October ScaredyKit- Contemporary Horror Authors

Happy October!
It's the month to dig up your scariest read. We're going for contemporary this month, which I would arbitrarily say is anything since the year 2000. You'll have many to choose from if you're reading Stephen King, R.L. Stine, Anne Rice or Dean Koontz. You can also choose much more recent horrors such as the works of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Tananarive Due, or go with a true crime such as I'll Be Gone in the Dark or one of the case books by FBI Profiler John E. Douglas.
OR, pick up one of these very recent fiction releases:
So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
A Sorceress Comes to Call or What Feasts At Night by T. Kingfisher
I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
OR, in recent non-fiction:
101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered by Sadie Hartmann
Cult Following by J.W. Ocker

Tell us what you're reading, then come back to tell us what you thought about it. Was it as scary as you expected?

I'm thinking maybe something by Darcy Coates or Riley Sager. Or who wrote Horrorstor? Grady Hendrix (I've already read "Horrorstor" so I'd choose something else.)

I believe Hendrix's latest is How to Sell a Haunted House. His next will come out in January.
I'm going to read Ring and The Spite House for this challenge, two books I've been meaning to get to for months.

I am planning on reading The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins.

I got to Dark Harvest a little early. Published in 2006, this is set in 1963 in a small Midwest town that has a strange ritual every Halloween. They starve the teenage boys and then set them free to hunt October Boy on Halloween. The winner gets to leave town. Highly recommended.

>2 LibraryCin: It's looking like I'll be going with The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates. I "own" a few ebooks by them, so it makes sense to read one by them rather than by one of the other authors I was thinking of.

>5 mstrust: That sounds good!

It is good! Highly recommended!

This Cursed House / Del Sandeen
4 stars

In the early 1960s, Jemma (from Chicago) has been hired by a family who live on a plantation just outside New Orleans. Jemma is a teacher and assumes that she will be tutoring. The Duchon family are all light-skinned Black people and although they say they are “proud coloured people”, they look down on Jemma’s darker skin. Jemma also has an ability to see ghosts, and there appear to be a few around this plantation. She is in for multiple surprises the longer she stays with the backwards Duchons, and only one of those surprises is what they have hired her for.

This was really good. I was pulled in early on, and the surprises continued to come. The Duchons are a piece of work, though I think the author does do a good job of showing multiple sides to a couple of them, and there are reasons why some of them are the way they are. Given the time period and place, there is some historical fiction thrown in to this horror/ghost story, as well, which I quite like.

I read Ushers by Joe Hill, son of the master himself Stephen King. Joe Hill is one of my favorite horror writers.

I read the first several chapters of Meddling Kids and it just wasn't grabbing me, so I've put it aside and started The Spite House.

November is up https://www.librarything.com/topic/364914

A mystery within a mystery, this is the story of dad Eric and his two daughters. We know they've been driving around the country, living in motels for over a year. With money running low, Eric answers an ad for someone to live in a haunted house in Texas. The Spite House has an extensive reputation for paranormal happenings, but now the elderly owner wants more concrete proof, and it seems that she doesn't care if her tenants are in danger.
This is a haunted house story, and it also looks into family histories and economic status.

I finally got another one for the challenge. It was my Halloween read: Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay. Recommended if you're a fan of low-budget horror movies, as it hits all the tropes.

I want to get to that one 🫣

Before You Sleep: Three Horrors by Adam L.G. Nevill each has a house at the center of the stories. In one, three schoolboys think they'll gain reputations as tough guys if they break into the notoriously haunted local house. In another, a Japanese family settle into a house so the father, who seems to be having a nervous breakdown, can relax. The little girl quickly makes friends with all the toys left behind by previous children. The last story involves a young man who has bought his first home. The interior had never been updated past the 1970s, and he quickly finds himself putting off the renovation and becoming comfortable in the old lady vibe.
These are spooky, atmospheric stories from the author whose work inspired the movies "The Ritual" and "No One Gets Out Alive".

I was very disappointed with The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins. The silly plot and undeveloped characters made for a messy and unchilling read.