Good gracious! It’s been a long, long time since my last post! Why must life get so darn busy this time of year? Now that I have a sliver of time to give my little book blog some love, I’m happy to bring you this little roundup of four-star spooky reads…and sadly a few flops.

Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio

Rarely do I DNF novellas and short stories, but sometimes I just can’t soldier on. I can’t put my finger on it, but this story couldn’t hold my attention. The characters were just too depressing, and I couldn’t tell where this story was even going. While working their night shifts, they formed some sort of cemetery meetup club. At some point, they find the caretaker digging an open grave and decide to investigate him. The premise sounds fun and spooky, but it really didn’t do anything for me. I guess you can say I wasn’t digging it—ha!

The Haunted by Danielle Vega

Oh wow—this was really bad. I’m sorry but claiming this is the “Stephen King of YA” is beyond absurd. The book started off like any campy teen horror movie: a young girl moves into a haunted house with her family and instantly falls into the cool kid crowd. Things start to go bump in the night, and she soon learns that she’s living in a murder house. Sounds fun, right? Just when I thought I might enjoy this book, the author decides to throw in all the annoying tropes. Yep, that means insta-love, a bad boy Vs. good boy love triangle, and a milquetoast “Mary Sue” main character. And then there’s the end! Oh my stars—what a mess! The reveal made little sense, and not clues were dropped along the way to give us readers a chance to piece it together. Not cool, man. I think I’ll go ahead and take the rest of Danielle Vega’s books off of my TBR pile.

Small Town Horror by Roland Malfi

This is my first Ronald Malfi book, which is nuts because I love paranormal horror stories. A YouTube book reviewer likened the storyline to Stephen King’s “It,” so how could I not give this a shot? The storyline involves a group of high school friends reuniting in their dreary small town to ward off evil, which sounds familiar, I’m sure. However, the characters, the town, and the evil forces are far different from Stephen King’s seminal classic. Instead of an evil clown, we’re dealing with witchcraft, curses, and a haunted house with something nasty festering in the basement—such fun! This is a solid horror story set in an isolated seaside town that seems to be shrouded in dread. Think “Midnight Mass” meets “It” meets “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Loved it!

The Safe Man: A Ghost Story by Michael Connelly

This right here is why I can’t quit Audible. Even though I get free audiobooks on Libby and Hoopla, I still can’t get these treasures anywhere else. I’ll confess: this is my first Michael Connelly story, and boy howdy am I impressed! This guy can pen a fantastic ghost story with clever little twists. I enjoyed the entire storyline of a downtrodden locksmith who gets roped into opening a cursed safe. Soon, he and his client (a pompous best-selling horror writer) must close the portal they opened to escape impending doom. Such fun! I loved the ghostly visits and the all-around creepy vibes. This is an amazing full-cast production that is perfect for a long car ride.