Mstrust's Second Dark & Stormy Challenge

I'm Jennifer in Phoenix with my husband Mike. I've been LTing since March of 2008.
I bake, grow vegetables, succulents and cactus. I visit family in Vegas a few times a year. And I write a weekly Substack called Autumn Lives Here. If you like horror, true crime, terrifying travels, book reviews and original short stories, drop in.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

I don't have any specific reading goals for the year other than to hit 50% in my ROOTs challenge. I'm a slow reader, but just know that so much of my time is spent researching and writing. I'm being pretty loosey-goosey this year. Oh, how I wish I was like some of you who can get through a 300 page book in one or two days!

2025 Reads

1. Murder Road- 3.5
2. Food To Die For-4
3. Tales from the Gas Station: Volume Two- 4
4. Confections, Clues, and Chocolate-3
5. Make Your Backyard Bloom-4
6. Sipsworth-4
7. Foods That Made History-4
8. I Have A Bad Feeling About This-4.2
9. The Tasting Menu-4
10. Vintage Recipes of the 1960s-3
11. The Beatles Lyrics-4
12. Good Housekeeping Best-Loved Desserts-4
13. Psychiatry: A Very Short Introduction-5
14. The Dead Children's Playground-4.2
15. Japanese Farm Food-3.5
16. Murder in the Bookshop-3
17. Hershey's Chocolate Lovers Cookbook-4
18. Autumn Gardens-4
19. Luby's Cafeteria 50th Anniversary Recipe Collection- 3.5
20. Cacti & Succulents for Modern Living- 4.5
21. The Haunted Forest Tour-5
22. The Murderess: A Novel- 3.5
23. The Eyes Are the Best Part-5
24. Maid-3
25. Marshmallows, Mystery & Mischief-4
26. Jellybeans, Jack-O'-Lanterns, and Jitters-1
27. Slewfoot-3.5
28. Horror Movie-4.5
29. The Halloween Store-5
30. Mud Season-3
31. 2025 Vancouver Travel Guide-2.5
32. The Perks of Being a Wallflower-4
33. The Book of Cold Cases- 4.5
34. Seeds of Murder-3.5
35. The Blanks-4.2
36. Jackknife-4
37. The Philosophy of Punk-1
38. Sinfully Delicious-3.5
39. Night and Day in Misery-4
40. I Slept With Joey Ramone-4.5
41. Criminal Macabre-3.5
42. Eat The Rich-4
43. The Cases That Haunt Us-4
44. Family Man- 3.5
45. Murder By the Book-4
46. The Indigo Room-2
47. Sour Cherry- 4.5
48. The $64 Tomato-4
49. Truth Truth Lie-4
50. A Classic Case-3
51. The Devil and Mrs. Davenport-4.2
52. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House-4
53. Twentieth Anniversary Screening-3
54. This Wretched Valley-4.5
55. Welcome To The Ghost Show-4
56. So Many Books, So Little Time-4.2
57. The Answer Is No-4
58. Death By Whoopee Cushion-3.5
59. Doorbells at Dusk-4.5
60. Heaven-2.8
61. Practical Beginners Raised Bed and Container Gardening-4
62. The Halloween Moon-4
63. Purely Pumpkin-4.5
64. Outlaw Tales of Nevada-3.5
65. Drumming Up An Appetite with Vinnie Paul-2
66. The Manga Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening-3
67. Haint-4
68. 3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years-4
69. Blood Will Out-5
70. The King of Late Night-3
71. The United States of Cryptids-4
72. Dating After The End of the World-3
73. Life Among The Savages-4
74. The Birds-4
75. Ring-4
76. A Good Month For Murder-4.5

Well, clearly I haven't accomplished much, reading-wise, lately. So what has taken up all my time?
1. There was the month in Vegas with my mom's fractured spine. She's doing somewhat better and has had just a few physical rehab sessions at home. It took Humana two weeks to get anyone to her house, but she's had a few hours. Anyway, I spent a month going to the hospital twice a day, taking care of her dog, fighting Humana, talking to lawyers, etc.

2. Because I was expecting to be away from home for four days, not a month (my sister called us when we were halfway through a 5 1/2 hour drive to tell me about the fracture), I fell behind on my Substack. I'm back to researching and writing.

3. I read 100 pages of American Housewife, then realized that I didn't care at all, so broke up with it.

4. I've got my Autumn garden plans all ready! I spent a few days laying out my plans, what gets planted with what, making charts. I've realized that companion planting is the way to go, my garden did so well this past season with that. This year, I'm adopting the 'don't let any soil show through the plants' agenda. Sowing the seeds tightly together. I also just got an order of new heirloom seeds: Flat of Italy onion, Sugar Rush Peach pepper, Queen of the Night tomato (they're gorgeous), Costoluto Genovese tomato, which is an accordion style, and Dr. Wyche's Yellow tomato. These are all new varieties for me.

Anyway, I'll finish a book real soon. Promise. I actually came home from Vegas with This Wretched Valley, Sour Cherry, The Chill and Gallow's Hill.
Next one's yours. Welcome!

Happy new thread, Jennifer!

