Chilling Tales Emporium

I loved this one. Was it perfect? No. But the little bits that I felt weren't quite right weren't enough to drop the rating for me. The twists were good and even though I predicted a little, there was one twist I didn't see coming until it happened. Creepy and atmospheric, I highly recommend.

William by Mason Coile
5 Stars
Format: Audio

An agoraphobic inventor creates an AI robot he calls William and his pregnant wife invites her friends over on Halloween. What could possibly go wrong?

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A weird and exciting horror that explores fear. We follow Jessa, an aspiring actress, and a boy she finds in the bushes outside her apartment who is running from his father. What follows is a story with twists and turns and some weird goings on. The ending I wasn't taken with but others love it

When The Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy
4.5 Stars

there aren’t many things better than seeing the relationship dynamics change through the covers 😌🖤

There's actually a lot to this book, a lot of characters that are relevant to the storytelling but you meet them along the way as they unravel the mystery of Crimson House.

This is one to read if you don't want to be super scared but just get a few chills.

The fact they both have flaws and insecurities made them more relatable than just two pretty, gay teenage boys. The whole friendship group was written with various queer identities in it and the relationship with the two boys families was imperfect and I feel that's how it would be in real life.

Cameron lives across from an infamous haunted house and Hugo is the cute boy who just moved into it. Cameron and Hugo are fun characters, some may find them a little too sweet but they’re teenagers and first love is generally all in so it made sense.

The amount of creepy and spooky works well for YA I think, if it was an adult read I'd want more but there was enough to give me the odd little chill and want to keep reading. The plot twists worked pretty well for me, the fact that I could sort of guess one or two but not all of them made this fun.

The Haunting Between Us by @pmwintersauthor.bsky.social

5⭐️

This book starts off reasonably strong and kept me hooked throughout. I love a good creepy ghost story and I also like a queer story, this had both and I'm so glad I read it.

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I loved it. I'm slightly sad I'll have to wait a bit longer for more in the series but I'd recommend this to anyone who likes a little paranormal mixed in with their murder mystery.

As everything starts unfolding you start to suspect people and then cross them off the list before deciding maybe you were right the first time.

I was sucked into this book and I didn't want to put it down. The characters were great, I liked the overly suspicious Tobey, the slightly full of herself Margaux and the very mysterious Caldwell.

What Happened on Roslyn Street? By @ellelavendelle

5 ⭐️

I had very few expectations going in to this book. At first I wasn't quite sure what was happening, all I knew was a character had died and her two best friends weren't really on speaking terms.

Then it really started.

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There's so much I could say about this but I don't want to actually spoil anything so please read it and I'm so excited to check out book 2 which is coming out this summer Sharpen Your Claws

Following William from a naive boy to a war hardened medic was great. There's no shying away from the fact that his experiences have changed him and that maybe the dreams of his youth no longer match the man he has become.

The different monsters were fun and I enjoyed the well thought out magic system where a person may have power but they're not a bottomless well along with, when is power too tempting to unleash?

I love that we have POV from both characters along with Charmaine (another very important character) and that even as things start ramping up, the dynamics take time to change.

Nicholas and William are so good, enemies to lovers and forbidden romance in the best way and I want more books with those tropes to have this kind of intensity.

Bare your Teeth by @twoony.bsky.social

This book was something else. I saw the cover and read the blurb but it didn't prepare for how much I was going to love it.

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At the end of last year I read A Crimson Covenant by the lovely @aimeedonnellan.bsky.social and I highly recommend it 👌

It's got vampires and werewolves, a sapphic love story, mental health rep, magic and plenty of action.

Perfect for an escape or just because you love a good book 💙