When you’re talking about reading thirty one books in a month, it tends to get a little lengthy. But as promised, here is the next list of ten books on my to be read challenge. And in case you missed it yesterday, I’ve included my October book bingo board again to help you crush your TBR list. Or add to it. Either way.
As always, I will link the books and where you can find them. When you use my links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps me buy more books to read and review so thank you.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
From the Amazon description –
“There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.” ― Bram Stoker, Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula’s attempt to move from Transylvania to England so he may find new blood and spread undead curse, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women 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 touches on themes such as the role of women in Victorian culture, sexual conventions, immigration, colonialism, and post-colonialism.
Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, he defined its modern form, and the novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film and television interpretations.
All time bestseller Classics!
FantasticLand: A Novel by Mike Bockoven
From the Amazon description –
Since the 1970s, FantasticLand has been the theme park where “Fun is Guaranteed!” But when a hurricane ravages the Florida coast and isolates the park, the employees find it anything but fun. Five weeks later, the authorities who rescue the survivors encounter a scene of horror. Photos soon emerge online of heads on spikes outside of rides and viscera and human bones littering the gift shops, breaking records for hits, views, likes, clicks, and shares. How could a group of survivors, mostly teenagers, commit such terrible acts?
Presented as a fact-finding investigation and a series of first-person interviews, FantasticLand pieces together the grisly series of events. Park policy was that the mostly college-aged employees surrender their electronic devices to preserve the authenticity of the FantasticLand experience. Cut off from the world and left on their own, the teenagers soon form rival tribes who viciously compete for food, medicine, social dominance, and even human flesh. This new social network divides the ravaged dreamland into territories ruled by the Pirates, the ShopGirls, the Freaks, and the Mole People. If meticulously curated online personas can replace private identities, what takes over when those constructs are lost?
FantasticLand is a modern take on Lord of the Flies meets Battle Royale that probes the consequences of a social civilization built online.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
About Mike Bockoven
Mike Bockoven writes thrillers, horror and other stories while his kids are in gymnastics class or at piano lessons. He lives with his wife, Sarah, two daughters, Emaline and Tessa, and an exceptionally dumb wiener dog named Sherlock.
You can find out more at his website, mikebockoven.com, on Facebook (facebook.com/Bockovenbooks) and on Twitter @mikebockoven. He lives in Grand Island, Nebraska.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/2W0frzd
Ghostbusters – The Original Movie Novelizations Omnibus by Richard Mueller
From the Amazon description –
For the first time in a beautiful new edition, this omnibus will collect together the original official novelizations of both Ghostbusters 1 and 2.
Relive the classic Ghostbusters stories with the original movie novelizations reprinted for the first time since 1980s.
When Dr. Peter Venkman and his Columbia University colleagues are kicked out of their prestigious academic posts, they start a private practice as professional ghost-catchers. Although things do not start auspiciously for the three parascientists, their television advertisements finally pay off when beautiful Dana Barrett contracts them. It seems her apartment has become the entryway for ghastly ghosts and goofy ghouls hellbent on terrorising New York City. Soon they’re not just going to her rescue, but trying to rid the whole city of the slimy creatures.
After waging a war on slime that cost New York City millions, the Ghostbusters find themselves out of business until an ancient tyrant, preparing a return to the Earthly domain through his portrait at the Manhattan Museum of Modern Art, sets his sights on Dana Barrett’s baby as the new home for his wicked soul!
About Richard Mueller
I’ve been writing television animation, documentaries, drama and comedy since 1983. I also sold several dozen science fiction short stories over the years, which I will be compiling into a few collections. I’ve completed an adventure novel, NIGHT WORK, and a second book in the series, THE MYSTERIOUS MOUNTAINS.
Following high school and a B.A. in Theatre Arts, I served in the U.S. Coast Guard. After the military I used my G.I. Bill to take advanced degrees in writing at Humboldt State University and the University of Iowa Playwright’s Workshop. I was an accomplished stage actor with over 70 roles to my credit when I decided to switch my energy to writing.
I came to Hollywood to be a professional writer, first in print science fiction, then in television. I was lucky enough to have two mentors; Ray Bradbury (who advised me to write mysteries–the Glen Gleason Mysteries being the result)and Harlan Ellison. After finally branching out into film, and editorial criticism, I returned to print. I also co-host “the best open mic show in L.A.”, comedy and original music at the Cahuenga General Store.
I’m one of those people you see writing in coffee houses, and I actually get things done.