Happy new thread! Sorry to read about your mom's troubles but glad she's on the mend and you're back home!
Happy reading

>4 quondame: >5 Carmenere: Thank you, Susan and Lynda!
>5 Carmenere: She's very slowly improving. As she told me this morning, "Well, I feel a little better than I did yesterday." Which, for her, is saying a lot.

Happy new thread, Jennifer. Good news that your mom is slowly getting better.

Happy new one!

I am glad that your mom is improving.

Happy New Thread! I hope your mom's recovery speeds up!

>7 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! Very, very slowly.
>8 figsfromthistle: Thank you!
>9 PaperbackPirate: Thanks, and so do I!

So Humana has decided to once again be the stereotype of the evil insurance company. Mom says she's been informed that they've decided to bill her $700 for the walker they delivered three weeks ago. The one she can't walk without, you know, because of the fractured spine. My nephew has taken this fight on, which I'm so grateful for.
Oh, and they said they're going to bill her for the shower chair that Mike and I bought for her on Amazon. Just trying to grab anything they can.

Autumn Lives Here is picking over this year's Halloween candy, recommending horror reads, and sorry, we're dealing with eels. Nobody wants to, but sometimes you gotta.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>10 mstrust: Happy New Thread!!

I hate dealing with insurance companies. With a capital H.

Happy New Thread, Jennifer.
All the best to you and your mom and the fight with the Hydra!

>12 hredwards: Thank you!
They really do try to make things harder.

>13 SirThomas: Hi, Thomas, thanks! I'm sure they wear a lot of people down in the process.

47. Sour Cherry by Natalia Theodoridou

The story begins with Agnes, an unmarried villager who has lost her baby, so takes a job as the wet nurse in the Lord's manor. Agnes loves the boy and raises him as her own even while seeing that he is strange and can be dangerous. The child's own mother warns Agnes to leave while she can, but she stays and sees the boy into adulthood, despite what she suspects about him.

Eunice becomes his wife, as his father died suddenly and the boy is now the wealthy Lord. They have a son, one that Eunice watches, always fearful that Tristan will turn out like his father, leaving dead crops and animals in his wake, being chased away with pitchforks and torches.

Richly evocative, this really is beautifully written. Even if you don't normally have an interest in horror, and this one involves a mysterious, deadly creature and the ghosts who fill the manor, the writing i closer to Proust than Stephen King. 4.5

Happy new thread, Jennifer!

Thanks, Jim!

Autumn Lives Here has two scoops of terror!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

48. The $64 Tomato by William Alexander

Gardening memoirs are usually written with the goal of being inspiring and reflective. This is a memoir of garden battles, where anything that can go wrong does.
Alexander and his family moved from a cramped property in Yonkers to three acres and a 90 year-old house upstate along the Hudson River. He wasn't a novice gardener, but with so much room to grow the things he'd always wanted, he hired a garden designer who created grassy pathways that then developed "webworms". He planted apple trees that developed fungus and corn that fell over. He fought long battles with groundhogs, squirrels and other thieves, and he hired a bitter handyman who looked like Christopher Walken.
Through all the huge expense and failed experiments, Alexander tells the reader what ended up working, or what never worked no matter how much he tried. I'd warn that he isn't an animal lover, so his treatment of vermin can be brutal, and I don't think a publisher would be cool with a chapter on garden ornamentation titled "Statuary Rape" these days (the book was published 20 years ago, but even then...).
Overall, it is a conversational and funny memoir of becoming obsessive about one's garden, which I can relate to. 4

This week, we're going over the tragic case of Opal Petty, and visiting a new vampire museum outside Philly!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

The vampire museum sounds awesome - and it's a reasonable trip for me!

Oh cool! Maybe you'll get to visit and get a t-shirt 😀

49. Truth Truth Lie by Claire McGowan

A group of long-time friends, along with a few spouses and children, gather on a remote Scottish Island to celebrate the 40th birthday of twins Vicky and Jonathan, whose family owned the island and luxury cabin until recently. The adults begin playing the game Truth, Truth, Lie, with one card containing threats to everyone's lives. This causes some of the friends to panic. Long held resentments surface, setting off a chain of disasters and violence. 4

50. A Classic Case by Alicia Thompson

Part of Kindle's Busybodies collection, which I guess means nosy characters.
Audrey is an introvert who likes renting old movies from a specialty shop, where she often runs into elderly Mr. Hoffman. He rents the same movie every week, a 60s classic starring an actress who disappeared from Hollywood in her heyday. Mr. Hoffman is so reliable about the day and time he comes in that when he doesn't show up Audrey is concerned enough to try and get the taciturn shop owner to help, leading to Audrey breaking into Mr. Hoffman's house to search for him.

A little mystery, a little romance, and some old Hollywood movies. 3

Cake or death? At Autumn Lives Here we're looking at movies that turned 50 this year, then the true tale of Catherine Hayes, a woman so notorious, so awful, that her crimes and trial were illustrated!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

51. The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy

Loretta Davenport has been married to her husband Pete since she was sixteen, so he has molded her into the type of wife he wants, quiet and subservient. The type of wife that reflects well on him, as he's ambitious about his job as a theology professor.
When Loretta gets through a very bad case of the flu, she begins having visions about a local missing woman, who shows Loretta what happened to her. Mustering all her courage, Loretta contacts the police and sets about secretly seeing if she really does have the ability to contact the dead. If Pete finds out that she has told people about her visions, or if he finds that she has left the house or spent money on herself, there's no telling how bad things will get for Loretta.

