13 Terrifying Horror Books You Should Read this Halloween – Chicago Review of Books

13 Terrifying Horror Books You Should Read this Halloween – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] By the pricking of our thumbs, something wicked this way comes at the Chicago Review of Books. We’ve been brewing up this list of our favorite recent horror books to fill your Halloween with frights of all kinds. A dash of monsters, a pinch of vampires, a draught of ghosts: these are the ingredients for … Read more

Deciphering Horror from Reality in “Extended Stay” – Chicago Review of Books

Deciphering Horror from Reality in “Extended Stay” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] When you think of horror as a genre, what comes to mind? Maybe Stephen King, ghosts, clowns, murderous clowns? I think Juan Martinez would tell you that true horror—the type that haunts and torments you—might be taking place outside of any novel you’ve ever read. Extended Stay opens with a family on a road … Read more

Abundantly Queer Horror in “Helen House” – Chicago Review of Books

Abundantly Queer Horror in “Helen House” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] How well can we ever know the people we love? Are there limits to healthy affection? Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya makes literal in her fiction the questions we might be afraid to ask. With her debut novelette, Helen House, these questions take a sinister turn. The story’s narrator and her girlfriend, Amber, share an intense … Read more

YA books to read based on your favorite horror movie!

YA books to read based on your favorite horror movie!

[ad_1] Binging all things scary this month? We have the book recs to help you find your perfect, creepy read this October based on your favorite horror film!   House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland A dark, twisty modern fairytale where three sisters discover they are not exactly all that they seem and evil things really … Read more

Salvation Through Horror in “My Heart is a Chainsaw” – Chicago Review of Books

Salvation Through Horror in “My Heart is a Chainsaw” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones flashes his mastery of horror film history and raw teen angst in his novel, My Heart is a Chainsaw. Fresh off a double win at the Shirley Jackson Awards for his previous novel, The Only Good Indians, and novella, Night of the Mannequins, Jones lets his … Read more

The Horror Behind the Mask in “Night Rooms” – Chicago Review of Books

The Horror Behind the Mask in “Night Rooms” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] When regarding works of art, Kandinsky asked the viewer, listener, reader to consider “[…] whether the work has enabled you to ‘walk about’ into a hitherto unknown world.” Before this request was an imperative: “Stop thinking!” This can be read as a rejection of searching for a deeper meaning, or engaging in excessive interpretation … Read more

Canonical Queerness and Gothic Horror in “Plain Bad Heroines” – Chicago Review of Books

Canonical Queerness and Gothic Horror in “Plain Bad Heroines” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In 1902 at The Brookhants School for Girls, The Story of Mary MacLane is found on the bodies of Flo and Clara, two girls, in love, stung to death by yellow jackets in an apple orchard. The little red book mysteriously disappears, only to be found again and again by the women who need … Read more

Belonging and metaphysical horror in “That Time of Year” – Chicago Review of Books

Belonging and metaphysical horror in “That Time of Year” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] It’s hard to sum up Marie NDiaye’s That Time of Year (Un temps de saison, translated from French by Jordan Stump), a short novel that unfolds with a dreamlike logic. Every year Herman, a math teacher from Paris, spends the month of August with his wife Rose and their son in a small country … Read more