Other Notable Women Horror Authors

Today is the last day of Women in Horror Recognition Month. I'm sorry I didn't get around to reviewing as many horror books by women authors as I planned. But I did read eight books this month, which is a record for me. I think I read 12 books in total last year - I'm addicted to T.V. and the internet. Here's a list of women horror authors that I didn't get around to reading. For lists of more women horror authors, check out my reviews of Women of Darkness and Women of Darkness II and the 2009 Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot.

Anne Rice - I secretly hate vampires, which is why I didn't read any Anne Rice books this month. I read half of Interview With the Vampire for my Living With the Undead elective in college, but I just couldn't finish it. I was thinking of trying her witch series. Has anyone read those books? If so, what did you think?

Mary Shelley - The author of Frankenstein, which I haven't read yet (horrible, I know), but I found a website where you can download the e-book for free.

Shirley Jackson - Author of horror staple The Haunting of Hill House, which I recently checked out from the library and will hopefully have a review of soon. Interestingly, the copy I got was re-named The Haunting after the horrid movie based on the novel and uses the film's poster as the book cover. Because a classic like The Haunting of Hill House really needs help from a crappy movie to sell copies....

Tabitha King - The wife of Stephen King is also a horror author. I have her books The Trap
and Small World and planned on reviewing them this month, but never got around to it. I'll try to review them soon.

Sarah Langan - I reviewed Audrey's Door, which I though was great, not too long ago and am currently reading The Keeper, which is crazy creepy so far.

Alexandra Sokoloff - I had actually never heard of Sokoloff until I read this interview, but all her novels sound intriguing. She is the author of The Harrowing, The Price and The Unseen.

Tamara Thorne - Author of novels Thunder Road, Haunted, The Forgotten, Eternity, Moonfall, Bad Things, The Sorority: Eve, The Sorority: Merilynn, The Sorority: Samantha and Candle Bay.

Mary Sangiovanni - Author of novels The Hollower and Found You.

V.C. Andrews - I guess only her books up to Dark Angel qualify as novels for Women in Horror Month since Andrew Neiderman became her ghostwriter after she passed away. I don't really consider V.C. Andrews to be horror, which is why I didn't review any of her novels this month. Her novels are often described as "gothic horror", but I think her novels are more Jacqueline Susann-ish, having lots of soap opera drama, except darker and with more incest. Her novels do have some gothic horror qualities, but I think the soap opera drama and romance elements outweigh them.

Laurell K. Hamilton - I've never actually read any paranormal romance novels before, but it has become such a popular genre that I thought I should include an author from it. I like romance and horror separately, but I'm not sure if I would like them together. Does anyone have any paranormal romance recommendations?

R.L. STINE BOOK OF THE WEEK: Goosebumps: Monster Blood II

He's one hungry hamster!

From the back cover:

IT'S BAAACK....

Evan Ross can't stop thinking about Monster Blood and what happened last summer. It was so horrible. So terrifying. Too bad Evan's science teacher doesn't believe him. Now he's stuck cleaning out the hamster's cage for making up stories.

Then Evan's friend Andy comes to town, and things go from bad to worse. Because Andy's got a present for Evan. It's green and slimy and it's starting to grow....

My thoughts:

I was not looking forward to reading this Goosebumps book at all after reading the first Monster Blood last week and hating it. Well, I was right to be apprehensive because the sequel is worse than the first book.

The plot is almost identical to the first book, but a hamster grows bigger instead of a dog. And Evan moved at the end of the first book, so R.L. made Andy move in with her Aunt while her parents live overseas for a year. Once again nothing happens until the last few chapters. Actually, more stuff happens in the first book. At least the Monster Blood kept growing bigger and turned into a blob at the end. In Monster Blood II, Evan and Andy bury it and nothing really happens until they feed some to Cuddles (the hamster).

Usually I don't give major spoilers in my reviews but maybe telling everyone the ending will deter you from ever reading this garbage. All of a sudden the hamster and Evan return to their normal size. Why? It turns out there is an expiry date on the can of Monster Blood, which is the current date. Bravo, R.L., what a clever way to get Evan and Cuddles out of this jam. I threw the book on the GROUND. I'M AN ADULT! I shouldn't be reading this crap, man. Well, not really, there was still another chapter left, so I finished it, found out that Andy's parents sent her more Monster Blood, Cuddles ate some more, and then I threw it on the ground.

