Welcome back!
We have an all fiction edition with mainly horror and thriller recommendations. ‘Tis the season!
Any recommendations you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments!
An Immaculate Deception
Spooky season is fast approaching, so expect to see more horror recommendations! This is a debut Gothic horror set in 1800s Brazil with some Crimson Peak vibes.
A debut Gothic horror set in 1870s Brazil—a tale of creeping suspense in which a young pregnant woman finds herself unable to escape her lover’s isolated family home, and a family’s deal with the devil goes terribly wrong.
1877, Pernambuco, Brazil: Raised in a deeply religious household, Madalena knows Dante’s Inferno by heart and fears her mother’s reaction as much as she fears God. When she falls pregnant with a child conceived in sin, her mother issues a threat: marry or surrender the baby. Madalena is confident that the father, the dashing Leandro Neves, will do right by her and propose. But just as she is about to tell him about the baby, a violent storm sends their carriage careening off the road.
Madalena awakens in Leandro’s sprawling, secluded home, under the care of the mysterious and larger-than-life Doctor Lobo. Leandro is there . . . but he is no longer the charming poet she knew. He’s silent. Obsessed. Always watching.
Strange perfume haunts a locked room. Pages vanish from books. Jewels lie untouched in a forgotten wardrobe. And mirrors begin disappearing after Madalena sees something—or someone—ghastly in the reflection.
Leandro is unraveling. Doctor Lobo may be hiding something even darker. Trapped in a decaying house of secrets, Madalena must uncover the truth before the men around her destroy her, and before the hell she fears becomes the one she’s living in.
How to Survive Camping: The Man With No Shadow
The How to Survive Camping series started as posts on the r/nosleep subreddit. I remember following along before they were published and because of its original medium, Quinn does a fantastic job really hooking you in rather quickly.
Welcome to Night Vale meets The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook in a campy, cozy horror novel that will appeal to creepy folklore afficionados and spooky story lovers alike.
I am a campground manager. I don’t have a list of rules because I’m trying to ruin your fun…I’m trying to keep you from doing small, simple things that could result in your horrific and most agonizing demise.
Goat Valley Campground has killed generations of Kate’s family. The land is old, passed down through generations, but the campground’s reputation doesn’t just draw campers year after year. Creatures from folklore and horror have made Goat Valley not just their home, but their hunting ground.
As campground manager, Kate has rules to protect her campers—if the man with the skull cup offers you a drink, accept it or you will die a gruesome death; don’t buy ice from the children with no wagon; and of course, never ever follow the lights. Still, not every camper follows the rules…which means not every camper survives their stay.
Soon decapitated and exsanguinated campers are the least of Kate’s worries; one of the most dangerous inhabitants of the campground is determined to claim the land for himself. Meanwhile, something in the land is shifting, the tides are turning, and the curse that hunts members of her bloodline begins to close in…
Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock
Firstly, the audiobook cover is much cooler and communicates the sci-fi, noir vibes a bit better. I’m also loving the Killing Eve and Orphan Black comparisons.
A washed up star creates a clone tasked with eliminating other clones of herself; a whip-smart and thrilling sci-fi read that’s perfect for fans of Orphan Black, Killing Eve and Keeping it Real by Justina Robson.
Set in a world of the near future, the celebrity elite have access to a technology that allows them to make perfect copies of themselves, known as Portraits. These Portraits exist to fulfil all the various duties that come as the price of fame.
Our protagonist is the thirteenth copy made of the actress known as Lulabelle Rock. Her purpose is very to track down and eliminate her predecessors.
While initially easy, her task is made difficult by the labyrinthine confusion of Bubble City and the unfortunate stirrings of a developing conscience. When she makes the mistake of falling in love with one of her targets, the would-be assassin faces the ultimate question; when you don’t want to kill yourself, what’s the alternative?
The Time of My Afterlife
I feel like “after life” romances are having a moment. If you’re loving them, consider adding this to your TBR pile.
Old grudges. One afterlife. A second chance no one expected.
Next-door neighbours Florence Hill and Clark Fielding have never got on – not since they were at school. But when a fatal road accident sends them both to the afterlife, they find themselves facing eternity together.
Until they’re offered a second chance: the opportunity to return to their lives and change what they left behind.
Thrown back into the lives they thought they’d lost, Florence and Clark are forced to confront difficult truths and the people they’ve become. As they begin to see their past – and each other – differently, they’re faced with a much bigger question: if you were given another chance at life, what would you do with it?
Because sometimes starting again isn’t about changing everything. It’s about discovering what really matters.
