S.J. Budd's Blog

 

This book really blew my mind! I'm not into science fiction at all, but I bought this book as I'm a big fan of Paul Sheppard after reading The Night Crawler which was released by Aphotic Realm. I'll admit some of the science bit went over my head but it is clearly very well thought out. 

The plot is just wild, this book is a thrilling ride through space and bodies! The story starts off with a baby who is very sick and only very desperate measures will save them. Then we are introduced to Eve, a woman on the run through space trying to escape with her life she escape from one source of danger only to find herself in an impossible situation.

This is a brilliantly bonkers book. It's so hard to explain the outline of the plot it something you'll have to read for yourself to know. All I can say is that this is a great book that I read in one sitting as it's so gripping and I couldn't  put it down as I had to know what was going to happen next!

 

I've been a big fan of Theresa Braun for a long time and finally she has released her debut short story collection featuring 13 tales of horror! One of Theresa's many talents is that she's a master of creating characters you can really connect with. These stories fell really real to me like they could be real accounts! She's also great a sprinkling a little humour in her tales too.

What I really liked with this collection was the variety. There's a lot of horror covered in these tales from a variety of tropes, we have vampires, serial killers, crazy conspiracy theories, the darkness within us all. In here you'll find short tales that pack a punch and longer tales to really sink your teeth into.

Whilst I loved all these tales my standout favourites were Stillborn, this tale had me enthralled it was so out there and very cleverly written. Celestial Assignment had a lot of heart as well as darkness. Guilty as Cell was also a joy to read, of a fun night out gone very wrong with far reaching consequences.

I also really enjoyed Dying for a Invitation, a vampire story like no other. This one had a lot of heart but also moves at a quick pace as Dacie has a big decision to make.

This is a really fun anthology to read and if you're looking for something longer, Theresa has also written a novel called Fountain Dead. Check it out!

 

In this original take of a murder mystery, we meet Isobel a young woman who should have her whole life ahead of her but she is forced to live in the shadows quietly. To survive she must avoid the other people in her village. People want her gone but her life will be the same no matter where she goes.

Her only refuge from the harsh life she has, are books. She reads them with a voracious appetite and takes the advice to join a local book club that meets every two weeks to discuss their favourite books. Finally she has found some friends, but soon one of her friends is murdered, then another, and she is somehow their prime suspect.

This isn't the first book I've read by Sarah Jane Huntingdon. I'd read Iron Maidens and loved it which gave me high expectations for The Colour of Evil. Readers, it did not disappoint! 

I've come to love Sarah's style of writing, she has a really unique of bringing her characters to life of making you care about them from the first page. I really loved Isobel, she was so fragile yet so strong and I just wanted to hug her and help her. She's been through so much in life and has survived against the odds but still people are cruel. 

An horrific ordeal has left Isobel with the ability to read auras, it is her only way of understand what goes on around her. People have long ago written her off but their mistake lies in underestimating her. When her friends begin to disappear she vows to help Detectives Chambers and Khan.

What I really liked about this thrilling little read, is that it keep you guessing right until the end! 

 

In this original take of a murder mystery, we meet Isobel a young woman who should have her whole life ahead of her but she is forced to live in the shadows quietly. To survive she must avoid the other people in her village. People want her gone but her life will be the same no matter where she goes.

Her only refuge from the harsh life she has, are books. She reads them with a voracious appetite and takes the advice to join a local book club that meets every two weeks to discuss their favourite books. Finally she has found some friends, but soon one of her friends is murdered, then another, and she is somehow their prime suspect.

This isn't the first book I've read by Sarah Jane Huntingdon. I'd read Iron Maidens and loved it which gave me high expectations for The Colour of Evil. Readers, it did not disappoint! 

I've come to love Sarah's style of writing, she has a really unique of bringing her characters to life of making you care about them from the first page. I really loved Isobel, she was so fragile yet so strong and I just wanted to hug her and help her. She's been through so much in life and has survived against the odds but still people are cruel. 

An horrific ordeal has left Isobel with the ability to read auras, it is her only way of understand what goes on around her. People have long ago written her off but their mistake lies in underestimating her. When her friends begin to disappear she vows to help Detectives Chambers and Khan.

What I really liked about this thrilling little read, is that it keep you guessing right until the end! 

