The Silent Land by Graham Joyce (2010)

I loved this book so much that I was searching for more books by Graham Joyce before I'd even gotten halfway through this one.

From the beginning to the ending, this is a practically perfect novel--one that I wanted to prolong reading as I was enjoying it so much.

Jake and Zoe are skiing at a resort when they are caught in an avalanche. And the description of Zoe trapped under snow is one of the scariest things I've ever read. Ever. When they finally dig out and return to the resort, everyone is gone, and they can't seem to leave the village. Not only are they trying to figure out what's happening, they're also working on some issues in their marriage.

This novel is subtle and realistic, and beautifully done to the very last page. Everyone I've recommended it to has loved it as much as I have--about six people to date. Yay!

Horrorstor: A Novel by Grady Hendrix (2014)

Horrorstor is so cool, it should have its own theme song.

And yes, as you may have guessed from the cover, it's a horror novel set in the big-box semi-Swedish home furnishing retailer Orsk. The fabulous book design by Andie Reid hilariously replicates the iconic IKEA catalogs.

Some strange things have been happening at the Orsk store and a few employees have been enlisted to stay after closing and keep an eye out. Another couple of employees are conducting their own ghost hunt and when they get together to have a seance, all hell breaks loose.

In addition to the great, realistic characters, this novel has a great in-depth backstory that is beautifully supported by the book design. And it actually had me at the edge of my seat--I was genuinely biting my nails to see if the characters would make it through. Beautifully done.

666 Park Avenue by Gabrielle Pierce (2011)

I picked up this book at a charming used bookstore in Winona called Paperbacks and Pieces, and I picked it up purely for its fabulous design. The cover is not only gorgeous, but has fabulous texture. Even the edges of the pages and chapter design is really striking and original.

That said, I finally read it, and found it to be way more fun than it should be. Jane Boyle, architect living in Paris meets swoony and rich Malcolm Doran, has a whirlwind romance and goes to NYC to live with him and his rich and influential family on Park Avenue. Only problem is, she discovers that she's a witch, and they want her power.

Pierce sets up her world and the mythology very well, and creates a very suspenseful story filled with very well-drawn supporting characters.

Followed by two sequels: The Dark Glamour and The Lost Soul, both of which I enjoyed every bit as much as this one. I finished The Dark Glamour and literally immediately picked up The Lost Soul, which is really saying something as I have a very short attention span for series. Delightful.

The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff (2006)

My bar for horror novels is pretty low. But I can't resist a good ghost story/haunted house novel, so when this crossed by desk, I gave it a try.

Five students are left alone in their college dorm over the holidays, they get in touch with some scary spirits, and mysterious and spooky things begin to occur.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Sokoloff created rich and complex characters, and I like that the backstory and mythology was quite in-depth. I have the attention span of a distracted gnat, but even after reading it six months ago, I can still picture some of the characters and settings.

Must check out more of her work! Yay, excellent horror novels by female authors!

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James (2012)

This is a lovely ghost story/love story/historical novel.

Sarah Piper is a lonely soul, working in London in the years after the first World War when she gets an unexpected assignment from her temporary agency--to assist an author and ghost hunter. They travel to a small village to track down the ghost of Maddy Clare and both love and mystery ensues.

The haunting itself is quite dark and violent and she writes quite unsparingly about the emotionally turbulent years after the war. The story is excellent and the romance is lovely.

Fun fact for Downton Abbey fans: the ghost hunter Alastair is a dead ringer for Matthew Crawley and if you squint a bit, his assistant Matthew could be mistaken for a slightly more broken Mr. Bates.

The Edge of Dark Water by Joe R. Lansdale (2012)

Prepare for massive gushing ahead ...

First, the plot summary:

Trying to escape her worthless life leads to unexpected and disastrous consequences when Sue Ellen steals money and a raft and embarks on a journey to dig up her best friend's body, burn it, and sprinkle the ashes in Hollywood.

You can see how this is not an easy sell plotwise, but let me tell you that I loved this book. LOVED it. LOVE Joe R. Lansdale.

His writing about East Texas (see also The Bottoms), so evocative and filled with dark insight about the area always reminds me of Harper Lee. His writing about Texas is incredibly vivid and almost affectionate (despite the darkness of the events that occur.)

He writes amazingly realistic but unusual characters and the dialogue is perfect--I'd love to see him write a play. The characters in this book--Sue Ellen, her friends Terry and Jinx and her alcoholic mother-- are as vivid to me now as when I read the book months ago--I loved spending time with them and the very dark journey that they are on.

Their trip down the river reminded me so much of the river trip that the children take in The Night of the Hunter. It's as if that trippy, black and white journey was transformed into an entire book, in full color with fully fleshed out characters, and it sustains that eerie, unsettling atmosphere through the whole book.

Trust me on this one--it's MARVELOUS.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (2011)

I picked up this zombie romantic comedy purely because they made a movie of it and the trailer looked cute. By the way, isn't that cover great?

This is a very endearing zombie romantic comedy--yes, zombie romantic comedy--that tells the story of R, a zombie wandering around in a zombie vs. survivalist humans world. The story is told from R's point of view, and there are many laugh out loud moments. When he eats the brain of a young human and falls for his girlfriend Julie, it gets a bit more serious.

