The Social Bubble Halloween Special by The Social Bubble

ISSUE NUMBER:2

MONTH: November

The

YEAR: 2020

SOCIALBUBBLE

Spooky Halloween Edition Scary Review Special Spooky reviews from booktube, bookstagram, bloggers and goodreads.

Full of reviews of all the books you have been too scared to read. Author interview with Helen Steadman including a signed copy giveaway Bumper author 99p/99c sale: 28 books on offer

EDITORIAL

Bumper First week at the Bubble

o, we made it to episode two and I’ve learned more about Indesign; I think I’m getting a bit better. Yes it’s a steep learning curve, but having had the mad idea to get this thing off the ground it does not come without a little pain. So onward and upward that’s what I say. So, this episode is all about, you guessed it, Halloween... So here at the Social Bubble we have been trawling the book socials for all the creepiest content we can find. Booktube, Instagram and the book

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blogging network are providing as many spooky reviews as we could find. We have also reached out to many authors who have their books on offer this month, so please go and support them on the deals page where 99p/99c bargains can be found. Can I thank everyone who has helped get this off the ground, especially Michelle who corrected all my errors, running out of red ink in the process. So buckle yourself in to the The Social Bubble ghost train and enjoy the ride.

Trev Lince

THE SOCIAL BUBBLE GOES ALL SPOOKY Halloween THE HISTORY

‘The Bells’ Edgar Allan Poe

Bloggers Central

Pumpkin Soup Yum Yum

Booktube Horror Special

Spooky Instagrammers

22 Author Halloween 99p/99c Sale Fill up your Kindles Book

24 28 6 Books, 99p/99c or free, every author QUIZ featured has given permission for us to let us share their books with you, many have reduced them just for this edition.

...

AUTHOR OF THE MONTH

Helen Steadman

Learn all about the witchy goings on in the North of England, pagan rituals, witchmaster generals and even a bit of sword making.

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THE HISTORY O

History

alloween was said to have originated from the Celtic end-of-harvest festival of Samhain. During Samhain (pronounced sow-in), people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off evil spirits. The Celts who lived 2,000 years ago in what is now Ireland, the UK and northern France celebrated their new year on 1 November, the day marked the end of summer time and the beginning of winter. The Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. To commemorate the event, Druids (Celtic priests or learned class) built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. The word ‘Bonfire’ came from the bones that were burned during this ritual, where ‘bonefire’ eventually became bonfire. 4

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All Saints’ Day

n May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honour of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III later expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1. By the 9th century, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted older Celtic rites. In 1000 A.D., the church made November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honour the dead. It’s widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls’ Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints’ Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

OF HALLOWEEN

“Jack o’lantern” The Irish legend of Stingy Jack

ver wondered where the pumkin, or as I remember turnip lanterns came from? Stingy Jack is your man, dare you read on? Legend has it that Stingy Jack invited the devil to have a drink with him, but Jack didn’t want to pay for the drink, so he convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin. Instead of buying the drink, he pocketed the coin and kept it close to a silver cross in his house, preventing the devil from taking shape again. He promised to let the devil go as long as he would leave Jack alone for a year – and that if Jack died, the devil wouldn’t claim his soul. After a year, Jack tricked the devil again to leave him alone and not claim his soul. When Jack died, God didn’t want such a conniving person in heaven and the devil, true to his word, would not allow him into hell. Jack was sent off into the night with only a burning coal to light his path. He placed the coal inside a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the earth ever since.

Well, Beam me up Scotty, who knew?

he classic 1978 horror film “Halloween” can be easily recognized in just one image: the psychotic Michael Myers in his iconic pale-faced mask. Without a doubt, it’s one chilling look that has struck terror into the hearts of partying teens in slasher flicks. The movie was actually filmed on such a tight budget that the crew used the cheapest mask they could find: a $2 Star Trek Captain James Kirk mask. They spray painted it white and reshaped the eye holes, making William Shatner look incredibly creepy. The Social Bubble

The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe

Read by John from John Reads Poetry follow him below https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-KXErLQRuUjpW-DVqd1C1A

dgar Allan Poe born 19 January 1809 in Boston, died October 7 1849 in Baltimore. The Baltimore Ravens are named after his famous poem ‘The Raven’ Poe was said to have been the first to pen what we would now call a modern day detective story with his tale ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’. He was also the first person to coin the phrase ‘short story’ He also invented some words, one of which is in this poem, ‘Tintinnabulation’. I guess if you write poems and you can’t find something to rhyme, making up a word is fair game. He is a good choice for The Social Bubble’s Halloween edition as many of his tales and poems touched upon the macabre.

III.

HEAR the sledges with the bells— Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells— From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

Hear the loud alarum bells— Brazen bells! What tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor Now—now to sit, or never, By the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells! What a tale their terror tells Of Despair! How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air! Yet the ear, it fully knows, By the twanging And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows; Yet, the ear distinctly tells, In the jangling And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells, By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells— Of the bells— Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells— In the clamour and the clangour of the bells!

II. Hear the mellow wedding-bells Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight!— From the molten-golden notes, And all in tune, What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats On the moon! Oh, from out the sounding cells, What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! How it swells! How it dwells On the Future!—how it tells Of the rapture that impels To the swinging and the ringing Of the bells, bells, bells— Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells— To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells! 6

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IV. Hear the tolling of the bells— Iron bells! What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! In the silence of the night, How we shiver with affright At the melancholy meaning of their tone! For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. And the people—ah, the people— They that dwell up in the steeple, All alone, And who, tolling, tolling, tolling, In that muffled monotone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone— They are neither man nor woman— They are neither brute nor human— They are Ghouls:— And their king it is who tolls:— And he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls, Rolls A pæan from the bells! And his merry bosom swells With the pæan of the bells! And he dances, and he yells; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the pæan of the bells— Of the bells:— Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the throbbing of the bells— Of the bells, bells, bells— To the sobbing of the bells:— Keeping time, time, time, As he knells, knells, knells, In a happy Runic rhyme, To the rolling of the bells— Of the bells, bells, bells:— To the tolling of the bells— Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells— To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

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THE BLOGGERS EXPRESS

ll aboard The Bloggers Express! Before booktube was invented and when bookstagram wasn’t even a twinkle in Facebook’s eye, there were book bloggers, trailblazers if you like, paving the way for book lovers everywhere; sharing, caring and spreading the word about everything books.

The Social Bubble is a place for everyone to shine and in this Halloween edition we have made no exception. We have tracked down some of the best reviews of scary content on the web. The engine is stoked, the water tank is filled and the train is on the platform awaiting the last couple of passengers for our journey. So, if you are feeling brave, hop aboard the Bloggers Express, we dare you!!! When, or if, you eventually get off, make sure you go and follow the reviewers who work tirelessly for indie-authors and run blog tours and suchlike for very little benefit, all for the love of books. Bloggers, we salute you. All aboard everyone, don’t be shy, ha-ha-ha-ha-haaa-haaaaaaaaaaa!

Any bloggers who fancy being in the next edition, the Christmas edition of The Social Bubble, be sure to send us your Yuletide related reviews. DM us on Twitter https://twitter.com/TheSocialBubbl1 or drop us an email info@the-social-bubble.com.