I also mentor writers, and have been adopted by a cat and a parrot.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3CCbW1K
The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
From the Amazon description –
“[A] Stephen Kinglike horror story…A chilling, bloody ghost story that resonates.”— Kirkus
From the highly acclaimed author of the Bone Witch trilogy comes a chilling story of a Japanese ghost looking for vengeance and the boy who has no choice but to trust her, lauded as a “a fantastically creepy story sure to keep readers up at night” (RT Book Reviews)
I am where dead children go.
Okiku is a lonely soul. She has wandered the world for centuries, freeing the spirits of the murdered-dead. Once a victim herself, she now takes the lives of killers with the vengeance they’re due. But releasing innocent ghosts from their ethereal tethers does not bring Okiku peace. Still she drifts on.
Such is her existence, until she meets Tark. Evil writhes beneath the moody teen’s skin, trapped by a series of intricate tattoos. While his neighbors fear him, Okiku knows the boy is not a monster. Tark needs to be freed from the malevolence that clings to him. There’s just one problem: if the demon dies, so does its host.
Suspenseful and creepy, The Girl from the Well is perfect for readers looking for
- Spooky books for young adults
- Japanese horror novels
- Ghost stories for teens
- East Asian folklore
Praise for The Girl from the Well
“There’s a superior creep factor that is pervasive in every lyrical word of Chupeco’s debut, and it’s perfect for teens who enjoy traditional horror movies…the story is solidly scary and well worth the read.” — Booklist
“Chupeco makes a powerful debut with this unsettling ghost story…told in a marvelously disjointed fashion from Okiku’s numbers-obsessed point of view, this story unfolds with creepy imagery and an intimate appreciation for Japanese horror, myth, and legend.” — Publishers Weekly STARRED review
“It hit all the right horror notes with me, and I absolutely recommend it to fans looking for a good scare. ” — The Book Smugglers
About Rin Chupeco
Despite an unsettling resemblance to Japanese revenants, Rin always maintains their sense of hummus. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, they keep four pets: a dog, two birds, and a husband.
They are represented by Rebecca Podos of the Helen Rees Agency.
Sign up at their newsletter to receive updates on new books, author events, and giveaways! http://www.rinchupeco.com/newsletter
Twitter: @rinchupeco
Instagram: @rinchupeco
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3kvoNMT
To buy both books in the series for Kindle e-book, click here. https://amzn.to/2Zn9SMH
Halloween: The Official Movie Novelization by John Passarella
From the Amazon description –
The official novelization of the highly anticipated revamp of the classic horror film Halloween.
In 1978, Laurie Strode survived an encounter with Michael Myers, a masked figure who killed her friends and terrorized the town of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night. Myers was later gunned down, apprehended and committed to Smith’s Grove State Hospital.
For forty years, memories of that nightmarish ordeal have haunted Laurie and now Myers is back once again on Halloween, having escaped a routine transfer, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. This time, Laurie is prepared with years of survival training to protect herself, her daughter Karen and her granddaughter Allyson, a teenager separated from her family and enjoying Halloween festivities.
Cover Image © 2018 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
About John Passarella
When I was ten or eleven, I started telling stories by drawing them. (To this day, drawing and doodling helps open up my creative side for storytelling. Once in college, during a tedious lecture, I doodled in the margins of my spiral-bound notebook and those doodles eventually turned into a complete science fiction novel manuscript.) By twelve, I began typing one page stories. Into high school and college, I was writing novel-length manuscripts.
My latest novels are HALLOWEEN: THE OFFICIAL MOVIE NOVELIZATION (my 1st movie novelization), and SUPERNATURAL: JOYRIDE (my 4th original novel based on the hit CW TV show, both publishing OCT 2018.
My first novel, the co-authored WITHER (by “J.G. Passarella”) won the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Columbia Pictures bought the feature film rights. I followed up with two stand-alone sequels, WITHER’S RAIN and WITHER’S LEGACY (Wendy Ward novels), plus the paranormal thriller KINDRED SPIRIT and SHIMMER. In addition, I’ve authored multiple original media tie-in novels, including BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: GHOUL TROUBLE, ANGEL: AVATAR, ANGEL: MONOLITH, SUPERNATURAL: NIGHT TERROR, SUPERNATURAL: RITE OF PASSAGE, SUPERNATURAL: COLD FIRE and GRIMM: THE CHOPPING BLOCK. My fiction collection EXIT STRATEGY & OTHERS (with two new novelettes) is now available for Kindle.
