 Hello everyone, my name is Neku and I'm a five thousand year old vampire. You can read all about me and my family in the Ancient Blood Trilogy, which happens to be on sale for Halloween, 2024! Not long ago, I met Rain Carrington, author of the aforementioned trilogy. Along with telling her all about my most recent adventures, meeting, turning, and falling in love with my spouse and fellow vampire, Adam, we discussed books. Of course she loves books, being a writer. She has a special affinity for horror novels. She and I spoke for hours, listing off our favorites. She's also asked others, including her daughters and a few of her friends, who are horror book enthusiasts as well. Here is a list of our favorites and a very short synopsis of them. Give yourself a scary treat and read these over, this, the greatest of all holidays. I hope you enjoy this list, but if you don't, it won't bother me a bit. I've lived 5000 years without your approval and I'll be here long after your bones are dust! Salem's Lot by Stephen King Of course, I would begin with a story about vampires! I've seen your movies and read your books, and this is by far one of my favorites. A story that is timeless to me. I, being the good and magnanimous vampire I am, would never take over a whole town, but I can see the inclination by this fellow blood enthusiast. In a small town called Salem's Lot, a new man buys the local haunted house and his partner arrives some days later, in a box of dirt, of course. Then, the town begins to experience strange sicknesses and deaths, quite a lot of them, as a matter of fact. It's rife with heroes and villains, though, for me, those lines are very blurry. You might feel differently. Oh and by the way...these vampires don't glow like they've been bathed in glitter. Don't get me started on those! Cujo by Stephen King Another book by a man often called the greatest of all horror novelists, Stephen King. This story is about a mother and her son getting stranded in a broken down car, and being hunted by a rabid beast of a dog, a St. Bernard named, you guessed it, Cujo! Can you even imagine a dog of that size, out of it's mind, hunting you? Not as elegant as a vampire, but possibly more terrifying. Amityville Horror by Jay Anson Rain told me all about this one. Yes, it's lauded as a true story, and it very well may be. That is up to the reader to decide. A family moves into a home that had in the past hosted others that committed unspeakable crimes. In less than a month, 28 days, to be exact, they ran screaming from the house and never returned. Many have tried to contact the spirits there. Some have said they have, others did not. The question that comes to mind for me, a rational and possibly brilliant man, why did they never return, even for their belongings? Let's face it, belongings are everything to people in America. Symbols of status, like in my old village in Egypt. Their fear was palpable, and yet, so many are skeptical of their terror. The book, however true or not, is incredibly scary. Every noise you hear in your home after you read this will find you asking the question: are those noises simply the house settling, or demons emerging forth from hell? Ghost Light by Claire McNally A friend of Rain's named Lindsay Crook recommended this book. She, an author herself, came up with this title immediately. That tells me it left a lasting impression. It's now on my list to read. Here is the synopsis from the page at Amazon Ghost Light Tiny but talented, five-year-old Bonnie Jackson had all the stage world clamoring to shine a spotlight on her. But one fateful night at Winston Theater, Bonnie was left alone with evil, in a darkness broken only by the flames that would take her life. After sixty years, Bonnie is more than ready for her second act. And what she has planned is sure to cause a scene. Come opening night Bonnie will astound the audience with the talent she’s been perfecting all these years: vengeance. Clare McNally, bestselling author of Ghost House and Ghost House Revenge, stirs up even more terror in Ghost Light. Innocence has never been so deadly! PRAISE: “A macabre imagination and a tight rein on your nerves are required for McNally's latest release.” ~Publishers Weekly on Good Night, Sweet Angel “You won’t sleep after you read this one!” ~The West Orange Times on Somebody Come and Play “For those who can’t get enough of a good scare!” ~Library Journal on Hear the Children Calling Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman For this one, Rain looked to her youngest daughter, Sara. She is another aficionado of horror fiction like her mom. I haven't read this one yet either, but it's now on my list! From Goodreads: A chilling horror novel about a haunting told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy,” from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?” When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the same question, over and over . . . Bela understands that unless she says yes, soon her family must pay. Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe but other incidents show cracks in her parents' marriage. The safety Bela relies on is on the brink of unraveling. But Other Mommy needs an answer. Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror told by the child Bela. A story about a family as haunted as their home. The Deep by Nick Cutter Well, well, well, with a statement like that from THE Clive Barker, who could doubt this one's terror rating? Again, a recommendation from Lindsay Crook, this one is high on my list of future reads. From Amazon: From the acclaimed author of The Troop—a book that is “utterly terrifying” (Clive Barker). “Fans of unflinching bleakness and all-out horror will love this novel….Each new shock is freshly disturbing” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). A strange plague called the ‘Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys, then the not-so-small things, like how to drive or the letters of the alphabet. Their bodies forget how to function involuntarily. There is no cure. But far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, a universal healer hailed as “ambrosia” has been discovered. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine. Intensity by Dean Koontz This is one of Rain's favorites, and she insisted I read it. I won't lie, I couldn't put it down. You know those books that have a scenes that play out, hold your attention and will not let you close them until the pressure drops and you're able to breathe? Well, this book has none of those moments when the pressure drops. It's high tension through the entire thing. A girl, Chynna, is with her friend and her friend's family one weekend. As a guest, she tries hard not to impose herself, and that means making it look like she's not even there, in their home. It pays off by saving her life. The family and her friend, they're not so lucky. This begins a journey for Chynna that is heart pounding, unrelenting and shows the reader the true meaning of bravery. The killer in this is not a ghost, vampire, demon or Satan himself, but that somehow makes it worse. With my kind, you expect savagery, but with humans, you hope their humanity, empathy and love can come through to redeem them. For some humans, redemption isn't an option. This book is well written and terrifying. If You Tell by Gregg Olsen Rain's eldest is an avid reader too, and one of her favorite genres is true crime, again, like her mom. She recommended If You Tell before I could even get the entire question out of my mouth. She said it's frightening, and what's more, it's a true story. The synopsis from Amazon: After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now. For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined. Even as others were drawn into their mother’s dark and perverse web, the sisters found the strength and courage to escape an escalating nightmare that culminated in multiple murders. Harrowing and heartrending, If You Tell is a survivor’s story of absolute evil―and the freedom and justice that Nikki, Sami, and Tori risked their lives to fight for. Sisters forever, victims no more, they found a light in the darkness that made them the resilient women they are today―loving, loved, and moving on. The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones Finally, we have The Only Good Indians. This is a best seller for a reason. It's been reviewed by the best critics, and authors, as the best of the year for 2020, and won prizes that year.
I've heard about this one. My husband, Adam, read this, loved it, and it was also highly recommended by Rain's daughter, Angie. This is actually on the top of my list for next reads. Let it be on yours as well. From Amazon: From New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones comes a novel that is equal parts psychological horror and cutting social commentary on identity politics and the American Indian experience. Fans of Jordan Peele and Tommy Orange will love this story as it follows the lives of four American Indian men and their families, all haunted by a disturbing, deadly event that took place in their youth. Years later, they find themselves tracked by an entity bent on revenge, totally helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.
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