Set in 1950s Ozarks, this Gothic involving religion and the paranormal, along with domestic abuse, is a real page-turner. 4.2

August is pre-Autumn, pre-Halloween. It's in the way. Make the best of it by getting creeped out with a new short story at Autumn Lives Here!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

I haven't just been twiddling my thumbs.
1. I've been sowing seeds even though our temps are 106 degrees and up. Seeds like heat, so that's covered. I've sown tomatoes, lemon cucumber, marigolds and nasturtiums, lettuces, and with the advice of foggidawn, chunks of potato that have already sprouted. I still have a rolling cart and about 15 more containers to sow.
2. I finally have an ophthalmologist appointment next week. I'll find out if I have cataracts or something else.
3. I'm guest hosting a week of our Macabre Mondays group on Substack, which means pointing out some great writers and their spooky stories. I'll link when it goes up.
4. I've been gathering up lots of Autumn info about events and books and shopping.
5. And juggling books.
6. And I believe I've decided on my state fair baking entries: chocolate chip cookies (a win in this category would be a BIG win), spicy cheese crackers, which won 1st place a few years ago, and raspberry chocolate chip bars.

Very impressive, Jennifer.
Have a wonderful weekend!

You too!

52. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House by M.C. Beaton

Agatha and her handsome new neighbor Paul are determined to find out why crabby old Mrs. Witherspoon has been saying her Tudor mansion is haunted. Unlikable as she is, Mrs. Witherspoon allows them to spend the night inside, but they're soon investigating her death at the bottom of the stairs. Was it an accident or murder, and if so, who, on the long list of people who disliked Mrs. Witherspoon, would benefit from her death?
I hadn't tried an Agatha Raisin in years, but now I'm hooked. Agatha is surly, vain and smart. 4

53. Twentieth Anniversary Screening by Jeff Strand

A fictional study of a fictional slasher movie from the early 90s, a cheapie that would have been long forgotten if not for the crazy guy in the audience who attempted to recreate the kills among his fellow attendees. The movie was pulled from theaters and became something that only hardcore slasher fans watched on DVD.
Twenty years later, a down on its luck theater promotes a special showing with one of the movie actors. It's a great success, ticket-wise, but this is a cursed movie.

Strand turns out some great comedy horrors, and this novella of just under 100 pages has laughs, but it does lean more towards towards the slasher action. 3

This week Autumn Lives Here has scary books around water, and the biggest trial of 1929.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>32 mstrust: Sounds like my kind of thing!

Strand is really good at blending horrifying plots with ridiculousness. I have to say that The Haunted Forest Tour was so much funnier.

This week, I've got the true backstory to a scary classic movie, and the ghost of Charles Dickens hanging out in Boston. Step right up!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

Hi I thought of you today when I saw this new book highlighted in Bookpage. The Great American Retro Road Trip. I know I'm going to check my library for it.

Does your mom have Medicare? They often pay for things like walkers and wheelchairs. Good luck!

>32 mstrust: That reminds me, I still have two books by this author on my TBR pile. Fangboy is calling...

>37 Carmenere: Hi. Lynda! That book does look like fun, thanks for pointing it out.
Yes, Mom has Medicare, plus Humana, and it's Humana that supplied the walker and covered the hospital, and then sent the letters saying she would have to pay for everything. The healthcare workers that I dealt with told me that this is their standard practice, to send letters after the patient is admitted or after the equipment has been delivered, saying the insurance doesn't cover it. Apparently, harassing the injured/sick person is part of their plan and I'm sure lots of patients are frightened into paying for what their insurance covers.

>38 SirThomas: He's a fun author, and if you have Kindle, they have many of his titles.

54. This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer
Clay, Dylan, Sylvia and Luke, along with Luke's dog, spend a day trekking through the wild woods of Kentucky to reach a previously undiscovered rock. Clay and Sylvia are going to use this discovery in their dissertations, while Dylan, an up-and-coming rock climber who has just gotten an equipment sponsorship, is thrilled at the chance to put it on social media, name routes, and be the first to climb it. Luke is along because he's Dylan's boyfriend.
With a forest full of weird flora and a lack of the normal fauna expected in Kentucky, the group experiences strange phenomena. Luke's dog disappears, the GPS equipment doesn't work, and attempts to backtrack to the car fail. What little they have is being vandalized at night.

I'm keeping this review vague because I don't want to give too much away, but the author has done a very good job in building an isolated atmosphere, with the group having no choice but to rely on each other, even when they shouldn't. 4.5

>39 mstrust: Yes, unfortunately, that's what happens. I really feel for the elderly who don't have someone to see them through the healthcare mess. Hope your mom is coming along nicely!

