1Tess_W
December’s kit is horror thrillers. What is a horror thriller? When I decided to define it, for my own peace of mind, I discovered that was not as easily said as done. This genre is not defined, literature-wise. However, it is defined in relation to TV and movies thusly: Horror is the seemingly inevitable but predictable doom, where the climax of the movie is either getting away or stopping the evil, whereas thrillers are all about a tension-filled story that's not predictable. There are evil ghosts attacking people, and the elements inside the story are meant to horrify the viewer. (nofilmschool.com) That’s about as clear as mud, eh? The following are a few suggestions I got when I searched using tag mashes horror and thriller. Have fun with your last official scary read of 2021! Don’t forget the wiki here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2021_ScaredyKIT
The Shining
The Stand
The Only Good Indians
It
The Hunger
Frankenstein
Dracula
House of Leaves
Salem's Lot
The Stand
Misery
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
The Exorcist
Joe Hill
The Haunting of Hill House
Ring
The Institute
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
A Head full of Ghosts
Let the Right One In
Rosemary's Baby
Hell House
11/22/63
The Exorcist
White is for Witching
Home Before Dark
The Chestnut Man
The Lost Village: A Novel
The Cabin at the End of the World
Red Dragon
Chasing the Boogeyman
The Twisted Ones
Bird Box
The Shining
The Stand
The Only Good Indians
It
The Hunger
Frankenstein
Dracula
House of Leaves
Salem's Lot
The Stand
Misery
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
The Exorcist
Joe Hill
The Haunting of Hill House
Ring
The Institute
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
A Head full of Ghosts
Let the Right One In
Rosemary's Baby
Hell House
11/22/63
The Exorcist
White is for Witching
Home Before Dark
The Chestnut Man
The Lost Village: A Novel
The Cabin at the End of the World
Red Dragon
Chasing the Boogeyman
The Twisted Ones
Bird Box
2DeltaQueen50
I have The Lost Village by Camilla Sten on my Kindle so I will be reading that.
3Tess_W
I requested and received the same day The Cabin at the End of the World from the library--my Dec. read.
ETA: Finished and this book can be described as a home invasion with an apocalyptic theme. This book was the ultimate in slow moving--you can read the first 50 pages and the last 50 pages and still have "read" the book. I was surprised by the ending, but not enough to make up for the sheer dullness of the rest of the book. That being said, it wasn't a "bad" book, but certainly not one that I would read again. Perhaps this might have worked better as a short story. 272 pages
ETA: Finished and this book can be described as a home invasion with an apocalyptic theme. This book was the ultimate in slow moving--you can read the first 50 pages and the last 50 pages and still have "read" the book. I was surprised by the ending, but not enough to make up for the sheer dullness of the rest of the book. That being said, it wasn't a "bad" book, but certainly not one that I would read again. Perhaps this might have worked better as a short story. 272 pages
4sturlington
I have The Shadows, which is tagged horror and thriller, so that's what I will read. Know nothing about it.
5LibraryCin
I think originally I just looked for the thriller tag. And I had decided on any of 6 books! LOL! Well, I have 3 on the tbr by one author and 3 by another.
But, maybe if I do a tagmash with horror as well, that will help me narrow it down. :-)
But, maybe if I do a tagmash with horror as well, that will help me narrow it down. :-)
6LibraryCin
Hmmm, none by one of that authors came up when I added "horror" into the mix, and only one by the other author. I do question whether even that one should legitimately be counted as horror?
I might rethink...
I might rethink...
7Kristelh
I completed The Hunger by Alma Katsu; a combo of horror, thriller, alternate history. Rated it 3.7 stars.
8LibraryCin
The Overnight Guest / Heather Gudenkauf
4.5 stars
Current day: Wylie is a true crime writer who has left her son with her ex-husband to head to an isolated rural area where she has rented an old farmhouse to be able to better concentrate on her writing. On a cold, blizzardy, freezing-rain/snow-filled night, she finds a little boy curled up in the snow outside the house. She brings him in to warm him up, but he’s not talking as to how or why he was there.