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Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis Synopsis

ola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker--she thinks nothing can scare her.But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she’s quickly packed off to live with a grandmother she’s never met in Harrow Lake, the eerie town where her father’s most iconic horror movie was shot. The locals are weirdly obsessed with the film that put their town on the map--and there are strange disappearances, which the police seem determined to explain away. And there’s someone--or something--stalking her every move. The more Lola discovers about the town, the more terrifying it becomes. Because Lola’s got secrets of her own. And if she can’t find a way out of Harrow Lake, they might just be the death of her. MY MIDNIGHT MUSING - 3.5 Goodread Rating - 3.70

Review

ince it’s the spooky season, now is the perfect time to get your hands on a horror book that’s guaranteed to give you nightmares. Harrow Lake, is the story of Lola, the daughter of an esteemed horror film director, sent to stay with her grandmother at Harrow Lake following an attack on her father. Harrow Lake is the setting for her father’s most famous movie, but the air of mystery hints of a brewing darkness lurking at the heart of the town, and it has its eyes set on Lola. Determined to discover the truth behind her mother’s disappearance years ago, Lola must venture to the darkest depths of this sinister town, and confront its harrowing monster. Harrow Lake is a page-turner, one that will have readers at the edge of their seats with its steady pace and haunting atmosphere. In Harrow Lake, Ellis crafts a town reminiscent of Twin Peaks, with its quirky inhabitants, morbid history and legends, and a declining lifespan in itself. Harrow Lake is just as much a character as our lead, immersing readers in its menacing atmosphere.\ Lola is very much an outsider, but an outsider that has deep ties to the history of the town. Her life has been dictated by her father’s success, one that has left her isolated from the world. It’s this character trait that makes her narrative unreliable as her memories are manipulated by lies, denial, and her imagination, making you question the reality of her experiences. However, as Lola reality crumbles and the legendary Mister Jitters preys on her fear, we uncover the real monsters of this tale, humans. Characters that are as embedded in this town as Lola, but are haunted by their history and choices. Not all questions are answered, in this story, but if you’re looking for a novel that will have you at the edge of your seats, Harrow Lake is a perfect book to get you in the mood for Halloween. Review by MY MIDNIGHT MUSING https://mymidnightmusing.com/

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The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry Synopsis

hen the bodies of two girls are found torn apart in the town of Smiths Hollow, Lauren is surprised, but she also expects that the police won’t find the killer. After all, the year before her father’s body was found with his heart missing, and since then everyone has moved on. Even her best friend, Miranda, has become more interested in boys than in spending time at the old ghost tree, the way they used to when they were kids. So when Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging the remains of the girls through the woods, she knows she can’t just do nothing. Not like the rest of her town. But as she draws closer to answers, she realizes that the foundation of her seemingly normal town might be rotten at the center. And that if nobody else stands for the missing, she will. Libri Draconis - 4.5 Stars Goodread Rating - 3.91 Stars

Review

is the first of October, which means spooky season is officially upon us! So I’ve decided to open the month with a review of a supremely spooky, witchy book, The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry. If I’m not mistaken, this is her first completely original novel after a few novels based on retellings of classic stories such as a twisted version of Alice in Wonderland. And oh, this hits completely differently… Think Stranger Things crossed with an ancient curse meets feminism. I devoured The Ghost Tree. I think I stayed up late two nights in a row to read the book because I needed to know what happened. The story is set in the mid-1980s, giving it a bit of that Stranger Things vibe we’ve all been loving so much over the past few years, allowing for the story to develop without the interruption of things like the internet or cell phones. And that setting allows it credibility in itself. It works almost like a second-world setting, in which the story is possible. There are some questions that an attentive reader can figure out relatively soon – I know I had my suspicions, but that does not detract from the story as a whole. It is the story of a town, of a setting, of a curse. It is the story of a girl, a forgotten past and a potential future. It is heartbreaking, and sad, creepy and hopeful. There are no boring moments in The Ghost Tree, and it works wonderfully as a spooky autumn novel to curl up with under blankets when its dark and gloomy outside. So get yourself a cup of tea or a glass of whisky, depending on what you prefer, add The Ghost Tree to your Goodreads here and get yourself a copy from your dealer of choice for a delightfully creepy night in. Review by Libri Draconis https://libridraconis.com/index.php/about/

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I am Dust by Louise Beech Synopsis

he Dean Wilson Theatre is believed to be haunted by a long-dead actress, singing her last song, waiting for her final cue, looking for her killer… Now Dust, the iconic musical, is returning after twenty years. But who will be brave enough to take on the role of ghostly goddess Esme Black, last played by Morgan Miller, who was murdered in her dressing room? Theatre usher Chloe Dee is caught up in the spectacle. As the new actors arrive, including an unexpected face from her past, everything changes. Are the eerie sounds and sightings backstage real or just her imagination? Is someone playing games? Is the role of Esme Black cursed? Could witchcraft be at the heart of the tragedy? And are dark deeds from Chloe’s past about to catch up with her?Not all the drama takes place onstage. Sometimes murder, magic, obsession and the biggest of betrayals are real life. When you’re in the theatre shadows, you see everything. And Chloe has been watching… Cookiebiscuit’s Blog - Not given Goodread Rating - 4.15 Stars

Review

agical realism is my favourite genre, but I Am Dust is all out supernatural featuring dead crows, bad dreams, Ouija boards, strange voices and ghostly happenings. And I lapped it up. Every scene and every word. Brilliantly written, it revolves around three teenagers in 2005 who mess around with dark things they don’t understand (… didn’t we all? OK that’s just me then). The story jumps around from Chloe, Jess and Ryan in 2005 to Chloe in 2019 working as an usher 14 years later in the same theatre where the murder happened during a performance of the musical Dust. So who killed the lead actress Morgan Miller? We need to wait a long time to find out. I only guessed at the very end. There were some clues but neither I nor the teenagers (or their adult versions) picked them up. There is intrigue aplenty, plus jealousy and obsession. Ryan loves Jess but not as much as he wants power and riches. Chloe also loves Jess but not as much as Jess wants fame and fortune. Is Chloe psychic? Her Aunt Rosa thought so. Or is she a witch? There is a bit of comedy with Chloe’s friend Chester who is also an usher at the theatre and brings some light relief to the proceedings. We also touch (sensitively) on serious subjects such as self-harm and teenage suicide but are these connected to the hauntings or are they coincidences? When Dust is revived in the same theatre in 2019 (it closed after the murder and never reopened), many people believe the show is cursed. But is it or is this just the media keeping the myth and hype alive? I can’t praise this book enough. It’s spooky and entertaining and I love the séance scenes with the words spelled out. Review by Cookiebiscuit’s Blog https://cookiebiscuit.co.uk/

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Haverscroft by S.A Harris Synopsis