When Mom was in the rehab center, the first letter like that arrived. The center's insurance go-between told me to just ignore it, that they are basically fishing.
Mom is healing slowly. She has to use a walker still, but my nephew has been staying with her for two months now and says he'll stay until she doesn't need him. Thanks for asking!

Autumn Lives Here is gossiping about R.L. Stine this week, and all the good things about maple sugar.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

55. Welcome To The Ghost Show by J.W. Ocker

The Creepy Club consists of three members: Zel, Theo and Lucien. They hunt ghosts in Leonardtown, a place that has had more than its share of tragedy due to a factory explosion that killed thousands. And the danger continues, as toxic chemicals from the factory burrowed into the very ground and frequently bubble up.
So it's a strange place for a five story haunted house attraction, especially one that doesn't charge an entrance fee. The Creepy Club knows that there's something sinister going on, especially because the weird owner of the attraction invites Zel to return and see a real ghost.

This is the newest by one of my favorite authors. Though it's listed for the 8-12 year old reader, when Ocker does kid's books, they're often far more creepy than other books for that age group, this one included. In this book, ghosts aren't like the ghosts everywhere else. They are made of flesh and blood and experience tremendous pain. They also bite. It's an unpredictable, creepy story. 4

>38 SirThomas: I've now spent several enjoyable hours with Fangboy and Benjamin's Parasite. Thank you very much for the tip.
Happy midweek!

I haven't read that one from Strand yet, and I'm glad to hear that it's a fun read.
Hope you're having a good week!

56. So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sara Nelson

I really don't like the cover of this book because, to me, it gives the impression that it's a sweet, gentle memoir of a reader who favors sweet, gentle books. It doesn't fit. While this is a memoir, it's about the books that have come into Nelson's life, and what was going on at the time that shaped how the books were received.
There was Facing the Wind, the true crime book written by Nelson's acquaintance that had her looking at her son's Little League baseball ball with anxiety. The French sex memoir that had her cringing, the novels that she unexpectedly fell in love with, and the ones she was told she'd love, but didn't. As a New Yorker living in an upscale neighborhood and working in the magazine/publishing industry, she has the opportunity to tell Calvin Trillin to his face that she's a fan of his forgotten first novel.
But there are darker elements to her reading, as she discusses her husband's sometimes explosive anger while exploring the history of Japanese-Americans and the internment camps, and helps her sister navigate the publication of her own novel.
Nelson was an editor and columnist, but it's a real shame that this 2002 release has been her only book. You'll be writing down titles and googling the people mentioned throughout. 4.2

>47 mstrust: That's a BB! I got it checked out already!

I hope you like it too!

57. The Answer Is No by Fredrik Backman
Lucas is happy without any human connections. He lives alone in his apartment playing video games and having pad thai delivered. His problems begin when the new neighbor's pad thai is delivered to Lucas, and then the woman downstairs come up to complain that after six months of stealing Lucas' wi-fi, he's changed the password.
He was annoyed enough with these interactions, but then someone in the building leaves a frying pan on the sidewalk outside, which leads to more people talking to Lucas, and the inevitable, a Facebook group that believes Lucas is an angel.

This is a Kindle single story that runs to about 75 pages (I can never remember the official difference between a short story and a novella) about the absurdity of modern life, addressing social media and loneliness. Recommended. 4

Here's a story about the mayoral election in Fallville. Completely death-free, unless you count the death of dignity.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>50 mstrust: I will add this to my list. glad it was a 4 star read. The last one I read by Backman was a bit underwhelming.

Happy weekend reading!

This is the only thing I've read from Backman, though I have A Man Called Ove on the shelf. This story was pretty funny in its commentary of modern life.

58. Death By Whoopee Cushion by Vicki Grant
Manya couldn't be more embarrassed by the fact that her parents own a joke shop. They like wearing costumes and creating their own 'artisanal' products, like fudge shaped like dog poo. Manya hates it all, as her passion is real science. She and her best friend, both eleven, are attending a science summer school, where their instructor teaches them lots of practical things about chemical reactions.
As goofy as her father is, even Manya can't believe how badly he's screwing up with their line of explosive gags, even to the point of making a new invention so powerful that it kills someone. She doesn't want to think that her parents might be killing people on purpose, but she's not sure.
This was an ER win. It's a mystery chock full of science stuff, a lot of it leaning into grossness, which appeals to many kids. By Chapter Two, the kids are examining a smashed pigeon. At 250 pages, it might be a little long, but it's a fun story once Manya stops being mortified by everything her parents do. 3.5

This week at Autumn Lives Here, meet your gourd, and get some iffy advice from ALH.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

59. Doorbells At Dusk, edited by Evans Light
An anthology of horror stories, most taking place on Halloween. In "Mr. Rusty Husk", a man who spent years making scarecrows gets his comeuppance. In "Keeping Up Appearances", a team of home invaders are invited into a house where the family is happy to see them. "Mr. Impossible" is an epic story of two guys who attend the blow-out Halloween party of their much more successful high school friend, a guy whose cavalier attitude is matched by his genius in chemistry.
The stories here swing from spooky and fun to amazingly grim, with fresh takes on the feel of Halloween. It's strange that the story from the best-known author, Josh Malerman, seemed pretty meandering, but I'll look for more from several of the authors. 4.5

At Autumn Lives Here we're going through the books of J.W. Ocker, and a list of my must-have Autumn buys.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

60. Heaven by Meiko Kawakami

Set in 1991, the two 14 year-old outcasts of their class form a slow and tentative friendship, each unsure if they will find acceptance as they're both accustomed to being mistreated.
Told from the viewpoint of the unnamed boy who has suffered abuse and humiliation for years at the hands of the most popular boy in class and his friends, he watches as the girls in class abuse his only friend, and in turn, she is forced to see him being bullied without being able to help.