Oh and R.L. milked this plot for two more books, which you will never read reviews for on this blog. I think I have already suffered enough.

Rating: 1/5

PG Gore: "The hamster lowered its hot, furry body over him. Evan could feel the creature's booming heartbeat as it pressed him to the floor.

Then its teeth rose up over Evan's head.

The hamster's mouth opened wide.

The teeth swung down.

A wave of hot, sour hamster breath blew down over Evan.

He shut his eyes.

"Sorry," he murmured to Andy.

He held his breath and waited for the teeth to clamp down."

Published in: 1994

Evident by references to: Michael Jordan

Next week: Fear Street: Bad Moonlight

R.L. STINE BOOK OF THE WEEK: Goosebumps: Monster Blood

It's a monster blood drive!

From the back cover:

BLOOD, BLOOD, EVERYWHERE...

While staying with his weird great-aunt Kathryn, Evan visits a funky old toy store and buys a dusty can of monster blood. It's fun to play with at first. And Evan's dog, Trigger, likes it so much, he eats some!

But then Evan notices something weird about the green, slimy stuff - it seems to be growing.

And growing.

And growing.

And all that growing has given the monster blood a monstrous appetite.

My thoughts:

I struggled to get through this one, which was a surprise since I really enjoyed the last two Goosebumps books I've read.

Nothing really happens. Evan buys monster blood and it keeps growing. That's pretty much it until the last few chapters. Oh, and his dog gets bigger. Not really exciting...pretty much just like Honey I Blew Up the Kid, only the dog doesn't grow as large as the kid. And the shocking twist wasn't very shocking and didn't make much sense.

Even though it was dull for the most part, the last few chapters were exciting when the monster blood became like the blob and devoured everything in its path. So I guess it deserves a 2 instead of a 1.

Rating: 2/5

PG gore: "Plop. Plop. Plop.

A robin pulling at a worm in the grass, didn't look up in time. The trembling green mass rolled over it.

"Oh!" Evan moaned, turning back to see the bird sucked into the green ball. Its wings flapping frantically, the bird uttered a final cry, then disappeared inside."

Published in: 1992

Evident by references to: Nintendo, a VCR

Next week: Monster Blood II *sigh* not looking forward to this one...

BOOK NEWS: Fresh Blood Writing Contest Top Five

The judges of the Fresh Blood Writing Contest have narrowed the nine novels down to five finalists:

A Fine Likeness by Sean McLachlan
Breed by Sean Logan
Disunity by Aaron Dries
Heart of the City by Lisa A. Koosis
The Sorrows by Jonathan Janz

Visit the ChiZine website to read the short introductions the authors have written about themselves and why you should vote for them.

The Fan Favourite winner is Disunity by Aaron Dries.

Don't forget to check out ChiZine on March 15, when readers get to vote for the best cover copy and Jeff Strand will be the guest judge.

BOOK REVIEW: Family Inheritance by Deborah LeBlanc

About the Author

Deborah LeBlanc is the author of Family Inheritance, Grave Intent, A House Divided, Morbid Curiosity and Water Witch. She is currently the president of the Horror Writers Association. She often involves her Cajun background in her plots and her south-central Louisiana home as a setting in her novels.

Review

Jessica LaJeune returns to her hometown when her brother, Todd, is admitted to a mental institution. She has the ability to heal people by touching their forehead and is hoping to heal Todd. But he is infected by Maikana, a powerful demon who inhabits people and drives them mad. Meanwhile a rausant (a Cajun healer) who lives deep in the swamp, dreams of Jessica and is desperate to find her. Will their healing power together be strong enough to destroy Maikana?

The plot of Family Inheritance is one of the most unique I've read - not just within the horror genre, but all genres. I haven't read many stories about Cajun mythology but I've enjoyed the ones I read. Maikana is a terrifying monster. Being fine one minute and then insane the next is a scary thought. Especially if the voice you're hearing is that of Maikana forcing you to do horrible things.