But throughout, it still has lovely touches of humor. Marion does a beautiful job of getting inside R's head and still showing what he looks and sounds like from the outside. It's thoughtful and philosophical about the end of the world in a way that most zombie, post-apocalyptic novels don't bother with--certainly not zombie movies anyway. R, Julie and her friend Nora are very endearing characters as are the complex leaders of the humans.

Really a great book and rather gentle and sweet for a book about zombies.

The Raising by Laura Kasischke (2011)

Compulsively readable novel about a boy returning to college after being involved in an accident that killed his girlfriend. 

But here's the weird thing: he keeps seeing glimmers of her around campus and his memory of the crash still hasn't returned. Kasischke skillfully weaves together chapters from the present with chapters from the year leading up to the accident. Eventually the threads meet in such a way that I may have actually gasped out loud. 

Beautifully written, suspenseful, and unbelievably absorbing. I liked this so much I sought out the rest of Kasischke's novels and read them all. I love the moody, thoughtful, elegiac, but spooky tone of her novels. See also her YA novels Feathered and Boy Heaven.

What You See in the Dark by Manuel Munoz (2011)

Fascinating, spare novel that tells the story of a few inhabitants of Bakersfield, California, from a young singer, her handsome boyfriend, and his hotel owning mother to the Actress and the Director, who are scouting locations for a new film.

The film being referenced is clearly Psycho, and the story of the singer, her beau and his mother has some interesting parallels to that film.

I love this from the Director's musing:

"The Americans were always good at dying, but not death. Good at plot, but not fatalism. Good at cowboys shot down from the backs of horses, but not the finality of writhing in the dust. Good at the cars roaring lustily into each other as if no one were in them, but not the full horror of a boy hurtling into the rigidity of the steering column. Good at the beautiful Radcliffe heroine succumbing to cancer in her bed, but not the ugly business of the night nurse wiping her clean at two in the morning. What they didn't know is that you take the little glimmer of the truth of death when you see it, and then have the nerve to give it light."

Quiet, melancholy and deliberately written.

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver (2003)

Unbelievably gripping book written as a series of letters from a woman to her estranged husband. The subject of the letters is her relationship with him, but primarily the subject is their son Kevin--a very troubled young man who shot up his school. 

The strange thing about this book is that the subject matter is so very shocking and horrific, which is normally is found more in pulpy, mass market novels, and yet it's written at an incredibly high level, vocabulary-wise and structurally. It's incredibly compelling, and almost like a more literary The Bad Seed by William March. So creepy. 

For a nonfiction take on a similar subject, check out Columbine by Dave Cullen.

Audrey's Door by Sarah Langan (2009)

Excellent haunted house story set on the Upper West Side of New York City.

It's a hidden gem--a quality trade paperback hidden in the pages of a mass market paperback. Good, complex characterization (the ex-fiance and shrewish boss are not painted as black and white bad guys), as well as an unusual, complicated backstory (chaotic naturalism!) and many scenes that just cry out to be filmed.

This is a great fit for fans of the contemporary gothic of Gillian Flynn.

The Loving Dead by Amelia Beamer (2010)

Never underestimate the power of a good blurb.

 I picked up this zombie novel because it was blurbed on the front by Christopher Moore as "really kind of hot, in a very creepy way." Truly a modern novel, with really realistic dialogue and believable young characters. You have to love a zombie novel that starts out at a Trader Joe's. 

Ooh, and here's an interesting slant: the virus is spread through sex and kissing. Which in the zombie world seems like a recipe for some pretty dodgy situations, but Beamer handles them all in very realistic and not at all exploitative ways. 

Fun and original.

Burke and Hare (2010)

I was reading John Landis's book Monsters in the Movies, which is, like Landis himself, completely delightful. 

In it, he explores movie monsters, mostly through showing poster and film images and making short, snarky comments about them.  He also interviews horror icons like Ray Harryhausen, Guillermo del Toro, Sam Raimi and Christopher Lee.  Great fun.  Anyway, in it, he casually mentions his film, Burke and Hare.  What?  I'd never even heard of it!

Maybe it's a British thing, but I don't even remember seeing Burke and Hare released over here.  It's an old British story, about two grave robbers who sell bodies to a medical school.  Then, when the supply of bodies dry up, they start making their own corpses (by killing people). 

Have I mentioned the cast?  It stars Simon Pegg (of the brilliant Shaun of the Dead) and Andy Serkis (Gollum!) as Burke and Hare, and the cast includes an impressive roster of British actors.  Bill Bailey, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Curry, Hugh Bonneville, Ronnie Corbett, Jenny Agutter and Stephen Merchant among others.  Oh, and a few cameos I won't spoil. 

With that cast, it's bound to be funny, and it is.  But it also looks amazing.  It's beautifully filmed and designed, with gorgeous sets and great costumes.  There's also a bit of a romance for Burke (Pegg) with Isla Fisher, playing an actress.  It's not perfect ... but it is charming and funny, and lovely to look at and clearly, for Landis, a labor of love.