Let the Right Book In

After being convinced by his psychiatrist that he is responsible for a whole host of murders, Boone flees to the semi-fantastical Midian, a crypt inhabited by shape-shifting monsters who call themselves the Nightbreed. “When the sun goes out and there’s only night, we’ll live on the earth. It’ll be ours.” I only needed to read the first couple of paragraphs of Cabal to be reminded why I have fallen for Barker’s works – his writing is simply incredible. His ability to present horror and gore in such a beautiful way is a unique skill. With Cabal, I was hooked from the very beginning, although there was a bit of a lull in the middle, but thankfully it picked up again to give us a really exciting finale. In terms of the plot of Cabal, it’s a good one – the Nightbreed are a community of peaceful “monsters” who have moved to Midian as a consequence of the fear they instilled in those who didn’t understand what they were. A group of people or “mons...

Watership Down follows the story of a group of rabbits who are in search of a new home after they escape the destruction of their warren. “ We do not take moonlight for granted. It is like snow, or like the dew on a July morning. It does not reveal but changes what it covers. And its low intensity---so much lower than that of daylight---makes us conscious that it is something added to the down, to give it, for only a little time, a singular and marvelous quality that we should admire while we can, for soon it will be gone again. ”  Let’s provide some background to my Watership Down reading experience – I’ve never seen the movie, never read the book before, so I honestly had no idea what to expect. Watership Down is also my friend Mindi’s (Instagram handle: @gowsy33) all-time favourite book, which is actually what prompted me to finally read this greatly loved story. I love dogs and I love sloths and cute little animal videos on facebook, but I wouldn’t say I was a HUGE a...

Walt Blackmore has just moved into his brand new home, where he is met by an unusual brown stain that has formed on the ceiling. He tries to paint over it, but it keeps coming back – and its growing. As it grows it feeds on cockroaches, rats… but pretty quickly it moves onto human blood. “It was no longer just a stain. It was a living entity. And it was feeding.” This book has been my favourite read of the year so far. SO. DAMN. GOOD. It’s clearly heavily influenced by Clive Barker’s “The Hellbound Heart”, so if you’re a fan of that kind of gruesome yet brilliant horror, then this book needs to make its way onto your TBR. However, it might not be for you if you have a weak stomach. It’s simply unputdownable, the pages practically turn themselves! The pace is perfect, there’s never a dull moment, it constantly had my attention and dying to find out what happened next – and the fun thing is that I could never even predict what was coming. This b...