The pace is slow at the beginning, but gradually builds suspense. The book goes out with a bang, having all the gore and deaths in one frightening scene.

The characters are realistic and well-developed, especially the main character, Jessica, who I really cared for. Whenever I read about Todd I cringed, thinking about what it would be like to go crazy and felt sorry for him and Jessica.

Family Inheritance is a great departure from the usual gory monster books I read, instead involving a unique demon and a chilling atmosphere in place of gore. Highly recommended for horror readers who are sick of reading the same monster stories.

Rating: 4/5

BOOK REVIEW: Borrowed Flesh by Sephera Giron

About the Author

Sephera Giron is the author of Eternal Sunset, House of Pain, The Birds and the Bees, Borrowed Flesh, Mistress of the Dark and Hungarian Rhapsody. She lives in Toronto and is the Horror Writers Association Ontario rep. In addition to being a published author Giron is an actress and has appeared in a community theatre version of Evita, and is also a tarot card reader.

Review

The back cover blurb of Borrowed Flesh is misleading and had me pretty disappointed. Basically, it says the book is about a witch who kills virgins and bathes in their blood in order to gain eternal youth. This only happens twice (providing the only gore and horror) and is not the focal point of the novel. Here's what the back cover blurb should say:

Vanessa is a witch with eternal life who makes a living reading tarot cards. When several of the town's women residents come to her for help with their straying husbands, she has a feeling there is something else keeping the men away. When she tries to solve the mystery she realizes she's not the only witch in town.

Borrowed Flesh should have been marketed as a paranormal romance because the novel focuses Vanessa's budding relationship with David. The parts where she bathes in virgin blood could have been easily cut out because it's not essential to the plot and are the only parts that could be considered horror.

The characters aren't very deep and I didn't find myself caring about what happens to them. Vanessa is portrayed as a "good" witch, yet she kills innocent virgins to obtain something as frivolous as looking young, which made me dislike her. She's the heroine of the novel and Giron tries to make her seem caring, but I couldn't get over the fact that she murders young women and bathes in their blood just to look pretty. Also, some characters are mentioned over and over without explaining them. Sophie constantly appears in Vanessa's dreams but there's no explanation of who she is or why she is significant to Vanessa's life. And Vanessa's ex Demian is described a bit, but there's no clarification of why he and Vanessa broke up or what their relationship was like, Giron just says how Vanessa will always love him over and over.

Although I didn't care for the characters, the novel held my interest until the end because of Giron's direct writing style and my curiosity of why the husbands went missing. Which brings me to the part of the novel which I hated the most: the anticlimactic ending. I got to the end just to find a measly five pages dedicated to the fight between our heroine, Vanessa, and the "bad" witch. And the reason behind her holding the men hostage was so ridiculous that it made me upset I wasted my time on the rest of the book just to reach this crazy conclusion.

I like Giron's writing style and will read more of her work, but I would recommend skipping this one.

Rating: 2/5

R.L. STINE BOOK OF THE WEEK: Fear Street: Broken Hearts

Valentine's Day can be a killer.

From the back cover:

Roses are red, corpses are blue
On Valentine's Day, you'll die too!

There's someone out there, someone who kills on Valentine's Day. Josie and Melissa are scared - especially when they receive threatening valentines. Then the murders begin. Who is sending these horrible valentines to the girls of Shadyside High? And who will be the next to die?

My thoughts:

Happy Valentine's Day a.k.a stupid Hallmark holiday made up to make people spend money everyone! For Valentine's Day I read R.L. Stine's valentine-themed Fear Street book, Broken Hearts. This was one of my favourites when I was younger, but while re-reading it I was disappointed.

I was expecting Broken Hearts to be like the films Valentine or My Bloody Valentine minus the gore, but it's not because this is another Fear Street book where nothing happens. No maggot-filled chocolates, or a human heart (or even animal heart) make an appearance. All we get are lame rhyming valentines, for example:

Roses are black
Violets are gray
On Valentine’s Day
You’ll start to decay

While the Valentine's rhymes fail to scare, what happens to Rachel in the first chapter is frightening. Rachel refuses to wear a helmet while horseback riding, and ends up being bucked off her horse, falling on her head. She becomes brain damaged, having to forever act like a child. When I read this book ages ago, it made me paranoid of not wearing a helmet when I should, for fear I would hit my head and become brain damaged - which is worse than being dead.

