Horror Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Brood 17: The Grooming of Misty Dawn by SE Reynolds

A haunting spree of psychological horror, Brood 17: The Grooming of Misty Dawn by SE Reynolds is a visceral and graphic plunge into psychosexual trauma.

Misty Dawn McCafferty is being held in a mental institution after ritually sacrificing her boyfriend, claiming that an insidious infection was to blame for her burst of brutal violence. Although Misty was discovered by the police in a pool of her partner’s blood after a halfway successful murder-suicide, she insists that her cicada-derived infection is what drove her to homicide. Ivan, a forensic psychologist working on the case, has two weeks to decide between insanity […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-03-25T14:47:17+02:00March 25th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Latest Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews|

Review: Divine in Essence by Yarrow Paisley

An irreverent and boundary-pushing collection of short stories, Divine in Essence by Yarrow Paisley is a burst of radical creativity with a heavy dose of darkness.

Playing artfully on the edge of perverse and profound, these tales descend into the casually macabre and disturbingly real, teetering between horror fiction and supernatural sci-fi. Each page brims with unearthly tales: a fever-afflicted daughter recounting visions from Hell to her mother, the soul of a young boy imprisoned in the dead eye of his father’s vexatious lover, the existential musings of a comedian’s corpse as it takes one more spin through the world, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-01-31T15:21:46+02:00November 25th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Lost Grove by Charlotte Zang & Alex Knudsen

A wickedly twisted thriller with a gritty gothic edge, Lost Grove: Part One by Charlotte Zang and Alex Knudsen is a dark dream for fans of contemporary horror.

The sleepy coastal town of Lost Grove, with more secrets than people, is a classically ominous setting for a supernatural whodunit, including a stubbornly determined prodigal sleuth with a big city reputation, and a bizarre link to the murder victim. The appearance of a pale corpse on Mourner’s Beach sends Sergeant Seth Wolfe down a rabbit hole of memory into unsettling visions and dreams from his youth that began after a near-death […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-09-03T10:38:58+02:00February 28th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Things That Go Bump in the Night by JC Bratton

A collection of slow-burning psychological horror, Things That Go Bump in the Night, Volume One: Urban Legends by JC Bratton holds four chilling and unpredictable stories, originally published separately.

In “Who’s At the Door?” a young woman named Jamie is left at home while her parents go on vacation, but two weeks of enjoying an empty house quickly turn terrifying. Whether it’s a cruel prank or something even more sinister, bizarre things keep happening at 3:33 AM, from invisible front door visitors to ghastly appearances on empty country roads. With the help of Mark the heartthrob, Jamie continues peeling back […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-11-29T19:35:15+02:00November 29th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Jitters by Chris Harmon

Sampling from the truly strange world of Chris Harmon’s imagination, Jitters is an aptly named spook-fest of tales from a promising young writer.

A scary series of gritty snapshots and long-form stories, this is a collection that feels like it could be read around a campfire. From zombies in the basement and ravenous tigers to dangerously depressed wizards and cannibalistic substitute teachers, these fast-moving stories take childhood fears and blow them into extraordinary and entertaining proportions.

The frustrations, irritations, stressors, and paranoid delusions of teenagers are on proud display, along with a dastardly catalog of axe murderers, aliens, terrifying ice […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-03-17T16:17:04+02:00February 2nd, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews|

A Darling Obsession by S.R. Murray

Pulling back the shadowy corners of history and exposing unsettled spirits, A Darling Obsession by S.R. Murray is a psychological, character-driven thriller with a sharp, dark edge.

When a young boy disappears from the small town of Sandy Beach, everyone fears the worst, but there may be older and more dangerous forces at work than a mere kidnapping. Months later, Detective Bobby Justice is still on the case, and follows a lead to the Sand Beach Hotel, a haunting testament to a horrific beachside crime. The mysterious Marina Kerrigan, looming like a ghost over her hotel, is just one of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-11-09T16:28:58+02:00November 8th, 2022|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Stained Echoes by Jon Ring, Illustrated by Vinessa Sanford

Crafting myriad worlds in a tightly penned collection of stories, Stained Echoes: Tales of the Mysterious and the Macabre by Jon Ring is an enchanting work of old-fashioned horror for readers who love to be spooked. Presenting a wide and weird variety of disturbing yarns, from ancient battlefield hauntings to the demons held deepest in our hearts, this book exhibits a mastery of the style.

A unique and impressive homage to the macabre pacing of Poe, the collection hums with sinister tension, often delaying its twisted payoffs until the very end of the story. The opening piece especially, “The Secret […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-06-09T03:51:58+02:00June 3rd, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: A Boy’s Hammer by Alex Grass

An epic novel that combines Finnish mythology with a harrowing serial killer story, Alex Grass’ A Boy’s Hammer is a wildly creative take on the urban fantasy genre.

Fifteen-year-old Alan and his mom Lena are on their way to Helsinki when their plane crashes in the ocean. Neither are heard from again, until twenty long years later. Alan turns up in a crater in Philadelphia: naked, about seven feet tall, covered in hammer tattoos, and still with the mind of a teenager – despite the fact that he’s now a thirty-five-year-old man. So, what in the world happened?

Detective Jefferson […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-04-19T07:54:53+02:00March 16th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Science Fiction Book Reviews, Urban Fantasy Book Reviews|