Review

ate Keeling leaves all she knows and moves to Haverscroft House in an attempt to salvage her marriage. Little does she realise, Haverscroft’s dark secrets will drive her to question her sanity, her husband and fatally engulf her family unless she can stop the past repeating itself. Can Kate keep her children safe and escape Haverscroft in time, even if it will end her marriage? Haverscroft is a gripping and chilling dark tale, a modern ghost story that will keep you turning its pages late into the night Published by Salt in paperback edition, this is a perfect autumnal read that will make you shiver as the nights draw in! ‘Haverscroft’ is a name that deserves to be whispered in the same breath as the Marsten House,in the same way that author S.A Harris and Susan Hill make great bedfellows. I don’t say that lightly, as it takes a lot to make me double check the doors and under the bed before turning in, but I can absolutely recommend reading this in broad daylight-trust me on this. Kate’s husband has bought run down wreck of a house, Haverscroft, in a bid to move their family away from the city and start afresh, The details of why they left are dotted through the first half of the book, as you are gathering the full picture of Kate,her twins Tom and Sophie and husband Mark and placing them, dolls house like, in the various parts of Haverscroft. Kate is reluctant to move there, she has given up everything-or has she?-to rescue her family from seperation. This move is supposed to bring them closer together but Haverscroft has other ideas. As the house becomes more firmly entrenched in the mind of both the reader, and Kate herself, its’ secret history is slowly revealed like a creaking attic door that you finally found the right key for. It swings wide open and what is reveals is rotten, shocking and potentially life ending… A brilliant modern gothic tale which plays on the expectations of the role of women, the manipulation of their mental health and the risks they will take for their children, ‘Haverscroft’ is a perfect late night read from a major new talent in the field of ghost stories. ‘Haverscroft’ was longlisted for the ‘Not The Booker Prize’ Review by Rachel Read it https://www.rachelreadit.co.uk/

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Ghoster by Jason Arnopp Synopsis

ate Collins has been ghosted. She was supposed to be moving in with her new boyfriend Scott, but all she finds after relocating to Brighton is an empty apartment. Scott has vanished. His possessions have all disappeared. Except for his mobile phone. Kate knows she shouldn’t hack into Scott’s phone. She shouldn’t look at his Tinder, his calls, his social media. But she can’t quite help herself. hat’s when the trouble starts. Strange, whispering phone calls from numbers she doesn’t recognise. Scratch marks on the walls that she can’t explain. And the growing feeling that she’s being watched. Kate refuses to leave the apartment – she’s not going anywhere until she’s discovered what happened to Scott. But the deeper she dives into Scott’s digital history the more Kate realises just how little she really knows about the man she loves. Entertainingly Nerdy!- Not rated Goodread Rating - 3.41

Review

actually first found out about this book before it came out and was being promoted by the publisher. I am so glad that I found out about it through Twitter. Ghoster is about Kate who is about to move in with her boyfriend. But the day before she moves in he doesn’t answer her text messages or phone calls. The next day she shows up at his place hoping that he just didn’t see the missed texts and phone calls. But he’s nowhere to be found and no one seems to know where he is. Is this his way of breaking up with her? Or has something gone terribly wrong. Creepy books have always been a favorite of mine since I was really young. I think it started when my brothers would make me watch scary movies with them. Instead of them scaring me away I ended up falling in love. I’m sure some of you might find that weird but I have always loved being scared. I like the adrenaline rush you get from watching them but you’re in a place where you can’t be hurt. I’ve always felt the same way when it comes to books. Ghoster is definitely a creepy book. For a while I thought Kate was going crazy. I thought maybe her obsession with trying to find Scott was getting to her. She is a paramedic and was constantly checking his phone after she found it and it almost lead her to seriously hurting someone. Her obsession with his phone really got to her and drove her friend nuts. I found it really hard to put this book down because I really wanted to know why she got ghosted. By the way if any of you readers are curious what exactly it means to be ghosted then you’re in luck. To be ghosted is when you get really close to someone and they disappear. This could be someone you met in real life or virtually. It’s a crazy thing to happen but unfortunately it does happen. This book is so entertaining and good but there were times I really wanted to smack Kate in the head and tell her to run. Other than Kate doing some pretty stupid stuff I did like her character. She’s someone I can actually see myself being friends with. I can easily see this book being turned into a movie. If done right it would make a great movie and something I’d be willing to go see in a heartbeat!

Review by Entertainingly Nerdy! https://entertaininglynerdy.com/

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Coal House by W.S. Barton Synopsis

hen property developer Finn Harper impulsively decides to make an investment with his wife whilst away together in North Wales for their anniversary, it seems an opportunity almost too good to be true. But as the disturbing truth of the homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s abandonment unravels itself, Finn finds himself alone, and a martyr of the local community. He must confront some personal demons, forcing him to consider what, or even who, is real.

Phil Leaderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s - 5 Stars Goodread Rating - 4.27

Review

et just after the Second World War this follows the story of Finn Harper who decides to turn to property development with his wife. When they are on holiday in Wales they see a house for auction which seems to be a bargain. When the locals wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bid on it they decide to buy the remote and long-deserted house. So begins Coal House, a suspenseful ghost story that slowly builds to a shattering ending with a chilling twist. Any ghost story turns on the ability of the author to conjure up locations and events that seem both ordinary and strange at the same time and Barton does this with ease, able to raise goosebumps with a few simple words. The story is clever and interesting with several layers and with characters to match. Finn is initially a skeptic but as strange events happen in and around the house he must consider if they are real or just his imagination. This is not a long book but does pack a lot into its pages. An excellent read Review by Phil Leader https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/28233323-phil-leader

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Beast by Matt Wesolowski Synopsis

lusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower’, in another explosive episode of Six Stories… In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old vlogger, Elizabeth Barton, had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death. Three young men, part of an alleged ‘cult’, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong’. However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible. Elusive online journalist Scott King speaks to six witnesses – people who knew both the victim and the three killers – to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire’… Finding My Voice Blog - 5 Stars Goodread Rating - 4.06

Review

his is the first book I have read of Matt Wesolowski and it will not be the last. For a start I have now read the Six Stories Series out of order as this is book four, although BEAST stands well on its own. I am intrigued to know what happened to Scott King…. BEAST has left me almost lost for words which lets face it, isn’t good when it comes to writing a review. Need to find my words…. I got absolutely lost in BEAST. If it wasn’t thinking about how Elizabeth had died it was the manipulation, secrets and lies told by everyone involved. How could so many people hide so much!?! I have just finished reading and feel angry. Oh my gosh what are these people like. I want to shout at them all and make them realise what they are doing. Scott King is a master at interviewing and knows his instincts are pointing him towards something else, something just doesn’t add up. I was drawn in by the vampires – are they real? I want them to be or do I? I love vampire stories… Although I certainly wouldn’t want to live in Ergarth! Matt Wesolowski has written this intense and exceptional crime thriller that will appeal to anyone interested in the genre or even those who would like a vampire story with a twist!!! Review by My Journey Finding My Voice Blog https://myjourneyfindingmyvoice.com/

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Claireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Special Pumpkin Soup Ingredients 1 Medium pumpkin 1 Onion or 2 large shallots 2 Garlic cloves 2 Diced carrots 1 Celery stick 1 Large Potato cubed 1 Tbsp vegetable oil 50g butter 1 Litre of chicken or veg stock 2 Bay leaves Black Pepper/season to taste

Method Pre heat oven to 170 c Cut pumpkin in half and remove all the seeds and set aside for later. Quarter the pumpkin again, place on baking trays before drizzling with olive oil and placing in the oven for an hour. Roasting the pumpkin first gives the dish a destinctive caramelised taste. Melt the butter and the vegetable oil in a large casserole pot before adding the onion(s), garlic carrots and potato, sautĂŠed until softened. Add the bay leaves, the stock and bring to the boil. Then simmer until the vegetables are soft. Once the pumpkin is cooked add to the soup mixture. Once cooled slightly liquidise using a hand blender and season to taste with the black pepper.