I graduated from Interboro High School (Prospect Park, PA) and Widener University (Chester, PA). Currently, I live in New Jersey with my wife, two children (the middle child currently serves in the US Army), and two dogs.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/39qGp6f
John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster by Sam L. Amirante and Danny Broderick
From the Amazon description –
“Sam, could you do me a favor?” Thus begins a story that has now become part of America’s true crime hall of fame. It is a gory, grotesque tale befitting a Stephen King novel. It is also a David and Goliath saga—the story of a young lawyer fresh from the Public Defender’s Office whose first client in private practice turns out to be the worst serial killer in our nation’s history.
Sam Amirante had just opened his first law practice when he got a phone call from his friend John Wayne Gacy, a well-known and well-liked community figure. Gacy was upset about what he called “police harassment” and asked Amirante for help. With the police following his every move in connection with the disappearance of a local teenager, Gacy eventually gives a drunken, dramatic, early morning confession—to his new lawyer. Gacy is eventually charged with murder and Amirante suddenly becomes the defense attorney for one of American’s most disturbing serial killers. It is his first case. This is a gripping narrative that reenacts the gruesome killings and the famous trial that shocked a nation.
About Sam L. Amirante
Sam L. Amirante was born in Chicago, Illinois. He honorably served in the United States Marine Corps. He is a retired circuit court judge and currently practices law with a concentration in criminal defense. He has been named as an Illinois Leading Lawyer by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and authored the missing child act of 1984, which was the basis of the current Amber Law. He has lectured throughout the country and has appeared on numerous radio and TV shows. He along with Danny Broderick authored John Wayne Gacy “Defending A Monster” and is currently working on an an upcoming novel.
About Danny Broderick
Danny Broderick founded the law firm of The Law Offices of Daniel J. Broderick. During his twenty years of private practice, Mr. Broderick represented thousands of persons charged with felony and misdemeanor crimes. He is a producer and a co-writer of the documentary film “Defending a Monster,” based on his book of the same name. Danny has two wonderful sons, Jack and Patrick, and one beautiful daughter, Diane, and lives in Costa Mesa, California.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/2XD4P9Y
The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman
From the Amazon description –
WINNER OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION’S BEST HORROR NOVEL OF THE YEAR
“As much F. Scott Fitzgerald as Dean Koontz” (#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs), Christopher Buehlman excels in twisting the familiar into newfound dread in his “genre-bending” (California Literary Review) novels. Now the acclaimed author of Those Across the River delivers his most disquieting tale yet…
The secret is, vampires are real and I am one.
The secret is, I’m stealing from you what is most truly yours and I’m not sorry…
New York City in 1978 is a dirty, dangerous place to live. And die. Joey Peacock knows this as well as anybody—he has spent the last forty years as an adolescent vampire, perfecting the routine he now enjoys: womanizing in punk clubs and discotheques, feeding by night, and sleeping by day with others of his kind in the macabre labyrinth under the city’s sidewalks.
The subways are his playground and his highway, shuttling him throughout Manhattan to bleed the unsuspecting in the Sheep Meadow of Central Park or in the backseats of Checker cabs, or even those in their own apartments who are too hypnotized by sitcoms to notice him opening their windows. It’s almost too easy.
Until one night he sees them hunting on his beloved subway. The children with the merry eyes. Vampires, like him…or not like him. Whatever they are, whatever their appearance means, the undead in the tunnels of Manhattan are not as safe as they once were.
And neither are the rest of us.
About Christopher Buehlman
Christopher Buehlman is a native Floridian and author of the literary horror novels ‘Those Across the River’ and ‘Between Two Fires.’ He is the winner of the 2007 Bridport Prize in poetry, and the author of several provocative plays, including Hot Nights for the War Wives of Ithaka. Many know him as comedian Christophe the Insultor, something of a cult figure on the renaissance festival circuit. He lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. His first novel, ‘Those Across the River,’ was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for best novel in 2012.
To learn more about the author and their other books, click here. https://amzn.to/3kC2chX
Nightmare At 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories By Richard Matheson
From the Amazon description –
Remember that monster on the wing of the airplane? William Shatner saw it on The Twilight Zone, John Lithgow saw it in the movie-even Bart Simpson saw it. “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” is just one of many classic horror stories by Richard Matheson that have insinuated themselves into our collective imagination.
Here are more than twenty of Matheson’s most memorable tales of fear and paranoia, including:
“Duel,” the nail-biting tale of man versus machines that inspired Steven Spielberg’s first film;
“Prey,” in which a terrified woman is stalked by a malevolent Tiki doll, as chillingly captured in yet another legendary TV moment;
“Blood Son,” a disturbing portrait of a strange little boy who dreams of being a vampire;
“Dress of White Silk,” a seductively sinister tale of evil and innocence.