 

In the wake of her beloved brother's death Adelaide Frost escapes her troubled home life by taking a position at Ashthorne, once a grand stately home now in the wake of The Great War it is now a convalescence home for wounded soldiers.

Upon arrival doubts and suspicions begin to creep in for Adelaide. There are only four patients despite the house being huge. Adelaide is not allowed to participate in the clandestine treatments administered by Doctor Roskopf and his assistant Nurse McGovern in the damp cellar of Asthorne House.

Adelaide doesn't even think Doctor Roskopf is a real doctors, the patient's conditions seem to be getting worse, she should leave this place and find employment elsewhere but then she meets Evelyn Asthorne, the daughter of the owner of the house. Quickly they fall in love and discover there are many more secrets waiting for them in Asthorne House.

This is was a really quick but enjoyable read. Perfect for fans of gothic horror. I liked how the plot moved quickly in ways I did not expects, there are so many twists and turns to be discovered. Can't wait to read more stories by April!

 

I've very recently watched the rather excellent Netflix series, Black Summer, a dark relentless ride of what life could be like following an apocalyptic wave spreading across the globe, and The Growth by Adam Hulse is very similar.

Would society stick together when faced with a situation that could wipe out the entire human race or would they turn on each other with anger and malice? In Adam Hulse's The Growth it's definitely the latter.

Trouble starts when a growth is found in the sewers, the biggest fatberg ever to be discovered. A specialist team is sent down to deal with the matter but their attempts are feeble against it. Nothing can stop the growth as is travels across the UK!

As readers we get to witness this atrocity through the lives of different people fighting for their lives and for their loved ones. A woman desperately searches for her missing girlfriend, in these times its very dangerous to be on the streets as a woman, but she is a boxing champion ready to kick ass. A lonely guy down on his luck suddenly comes to life when news of the growth spreads, he thinks he may have the answer to defeating it, but first he must get to the last few people in power.

This book is such a fast paced ride, you get the sense that anything could happen at any moment and if the characters try to relax for just one moment it could end in death! I had a lot of fun reading this and can't wait to get stuck into the sequel to see what happens next!

 

Do you love All Hallows' Eve? Ghost stories? Tales from beyond that leave you feeling unsettled while walking to the kitchen at night? The orange-and-black vintage aesthetic? Haunted houses with shuttered windows?

Edited by Gaby Triana with John Palisano, this anthology of 19 short stories by some of the most terrifying name son horror is the perfect collection for a dark and stormy October night. Featuring tales to make you hide under the covers by; Jonathan Maberry, Gwendolyn Kiste, Catherine Cavendish, Tim Waggoner, Jeff Strand, Sara Tantlinger, Lee Murray, Alethea Kontis, Lisa Morton & more

I already knew before I read this that I would enjoy this, this anthology has an amazing line up of lots of authors I greatly admire. Literally Dead did not disappoint I had so much fun reading this. Some stories will make you cry, some will leave in you in stitches but beware of those that will strike terror in your heart!

There wasn't one story I didn't like in here.

When You See Millions of the Mouth less Dead Across Your Dreams in Pale Battalions Go by Jonathan Maberry

Joey sits outside his Californian mansion one night going over his past when he receives an unexpected visitor.

Halloween at the Babylon by Lisa Morton

Katy has been waiting for a long time for someone to really see her and listen to her story.

No One Sings in the City of the Dead by Tim Waggoner

When her husband passes away, a lonely wife will stop at nothing to see him again.

Ghosts of Candies Past by Jeff Strand

 A man receives a blast form the past when his children return from Trick-or-Treating on Halloween night with candy not seen for over twenty years.

The Ghost Cricket by Lee Murray

A dark fantasy tale. A magistrate is summoned to a small village to hear a remarkable case between a beggar and a farmer. 

A Scavenger Hunt When the Veil is Thin by Gwendolyn Kiste

It's a rite of passage to visit the old lady's haunted house on Halloween night. But the girl chosen to go inside has also been chosen by someone else.

How to Unmake a Ghost by Sara Tantlinger

The veil wears thin a Halloween but that does not mean one should invite the dead back into their lives even when their love is too powerful to be defeated by death. 

The Ghost Lake Mermaid by Alethea Kontis

It's the Ghost Lake Mermaid's job to maintain the lake she watches over. When a guest arrives it reveals dark secrets of the nearby town, she must enlist the help of Sherriff Lee.