The Pumpkin Seeds

Serving

2 Tbl spoons Olive Oil Good pinch Salt 1/2 Teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cream optional, you can create a spiders web for your Halloween themed soup.

Place pumpkin seeds into a roasting tin. Add a drizzle of olive oil and a splash of water, then add a pinch of salt and the cayenne pepper and mix together and place in the oven at 170 c for 10-15 minutes until crispy.

Enjoy...Happy Halloween.

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Add the pumpkin seeds on the top of the soup or sour dough croutons as an alternative.

Here at Booktube, we think you are all the crazy ones. We think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re normal Want to see what were up to? Dare Ya!

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The Institute - Stephen King

Christina’s rating - Watch and see Goodread Rating - 4.20 Synopsis

Review by Christina de Vries https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristinadeVries/featured

NO ONE HAS EVER ESCAPED FROM THE INSTITUTE.

uke Ellis, a super-smart twelve-year-old with an exceptional gift, is the latest in a long line of kids abducted and taken to a secret government facility, hidden deep in the forest in Maine. Here, kids with special talents - telekinesis and telepathy - like Luke’s new friends Kalisha, Nick and Iris, are subjected to a series of experiments. There seems to be no hope of escape. Until Luke teams up with an even younger boy whose powers of telepathy are off the scale. Meanwhile, far away in a small town in South Carolina, former cop Tim Jamieson, looking for the quiet life, has taken a job working for the local sheriff. He doesn’t know he’s about to take on the biggest case of his career . . . THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY OUT.

Frankenstein - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

G.C.McKay’s rating - Watch and see Goodread Rating - 3.81

Review by G.C.McKay * Video contains expletives

Synopsis

https://www.youtube.com/c/GCMcKay/featured

ary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only eighteen. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature’s hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein. Frankenstein, an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story, but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? How far can we go in tampering with Nature? In our age, filled with news of organ donation genetic engineering, and bio-terrorism, these questions are more relevant than ever. 18

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BOOKTUB Review

Dracula - Bram Stoker Review by Mere Mortals lhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmx4Nozv-CrKbiO6mhYZWBA

Mere Mortals rating - Watch and see Goodread Rating - 4.00

Synopsis

racula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. It introduced Count Dracula, and established many conventions of subsequent vampire fantasy. The novel tells the story of Dracula’s attempt to move from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and of the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and a woman led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel, and invasion literature. The novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film, and television interpretations.

UBE Horror w Special

Christine - Stephen King

Review by Regina’s Haunted Library https://www.youtube.com/c/ReginasHauntedLibrary/featured

Regina’s rating - Watch and see Goodread Rating - 3.78

Synopsis Jealousy isn’t a green-eyed monster. She’s a red Plymouth Fury. Christine, blood-red, fat, and finned, is twenty. Her promise lies all in her past. Greedy and big, she is Arnie’s obsession, a ‘58 Plymouth Fury. Broken down but not finished. There is still power in her - a frightening power that leaks like sump oil, staining and corrupting. A malign power that corrodes the mind and turns ownership into Possession.

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Author of the month - Helen Steadman As a special treat for Halloween, we are delighted to welcome Helen Steadman to The Social Bubble. Helen has written 3 novels: Widdershins, Sunwise and The Running Wolf. Welcome, Helen. Hello Michelle and Trevor, thanks very much for inviting me along to talk to your readers about my books and Halloween. Your novels all have such interesting titles. First, can you tell us what the words widdershins and sunwise mean? Widdershins means turning in a left-hand or anti-clockwise direction, against the apparent path of the sun, which appears to us Earthlings as if it’s going clockwise around our blue and green planet. In the past, it was considered unlucky and had sinister connotations with the devil and the occult. It originates from an old German word, meaning ‘wider way’, essentially, wide of the sun. And in Scotland, in days of yore, it could also refer to hair standing on end. So, it’s a great word for Halloween. Funnily enough, Widdershins wasn’t the original title for the book, but one of the edi tors suggested it as it appeared in the chapter, ‘The Hellish Circle’ where the witchfinder watches a girl in the churchyard on Halloween, under a full moon. She carries out a blood ritual and walks three times widdershins around the church, which he believes will open the mouth of hell. I liked this idea much better than my original title, Pushed by Angels, which referred to the fact that people used to believe angels physically shoved planets around the heavens. The reverse of widdershins, of course, is deiseal, which means sunwise, or clockwise and this direction is considered to be auspicious. It’s pronounced dee-ah-sull, dah-sull or dash-ull, which I’m not overly confident about pronouncing, and I worried about people going into bookshops and asking for copies of Diesel, so opted for the simpler Sunwise. The title of The Running Wolf is very intriguing; how did you come up with that title? This book is about a group of master swordmakers who defected from Solingen in north-west Germany in 1687 and moved to Shotley Bridge in north-east England. Solingen and Passau are historically renowned for their blade-making prowess and their swords are marked with the sign of the running wolf, which is sometimes called the flying fox. I was tempted by the flying fox for a while, not least because fox is an old English word for sword, but the running wolf stuck with me. This running wolf blademark appears on the cover of the book, inside the ‘o’ of wolf. Your debut novel, Widdershins, has the amazing strapline ‘Did all women have something of the witch about them?’ Tell our readers a little bit about Widdershins? Widdershins is inspired by the Newcastle witch trials, overseen by the Scottish witchfinder, so it’s partly set in the north east of England and partly in the south east of Scotland. It tells the story of two people, Jane Chandler, an apprentice healer and John Sharpe, a witchfinder. From childhood, Jane and her mother have used herbs to cure the sick. But Jane soon learns that her sheltered life in a small village is not safe from the troubles of the wider world. From his father’s beatings to his uncle’s raging sermons, John Sharpe is beset by bad fortune. Fighting through personal tragedy, he finds his purpose: to become a witch-finder and save innocents from the scourge of witchcraft. Inspired by true events, Widdershins tells the story of the women who were persecuted and the men who condemned them.

