Staff Picks
Horror, She Wrote: Horror Fiction by Women
- Sarah C.
- Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Collection
In the mood for something spooky? Check out these chilling reads!
The Shining Girls
Published in 2013
"A time-traveling serial killer is impossible to trace-- until one of his victims survives. In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential. He stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back. Working with an ex-homicide reporter who is falling for her, Kirby has to unravel an impossible mystery"--Publisher's web site.
Broken Monsters
Published in 2014
Detective Gabriella Versado investigates after disturbing displays that fuse the bodies of murder victims with those of animals are uncovered in abandoned Detroit buildings.
Experimental Film
Published in 2015
This is a contemporary ghost story in which former Canadian film history teacher Lois Cairns - jobless and depressed in the wake of her son's autism diagnosis - accidentally discovers the existence of lost early 20th century Ontario filmmaker Mrs. A. Macalla Whitcomb. By deciding to investigate how Mrs. Whitcomb's obsessions might have led to her mysterious disappearance, Lois unwittingly invites the forces which literally haunt Mrs. Whitcomb's films into her life, eventually putting her son, her husband and herself in danger.
The Woman in Black
Published in 2011
Arthur Kipps, a young solicitor, travels to the north of England to settle the estate of Alice Drablow, but unexpectedly encounters a series of sinster events.
The Hunger
Published in 2018
"A retelling of the fate of the Donner Party, with a Walking Dead style twist"-- Provided by publisher.
The Graveyard Apartment
A Novel
Published in 2016
"One of the most popular writers working in Japan today, Mariko Koike is a recognized master of detective fiction and horror writing. Known in particular for her hybrid works that blend these styles with elements of romance, The Graveyard Apartment is arguably Koike's masterpiece. Originally published in Japan in 1986, Koike's novel is the suspenseful tale of a young family that believes it has found the perfect home to grow into, only to realize that the apartment's idyllic setting harbors the specter of evil and that longer they stay, the more trapped they become. This tale of a young married couple who harbor a dark secret is packed with dread and terror, as they and their daughter move into a brand new apartment building built next to a graveyard. As strange and terrifying occurrences begin to pile up, people in the building start to move out one by one, until the young family is left alone with someone ... or something ... lurking in the basement. The psychological horror builds moment after moment, scene after scene, culminating with a conclusion that will make you think twice before ever going into a basement again"-- Provided by publisher.
The Orange Eats Creeps
A Novel
Published in 2010
A band of hobo vampire junkies roam the Pacific Northwest of the 1990s as a girl with drug-induced ESP searches for her missing foster sister.
The Hidden People
Published in 2016
Refusing to believe the rumors surrounding his beautiful and talented cousin's murder, nineteenth-century Englishman Albie Mirralls goes to his late cousin's village and confronts profound superstitions about the "fair folk" and their belief that his cousin was a changeling.
Her Body and Other Parties
Stories
Published in 2017
Contains short stories about the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.
The Silent Companions
A Novel
Published in 2018
"When newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge, what greets her is far from the life of wealth and privilege she was expecting. When Elsie married handsome young heir Rupert Bainbridge, she believed she was destined for a life of luxury. But with her husband dead just weeks after their marriage, her new servants resentful, and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie has only her husband's awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. Inside her new home lies a locked door, beyond which is a painted wooden figure--a silent companion--that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself. The residents of The Bridge are terrified of the figure, but Elsie tries to shrug this off as simple superstition--that is, until she notices the figure's eyes following her. A Victorian ghost story that evokes a most unsettling kind of fear, this is a tale that creeps its way through the consciousness in ways you least expect--much like the silent companions themselves"-- Provided by publisher.
We Eat Our Own
A Novel
Published in 2016
"An ambitious debut novel by an original young writer, We Eat Our Own blurs the lines between life and art with the story of a film director's unthinkable experiment in the Amazon. When a nameless, struggling actor in 1970s New York gets the call that an enigmatic director wants him for an art film set in the Amazon, he doesn't hesitate: he flies to South America, no questions asked. He quickly realizes he's made a mistake. He's replacing another actor who quit after seeing the script -- a script the director now claims doesn't exist. The movie is over budget. The production team seems headed for a breakdown. The air is so wet that the celluloid film disintegrates. But what the actor doesn't realize is that the greatest threat might be the town itself, and the mysterious shadow economy that powers this remote jungle outpost. Entrepreneurial Americans, international drug traffickers, and M-19 guerillas are all fighting for South America's future--and the groups aren't as distinct as you might think. The actor thought this would be a role that would change his life. Now he's worried if he'll survive it. Inspired by a true story from the annals of 1970s Italian horror film, and told in dazzlingly precise prose, We Eat Our Own is a resounding literary debut, a thrilling journey behind the scenes of a shocking film and a thoughtful commentary on violence and its repercussions"-- Provided by publisher.
Security
A Novel
Published in 2016
The inventiveness of A Visit from the Goon Squad meets the down-the-rabbit-hole suspense of The Girl on the Train in this chilling, pulse-racing thriller from an electrifying new writer. When the gleaming new Manderly Resort opens in twenty-four hours, Santa Barbara s exclusive cliff-top hotel will offer its patrons the ultimate in luxury and high-tech security. No indulgence has been ignored, no detail overlooked. But all the money in the world can't guarantee safety. As hotel manager Tessa and her employees ready the hotel for its grand opening, killers are in their midst. One by one, staff are picked off with ruthless precision. And before the night is over, as Tessa desperately struggles to survive, it will become clear that the strangest and most terrible truth at Manderly is simply this: someone is watching. With stunning ingenuity, Gina Wohlsdorf puts readers front and center as the elite resort becomes a house of horrors. Riveting to the final sentence, Security is fierce, wry, and impossible to put down. With a deep bow to the literary tradition of Stephen King, Edgar Allen Poe, and Daphne du Maurier, Wohlsdorf s razor-wire prose blitzes readers with quick twists, sharp turns, and gasp-inducing horror. Security is at once a shocking thriller, a brilliant narrative puzzle, and a moving, multifaceted love story unlike any other.