor LaValle
BOOK 62 in 2026

📖 Tommy Tester is a musician in Harlem who loses his father at the hands of police brutality. Tommy transforms into Black Tom to exact revenge and is drawn into a world of dark magic and cosmos horror.

💭 At only a short read, this book packs a punch, the storytelling was so vivid and atmospheric. And that ending was so wild, it left me unnerved! I cannot get the disturbing imagery out of my head.

I read this as part of @coldhaunts horror bookclub. I love discovering new-to-me horror books.

🔮 Would you dare to dabble in dark magic?

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🍷 FORGET ME NOT
By Stacy Willingham
BOOK 61 in 2026

📖 After failing to get a promotion, NYC investigative journalist Claire quits her job and moves back to South Carolina. Two decades ago, her older sister Natalie disappeared and Claire, haunted but the events left the small town and her mother behind. Claire accepts an offer to work Galloway Farm as a chance to start anew and to try and get some answers. Instead Claire unravels more than she bargained for.

💭 I had high hopes for this book to be a thriller, to be fast-paced and high intensity. I was in need of good thriller read. Except it wasn’t, Claire (our FMC) was so frustrating and made some naive and ridiculous decisions. I found it hard to believe she was meant to a capable investigative journalist. And I suppose that in itself got me off on the wrong foot early on and so I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the story. The pacing wasn’t as fast as I would like and I found it became quite convenient and predictable. I guess we can’t love all the books we read.

This was @coldhaunts crime/thriller book for August. Thank you @readbydusk for your organisation of the book club.

✍️ Predictive Text

Forget me not …

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🤖 BOOK REVIEW 🤖

WILLIAM was @coldhaunts August horror book! Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion 🩶

Henry is a brilliant engineer who suffers from agoraphobia. While he’s unable to leave his house, he has achieved a career breakthrough after creating an artificially intelligent consciousness - a half-formed robot he calls William. He keeps William away even from his pregnant wife, Lily. That is until Lily’s coworkers drop by for a visit to meet Henry and see their high-tech smart house. Henry decides to introduce them to William. But soon they realise all the technology in their control... might be controlling them.

WILLIAM is a timely horror book now, with all the talk about AI and codes that seem to know how to break out of their programming 🫪 I love the restrained writing, where the narration is efficiently delivered without fuss. It fits the cold nature of the story, which takes place in a huge AI-controlled house that lacks the warmth of a home. The house and Henry’s creations - including William - lurk in the background while the characters view each other with suspicion 👁️ Henry and Lily’s marriage appears to be shaky, and when Lily’s coworkers arrive, the sense of unease becomes even more apparent. Why are they behaving strangely? And why are they really here?

This book shows the risks of technological advancement at the cost of humanity. There’s a reveal that shakes the foundation that we knew and puts everything into perspective. On paper, William is an antagonist, an AI-gone-wild that seeks freedom (hello Skynet!) 🦾 But how can we blame a code for doing what it was programmed to do? As William said, “What’s natural about me?” An intelligent, empathetic, surprisingly violent cautionary tale about creation and what it means to be alive.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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We read WILLIAM by Mason Coile for the @coldhaunts bookclub pick for August and it was SO GOOD!

Henry and Lily are hosting a brunch for Lily’s colleagues on Halloween morning. Henry, who is suffering from agoraphobia, decides it’s the perfect time to unveil the half-robot he created that he named William. What follows is a house full of horror as only an AI-controlled house can do.

This was a great read for me. I almost wish I saved it for Halloween time but as far as I’m concerned spooky time is any time lol. I loved the atmosphere, the terrible decisions made by the characters, and the twists (even the one I saw coming from the beginning). It’s all part of the fun!

The story has some gruesome parts but they added to the cold nature of AI and robotics. I was basically talking to a certain character by the end of the book, telling them “you did this to yourself!” As sad as that is, I feel it’s a legit consequence when you’re dumb enough to live in an AI- controlled house.

I loved discussing the book with the group. It really made you think who was the the villain, speculate on what is going to happen now, intentions of all parties involved, etc.

Def recommend for fall, esp Halloween time. I love the author’s writing and am sad he has since passed away. But I may pick up a few of his backlist that he wrote under a different name.

❓Ask me or tell me anything random below!

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⛺️ BOOK REVIEW ⛺️

One last camping horror book before summer ends!