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Although many people will have heard of famous witch trials having taken place in Chelmsford and Pendle, it’s surprising to find out in Widdershins that witch trials actually took place in Newcastle. Can you share some of the fascinating facts you discovered during your research? When I decided to write about witches, I started carrying out lots of research. I knew about some witch trials, such as Pendle, as you say, and also the Salem witches, mainly through studying Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at college, and I knew about Chelmsford from the Vincent Price film, The Witchfinder General. As I was reading through lots of old books about witches, witchfinders and witch trials, I was stunned to learn there had been trials in Newcastle. As I began to learn more, I knew I had to write the story of these trials, not just because of the strange happenings, but because it saddened me that 16 people had been executed as witches and very few people knew about them. It’s the biggest mass execution of witches on a single day on English soil, so at the very least, I thought I could commemorate the victims, and I list the names of the people who were murdered by the state at the back of the book. Essentially, the people of Newcastle petitioned the local council to rid them of witches. The Puritan council members were only too happy to oblige and in 1650 sent to Scotland for a witchfinder. Perhaps there was a local skills shortage, and by this time, of course, Matthew Hopkins was dead, or they’d have no doubt sent for the Witchfinder General himself. Of course, Scotland killed many more people for witchcraft, despite its relatively small population, and so its witchfinders would have had a great deal more experience. The witchfinder rounded up 30 people and tested them by pricking. Those who bled were considered innocent and released, but those who didn’t were considered witches. A local naval doctor became suspicious and made the witchfinder re-test one woman. On re-testing, with the naval doctor watching closely, the woman bled and was released. Even though the witchfinder was clearly a fraud, 16 people were still hanged on Newcastle’s Town Moor and the witchfinder was allowed to go on his way, to continue sending innocent people to their deaths. If anyone is interested in learning more about witch trials in the north east of England, please visit my blog at helensteadman.com, where you’ll find lots of articles and further reading, including the depositions from the Derwent Valley witch trials, which are astonishing. Many female healers were accused of witchcraft in the 17th century. Why do you think that people turned against the women who were simply trying to help them? Certainly, women healers were viewed with considerable suspicion, and there’s an excellent book on the theory and history of this, Witches, Midwives and Healers by Barbara Ehrenreich & Deidre English. It exposes the demonisation of women healers and the political and economic monopolisation of medicine by men. There is an example given of how male physics in London were scrabbling for work and petitioned for women healers to be banned, so you can see quite easily how women might be conveniently disposed of as witches. Edinburgh University has a database of people executed in Scotland as witches. Of a total 3,398 ‘witches’ in Scotland, 151 were executed for folk healing or midwifery, which is fewer than five percent. By far the biggest category is being implicated by another witch (948), which is almost a third – and of course you can see how terrified people under torture would point the finger at anyone in the hope of the pain stopping. The university has also produced a map of over three-thousand witches executed in Scotland, so it’s possible to find whether any of your Scottish ancestors were accused of witchcraft.

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When researching 17th century healers, did you discover any interesting herbal remedies that you have tried making for yourself? Is there a recipe you can share with our readers? When I carry out research for my books, I like to go the extra mile. So, ahead of writing Widdershins, I trained in herbal medicine at Dilston Physic Garden in Northumberland. (The garden runs lots of training events, sells herbal medicines and is lovely to visit in its own right.) I learned how to identify plants and harvested bark, leaves, berries and seeds to create all sorts of medicines. My favourite is elder linctus, which is good for the lungs and immune system (and goes very nicely with gin, too). I also made a hawthorn berry tincture, which is good for the heart and heartbreak. This involved quite a lot of vodka, and I was interested to learn that herbalists can buy vodka tax-free… When we made a painkilling powder from willow, a fellow trainee told us he was a pharmaceutical chemist and that the first thing he’d ever learnt to make was aspirin from willow. I also made an antiseptic mouthwash/lotion from acorns – excellent for stopping bleeding but tastes vile and doesn’t exactly whiten the teeth! Of course, the single most important thing to learn about herbalism is correctly identifying plants. For instance, there are berries which look very like elder berries, that are highly toxic and will kill you rather than cure you, so be very careful when foraging, please. Meg Wetherby, one of the cunning women from Widdershins has shared her recipe for elder linctus on my blog. It’s very easy to make, providing you find the correct berries. Essentially, boil elderberries with sugar and water for 15 minutes or so, strain and bottle the lovely, purple liquid. Witchfinding seems to have been quite a profitable profession and unsurprisingly was open to corruption. Can you tell us about the witch finder on whom you based your character of John Sharpe in Widdershins? While the name of Newcastle’s witchfinder isn’t currently known, there are some fascinating facts that are known. He was from Scotland and Newcastle’s common council paid him twenty shillings for every witch found. This is perhaps the earliest example of local authority performance-related pay and it’s little wonder he went out and rounded up thirty witches to test with such an incentive on offer. The Tyne & Wear Archives, in the Discovery Museum in Newcastle, hold the Chamberlain’s account books and an entry in August 1650 lists the total price for executing the witches. In all, it came to £15 19 shillings and tuppence, which is an eyewatering amount of money in the 17th century. What is perhaps saddest of all is that the expenditure is listed in such a matter-of-fact way, in amongst the council’s wine bill and grazing fees. If you look at the archive website, you’ll notice it refers to the cost of burning witches; however, witches were hanged in England and not burnt as they were in Scotland. My character, John Sharpe, is based on research into lots of witchfinders, including the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, and his sidekick, the witch pricker, John Stearne. When the tide began to turn against them, they tried to save their reputations and indulged in a spot of early PR, each producing a book, in which they defended their practices. They make for horrific reading, and while Hopkins denies that money was a factor, one of the local councils on his patch spent so much money on witchfinding they had to put up taxes. I also looked at depositions from Scottish witchfinders, such as John Kincaid, who I feel is the most likely candidate for the witchfinder at the Newcastle trials.

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Jane Chandler’s story continues in your second novel, Sunwise. Can you tell us more about Sunwise? I never planned to write a sequel to Sunwise. It was only when I set out to begin writing The Running Wolf as part of my PhD at the University of Aberdeen, that the characters resurfaced in my mind and I found myself writing Sunwise instead. (Luckily, my PhD supervisor was entirely sympathetic to the cause.) In retrospect, it felt wrong to leave Jane and Tom’s story in the air, and of course, the witchfinder had unfinished business with Jane, the girl who escaped the hangman’s noose in Widdershins. In Sunwise, John Sharpe’s hatred of women in general, and Jane Chandler in particular, escalates alongside his madness. Although successfully executing many witches in Newcastle, he feels thwarted and when he proceeds to Berwick to hunt witches, the trial goes badly. He blames his misfortune, as he always does, on wise women and he is determined to destroy Jane Chandler… In Sunwise, you feature the fascinating folklore of corn dollies. Can you tell us about the corn dolly custom (and the magic of the corn dollies you made)? Throughout Widdershins and Sunwise, I’ve tried to show the ancient pagan customs that were alive and well, despite Puritanism having England in its grip. For example, Sunwise features the ‘kern baby’, a Northumberland custom of creating a corn dolly to burn as a fertility rite to ensure healthy crops the following year. I knew how to make corn dollies from being a child and thought it would be good to make some again to help me write about the process accurately. I also thought it would be a nice idea to make little gifts for all the lovely book bloggers who have reviewed my books. So, I made lots of countryman’s favours, which are small heart-shaped corn dollies. Custom has it that a favour could be given to a prospective lover, and if they appeared wearing it over their heart, the love was returned. The favours went down well with book bloggers and some of them joked about burying the dollies to see if they would sprout husbands, and I was delighted to hear from one blogger in particular that within three weeks of receiving her corn dolly, she’d met her future husband. So, a bit of my fictional witches’ magic must have rubbed off on me! (Michelle has kindly given me permission to talk about her personal life – I’m not gossiping, otherwise I might find myself on the wrong side of a scold’s bridle.) Your third novel, The Running Wolf, is published on 10th November and sees a change of subject from witches to swordmakers. What made you write about this subject? We had a local history book at home, filled with local legends about witches, giants and swordmakers, so perhaps you might expect a story about giants before very long… The story said that one of the swordmakers went empty-handed to a swordmaking contest in London. When he was mocked for having no entry, he removed his hat to reveal a fine sword coiled inside… This tale lodged in my head in childhood, and I just had to find out more about the swordmakers. There are lots of non-fiction books about these swordmakers, and it was through them that I first learned about Hermann Mohll, who was imprisoned in Morpeth Gaol from 1703–1704 for smuggling a large number of swords from Germany into England. Frustratingly, there were lots of gaps in the research, though, and many unanswered questions. So, I went on a bit of a quest and uncovered a cache of documents that revealed the answers to this 300-year-old mystery. My research findings about the Shotley Bridge swordmakers have been published in a journal, Northern History and you can read a copy on my website.