Personally selected by Richard Matheson, the bestselling author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, these and many other stories, more than demonstrate why he is rightfully regarded as one of the finest and most influential horror writers of our generation.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
About Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson was born in 1926. He began publishing SF with his short story ‘Born of Man and Woman’ in 1950. I Am Legend was published in 1954 and subsequently filmed as The Omega Man (in 1971), starring Charlton Heston, and I Am Legend (in 2007), starring Will Smith. Matheson wrote the script for the film The Incredible Shrinking Man, an adaptation of his second SF novel The Shrinking Man. The film won a Hugo award in 1958. He wrote many screenplays as well as episodes of The Twilight Zone. He continued to write short stories and novels, some of which formed the basis for film scripts, including Duel, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1971. A film of his novel What Dreams May Come was released in 1998, starring Robin Williams. Stephen King has cited Richard Matheson as a creative influence on his work.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/2XAKNgj
Nights of the Living Dead: An Anthology by Jonathan Maberry and George A. Romero
In 1968, the world experienced a brand-new kind of terror with the debut of George A. Romero’s landmark movie Night of the Living Dead. The newly dead rose to attack the living. Not as vampires or werewolves. This was something new . . . and terrifying. Since then, zombies have invaded every aspect of popular culture.
But it all started on that dreadful night in a remote farmhouse. . . .
Nights of the Living Dead returns to that night, to the outbreak, to where it all began. New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry teams with the godfather of the living dead himself, George A. Romero, to present a collection of all-new tales set during the forty-eight hours of that legendary outbreak.
Nights of the Living Dead includes stories by some of today’s most important writers: Brian Keene, Carrie Ryan, Chuck Wendig, Craig E. Engler, David J. Schow, David Wellington, Isaac Marion, Jay Bonansinga, Joe R. Lansdale, John A. Russo, John Skipp, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Max Brallier, Mike Carey, Mira Grant, Neal and Brenda Shusterman, and Ryan Brown. Plus original stories by Romero and Maberry!
For anyone who loves scary stories, take a bite out of this!
About Jonathan Maberry
JONATHAN MABERRY is a NY Times bestselling suspense novelist, five-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, is being produced as a Netflix original series, starring Ian Somerhalder (LOST, VAMPIRE DIARIES) and will debut in early 2019. His other works include the Joe Ledger thrillers, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, and many others. His YA space travel novel, Mars One, is in development for film; and his novel Glimpse and the V-Wars shared-world vampire apocalypse series are being developed for TV, as is his bestselling Joe Ledger thriller series. He is the editor of many anthologies including the X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Nights of the Living Dead (co-edited with zombie genre creator George A. Romero). His comics include Captain America, the Bram Stoker Award-winning Bad Blood, Black Panther, Punisher, Marvel Zombies Return, and more. His Rot & Ruin novels were included in the Ten Best Horror Novels for Young Adults. His first novel, Ghost Road Blues was named one of the 25 Best Horror Novels of the New Millennium. A board game version of V-Wars: A Game of Blood and Betrayal was based on his noels and comics. He was a featured expert on the History Channel’s Zombies: A Living History and True Monsters. He is one third of the very popular and mildly weird Three Guys With Beards podcast. . He is a board member of the Horror Writers Association and the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers. Jonathan lives in Del Mar, California with his wife, Sara Jo. http://www.jonathanmaberry.com
To learn more about the author and their other books, click here. https://amzn.to/39rsNHR
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
From the Amazon description – Dr. Henry Jekyll, fascinated by the dichotomy of good and evil, no longer wants to inhibit his dark side. He concocts a potion to create the alter ego of Mr. Edward Hyde. With the burden of evil placed on Hyde, Jekyll can now take pleasure in his immoral, nefarious fantasies—free of conscience and guilt. It’s when Hyde turns to murder that Jekyll realizes how monstrous his impulses are and how hard they are to suppress.
Exploring the nature of shame, repression, desire, and control, Stevenson’s story has so endured that “a Jekyll and Hyde personality” has become part of our lexicon in understanding our own—sometimes involuntary—duality.
About Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a novelist, poet, short-story writer, and essayist. In 1883, while bedridden with tuberculosis, he wrote what would become one of the best known and most beloved collections of children’s poetry in the English language, A Child’s Garden of Verses. Block City is taken from that collection. Stevenson is also the author of such classics as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3zvZlLw
Well, there you have it. The next ten books on my to be read in October list. I’ll have the next eleven for you soon. If you read any of these, please let me know what you thought of them. That’s all I’ve got for today, train wreck. All aboard.
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The Glorious Train Wreck Mom 
A very good list of horror movies 😍😍😍
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