It's hard to recommend this. The conversations between the two main characters are possibly the most boring dialogue I've ever read. As their friendship progresses, Kojima begins to discuss her home life and we see something more than superficial reasons for why she's different from the other kids. But the abuse these two suffer at the hands of their classmates is extreme and horrific, with the male classmates appearing to be a group of psychopaths. The lengths that the abused friends go to to shield their bullies and keep any adult from learning about what's happening, even after the boy arrives home soaked in blood with his face beaten to a pulp, made me question if this was meant to be realistic. 2.8

61. Practical Beginners Raised Bed and Container Gardening by Luke Ramsey
Useful info for gardening in contained spaces, along with charts for nutrients and pest control by plant type, zone charts for around the world, and how to build raised beds out of a variety of materials. 4

This week at Autumn Lives Here, I have Killer Reads, and "The Business of Being Spooky: The Fox Sisters".
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

62. The Halloween Moon by Joseph Fink
Esther loves everything about Halloween, but having just had her bat mitzvah, her parents tell her she's too old to trick or treat and that she needs to find more grown-up things to do on Halloween. But Esther is determined to never stop, so she presses her best friend into secretly trick or treating on Halloween, and they notice something really weird happening: there are no other trick or treaters and all the adults who should be handing out candy are passed out. That leaves Esther, Agustin, Esther's school bully, and Mr. Garbler, the dentist who hands out toothbrushes, to figure out why everyone is unconscious and why the moon hasn't moved all night.
This is a fun story of good vs. evil on Halloween, for ages 10 and up. It's written by one of the creators/writers of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast. 4

63. Purely Pumpkin by Allison Day
I'd been wanting to read this one for a while, and it turned out to have so many great recipes that I want to try. Smoky pumpkin sauce, pumpkin salad dressing, pumpkin polenta and pumpkin breakfast braids. You know it's right up my alley. 4.5

64. Outlaw Tales of Nevada by Charles L. Convis
True accounts of the worst and most notorious outlaws in Nevada's Old West period. The stories feature the teenage 'King of Spain', who was put on trial repeatedly for his robberies, but never convicted because juries where won over by his charming manner. Also, killer Sam Brown, who finally picked a fight with the wrong man. A good source for Old West history. 3.5

65. Drumming Up An Appetite with Vinnie Paul
Paul was the drummer for Pantera and other bands, cultivating a wide array of celebrity friends who put his recipes together and published after his death. Many of the recipes call for ingredients like Steak-Ums or bottled marinade, so it's all more what I would call "putting stuff together" more than actual cooking. 2

66. The Manga Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening by Hideki Yoda
Using a manga family to extol tips about the proper soil and care for individual vegetables, mostly the ones grown for the Japanese diet. Pages are filled with photos showing how procedures are done, how healthy roots and plants should look, and how to spot when something has gone wrong. 3

67. Haint by Samuel Brower

Set in meth-ravaged Appalachia, a mine collapse releases the haint, a vampiric creature who had been trapped by the holler's preacher a hundred years ago. Now the preacher's descendants, consisting of the sheriff and his drug dealing cousins, have to hunt the locals who were turned into monsters themselves.
A small town horror that turns on modern problems. My only issue is that it could do with some apostrophes, and in one scene, the character names are switched. I know that because one character was already dead. Still, a pretty good vampire story.4

68. 3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years by John Scalzi
In this Kindle exclusive short story, the employee of a company that provides time-traveling excursions discusses the types of clients who want to go back in time, usually very wealthy people who want to change history to suit their opinions. The varied reasons for why people want to visit certain historical events, and how the company does its best to ensure a good experience for the client are gone over, along with the results that the employee often sees upon the client's return. If they return.
This one will make you think about what you would do. 4

Autumn Lives Here has spooky book reviews, seasonal chocolates, and the true story of a French guy who went through hell.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>66 mstrust: Well, that one looks like one I need to read!

Perfect for the season! 🧛‍♂️

>67 mstrust: Yeah, I’ve had to set aside some otherwise potentially good books because of too many punctuation errors. There was a set of Indiana ghost folklore, self published I’d guess, and they were full of punctuation, spelling, and grammatical errors—to the point where I gave up reading them. And if you know me well enough, you know that local ghost legends are a big thing with me, so that may give a clue as to how bad it was. Self publishing tip: if you’re not going to shell out money for a real editor, at least have a significant other or friend proofread.

You're referencing >66 mstrust:. Because it's set in a Southern town, there are lots of dropped 'g's. I understand that the author may have thought readers would get sick of seeing all those apostrophes, but they are needed.
I can't decide if this book was self-published or not. If it was, the author did a good job overall. Being writer/editor/publisher is a lot of work, take it from me. I also think the cover artwork is pretty fabulous, ha!
I hope you're having a fun October. I remember that you and your family go all out. We're attending a Poe event tonight at one of our oldest hotels downtown.

>72 mstrust: Yes, my bad! Even I needed a proofreader, lol! I plead that since I still do most everything on a phone, it was me misreading which post was which.

This series was riddled with issues—usually multiple mistakes on every page. I don’t mind a few here and there, and sometimes I overlook it when it’s dialect, but this was present as non-fiction and I’m less lenient with non-fiction issues. (Maybe because I work in academia and expect a certain level of standard in such works.)

We’re setting up for the party next weekend—doing a drive-in movie theme. We have set up some selfie stations around the classic Universal monsters—the Creature will be in the shower, Dracula gets the graveyard, Wolfie is out in some trees—the “forest”. Frankie will be inside; we’ll use the mask on Mr. Body, our lifesize stuffed mannequin.

I hope you enjoyed your Poe event! Big fan of his work—Poe and Ray Bradbury are up there among my favorites. Now I feel like I need to listen to my audiobook of Price and Rathbone reading Poe works.

Wow, your Halloween sounds like it's going to be epic. That's great, and I hope it's fun!
The Poe-fest was a big disappointment. Nothing "fest" about it at all. After paying $30 a ticket and $30 to park, we arrived at a tiny side room of a hotel, with about sixty people shoulder to shoulder on dining room chairs. No Poe-related stuff or cocktails or vendors. Their website for this event was so amazing that the shabby reality was a big letdown.
There was no set design at all, just a chair on a tiny stage, and instead of a cast acting out the stories, one actor at a time recited them, both dressed exactly like the basement dwellers on Ghosts. They were good actors though.
I hate to say that we left 40 minutes in because there was no air conditioning in this room, no fans either, and they had shut the doors to keep out the outside noise. It was unbearably hot, being 80-85 degrees that day. So we felt pretty ripped off by the whole thing.
But we're leaving for Napa in a couple of days to spend Mike and my brother's birthdays together. Never been and we're looking forward to it.

>74 mstrust: That sounds creepy, but not in a good way.
Have a wonderful birthday family celebration!

Thanks, Thomas! Glad to see you round here.

At Autumn Lives Here, we're making my blue ribbon brownies and hands of glory. Creepy crafts! Plus, a few unhinged characters.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>77 mstrust: We used to have an old theater here in town that showed classic movies on the big screen. It was built in the late forties and had a 50' screen. I loved going there and saw many classics. On Tuesday nights it was $2. Often they would do double features and show a cartoon and previews, it was so much fun. I hated it when they closed.
Anyway, sorry to go on and on. My point was to say they showed that movie there and it scared the heck out of me. I've seen it on tv since then and it remains scary, but the big screen experience was really creepy and startling.

Sounds like a fun place, and good for something like The Haunting. I don't have a cheapie theater anymore either.

So. We're sitting here at Sky Harbor, with their broken air conditioning, because American Airlines delayed our flight by four hours. A morning flight. Four hours. So our ground transport is screwed up and the group we're meeting will go without us.

>79 mstrust: You can’t catch a break! Sorry that the Poe thing was a big disappointment. Enjoy Napa, though! And happy birthday to Mike and your brother!

Wednesday was rough. We ended up waiting six hours at the airport and we were going to go home when the customer service lady suddenly said, "We can get you on this other flight that boards sooner." Second time we'd talked to her, she hadn't offered this fix earlier.
Napa was fantastic! We stayed in a beautiful home called The Vine and Rose, surrounded by vineyards and a rose garden. Thanks for the birthday wishes, they both had a great time. We got back late yesterday afternoon.



Among the wines and chocolates, I brought home The Midnight Library from the Wild Plums bookshop in St. Helena and You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder from the Sacramento airport.

A new story for Halloween is up at Autumn Lives Here! Read "What Dies and What Thrives", I think it'll give you a little fright.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

69. Blood Will Out by Walter Kirn

Kirn, author of Up In the Air, tells the true story of his one-sided friendship with a man he knew as Clark Rockefeller, part of the famous and wealthy American industrial family. The author and Rockefeller got together often beginning in the late 90s, for about ten years, with Kirn, a struggling writer with a young family and a tumbledown ranch, always having to pay, always being shortchanged, always feeling like something was off about this wealthy man who seemed almost able to read the thoughts of the person he was with and knew when he needed to change tactics.
'Rockefeller' was an imposter, a German named Christian Gerhartsreiter who studied American language and culture to such a degree that he passed as an American, taking many names and grifting for decades. In between chapters of Kirn's own interactions with his friend are chapters of Kirn sitting in on Gerhartsreiter's trial for the murder of a man whose inheritance made him a target.

Fascinating, both for the study of a psycho, but because Kirn sometimes thought of the man as a friend, but once the chinks began to appear, the author had to ask himself why he had fallen for such a terrible actor. 5

70. The King of Late Night by Greg Gutfeld
Part memoir about his family and previous career as a magazine editor, this also delves into politics a bit, and a lot of what he does differently from other late night talk shows. 3

Autumn Lives Here has the true story of the Cloverbloom egg poisonings, and the worst (best) things to be set in your state.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>85 mstrust: I’d be more worried about Zombie Hoffa if it weren’t for all the cement. 😂

Now that is a very specific take on the subject 😁

Well, as a Hoosier watching a certain Saturday morning TV show in the early 90s, I can tell you that we may well be the center of weirdness for the entire planet.

You might be interested in the next book then...

71. The United States of Cryptids by J. W. Ocker
Cruising through the country to look at weird regional creatures and legends. You get the famous ones like Mothman, wendigos, the Beast of Bray Road, and lots and lots of Bigfoot, but you also get many cryptids you've never heard of unless you're from that one small town where something happened. Or just as likely, didn't happen. Ocker spills when it's obvious that a town just wanted to create some tourism.
It's a fun read. 4

That one looks like fun!

>81 mstrust: Sorry to hear about the delays at the airport. However, it sounds like you had a fantastic time!

Looks like a wonderful vineyard!

Thanks, figs! Once we got there, it was an amazing trip. My brother had a group of his friends, twelve of us, and he had plans. We visited several wineries, had a paella lesson at a cooking school, and had two nights of gourmet dinners with some well-known winemakers who paired their wines with the courses. We had a little time to shop downtown St. Helena, and we were taken to the vineyard of one winemaker (Marisoli), with the owner explaining the varieties and having us eat from the vines.
And the house was bordered on all sides by a working vineyard, with an extensive garden in the back. I should mention that Mike and I know nothing about wine. David was the only one in the group who did and he studies it, but everybody had a great time.

At Autumn Lives Here, I've got a new short story about the fact that not everyone is cut out for this whole love thing.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>1 mstrust: kind of the stuff of my nightmares, is this image!!! Yikes.

Re: Halloween, that you were discussing earlier, I missed it completely this year. We were under the weather, the kids (17 and 14- so not really that young) didn't catch on, and I got away with being bah humbug about the whole thing.

I know it's an AI image, but I think it's both beautiful and scary. Especially because I get seasick.
Awww, sorry you missed Halloween and that you were sick. We had a really busy night, so many more trick or treaters than usual. Probably because both the houses on the corners of our street went big on the decorations, and that drew the kids down the street.

72. Dating After The End of the World by Jeneva Rose
Casey has built a good life for herself in Chicago, where she's serving her residency and is engaged to a doctor. And then the world changes. One second she's making plans with her fiancée, the next, they're running from from attacking patients.
After six weeks of hiding in an apartment, Casey and Nate have learned to be quiet, but they're running out of food. And the most dangerous thing out there are the 'burners', the living people who were dangerous before the change and are on a free-for-all now that no one will stop them.
Left alone, Casey makes her way back to her prepper father's compound in Wisconsin. Her happiness at seeing her father is alive is dowsed by the fact that her high school bully, now a former Navy SEAL, is there and has befriended her father.

Were your favorite parts of The Walking Dead when Rick was fighting over Jessie, but you wished Rick was tackling her to the ground everyday like a five year-old? This has some good zombie action, but Casey and Blake are 30 year-old children. 3

>90 mstrust: Yep, will definitely keep my eyes open for that one. I know more about Indiana ghosts than the cryptid side of things, but I’m always looking to widen my folkloric knowledge.

I've been a fan of the author for many years, he's fun.

Whatever happened to The Shining twins, and the nicer side of true crime. Every once in a while, I go murder-free!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

73. Life Among The Savages by Shirley Jackson
I'd read Jackson's best known books, the spooky stuff like The Haunting of Hill House and The Lottery, so this memoir of her family life is truly a contrast but just as entertaining.
Receiving an eviction notice, Jackson, her husband, and their children and pets, find a rundown but previously grand house in Vermont, where Jackson has a third baby, learns to drive, takes her unruly children clothes shopping, and takes the reader through a night when the entire family is sick.
Her children had forceful personalities at a young age. When her son starts kindergarten, he comes home everyday with stories of what the worst boy in class did to create chaos. After several weeks of hearing about this little monster, Jackson goes to a PTA meeting and learns that her son is the one doing all of it.
Her howling four year-old daughter doesn't have an imaginary friend, she has an imaginary family, with seven daughters who don't brush their teeth. Jackson's stories are both hilarious, yet relatable in the amount of aggravation her family can cause.
These stories were gathered from articles she wrote beginning in 1948, the same year The Lottery caused such an uproar. 4

I'm also going to brag a bit. My story last week, (>94 mstrust:) "You'll Never Be Alone", was picked as top in speculative fiction by the folks at the 'Top In Fiction' Substack. It's a nice little win.

>101 mstrust: Congratulations on your story achievement! It is indeed a nice win.

Thanks! I was pleased 😊

>101 mstrust: I just read We Have Always Lived in the Castle. So good! A different kind of scary!

And CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations!!

>104 PaperbackPirate: That is a good one. Have you read The Haunting of Hill House? Truly frightening. And thank you very much!
>105 hredwards: Thank you!

I enjoyed both books - We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House.

>101 mstrust: Congratulations for your win, Jennifer!

Hey Jennifer, all caught up here. The scary things map was entertaining.
Adding my congrats to your win! That's quite an achievement.

>107 SirThomas: Both great novels! And thank you!
>108 Carmenere: Isn't it interesting to see what scares people according to region ;-D And thanks! It was just for that particular genre, but I'll take even the smallest win.

74. The Birds by Daphne du Maurier
A farmhand in a village along the English coast notices the sudden, huge flocks of birds that have gathered in the fields, trees, and even riding the sea, and he knows that all the different varieties don't usually flock together. His sense of unease leads him to board over the windows of his house and warn his neighbors, who laugh at him. Under a relentless attack by the birds, this man and his family grow increasingly certain that nobody is coming to help.
I'd wanted to read this story for years. It's pretty far removed from what Hitchcock would do with the story for his movie, really, just the title and basic premise of unexplained homicidal birds. In this story, the family's world keeps getting smaller as they retreat to their cottage and the birds find ways to get in. 4

>110 mstrust: ...and another BB.
All the best on your journey to 75, Jennifer!

Thank you! It's taken me all year but I'm almost there, ha!

Congrats! I do enjoy your short stories so it’s well-deserved!

I have a huge paperback of Jackson’s best and of course “Lottery”, “Hill House”, and “Castle” are in it. I haven’t actually read that copy but I have either read or listened to each individually. (I have actually recommended “Castle”, which we have in our library, to a few students.)

Thanks, and I appreciate that you come by my place!
I've read those books you listed, and I'm guessing that is one big book that contains them all. I don't understand why The Birds is so rarely included in her works.

We're winding down 2025 at Autumn Lives Here, and this week is the creepy gift guide, a pumpkin champ, and a rum-filled dessert for the holiday table.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>114 mstrust: As a fellow Halloweenie, how could I not?

As for my collection, let’s put it this way—I honestly have seen bricks that aren’t as thick. It’s a huge paperback—several hundred pages and slightly taller than a “standard” paperback (if there is a standard size anymore). I think part of my hesitation is I’m a bit concerned about how well the spine will hold out once I start reading. At least I don’t have too much money sunk in it; picked it up at a thrift shop for only a few dollars. I believe it has some other stories in it as well, but those 3 get top billing and are parsed out from the rest.

I know what you mean about the spine. I have literally cringed when I've inadvertently broken a book spine. Like I've caused pain 🫣

75. Ring by Koji Suzuki
The teenage niece of a reporter dies suddenly, and then three of her friends too. At the same time, a cab driver tells the reporter about a young man who dropped dead in front of him. These unexplained deaths send the reporter searching for what they had in common, and leads to him ticking off the days until his own death unless he can figure out how to stop the curse.

The investigators, Asakawa and his friend Ryuji, travel across Japan and its islands searching for clues to save their lives, but Ryuji is a deeply flawed hero, as he's a serial rapist who shows clear signs of psychopathy. The story of trying to beat the clock and figure out how to survive the curse is still enthralling though. I've put off watching the original movie until I finished the book. 4

Congratulations on reaching the magic goal, Jennifer!

Thanks! Took me long enough 😄

Congratulations on 75!

Thank you!

The last post of Autumn Lives Here is up, and it's about my strange reading habits as a child.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

Congrats!

Thanks!

76. A Good Month For Murder: The Inside Story of a Homicide Squad by Del Quentin Wilber

Wilber has reported for several big newspapers, and here, he shadows several homicide squads in the Washington D.C. area, one of the most violent areas in the country. He reports on the investigations into many local murders, some made more difficult by the fact that both suspects and victims were drug dealers, making it even harder to find witnesses who will talk in neighborhoods where residents already don't want to speak to the police. A couple of the murders, however, become high-profile because the victims had nothing at all to do with crime, such as an honor roll teen who was killed by home intruders, or an elderly woman who was killed for her tv.
Wilber shows detectives who are run ragged investigating too many crimes on too little sleep. He provides the reader with an inside look at how the detectives have to be in multiple places at once, working days at a time with little rest. It's a hard life. Halfway through, we've met yet another detective described as "stocky" or "having a generous stomach", or another having to work while they're sick. Wilber is present for long interviews with witnesses and murder suspects, showing how certain interview techniques work on one detainee but not another. It's a rare insight into the job. 4.5

Congrats on 75!

Hooray for 75!!

Thak you, Cassie and Nicole! I really took my time.

I'm in Mike's hospital room, as we had to go to the emergency room on Saturday. He had an endoscopic procedure yesterday for a liver stone and he's having his gallbladder removed today. Poor guy. We went to a doctor who specializes in gallbladder and gastrointestinal on Tuesday and he was pretty useless, didn't have any equipment for determining the problem, not even an ultrasound.

I hope he will get well soon and I wish you a peaceful Christmas season with your family and friends and a good start to 2026 with lots of good books.

Thank you, Thomas. He's slowly getting better.
I have bought myself a few books over the weeks leading up to Christmas, and I hope you receive some great reads too.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you!

I think I forgot to link to my 2026 home, so:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/376694#n9057540