The Curiosity of the Back of the Fridge by Catherine Cavendish

A tale within a tale. Brian our trusty narrator takes us on a journey of how he came to meet the revered Bobby Clem, once a highly regarded University Professor, now nothing more than a local down and out.

Postcards from Evelyn by Scott Cole

Andy receives an invite to a Halloween party from Evelyn, but it must be a mistake the invite is over one hundred year sold. When he receives a 2nd postcard he knows something strange is going on. Evelyn is very determined to have him attend.

Bootsy's House by Dennis K. Crosby

Justus and Damon break in one night to an empty affluent home that legend claims is hiding a fortune waiting to be found and claimed. But the house isn't as empty as they think. 

When They Fall by Steve Rasnic Tem

One Halloween Ralph receives a very persistent rick or treater in his isolated country home and now he's too old to run from what haunts him.

Soul Cakes by Catherine McCarthy

It's a real treat for Bethan to bake soul cakes with her beloved grandmother at Halloween. Each year as her gran gets older she reminisces more and more over the past but once spent the past can never come back.

A Bookstore Made of Skull by Maureen Mancini Amaturo

"A skull houses the brain, and books house brain food."

Our unnamed protagonist finds themselves in no ordinary book shop in no ordinary town. This is Salem home to Witchcraft. A wonderfully decadent atmospheric tale that draws you in and spits you out.

The Ghosts of Enerhoda by Henry Herz

It's 2022 and there's al all out battle for  nuclear power plant. The Russians will stop at nothing to take it from the Ukranian's, how far will each side go?

Always October by Jeremy Megargee

A ghost hunter takes full advantage of the thin veil between the world of the living and the dead, he needs to catch as many ghosts before the night is done.

A Halloween Visit by Dana Hammer

Gabriella Morrison is done for the night, she's tired of handing out candy to all the trick or treaters but there's one guest left banging on her door ready to collect a debt that can  be ignored no longer.

The Crawlers in the Corn by David Surface

Danny's friend, Carl, doesn't want to go trick or treating he says at fourteen years old they're too old to believe in Halloween or those things they thought they saw crawling in the cornfield. However those things still believe in Danny and Carl.

Pink Lace and Death Gods by Eva Roslin

When Bianca makes a deal it turns her life upside down. She must make a deal with the devil if she is to get her life back.

About Sarah Budd

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Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward



In a windswept cottage overlooking the sea, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of his childhood companions and the killer that stalked their small New England town. Of the body they found, the horror of that discovery echoing down the decades. And of sky, Wilder's one-time friend, who stole his unfinished memoir and turned it into a lurid bestselling novel, Looking Glass Sound.
This book will be Wilder's revenge on Sky, a man who betrayed his trust and died without ever telling him why. But as he writes, Wilder begins to find notes written in Sky's signature green ink and events in his manuscript start to chime eerily with the present. Is Sky still haunting him? Did Wilder have more to do with Sky's death than he admits? And who is the woman drowning in the cove, whom no-one else can see? 
No longer able to trust his own eyes, Wilder begins to wonder: is he writing the book, or is the book writing him?


Get your copy of Looking Glass Sound here at Amazon
Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

Don't Fear the Reaper is the page-turning sequel to My Heart is a Chainsaw from New York Times bestselling author, Stephen Graham Jones.
Four years after her tumultuous senior year, Jade Daniels is released form prison right before Christmas when her conviction is overturned. But life beyond bars takes a dangerous turn as soon as she returns to Proofrock. Convicted serial killer, Dark Mill South, seeking revenge for thirty-eight Dakota men hanged in 1862, escapes from his prison transfer due to a blizzard, just outside of Proofrock, Idaho.
Dark Mill South's Reunion Tour began on December 12th, 2019,a Thursday.
Thirty-six hours and twenty bodies later, on Friday the 13th, it would be over. 
Get your copy of Don't Fear the Reaper here at Amazon
The Beast You Are by Paul Tremblay


A haunting collection of short fiction from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club, A Head Full of Ghosts, and The Cabin at the End of the World.
Paul Tremblay has won widespread acclaim for illuminating the dark horrors of the mind in novels and stories that push the boundaries of storytelling itself. The fifteen pieces in this brilliant collection, The Beast You Are, are all monsters of a kind, ready to loudly (and lovingly) smash through your head and into your heart.