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It sounds very intriguing, can you tell us more about The Running Wolf? The Running Wolf is the story of a group of master swordmakers who left Solingen, Germany and moved to Shotley Bridge, England in 1687. It will be published by Impress Books on Tuesday 10 November 2020. When a German smuggler is imprisoned in Morpeth Gaol in the winter of 1703, why does Queen Anne’s powerful right-hand man, The Earl of Nottingham, take such a keen interest? At the end of the turbulent 17th century, the ties that bind men are fraying, turning neighbour against neighbour, friend against friend and brother against brother. Beneath a seething layer of religious intolerance, community suspicion and political intrigue, The Running Wolf takes us deep into the heart of rebel country in the run-up to the 1715 Jacobite uprising. Hermann Mohll is a master sword maker from Solingen in north west Germany who risks his life by breaking his guild oaths and settling in England. While trying to save his family and neighbours from poverty, he is caught smuggling swords and finds himself in Morpeth Gaol, in Northumberland, facing charges of High Treason. Determined to hold his tongue and his nerve, Mohll finds himself at the mercy of the corrupt keeper, Robert Tipstaff. The keeper fancies he can persuade the truth out of Mohll and make him face the ultimate justice: hanging, drawing and quartering. But in this tangled web of secrets and lies, just who is telling the truth? Swordmaking is such a specialised craft, what sort of research did you do for your novel? Spurred on by how much my herbal training contributed to Widdershins and Sunwise, I decided to train as a blacksmith ahead of writing The Running Wolf. My blacksmith training began in the summer of 2015, and I made an iron rat-tailed poker and a firesteel, as well as a pendant that I managed to burn very badly. I set up a mini forge at home to practise and in June and July 2018, I finally made my own sword. I carried out my swordmaking training with Rod Hughes at Butser Ancient Farm near Southampton. It was easily the most exhausting activity I’ve ever undertaken, and I’m filled with admiration for smiths everywhere. Because it was all done by hand-hammering, I gained a deep understanding of the physical toll of blademaking, as well as the beauty of the process, and I hope my hard work pays off in the swordmaking scenes of The Running Wolf. Of course, it means I can also class myself as a swordmaker – although not a very good one – and I have my very own sword as a souvenir! I also went to Solingen in Germany and visited two old forges that are still standing on the River Wupper. They have working waterwheels and it was possible to see the internal workings, the grinding wheels and all the tools that the swordmakers used, which helped inform the chapters set in Solingen. Your novels are so impeccably researched we can’t wait to find out what’s next. Are you working on your fourth novel? Is there anything about it you can share with us My next novel is due to be about the Northumberland hero, Grace Darling, the famous lighthouse-keeper’s daughter. (I say ‘due’ because who knows what might come out of my pen.) It’s about a quarter written, but I need to do some archive research, which has been prevented by you-knowwhat… Hopefully, I’ll be able to do some research again soon. Of course, I’ll need to find out more about the sea, lighthouses, ship wrecks, rowing through storms and so on. A worried US writer friend, who is a competent sailor, warned me off even attempting to row a boat at sea, let alone in a storm. In the past, I’ve done some rowing on placid rivers and lakes, and even learnt to sail on the local reservoir as a child, so I may have to tap into some of that knowledge and content myself with sea-going voyages captained by a professional mariner. I can’t say when it will be published as it’s not yet written, but hopefully by 2022.

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After all of your research into such fascinating traditions, how will you be celebrating Halloween? Do you have any Halloween traditions? Given the choice, I prefer to be in the northern Scottish Highlands, on a windswept coast with dark skies overhead, tucked up reading, writing and watching a few horror films. But if travel restrictions are in place, I’ll content myself with Halloween at home, so I might haul the Halloween trappings out of the attic… Either way, there’ll be a witchy book or two and a couple of horror films. I plan to read Michael Cawood Green’s The Ghosting of Anne Armstrong, which is about the Derwent/Tyne Valley witch trials, and maybe also The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, because it’s brilliant and because of the astrology underpinning it. For films, definitely The Wicker Man, (the original version, that is), which is filled with pagan customs, and is still terrifying to watch. If you had been born into the 17th century, do you think you would have been one of the women accused of being a witch? Without a shadow of a doubt! One of my pet loves is astrology and it will surprise no one to learn that I trained in astrology once upon a time when I lived in London, so there must be an astrology book from me one of these days... In my early twenties, I visited an astrologer who specialised in past-life regressions. He told me I’d been executed as a witch in a former life and asked whether I’d like to be regressed. Part of me was tempted – who wouldn’t want to know more about a past life as a witch? But I didn’t really fancy re-living my execution, so I politely declined. I still wonder, though… Halloween is famous for trick or treating so it’s trick or treat time here at The Social Bubble. We’ll ask Helen for a trick and one of our readers is in for a very special treat – a signed copy of Sunwise. Immediately vanquish all my enemies to eternal suffering… muahahahaha! No, I wouldn’t really. It’s boring, I know, but I’d try to be a good witch and spend my days making love charms and elder linctus so we could all live long and happy lives. On that note, many plants can kill or cure, with the only difference being the dose, so, here’s my question, trick or treaters: Which plant is easily confused with carrot, fennel and parsley and was used to cure rabies but also to poison Socrates? [Hemlock] Don’t forget the treat – enter the giveaway to win a signed copy of Sunwise. Thank you so much to Helen Steadman for such an interesting and fascinating interview. Happy Halloween everyone!

Interview by Michelle Ryles *** International GIVEAWAY *** Helen has kindly offered to giveaway a signed copy of Sunwise. All you have to do to enter is send an email to our giveaway email address. Giveaway is open internationally and closes on 15 November 2020.

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Audible FREE codes for honest reviews One of the areas that we don’t currently feature at The Social Bubble is audiobook reviews. So as a trial to see if we can get some interest in audiobook reviewing, our very own T F Lince is offering some free codes for both of his books: Room 119 and Funicular. Depending on the results, we hope that other authors will follow suit and offer free codes to our readers. As an audible author you are given free UK & USA codes to promote your books, they are mainly given out to bloggers and Facebook groups in the expectation that a fair and honest review is conducted in a timely manner. So here are the rules: The Rules 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 4.