So most of the book revolves around boring arguments between Rachel's sisters Josie and Erica about who is going to watch her, since she has to be supervised all the time.

But I liked the characters in Broken Hearts with the exception of that skanky bitch Josie. Which just made it more satisfying when she got her comeuppance. I couldn't dislike Melissa, since she has the same name as me. But she dated someone named Luke, which is my brother's name and I found that to be pretty creepy....

The supposed motive of killing someone for blabbing about cheating off her test is ridiculous. I'll teach her not to tattle when someone cheats off her test! If you're smarter than me and sit beside me, that gives me the right to look off your paper! I almost wish he had been the killer, because that would be hilarious. But the identity of the killer was surprising.

I'll give Broken Hearts a 3 because the characters were likable for a change and I was surprised by who the killer was.

Rating: 3/5

PG-13 Gore/Dead Animal of the Week: "The little terrier was on its back, its head twisted to the side, eyes wide in a blank, unseeing stare.
Josie felt sick. She started to turn away, but something caught her eye.
What was that shiny thing in Muggy's stomach?
Pressing both hands over her mouth, she squinted at it. It took her awhile to realize it was a letter opener. A silver letter opener. The letter opener from the desk in the den."

Body Count: 2

Next week: Goosebumps: Monster Blood

BOOK REVIEW: The Cipher by Kathe Koja

About the Author

Kathe Koja is the author of the horror novels The Cipher, Bad Brains, Skin, Strange Angels, Kink and the collection Extremities. The Cipher won the 1991 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel, a tie with Melanie Tem's Prodigal. Unfortunately, she now mainly writes young adult fiction and her website doesn't even mention her adult novels anywhere.

Review

Nicholas and his lover, Nakota, discover a black-hole-like thing, which they name "The Funhole," in his apartment building's storage closet. They are so fascinated by it that they perform experiments to see what the Funhole will do. First they put a jar of insects next to it, then they dangle a mouse over it and they eventually lower a video camera down. The video makes Nakota obsessive and she almost dives into the Funhole, being saved by Nicholas who inadvertently plunges his hand into the hole.

The plot is bizarre. Basically, it's 356 pages about a hole. But even stranger is how compelling it is despite the simple plot. I didn't expect it to hold my interest, but its fast pace had me flipping the pages. It gradually builds tension, beginning with a bit of an interest in the hole, eventually turning into a full-blown obsession. Koja has a way with words, writing poetic prose that makes you think.

Nicholas is a very likable narrator and I felt afraid for him. I identified with him and his messed up relationship with Nakota. But I hated Nakota. She was selfish, rude, crazy and basically just a bitch. I couldn't understand why Nicholas wanted to be with her.

The ending was inevitable, but it didn't explain what happened to Nicholas. I can guess, but I would rather have had Koja describe it because her words are better than my imagination. And there was never an explanation for what the Funhole really was, why it was there, etc.

The Cipher is a very unique horror novel, perfect for those of you who are sick and tired of reading the same monster plots over and over.

Rating: 4/5

BOOK REVIEW: Wilding by Melanie Tem

About the Author

Melanie Tem is the author of Prodigal, Blood Moon, Wilding, Making Love (with Nancy Holder), Revenant, Desmodus, Witch-Light (with Nancy Holder), The Tides, Black River, Daughters (with husband, Steve Rasnic Tem), Slain in the Spirit and The Deceiver; and the collections Daddy's Side, Beautiful Strangers (with Steve Rasnic Tem) and The Ice Downstream: A Short Story Collection. Tem won a Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel with Prodigal.

Review

Wilding is a saga about a family of female werewolves, focusing on the family living in present-day Colorado. The clan has been split in two: the city family, living in a quartet of brick houses built by their ancestors, with matriarch Mary, her daughter Ruth, Ruth's daughter Lydia and Lydia's pregnant teen daughter Deborah; and the country family, living in a cave in the mountains, controlled by Mary's sister Hannah, and her several daughters (there are no sons because if a boy is born, they kill him, no husbands because they are only used to make babies and then killed). Deborah runs away when the family decides she isn't ready for the initiation, prompting them to search for her.