Get your copy of The Beast You Are here at Amazon

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw




A sensuous and strange horror novella full of creeping dread and delicious gore, twisting mermaid myths into something sharp and dangerous, and hungry, for fans of Christina Henry, Carmen Maria Machado and Eric LaRocca.
After the murder of her husband and the fall of his empire, a mermaid and her plague doctor companion escape into the wilderness. Deep in the woods, they stumble across a village where children hunt each other for sport, sacrificing one of their own at the behest of the surgeons they call "the saints." These saints play god with their magic, harvesting the best bits of the children for themselves and piecing the sacrifices back together again. 
To save the children from their fates, the plague doctor must confront their past, and the mermaid must embrace the darkest parts of her true nature.
Get your copy of The Salt Grows Heavy at Amazon
The Drift by C. J. Tudor


A crashed coach full of students.A stuck cable car full of strangers.An isolated chalet full of friends.A killer snowstorm outside.Inside one group, a killer.But which one?And why is no rescue coming?How did they become trapped?And what were they all trying to escape?
Get your copy of The Drift here at Amazon

Dead Water by C. A. Fletcher


A water-borne blight hits a small community on a remote Scottish Island. The residents are a mix of island-born and newcomers seeking a slower life away from the modern world; all have their own secrets, some much a darker than others. Some claim the illness may be a case of mass hysteria - or even a long buried curse - but when the ferry service fails and phone towers go down, inconvenience grows into nightmarish ordeal as the outwardly harmonious fabric of the community is irreversibly torn apart.


A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
Dark and twisted family roots threaten to strangle their home's foundations in this chilling haunted house novel from the award-winning master of modern horror, T. Kingfisher.
Samantha Montgomery pulls into the driveway of her family home to find a massive black vulture perched on the mailbox, staring at the house.
Inside, everything has changed. Gone is the eclectic warmth Sam expects; instead the walls are a sterile white. Now, it's very important to say grace before dinner, and her mother won't hear a word against Sam's long-dead and little-missed grandmother, who was the first to put down roots in this small southern town.
The longer Sam stays. the stranger things get. And every day, more vultures circle overhead...
Get your copy of A House with Good Bones here at Amazon
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno Garcia




From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau and Mexican Gothic comes a fabulous meld of Mexican horror movies and Nazi occultism; a dark thriller about a curse that haunts a legendary lost film- and awakens one woman's hidden powers.
Montserrat has always been overlooked. She's a talented sound editor, but she's left out of the boys' club running the film industry in 90's Mexico   City. And she's all-but-invisible to her best friend Tristan, a charming if faded soap opera start, even though she's been in love with him since childhood.
Then Tristan discovers his new neighbour is the cult horror director Abel Urueta, and the legendary auteur claims he has a way to change their lives - even if his tales of a Nazi occultist imbuing magic into highly volatile silver nitrate stock sounds like sheer fantasy. The magic film was never finished, which is why, Urueta swears, his career vanished overnight. He is cursed.
Now the director wants Montserrat and Tristan to help him shoot the missing scene and lift the curse...but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her, and Tristan begins seeing the ghost of his ex-girlfriend...
As they work together to unravel the mystery of the film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city, Montserrat and Tristan might find out that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of of movies...

Get your copy of Silver Nitrate here at Amazon

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro





The story of a woman haunted by the Mexican folk demon La Llorona as she unravels the dark secrets of her family history in this ravishing and provocative horror novel from the author of Alien: Vasquez.
Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. But they cannot see what Alejandra has become; a woman struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her. Nor can they see what Alejandra sees. In times of despair, a ghostly visions appears to her, the apparition of a crying woman in a ragged white gown.
When Alejandra visits a therapist, she begins to explore her family's history, starting with the biological mother she only recently rediscovered. As she goes deeper into the lives of the women in her family, she learns that heartbreak and tragedy are not the only things she has in common with her ancestors.
Because the crying woman was with them, too. She is La Llorona, the vengeful and murderous mother of Mexican legend. And she will not leave until Alejandra follows her grandmother, and all the women who came before her into the darkness.
But Alejandra has inherited more than just pain. She has inherited the strength and the courage of her foremothers - and she will have to summon everything they have given her to banish La Llorona forever.
Get your copy of The Haunting of Alejandra here at Amazon
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn't want t leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn't want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father's academic career and her mother's lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn't want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world.
Mostly, she doesn't want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. But she'll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it'll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.
Some houses don't want to be sold, and their home has other plans for them...
 