Commit to writing a review on audible (and anywhere else you choose) by 31 Dec 20 Request a free audible code for USA (.com) OR UK Audible site The Social Bubble will send you a relevent code (if any left) Go to audible in the browse menu and click to ‘Redeem a Promo Code’ Listen to audobook & enjoy Post audible review and let the Social bubble know

Room 119 by T F Lince Narrated by Jade McLean

nothing makes sense. How does everyone in the hotel know his name? Why does he travel there on a train line that shut down over 50 years ago? And who is the sinister man in black who Synopsis pursues him wherever he goes? As he gradually pieces together the puzzle of Welnetham Hall, High-flying trader Dean Harrison has it all: the Dean is forced to reevaluate his life and realizLondon penthouse apartment, the fast car, the es that nothing is more important to him than beautiful wife. But when the threads of Dean’s life his wife and daughter. Desperate to get back to start to unravel, they do so with alarming speed. them, he vows he would lay down his life for Following the advice of a frail stranger, Dean sets the people he loves. It’s a promise he may have off for Welnetham Hall Hotel and is plunged into 10 AVAILABLE of each the mysterious world of room 119 - a world where to keep. Goodread Rating - 4-37 Request UK Code Audible Rating - 4.6 Request USA Code

Funicular by T F Lince Narrated by Jade McLean Synopsis

Out on the beat, Bob learns the legend of the funicular car that left the top of Saltburn’s famous cliff lift many years ago carrying two passengers, and arrived at the bottom empty save for an abandoned ticket. And every big tide since has seen another local child disappear.

A detective mystery with strange supernatural elements allowing not even the past to be trusted, full of intrigue and mystery, an urban fantasy, a Feeling increasingly manipulated by a shadowy crime thriller that will mess with your mind. Not nemesis, Bob struggles to make sense of the your run of the mill police procedural. seemingly impossible clues before him. How can the dead live again? Who is the tortured 10 AVAILABLE of each After his life is threatened, DI Bob Dixon leaves man haunting the churchyard in nearby MarLondon hoping for the quiet life in the northske? And with the next massive tide just hours ern village of Saltburn-by-the-Sea. But when he Request UK Code away, can Bob solve the puzzle and bring an takes on the case of young Lizzy Scraggs, missing end to the tragedy of Saltburn’s missing chilRequest USA Code since a huge tide hit Saltburn six years earlier, he dren? embarks on an investigation that will push him to the very edge of reason. Goodread Rating - 4-55 Audible Rating - 4.4 26 The Social Bubble

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The Child Thief by Brom

lastbookontheleft rating - 4.5 Stars Goodread Rating - 4.10 Stars

Review by lastbookontheleft https://www.instagram.com/lastbookontheleft/

Synopsis

eter is quick, daring, and full of mischief—and like all boys, he loves to play, though his games often end in blood. His eyes are sparkling gold, and when he graces you with his smile you are his friend for life, but his promised land is not Neverland. Fourteen-year-old Nick would have been murdered by the drug dealers preying on his family had Peter not saved him. Now the irresistibly charismatic wild boy wants Nick to follow him to a secret place of great adventure, where magic is alive and you never grow old. Even though he is wary of Peter’s crazy talk of faeries and monsters, Nick agrees. After all, New York City is no longer safe for him, and what more could he possibly lose? There is always more to lose. Accompanying Peter to a gray and ravished island that was once a lush, enchanted paradise, Nick finds himself unwittingly recruited for a war that has raged for centuries—one where he must learn to fight or die among the “Devils,” Peter’s savage tribe of lost and stolen children. There, Peter’s dark past is revealed: left to wolves as an infant, despised and hunted, Peter moves restlessly between the worlds of faerie and man. The Child Thief is a leader of bloodthirsty children, a brave friend, and a creature driven to do whatever he must to stop the “Flesh-eaters” and save the last, wild magic in this dying land.

Review

his is my favorite retellings of Peter Pan. It is just a fantastic dark story! It follows Nick, a 14 year old boy that was fighting for his life among drug dealers in New York city when he meets the golden eyed Peter, a charismatic boy that offers Nick a chance to a leave New York for a new magical world. Once he arrives with Peter though he finds he will be fighting a war with a group of boys brought by Peter, called The Devils. If Nick does not fight he will die among this group of savage lost boys. ⁣ We learn of Peter’s past and how he became who he is. That he can travel between the human and fairy worlds. That he will do anything to protect his magic. This is a more sinister and tricksy Peter Pan then we are used to, but if you look closely at the original story by JM Barrie you will find that Peter is not all good intentions and fairy dust. He is a ruthless leader that will “thin out” any of the Lost Boy’s that begins to grow up. I actually prefer Brom’s version to the original. The writing is beautiful, the artwork is gorgeous, and he gives us a version of Perer Pan and his world with so much depth and character. ⁣

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Black Heart Boys’ Choir by Curtis M. Lawson

lastbookontheleft rating - 5 Stars Goodread Rating - 4.23 Stars

Review by lastbookontheleft https://www.instagram.com/lastbookontheleft/

Synopsis

reat art demands sacrifice. Lucien Beaumont is a teenage misfit and musical prodigy ostracized by his peers and haunted by familial tragedy. When he discovers an unfinished song composed by his dead father—a song that holds terrible power—Lucien becomes obsessed. As he chases after the secret nature of his father’s music, the line between gruesome fantasy and real life violence begins to blur. To complete his father’s work Lucien believes that he and his group of outcast friends must appease a demonic force trapped within the music with increasingly sadistic offerings. As things spiral out of control he finds that the cost of his art will be the lives of everyone around him, and perhaps his very soul.

Review

ow! This was an amazing book! Come listen to the music of Hell and follow Lucien Beaumont, an egotistical, entitled teenager that has to start at a new school because his mother, in her grief, drank her way thru all the money left by his late father. He always wears a suit to school and prefers classical music to pop songs. Seen as the weird new kid at school he becomes the brunt of jokes and bullying, he doesn’t care much for his fellow students in return. He does fantasize about violent acts towards them and others, but is able to keep these thoughts to himself, for now. He just wants to get thru with school so he can leave and begin his career in music, he is a musical genius that feels everyone should understand that he is too good for higher education and the mundane things studied there.⁣ ⁣ “Dear boy, you don’t possess the song, the song possesses you”⁣ ⁣ While looking thru the house Lucien finds an old unfinished song written by his father and partially destroyed by his mother. He becomes obsessed with finishing the song, the “Black Unicorn Sonata,” and finds that the music holds tremendous power, power that no man should possess. The demon in the music is none other than Amdusias, the Black Unicorn, the Infernal Conductor, muse to the damned and the 67th Duke of Hell. Soon Lucian and his friends will find that they must make the demon in the music happy or risk their very souls. A small price for Lucien to pay to get what he wants. This is a story of the occult, music, high school drama, severe bullying, oblivious parents and teachers, and the lengths some will go to get what they see as revenge for the wrongs done to them.⁣ ⁣I can’t even express how much I loved this book! It was just exactly what I love reading. Elements of occult horror, music, dark characters and so much more. I found the writing to be lyrical and descriptive, and it kept me intrigued thru to the final page. Can’t wait to read more from this author! ⁣ ⁣

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Crossroads by Laurel Hightower

spooky.octopus.reads rating - 5 Stars Goodread Rating - 4.61

Synopsis

Review by spooky.octopus.reads https://www.instagram.com/spooky. octopus.reads/

ow far would you go to bring back someone you love? When Chris’s son dies in a tragic car crash, her world is devastated. The walls of grief close in on Chris’s life until, one day, a small cut on her finger changes everything. A drop of blood falls from Chris’s hand onto her son’s roadside memorial and, later that night, Chris thinks she sees his ghost outside her window. Only, is it really her son’s ghost, or is it something else—something evil? Soon Chris is playing a dangerous game with forces beyond her control in a bid to see her son, Trey, alive once again