HOW TO SURVIVE CAMPING: THE MAN WITH NO SHADOW was @coldhaunts July horror book! Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion 🧡

Goat Valley Campground has been passed down to Kate’s family for generations 🏕️ The land is old, and creatures from folklore have made it their home and hunting ground. As campground manager, Kate has rules to protect her campers, even though not everyone follows those rules. But soon, dead campers are the least of her worries. Because a dangerous creature is determined to claim the land for himself — The Man With No Shadow 👤

This is an entertaining, bloodthirsty horror story! 📝 Written like a campground guide with lists of rules and chapters marked by different incidents Kate faced, the pacing is quick and suspenseful. There were some deliciously gory, creepy moments. The narration is quite funny at times which allows for some levity, and I thought Kate was a great protagonist to root for 💪

I liked the short chapters but in some scenes I was hoping we’d get more of an emotional impact 💔 This book was originally written chapter by chapter online, and it’s most obvious when important characters suddenly appear. The creatures that Kate encountered were unique, and I wish we knew more about them. I also wanted to know more about Kate’s family. Thankfully, there are more books in this series, so I’m looking forward to reading them!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
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🏕️ How to Survive Camping: The Man With No Shadow 🏕️
By Bonnie Quinn
BOOK 44 in 2026

Kate is the manager of a campground which has been in her family for generations. Except it’s not any ordinary campground, it’s a hunting ground for supernatural and folklore monsters. Creatures that have killed her ancestors. As such, there are strange but strict rules for campers in order to stay alive. The Man With No Shadow is the villain of all villains for Kate. He has the power to control people who fall under his spell and he feeds off shadows. His ultimate goal is to claim the campground as his own.

Although horror, it was a light-hearted and funny read. It was entertaining somewhat but I’m not sure though that I will continue with reading the rest in the series.

This was read as part of the @coldhaunts book club.

🔥 Have you ever been camping? Do you enjoy it?

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🪻 BOOK REVIEW 🪻

SHE’S NOT SORRY was @coldhaunts’ crime book for May and June! Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion 💜

Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mom and working as an ICU nurse when a patient named Caitlin arrives with a traumatic brain injury. They say she jumped from a bridge. But when a witness comes forward, Caitlin’s fall turns out not to be an accident after all. Meghan finds herself caught in Caitlin’s mystery until she realises that she and her daughter could be the next victims...

SHE’S NOT SORRY is about a woman who is not sorry (I am not joking lol). The book opens with Meghan receiving a call about her daughter potentially being in danger. And then we move back in time to when Caitlin first arrives in Meghan’s ward. Meghan also meets a new friend, Nat, whom she suspects is being abused by her husband. Meanwhile, a serial killer is possibly running loose in Meghan’s city. All of these threads end up connecting unexpectedly.

Unfortunately, Meghan is not a protagonist I care much about. The more I learn about her, the less I like her approach to things. The book jumps around the timeline, which confused me at times, and I also found the antagonist’s motives to be flimsy at best. And I’m not a fan of a reveal that shows the protagonist had known the truth all along, as it makes no sense that she wouldn’t consider that while dealing with her challenges. Anyway, read this only if you enjoy mysteries that deal with complicated female friendships and medical trauma!

⭐️ ⭐️ 💫
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‼️ BOOK REVIEW ‼️

MOTHERTHING was @coldhaunts’ May horror book! Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion 💚

When Ralph and Abby Lamb move in with Ralph’s mother, Laura, Abby hopes she and her mother-in-law can finally connect. After a traumatic childhood, Abby is desperate for a mother figure. But Laura isn’t interested; instead she’s cruel to Abby. When Laura dies, Abby believes Laura’s ghost is haunting her and Ralph. Can Abby escape Laura’s hold?

MOTHERTHING is a divisive read for a good reason 🫪 The book opens with Abby and Ralph dealing with Laura’s death. But we learn that Laura’s relationship with them wasn’t great. The narration is well-written but gosh, it’s suffocating to read! Inside Abby’s head is a stream of consciousness, every unfiltered thought she ever had. She’s desperate to love and to be loved that she gives up a lot of herself 💔 She imagines her life like a happy movie, even while everything’s falling apart. Not only is Ralph distant, they seem to be haunted by Laura’s ghost where strange things are happening in their house.

This is a horror book not just because of the potential existence of ghosts, but because of a woman’s obsession. Abby is dealing with grief and mental illness to the point where losing control leads her down a very dark path. It sure gets bloody 🩸 The ambiguity about certain event makes me wonder whether things actually happened the way she saw it. I can’t say I enjoyed reading this story but it achieves what it sets out to do!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
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🤗📚 June pick for our awesome @coldhaunts #bookclub 📚🤗

Can we just take a second to appreciate this cover? 😍 Honestly, it’s easily one of the absolute best book covers I have on my shelves. 🔥

I really wanted to love this one, especially since Philip Fracassi is an author I always look forward to. His previous books set the bar so high for me! And while this one was a wild ride, it didn’t quite hit the mark the way I hoped it would.