Get your copy of How to Sell a Haunted House here at Amazon
The Sum of Your Flesh by Beverley Lee

Haven Ford arrives in the small village of Mortimer West on the back of a troubled voicemail asking for his help. But the baggage he carries is far more than the rucksack slung over his shoulder.
Rafferty Henderson has lived his whole life in the gatehouse cottage at the edge of the woods. It's a safe space for a boy with strange eating habits, until his brother's death sends his whole world spiralling into a twisted nest of persecution and unanswered questions.
Meredith Evans is a woman returning to her roots, but this is no cosy revisit. This is a return to lay the nightmare of her childhood to rest. Or at least to gain a better understanding of it.
When graves start to collapse in the cemetery and the whispers from the village become accusations against Rafferty, Haven finds himself in the midst of an unfolding horror with its seeds firmly planted in the past - a past that will take him down with it, a past that wants to drown him.
For beneath this village lies a terrible secret. A secret that refuses to die. A secret discarded over a hundred years ago by the sole survivor of a doomed Arctic voyage, a man whose blood flows in Rafferty Henderson's veins.
Get your copy of The Sum of Your Flesh here at Amazon

 

Welcome aboard the Venus, a space ship deep in space looking for old wrecks to salvage. It's run by a very colourful all female crew and a cat. The ship badly need repairs the women need to make some money. A perfect opportunity presents itself but will they strike it rich or find disaster.

Science Fiction isn't my thing but I really enjoyed reading Venus Falling by Sarah Jane Huntingdon. She's a natural story teller and adds plenty of fun and humour. It's full of really funny moments particularly from Jonesy the headstrong adrenaline seeking pilot! This is a short read so perfect for when you're between books. 

The Venus is a salvage ship roaming through space searching for salvage so they can get rich. Each member of the all female crew has been made an outcast but together they form on mighty strong team. One day they are on the cusp of striking it rich when they encounter a strange cloud. Another ship is approaching also after the same prize and they must go through this mysterious cloud if they are to make it to the site first.

The cloud may be the most beautiful thing they have ever seen, but is it as harmless as it looks?

Get your copy of Venus Falling here via Amazon

 

Anchorage, Alaska. A place where people don't care if someone goes missing. A place where Leia Walker tries her hardest to hide from the world, wanting a normal without anxiety and OCD.
But Leia's bubble pops when an old friend is back in town and twists Leia's reality. A bloody event proves what Leia is scared to learn - Sophie Gardner, her old high school friend and saviour from the bullies, is a vampire.
Forced to run away with Sophie, Leia's life takes a terrifying turn when vampires and hunters come after them.
The only thing preventing them from losing themselves is their friendship...
But will it be enough to escape the inevitable blood bath?
Nocturnal Blood is a vampire book like no other. I love vampires in fiction and as a a result have read so many books based on vampires. I adore Anne Rice, Dracula and even Twilight (sorry) but this book is so different to those. This is a horror book with a lot of heart and tenderness that left me with a tear in my eye.
Technically Nocturnal Blood is a Young Adult novel but I feel it's an adult book it deals with some very adult themes which are portrayed in a really touching way. Vilimey's writing really drew me in, it felt really feel. I really identified with Leia a lonely young woman who, because she's an introvert, doesn't quite fit in with her peers at school which leads to her being brutally bullied. I loved how Sophie, how friend, was her polar opposite a loud extrovert young woman who also doesn't quite fit in because she's too headstrong. They're both destined to live on the outskirts of society but they can brace their outcast status together. What one girl lacks the other possesses in abundance and vice versa making them a strong team.
It's Sophie's and Leia's relationship that really drives the book. There's some very comic moments between the two of them. 
After being friends at high school and then drifting apart, trouble unites them once more, they are forced to run away in the dead of night. There were so many Thelma and Louise vibes as they head north in a small car with limited supplies. The writing is really graphic and I felt like I was there with them.
This book swings effortlessly from being really heartfelt and tender to bloody and brutal like you would expect in a vampire novel. People who enjoyed Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist would really love this too! 
The ending was really spectacular and I'm really interested to see where this story will go in Book 2 Nocturnal Farm


Nocturnal Blood out now get your copy here via Amazon