She does the shopping while shut-in Constance does the cooking and housekeeping. The younger sister, Mary Katherine (known as Merricat) is our narrator, and the only one who ever leaves the grounds of the estate. The older sister, Constance, was accused of the crime, and even though she was acquitted the town still thinks she was guilty. A family of eccentrics live in isolation in their old family home on the edge of a town that hates, fears, and bullies them they’re simultaneously shunned and an object of curiosity, due to most of the family dying from arsenic in their sugar bowl. We Have Always Lived In The Castle - Shirley Jackson (Library of America, originally 1962)īrilliant, beautifully-written tale of haunting strangeness. Not many horror novels try to make you afraid of the book itself! I did both sides of the paperback because it's got some classic back-cover copy. They're in no particular order, other than the Shirley Jackson first because I believe a few of these are influenced by her book.

Few things would make me happier than turning you on to something good, so I hope this does the trick. Most of them are positive because I've been very lucky in my reading lately, not many clunkers. In any case, late for Halloween but just in time for Christmas shopping, here are way too many reviews of horror novels and short story collections, both new and vintage. I know I'm slow, but just remember, the longer I take to do it, the longer the post will be when I finally deliver it. I'm also working on a couple more book review posts which will hopefully be put up someday, one on non-fiction books about bikers and badass folks, and, of course, another action-series review post (if you're aching for more of those, don't forget that Glorious Trash is the flagship of such things and is updated way more regularly than us - every Monday and Thursday, by my calculation). (Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, by the way).

I don't post often, but when I do, I try to give you your money's work, so, there's a lot here! Since my flaky computer finally connected to the internet for once, I figured I should put this up even if it is Thanksgiving Day. But, what the hell, it's different, gotta give it that.Īnyway, here's a long, long overdue collection of horror book reviews.

Bigfoot Beach by Kristopher Rufty