Creeping Beauty

https://youtu.be/bT8FEOJEFcI?si=Cgy6QmXXJRk-iylO

Song Pairing: Shepherd of Fire

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Anathema by Nick Roberts

Bryan and Ellie Stockton hope they left behind their demons when they move to their idyllic new home in southern West Virginia. Above all, they want a fresh start for their young son, Derrick, who witnessed the tumultuous first years of their marriage – years that were rife with substance abuse, rage, and resentment. Their bright hope for the future is darkened when a child disappears from their neighborhood. The couple becomes suspicious of a reclusive resident with a degenerative brain disorder. Strange events begin to happen in their house just as Derrick tells them about a new friend who visits him at night. Their son may be acting out from the trauma he endured, or he could be the obsession of something much more sinister.

Can there be anything more horrifying than a creepy neighbor stalking a child?

Bryan and Ellie are struggling with their own past addictions, hoping to begin a new and better life for themselves and their son, Derrick, they move to a new neighborhood. A fresh start for them all.

When Derrick begins talking about a new friend he has made, his counselor and parents believe it is just an imaginary friend, a way to deal with his past trauma. But strange things begin to occur in their home, noises, missing objects, and Derrick telling his parents things he should not know.

Things only get worse from there and they find themselves in a fight for their lives.

This was one creepy story that had me on edge throughout. The twists were surprising and became more and more evil and often unexpected. The tension was always high and often had me pausing. There are graphic scenes that made me chilled to the bone and there is pure evil that dwells within this story. The ending was horrifying if not a bit sad but also gratifying as well.

I read this in a day and that says a lot!

Excellent!

5 stars

https://youtu.be/eQTtfMgz4Ow?si=po_2tcxFaZpcbe9d

Song Pairing: Danger

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Mastodon by Steve Stred

17 years ago, Tyler Barton was born in the Rocky Mountains, while his parents were on a hike.

On that day, his mother disappeared, never to be seen again.

Now, history repeats itself.

On the 17th anniversary of her disappearance, Tyler’s father is flying home when the plane he’s on disappears – in the same area where his mother was last seen.

Undeterred by officials, Tyler decides to hike into the area in search of his father, hoping to find him alive and bring him back to safety.

But there’s a reason that area is prohibited to enter and even though Tyler doesn’t care, he’ll soon find out that the wilderness can hide some of the deepest, darkest fears known to man.

From the author of ‘Incarnate,’ ‘The Window In the Ground’ and ‘Ritual’ comes a new novel that’ll make you rethink your Summer hiking trip.

If you enjoy hiking in the forests then you may want to rethink that after reading Mastodon, it may have you looking behind you or all around you wondering what the hell that noise was.

Even though it is forbidden territory, Tyler is searching for his father, but what he comes across was nothing he could have ever fathomed.

The creatures are unusually huge and have appendages that are not normal. They are violent and frightening. But what is even more frightening is the humans behind all these anomalies.

This is not only a survival story, but a story filled with the unexpected and grotesque. Things that occur that turns the stomach and burns the eyes.

The ending was not what I was expecting, and it had me yelling, no, no, no!

A second installment is coming in March 2026.

4 Stars

https://youtu.be/RbydodV3118?si=nqtRhweM81bJcBSX

Song Pairing: You've Created A Monster

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Becoming by Glenn Rolfe

Something ancient has wormed its way up from the earth.... A change has come today. After Michele Cote's best friend disappears, no one believes her story about the thing responsible for his abduction. Forced to figure out the mystery for herself, Michele encounters terror she has never known, and witnesses the impossible. When other members of the community begin to change or vanish, Sheriff Shane Davis must look beyond reason in order to stop the evil seeping into this small town. With help from an unlikely source, Sheriff Davis will come face-to-face with the truth. You can't destroy what you don't understand. For the small town of Avalon, Maine, the future is about change...for better or worse. Becoming is the next horrifying novel from author, Glenn Rolfe.

"In all my years lived never have I witnessed such evil. The devil in the waters . . . "

Creature feature, small town horror. The lady of the lake will arise from the depths of Jade Lake to claim all the souls of the town of Avalon, ME. She is ancient and demands reverence. She has chosen one to begin the changes so they all may become. The residents now have mesmerizing, glowing green eyes and serpentine appendages, and it seems there is no hope for survival.

Not only is there a looming dread as the story unfolds, but there is also an uncomfortableness beneath the surface. A dreadful relationship between father and son and a broken relationship between mother and daughter. There is also loss and grief as the characters meet their demise.

*There is a bonus novella included, "Boom Town".

3.5 Stars

https://youtu.be/L9J8cfreOIU?si=WWkXc4G52qF9551P

Song Pairing: Become the Prey

Friday, January 9, 2026

Devil's Creek by Todd Keisling

THERE’S A DARK TRUTH BURIED AMONG THE ROOTS AND BONES.

About fifteen miles west of Stauford, Kentucky lies Devil’s Creek. According to local legend, there used to be a church out there, home to the Lord’s Church of Holy Voices―a death cult where Jacob Masters preached the gospel of a nameless god.

In 1983, the church burned to the ground following a mass suicide. Among the survivors were Jacob’s six children and their grandparents, who banded together to defy their former minister. Dubbed the “Stauford Six,” these children grew up amid scrutiny and ridicule, but their infamy has faded over the last thirty years.

Now their ordeal is all but forgotten, and Jacob Masters is nothing more than a scary story told around campfires.

For Jack Tremly, one of the Six, memories of that fateful night have fueled a successful art career―and a lifetime of nightmares. When his grandmother Imogene dies, Jack returns to Stauford to settle her estate. What he finds waiting for him are secrets Imogene kept in his youth, secrets about his father and the church. Secrets that can no longer stay buried.

The roots of Jacob’s buried god run deep, and within the heart of Devil’s Creek, something is beginning to stir…

"Your will and the old ways are one."

Religious/Occult horror is one of my favorites, so going into this, I was expecting it to be dark and foreboding. But this was much darker than anything I have ever read, and I have read many dark books in my day. It is disturbing at its very core and more chilling than my mind could ever possibly conjure up in my imagination.

The story depicts how evil can be such a huge influence on someone with a disturbed mind and how people will follow the masses, looking for something to believe in. The mistakes made by overlooking the atrocities that are occurring and eventually realizing how evil the occurrences happening really are. The suffering lingers for a lifetime.

The evil that lies below is a cosmic evil entity that whispers, "Suffer for me", making promises of a life of deplorable freedoms to do as one pleases. Sexual desires, drugs, etc. This added an even more disturbing aspect to the story that gave me an unpleasant feeling deep within. Especially when it came to the children!

I appreciate a thick book with deep storytelling that keeps me engaged, waiting to see what the ending will be. The ending here was not disappointing hoping that good over evil will win.

5 Stars

Publisher

Bookbub Review