The plot focuses more on the dysfunctional family and subplots (Deborah living on the streets with a homeless man, Ruth and her cousin Marguerite attempting to take over the family, Lydia's new friendship/lesbian relationship with a co-worker) than it does on the werewolf aspect. It felt as if the werewolf plot was incidental and a few kills were described in passing.

The story of each woman is told in alternating chapters, making it a quick read when you want to find out what happens to a particular character and have to read through three chapters to return to her. And the mountain clan is barely mentioned. It would be more interesting if the main characters featured a few from the city and a few from the country, instead of all of them being from the city.

The description of Colorado and the houses, caves, mountains and werewolves, is very well-written, making me feel like I'm there and witnessing a person turn into a wolf. But at times the story gets bogged down with description. For instance, Tem will be writing about a major event - like Mary finding Deborah - and stop in the middle to write pages of description about a memory Mary has about that particular place. It becomes very distracting and irritating.

The characters are interesting, but being werewolves, they seem like they have no emotions. Most of the minor characters are so nice to them, but it's like they can't comprehend the kindness and lash out at them instead, making it difficult to like the characters. But I guess I'm just used to the werewolves being the villains instead of the protagonists.

Wilding is okay as a family saga, not-so-great as a werewolf novel. But I enjoy family sagas, so I'm giving it a 3. If you want to read a good werewolf novel, try The Howling by Gary Brandner, The Wolfen by Whitley Strieber or Ravenous by Ray Garton.

Rating: 3/5

R.L. STINE BOOK OF THE WEEK:Fear Street: Secret Admirer

Someone loves her to death.

From the back cover:

Her number-one fan

Selena is on top of the world. Her acting career at Shadyside High is blossoming - everyone admires her. So when she starts receiving bouquets of black flowers from a person called "The Sun," she treats them like a joke.

But Selena soon realizes that this is no laughing matter. Her understudy is injured in a suspicious accident. Then a speeding car nearly kills her. Selena knows "The Sun" is responsible.

And that her number-one fan has become her number-one nightmare.

My thoughts:

I'm taking a break from Women in Horror Recognition Month to do my favourite post of the week, R.L. Stine Book of the Week.

I actually couldn't guess the killer this time. Well I did initially, but then I was thrown off the trail by every single character acting weird and suspicious. There was a point in the novel where I suspected Katy (Selena's best girl friend), Jake Jacoby (Selena's best guy friend, awesome name, right?), Danny (Selena's ex boyfriend), Eddy (Selena's new boyfriend) and even Selena herself ( I thought maybe she could be nuts and sending herself black flowers for attention or something). Since I suspected everyone, I wasn't really shocked when the killer was revealed.

Not much happens in Secret Admirer. Basically just what is stated on the back cover. Selena gets black flowers sent to her, creepy notes, a few accidents where people end up a bit bruised and one murder.

I couldn't stand Selena. She kept being described as a once-fat girl who is now skinny and popular, but the only two people she talks to are her childhood friends Katy and Jake. I don't understand where her popularity comes into play. Haven't they heard of the term "drama geek"? And everyone accused her of being self-centered, arrogant and bitchy. But she wasn't any of these things because she was completely devoid of personality.

And Selena's new boyfriend Eddy was insanely creepy. He knew tons of information about her before she told him anything and although she thought this was strange, she didn't care because he was so cute. Later, the explanation for him knowing all this stuff about her is he had a crush on her when she was a freshman. Yeah, because when you have a crush on someone, you find out as much about them as you can and then you dazzle them with all your stalkerish information on your first date.

I didn't mind this book, but it loses major points for dull and moronic main character Selena and her creepy, stalker boyfriend.

Rating: 2/5

PG-13 Gore/Dead Animal of the Week: "The rat lay in a puddle of brown wrapping paper near the door.
The dead rat.
Already half-decayed. Its wiry legs stiff. Its patchy fur matted. Its head...
Its head chewed to a pulp. Chewed by a cat or some other animal.
A headless dead rat."

Body Count: 1

Next week: Fear Street: Broken Hearts