Should I make this post like one of those aggravating internet recipes, where you have to wade through the history of each ingredient before it finally tells you how to make the freaking thing?

No. Those drive me nuts, too. So without further blah-blah, here’s who won my extra copy of Doll Parts, the delightfully creepy debut novel by Penny Zang*:

Congratulations, Ann! I’ll be in touch to get your mailing address (and I’ve popped a picture of the book cover and other swag at the bottom to remind you of what’s coming your way). Thanks to everyone who entered the draw!

In other news, here are some of the other ghost-y books I’ve read this year (so far):

I’ve been on a total T. Kingfisher bender this year, and have enjoyed everything of hers that I’ve read. What Moves the Dead is a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher, but even though there are quite a few remakes around (I liked the Netflix one) T. Kingfisher always spins cool-ly on the retellings she does. Plus she was a Navy brat growing up, so! My friend Kirsty and I still talk about a panel we attended at the London Book Fair one year, where authors and editors discussed remakes of original works. This particular group didn’t mind adaptations that were unfaithful to the original. On the contrary, they enjoyed seeing what a fresh pair of creative eyes could do with their ideas. I thought that was an interesting take and it’s helped me approach remakes with an open mind and not so much nit-picking.

Kirsty is also the bookish friend who recommended the Michelle Paver classic Dark Matter, definitely the most thoroughly creepy book I’ve read this year. I’m going to deconstruct it to see how Paver built tension on the page. It’s so much harder to do than in a film where you have quick changes in camera angles and music and other ways to build an emotional response in a viewer. But Dark Matter was scary as hell just with words, as was Seven Terrors, which is about the aftermath of the Balkan War. I was going to write a review but then Nate D already left this one on Goodreads, which sums up my thoughts better than I could.

I also rewatched The Blair Witch Project (holds up pretty well!), The Grudge (ditto), and Ghosts of War. At the beginning of Ghosts of War I was thinking, wow, this is a lot hokey-er than I remember. But as it turns out, there’s a reason it’s so full of clichés in the beginning. Besides providing lots of awesome jump-scares and a fair amount of gore (but not too much IMO), there’s an Inception-y twist at the end that explains the clunky beginning, and the story makes some interesting points about grief and remorse after combat. I watched it on Prime if you’re in the mood for some (not exactly – you’ll see why!) WWII in Europe ghostiness.

Yes, I know October is over but I’m often in the mood for ghostiness throughout the dark months. I do have a military-related announcement to make on Veterans Day, plus Marty Cesana’s long-promised Kahlua brownie recipe to share. Stay tuned!

all best,

Nancy

*Here’s the spooky fun coming Ann’s way: