August ScaredyKIT: Female authors

_{Orestes Pursued by the Furies - Carl Rahl}

From foundational gothics, such as The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, to the works of the grande dame of horror Shirley Jackson, to transgressive and extreme horror by newer authors such as CJ Leede, Eliza Clark, and Kathe Koja, our focus this month is on horror and thrillers by women authors.

It surprised me that I couldn’t find an award for women horror authors that is still active, as there are for science fiction, mysteries, and other genres. But here’s a list for some ideas:

https://www.librarything.com/list/10381/all/Recommended-Horror-and-Dark-Fiction-...

There are plenty of other horror and thriller lists and awards, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find one written by woman, but let us know if you need some more suggestions!

Please share what you’re reading, and don’t forget to update the ScaredyKIT wiki!

I have so many options for this one on my TBR, I'm going to hold off on making a final decision until my book club chooses its August reads. Barring something there fitting, though, the ones tempting me most at the moment are Starving Saints by The Caitlin Starling, Small Town Monsters by Diana Rodriguez Wallach, and Riding the Nightmare by Lisa Tuttle.

Sweet! I have a lot of options on the shelf.
>1 Charon07: That cover for Manhunt couldn't be more over-the-top, ha!

>3 mstrust: It could qualify for the July CoverCAT: plums on the cover! Those are plums, right? ;-)

Leaning toward something by Jennifer McMahon, but I will take a closer look at my tbr before deciding for sure.

>4 Charon07: Sure, sure they are...

I will be rereading Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews

I have loved everything I have read by Simone St. James so I am going o e reading The Broken Girls in August.

I am likely to read something by Darcy Coates. I have a few, but I'll probably go with Gallows Hill.

I'll probably read something by Shari Lapeña or Ruth Ware - possibly Everyone Here Is Lying by Lapeña since I have it on kindle and I'll be away for some time in August.

I’m planning to read Girls Against God by Jenny Hval, since it will also count for the CoverCAT and the ColorCAT. But I’m not entirely sure that it is really in the horror genre, as I define it, so I’ve got a few backups: The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher, Night Side of the River: Ghost Stories by ‪Jeanette Winterson, ‬The Between by ‪Tananarive Due, or‬ Wylding Hall by ‪Elizabeth Hand.‬

I'm currently reading two books from female horror authors, The Devil and Mrs. Davenport and This Wretched Valley.

I read Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena. It was truly addictive and my favourite one of hers from the three I've read so far.

I finished the Devil and Mrs. Davenport and highly recommend this Southern Gothic set in the 50s.

I read The Lost Treasure Hunters and Other Tales of Folk Terrors by Antonija Meznaric. This was a small collection of short stories that take inspiration from Croatian folk tales.

Nona the Ninth

This book (and others in the series) has been tagged with "horror" and "weird/unsettling" so for now I am counting it for this CAT! Although I would describe it as thrilling, I don't think this book had as many horror elements as the last in the series did.

I am now caught up with this crazy series of necromancer lesbians in space and I can't wait for the next book to come out! I can't recommend this series enough to anyone who thinks they may be even vaguely interested, with the caveat that the POV-character changes with each book, and each of these characters is an unreliable narrator (albeit for different reasons) so there is a lot that (by design) the audience doesn't fully understand on the first read-through, which is an experience that I know is not for everyone.

I abandoned Girls Against God. I’m planning to read one of my alternates, The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher, instead.

Flowers In The Attic by VC Andrews ★★★★

At the top of the stairs, there are four secrets hidden—blond, innocent, and fighting for their lives. They were a perfect and beautiful family—until a heartbreaking tragedy shattered their happiness. Now, for the sake of an inheritance that will ensure their future, the children must be hidden away out of sight, as if they never existed. They are kept in the attic of their grandmother’s labyrinthine mansion, isolated and alone. As the visits from their seemingly unconcerned mother slowly dwindle, the four children grow ever closer and depend upon one another to survive both this cramped world and their cruel grandmother. A suspenseful and thrilling tale of family, greed, murder, and forbidden love, Flowers in the Attic is the unputdownable first novel of the epic Dollanganger family saga.

I remember reading this as a teenager and being horrified yet fascinated that these kids' lives were worse than mine. It made my home life a little more bearable. I was also eating powdered donuts when I read a certain scene, and never had another one for 40 years. Rereading this as an adult, I found the book more sad and was astonished by the women who treated children this way.

I completed my read of Broken Girls by Simone St. James.

I finished The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. It was a little silly but also creepy—a fun mix!

I read This Wretched Valley, about a group that treks into the wilds of Kentucky to reach and map a rock. Turns out that there's a very good reason why the locals warn them not to go there.

I hope everyone enjoyed this month’s ScaredyKIT. The September thread is up here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/373161

If you’re late finishing your August selection, never fear! You can still let us know what you read (and update the wiki)!

Thanks for hosting!

>22 Charon07: I'll eventually get to mine! (Hopefully in the next week or two.) So many to catch up on this spring/summer with my surgeries putting me behind!

Finally finished my August read. It was Diavola by Jennifer Thorne. Unfortunately, I did not give it a good review.