I think this book finally helped me realize something about my own reading tastes: I just don’t love slashers in book format. On screen? I’m all for it. But on the page? It turns out it's just not my jam.

It’s definitely a fun, gory ride if you love the genre, but for me, it fell a little short of what I usually expect from Fracassi. Still, I’m glad I read it, and seriously, it looks gorgeous on my shelves! 🖤

QUOTD: Have you read any Fracassi? What’s your take on slashers in books versus movies?

#coldhauntsbookclub #bookreview #bookrecommendations📚❣️

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💍 MOTHER THING 💍
By Ainslie Hogarth
BOOK 34 in 2026
Read as part of @coldhaunts book club organised by @readbydusk

This story had a promising premise but it fell flat for me. In the group chat, I described that I found it tedious.

Abby had a dysfunctional and traumatic childhood and is now married to Ralph. She absolutely adores him. Abby’s relationship with her mother was far from ideal so she sought to find a mother in her mother-in-law, Laura. Except Ralph and Laura’s relationship is also unhealthy. And then Laura dies and haunts the couple.

So… I do need to give credit where credit is due. The author explores mental health, grief and its impacts on relationships in such a visceral and disconcerting way. It also tears open the expectations and concept of motherhood.

As I write this review, I do think my initial thoughts may have been way harsher than what I feel now.

🤔 Do you ever find that immediately after reading a book you feel a certain way but after sitting on it or discussing it, your opinions sometimes change?

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•• Book Review ••

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre
by Philip Fracassi

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.25)

Rose is in her late 70s and lives in a retirement home. When one resident dies under somewhat strange circumstances, everyone thinks it was just an accident. Then another resident dies…but it’s just old age, nothing unusual. Only Rose begins to suspect that something is seriously wrong.
With the help of her friends, she starts investigating. The closer they get to the truth, the more dangerous things become, and Rose realizes she could be the killer’s next victim.

I love stories about elderly people. If they’re trying to solve a mystery or a murder, that’s always a plus.
And I love a good slasher - even more so when it’s mixed with a bit of humor.

And that’s exactly what you get with this book.

Rose was such a fun main character, but I also really liked the rest of the retirement home crew. Their friendships and banter felt genuine, and I loved seeing a group of elderly people take matters into their own hands.
Just don’t get too attached to anyone…

The build-up was done really well, and some of the kills were way more brutal than I expected. Definitely not for the squeamish. I also liked that the story touched on loneliness, grief, and how older people are often overlooked or not taken seriously.

The writing style is easy to get into, with short chapters that kept me turning the pages.

One thing that didn’t really work for me was the supernatural subplot. I also wish the ending had explained the killer’s motivation a bit better. It felt a little rushed, underwhelming and anticlimactic after such a great build-up.

Overall, this was a fun mix of horror, mystery, humor, and heartwarming moments. I’d honestly love to see more final girls in their golden years.

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•• Book Review ••

Motherthing
by Ainslie Hogarth

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This weird little book had been on my radar for years, but for some reason I was always hesitant to pick it up. It turns out my gut feeling was right: this just wasn’t the right kind of weird for me.

The premise sounded really intriguing: Abby and Ralph live with Ralph’s overbearing and toxic mother, Laura. When Laura, who despised Abby, takes her own life, Ralph falls into a deep depression and becomes convinced that her ghost is still living in the basement.
Abby, who survived a traumatic childhood and longs for a mother figure, desperately tries to hold their lives together. As her obsession with an elderly resident at the nursing home where she works grows stronger, she becomes increasingly unhinged and starts making some truly disturbing decisions.

This was definitely one of the weirdest books I’ve read lately. Reading it felt almost like an invasion of privacy. I usually love stories that let you get this deep into a character’s head, but for some reason this one just didn’t fully work for me. I think a lot of it had to do with the writing style and tone of the story which I didn’t vibe with.

I did enjoy the mix of horror, dark humor, and family drama to some extent, and there were a few moments that made me uncomfortable in a good way.
I also think the author did a good job of exploring grief, depression, complex issues surrounding motherhood, and the impact of toxic relationships.

But especially the second half of the book felt slow and dragged at times, becoming a bit repetitive. It also got quite gross in places, but not in an entertaining way. Additionally, spending so much time in Abby’s head became a bit tedious and monotonous after a while.

Overall, I’m glad I read it because it’s unique and memorable, but it wasn’t a book I loved. If you enjoy weird, unsettling literary horror stories, it’s worth checking out. For me, though, it was more interesting than enjoyable.

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