Welcome to Litsy!

May wrap courtesy of StoryGraph. This was definitely a heavy essay/memoir month, but I managed to get some fiction in as well. Diavola stands out as one of the best horror books I've read in a while, and it was my only 5⭐ read of the month.

There aren‘t many surprises in this ghost story. Pretty early on, we know what happened in the past, and how it has affected a family‘s lives whose ancestors committed unspeakable crimes. In Ms Sandeen‘s capable hands, I didn‘t care; she writes so well, and creates such deep characters!

With her Chicago life in ruins, Jermaine Barker accepts job offer from the Duchovny family that seems too good to be true and of course it is — breaking a curse.

There‘s a reason I don‘t read ghost stories but I couldn‘t stop reading this book. It scared me, but when seen from Nell‘s perspective it seemed almost cozy which was just plain crazy and not true which was even scarier. For such a short novel it packs a wallop. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🖤🖤🖤🖤

Typical Hendrix weirdness. Horror, but not too scary. (Unless of course you have a puppet/doll phobia. If so, this one will do you in.) A wacky, entertaining, spooky book.

To 8 year old Bela, her family is her world. There's mommy, Daddy, and Grandma. But there is also other mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day:Can I go inside your heart ?

What a spooky and crazy horror story!

For the rest of my review, visit my Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/ZncN29wOxEU

Enjoy!

It‘s interesting how it‘s the husband with misgivings about the house this time, instead of the wife.

Rhode Island, 1846 & writer Merritt Fernsby inherits a remote estate in Narragansett Bay. When he arrives he expects the property to be rundown as it has not been inhabited for over a century, but surprisingly, it looks good enough to live in. That's extremely fortunate as once he enters the house, it won't let him leave.

Hulda Larkin is sent from BIKER (the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms) to help Merritt with the house.

This creepy book was extra fun to listen to while in WI since that‘s where it takes place. Julie & James move from the city after James‘ gambling spirals out of control. In a fixer-upper is a small town, at first strange noises & a spying grumpy neighbor seem to be the extent of their troubles. Soon, Julie sports mysterious bruises & hallucinations plague them both. Jemc offers multiple explanations but I wanted something more concrete to satisfy!