Review

aurel Hightower’s story of a grief stricken mother is powerful, harrowing, and suffocating. Suffocating- is that a way to describe a book? I hope so, because there were points in this story when I felt like all the air had been sucked right out of my lungs by the words on the pages. ⁣ ⁣I feel like my heart was ripped out of my chest and buried at the roadside memorial where Chris goes daily to grieve the loss of her only son. One day as Chris is visiting the site where Trey died, a drop of blood from her hand falls on the memorial, and she thinks she sees his ghost. After that, Chris is determined to see her son as often as she can, no matter the cost. ⁣ ⁣T he exploration of the journey that grief can take a person on is something that will leave you shattered after reading this book. I mean that in the best of ways; you will feel entrenched in sadness, but you will also fall in love with Chris’s journey and Laurel’s storytelling. In other words, you will welcome the shattered feeling, because the story is that good. ⁣ ⁣T his is not a light read, as it deals with some very heavy, somber, and serious content, but it is certainly a story I will be recommending for a very long time to come. If you’re ready to have your heart broken (but in a good way), you should pick up this beautiful addition to the grief horror sub-genre.⁣

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Last Case at a Baggage Auction by Eric J. Guignard

pbanditp rating - 5 Stars Goodread Rating - 4.30 Stars

Synopsis

Review by pbanditp https://www.instagram.com/pbanditp/

1963 Detroit is a hotbed of gambling, and the weekly baggage auctions keep a busy trade. Charlie Stewart and Joey Third are skilled in the art of successful bidding, but when Joey lands a mysterious suitcase, the thrill of winning turns to terror once they realize they’ve opened something sinister. Inside the suitcase is an antique gramophone, and the music it plays is unlike anything they’ve heard before. A chanting voice speaks to them in strange words, evoking visions of a dark, frozen land. It’s a voice that makes them sick with addiction, and it continues chanting in their heads even when the record stops playing. Charlie sets out to solve the mystery of the unholy music and how to turn it off forever. But the urge to listen grows stronger, and the more it plays, the more the aural virus spreads, until people begin to vanish . . . feeding an apparition that seeks immortality.

Review

ow. Such vibes from this. I had to make the instagram picture black and white because I felt like I was watching this in my head in black and white.

A unique, noir, cult(?), historical fiction, horror.

Charlie lives in Detroit and gets by with betting on the horse races and with luggage auctions. As Charlie says “a man is successful if he lives every day with the ability to do what he wants.” At one of these luggage auctions, Charlie’s friend, Joey, buys a case that contains more than he bargained for. Joey can’t escape what he uncovers and he is bringing a lot of his fellow apartment tenets with him into the madness. Sorry to be vague but it is hard to review without spoilers. This was a very interesting read with a flowing writing style that was picturesque.

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They Threw Us Away by Daniel Kraus, Rovina Cai (Illustrator)

thecrookedhouse - 5 Stars Goodread Rating - 3.81

Review by thecrookedhouse https://www.instagram.com/ thecrookedhouse/

Synopsis

elcome to The Teddies Saga, a gripping new middle grade trilogy from New York Times-bestselling author Daniel Kraus. When Buddy wakes up in the middle of a garbage dump, filled with a certain awareness: he’s a teddy bear; he spent time at a Store waiting for his future to begin; and he is meant for the loving arms of a child. Now he knows one more thing: Something has gone terribly wrong. Soon he finds other discarded teddies―Horace, Sugar, Sunny, and Reginald. Though they aren’t sure how their luck soured, they all agree that they need to get back to the Store if they’re ever to fulfill their destinies. So, they embark on a perilous trek across the dump and into the outer world. With ravenous rats, screeching gulls, and a menacing world in front of them, the teddies will need to overcome insurmountable challenges to find their way home. Equal parts Toy Story and Lord of the Flies, They Threw Us Away is the unforgettable start of a captivating series.

Review As a kid, was there ever a time when you thought that your toys were alive? ⁣ They Threw Us Away by @kraus_author is a brilliant and poignant story about a group of teddy bears that cling to hope in a world filled with despair. ⁣ ⁣When Buddy wakes up in the middle of a garbage dump, he is filled with a certain awareness: He’s a teddy bear; he spent time at a Store waiting for his future to begin; and he is meant for the arms of a loving child. Now he knows one more thing: something has gone terribly wrong.⁣ ⁣P ublished September 15th and considered a middle grade book, I’m kicking myself for not reading it sooner. I finished it in less than 2 days and was completely captivated by the harrowing tale of these sweet teddy bears. ⁣ ⁣I suppose it is a mid-grade book...I mean, Toy Story wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows either but I found this story to be more realistic in what would happen if toys came to life. In other words, life sucks. Lots of bad things happen to these floofy guys but it’s awe inspiring to read about their love and hope. ⁣ ⁣I’m giving this book 5 glittering stars for warming my heart and watering my eyes and yet still appeasing my dark side. ⁣ ⁣As the wonderful author Holly Black said this book is “a deliciously macabre fairy tale, full of snuggles.” ⁣ ⁣I received a copy of this book from @kayepublicity in exchange for an honest review. I just want to say that this book was wonderful and stirred my imagination back into life. I will be recommending this one to everybody.grief horror sub-genre.⁣

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The Raven by Jonathan Janz

grumplstiltskin rating - 4.5 Stars Goodread Rating - 4.24 Stars

Synopsis

Review by grumplstiltskin https://www.instagram.com/grumplstiltskin/

earing that mankind is heading toward nuclear extinction, a group of geneticists unleash a plot to save the world. They’ve discovered that mythological creatures such as werewolves, vampires, witches, and satyrs were once real, and that these monstrous genetic strands are still present in human DNA. These radical scientists unleash the bestial side of human beings that had been dormant for eons, and within months, most people are dead, and bloodthirsty creatures rule the earth. Despite the fact that Dez McClane has no special powers, he is determined to atone for the lives he couldn’t save and to save the woman he loves. But how long can a man survive in a world full of monsters?

Review The Raven is a post apocalyptic smorgasbord of delicious monstrous flavors that I devoured like a werewolf devouring its prey during a full moon. As mankind heads for nuclear extinction, a group of geneticists find monster characteristics present in human DNA and unleash bloodthirsty creatures to rule the world, wiping out most of humanity. “Humans have always been monsters. We just needed to embrace our shadow side.: Dez McClane is one of the remaining humans who has managed to stay alive despite having no special abilities, and we join him on his quest to find the woman he loves and in his fight to stay alive. I have to admit, the last few post apocalyptic novels I have read I didn’t LOVE, so I have quietly avoided reading them for fear it will just end in disappointment. But....after reading The Raven, I am happy to report that the curse is broken! With monsters, action, great world building, and a cast of fabulous characters, I found it unique is so many different aspects. I ate up the bloody fight scenes, gory details and cringe worthy descriptions and I’m one of those people who enjoys a side of romance with the main course. I could picture this messed up world in my head pretty vividly which rates this book even higher in my review. As a reader of horror as well as fantasy, I love intricate world building and I hope Janz only dives further down that wormhole as Dez’s journey continues I give The Raven by @jonathanjanz an enthusiastic 4.5 stars and patiently (more like impatiently) await the next book!

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GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Congratulations Kindle Paperwhite Winner - Gillian Petrie Only Human signed book Winner - Gabriel (aka - gbrlngela@) I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give the rest on the mail out, We will mail you Well done

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