Hello Readers, and Happy Halfway to Halloween!

If you know me, you know I’m a huge fan of Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday, so I take every opportunity I can to revel in it.

Today I’m sharing some of my favorite horror works by authors. If you want some chills and thrills, you seriously have to check these great works out! You can also check out my works if you need some scares right here.

Without further ado, let’s get right into some book recommendations! You can also check out my halfway Halloween video below if you’d like a more condensed version of my recommendations.

Shutter by Courtney Alameda

My Review

I gave this novel five stars, and it deserve a helluva lot more than that if you ask me.

This book was utterly fantastic, and easily made my list of favorites.

In this novel we follow Micheline, a young reaper who hunts the undead as well as spirits in the Helsing corps. Micheline can see the auras of anything undead, giving her a special advantage in hunting them.

However, when she and her small crew of reapers go in to a hospital to stop a rogue spirit, everything is not as it seems. Suddenly, Micheline and her crew find their world spinning out of control in a mad dash against time. Can Micheline figure out who this spirit is and how to stop them, or will she and her crew die trying?

Man, was I blown away by this book! Everything was just executed so flawlessly that I ate it up. Couldn’t get enough.

Let’s start with the characters. Micheline is strong-willed, sometimes snarky, and a badass of a reaper. She is a little rough on the exterior and how she presents herself to others, but deep down she really does care about reaping and all that comes with it given everything she’s lost. Ryder, Jude, and Oliver (her crew) all had great personalities that also jumped through the page, and I could easily see their interactions, personalities, and body language in my mind as I read along.

The plot and concept was fire to me, an instant win. We’ve got this dark world, torn by spirits and necros (physical undead) that I simply adored (I’m a very doom and gloom kinda guy). The main plot I really didn’t see coming, and there were constant plot twists that kept me blazing through those pages. There was plenty of great action and tons of horror, but some tender moments too that made this a very well-rounded experience.

Flow was immaculate. Nothing veered off course, and every thought that Micheline had made sense and was understandable given her past.

All in all, this book was a tour de force, a real showstopper, and I am extremely happy to put this book on my shelf at home as one of my favorites of all time.

Can’t recommend this more!

The Haar by David Sodergren

My Review

This is how you do horror.

This is my first time reading a work by this author, and I absolutely loved this story!

The Haar centers on an elderly woman named Muriel whose small village is under the threat of being acquired by a rich, sleazy property developer. The outlook is bleak until Muriel stumbles upon a bizarre creature in need of aid after a haar rolls through (a cold wet sea fog). As Muriel comes to terms with her limited time left on this planet and the reality of her situation, she finds new faith in this strange creature. Perhaps there is hope after all.

This book gave me all the feels, and then some.

Muriel was an amazing character. She is bluntly honest, opinionated, and doesn’t suffer any fools. I am a lot like her, which made it so easy to relate to her. She’s led a long life, and she had plenty of depth that you get to see over the course of the novel. Perfect characterization through and through.

I also really loved the other characters from the small village. They were very memorable and felt real. There were plenty of antagonists in this story, and boy were they awful! They really highlighted how terrible human beings can be, and I was rooting for the goriest, most horrendous deaths possible for these stinkers.

The plot was amazing and unexpected. There was plenty of horror as expected, but also romance that really tugged at my heartstrings. Horror doesn’t have to just be death and gore, and Sodergren has really outdone himself with this work.

Overall, this was a horror masterpiece for me. If you don’t know about this author, you’ve got some homework to do! Pick up this book and give it a try. You won’t regret it.

The Haunted Forest Tour by James A. Moore & Jeff Strand

My Review

I absolutely loved this gem of a horror story!

In this novel we follow the visitors of a haunted forest tour that is teeming with monsters on Halloween. Years ago a terrifying forest sprouted up in Arizona, and since then a tour company has been enjoyed profits off of their peaceful tram tours. That all ends when disaster thrusts the guides and visitors into complete chaos. Can they escape the terrors of the forest in one piece, or will this be their last Halloween?

I loved everything about this novel, perhaps most the theme and premise. I’m a huge creature feature lover, and there was so much creativity packed into this book that it just blew me away. New hellish monsters of every size and shape were at every turn to rip their victims apart, and I lived for every gore-filled second.

The haunted forest’s existence was a mystery to be solved, and I loved following that journey in the most unsuspecting ways. Twists and turns galore doesn’t even begin to describe it!

Every chapter was filled with nonstop action, and since I love a fast-paced novel it had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. This was a thrilling battle for survival that didn’t let up. I also want to point out that although the material was pretty dark, there was a lightness to the way it was written that made it more digestible for those who may be a bit more squeamish.

I will say that since this was so fast-paced, we didn’t really get to know all of the characters as much as we could’ve, but I think it made sense given the situation. There were also a few insignificant characters that I think could’ve been cut to focus more on the primary group, but again, it made sense to give a fuller view of the devastation and terror.

If you live for monsters, you’ve gotta get your hands on this one!

Within the Woods by Tony Urban

My Review

This was my first time reading something by this author, and I was super impressed! This will definitely not be my last read of something by Tony Urban.

So in a nutshell, this book is about a small group of preteens in a small town in the late 80’s. When Garrett’s brother goes missing, he’s actually relieved. His dad is less abusive, and his brother always made things more difficult. But soon, he and his friends start to notice other odd happenings, horrific and surreal things that defy reason. Can Garrett and his friends get to the bottom of this bizarre invasion and defend their city, or will they die trying?

Nearly everything worked perfectly for me in this book.

The characters were great. All of the boys had distinct personalities, depth, and some really great interactions throughout. They are a tight-knit group, and listening in on their conversations made me feel like a member too. I grew up in the 90’s and would run off with my friends on crazy adventures, so it was super easy to relate to each and every boy in the group. They cussed like sailor’s but I think that was refreshing. So many YA novelists are afraid to go there, but kids cuss, they say crappy things to each other, and this was showcased extremely well.

The plot had me since I read the blurb. The 80’s? A small town? People getting turned into monsters? Gimme, gimme, gimme! The plot was a high-stakes rollercoaster ride that I loved. There was so much action and never a dull moment. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. The 80’s nostalgia was balanced perfectly. There were some occasional nods to that era, but it wasn’t beaten into you. I loved the shenanigans the boys got into and the element of mystery and horror that were present throughout.

The only tiny thing I would nitpick at would be that in a couple of the losses experienced on the way I didn’t feel there was enough of an emotional response. Other than that, zero complaints!

This book is a stellar read, and if you love horror, you’ve gotta get your hands on this!

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