2020: 12-year olds Josie and Becky are best friends, but tragedy strikes when Becky stays overnight one night. The farmhouse then houses two murdered people and two people have disappeared. Josie is the only one who managed to get away.
Timeline unclear initially: a mother and daughter are kept locked in a basement, with an abusive man/father coming to visit occasionally.
Wow, this pulled me in right away and I wanted to keep reading! Unfortunately, for me, I was reading before bed (twice) and especially the first night, I had a hard time getting to sleep! (Which, really, in a thriller or horror book, is a good thing!). All three storylines were appealing to me, and the author brought them together very well.
4.5 stars
Current day: Wylie is a true crime writer who has left her son with her ex-husband to head to an isolated rural area where she has rented an old farmhouse to be able to better concentrate on her writing. On a cold, blizzardy, freezing-rain/snow-filled night, she finds a little boy curled up in the snow outside the house. She brings him in to warm him up, but he’s not talking as to how or why he was there.
2020: 12-year olds Josie and Becky are best friends, but tragedy strikes when Becky stays overnight one night. The farmhouse then houses two murdered people and two people have disappeared. Josie is the only one who managed to get away.
Timeline unclear initially: a mother and daughter are kept locked in a basement, with an abusive man/father coming to visit occasionally.
Wow, this pulled me in right away and I wanted to keep reading! Unfortunately, for me, I was reading before bed (twice) and especially the first night, I had a hard time getting to sleep! (Which, really, in a thriller or horror book, is a good thing!). All three storylines were appealing to me, and the author brought them together very well.
9DeltaQueen50
I have completed my read of The Lost Village by Camilla Sten. This book brought back the creepy feelings I have had when visiting a ghost town, that feeling like you are being watched by the past inhabitants. For me, this was an excellent horror thriller.
10lowelibrary
I am reading Ghosts of Christmas Past by Tim Martin. A book of short horror stories, one is bound to be a thriller.
11LibraryCin
The Homecoming / Andrew Pyper
3.5 stars
Aaron, his mother, and his two sisters, Bridge and Fanny, are brought together at an isolated lodge/acreage(?) to be read the will of their father/husband, who had a fairly secret life, of which neither his kids, nor his wife knew much about. It turns out he was worth millions, but to be able to inherit this fortune, all four must stay at this lodge/acreage for 30 days with no contact with the outside world. They agree, but there are more surprises (and scares) to come.
I was reading this often while distracted. I really feel like I would have “enjoyed” the scary atmosphere of it more, had those distractions not been there. One thing I didn’t like, though, was that not everything was revealed to the reader at the end (unless I was distracted when it was?). Not everything I read needs to be tidied up at the end, but it seemed Aaron knew about it - it just wasn’t revealed to the reader, and I would have liked to have known what that little tidbit was. There were definitely some surprises I would not have guessed at.
3.5 stars
Aaron, his mother, and his two sisters, Bridge and Fanny, are brought together at an isolated lodge/acreage(?) to be read the will of their father/husband, who had a fairly secret life, of which neither his kids, nor his wife knew much about. It turns out he was worth millions, but to be able to inherit this fortune, all four must stay at this lodge/acreage for 30 days with no contact with the outside world. They agree, but there are more surprises (and scares) to come.
I was reading this often while distracted. I really feel like I would have “enjoyed” the scary atmosphere of it more, had those distractions not been there. One thing I didn’t like, though, was that not everything was revealed to the reader at the end (unless I was distracted when it was?). Not everything I read needs to be tidied up at the end, but it seemed Aaron knew about it - it just wasn’t revealed to the reader, and I would have liked to have known what that little tidbit was. There were definitely some surprises I would not have guessed at.
12LibraryCin
Such a Pretty Smile / Kristi DeMeester
4 stars
Young girls are disappearing and turning up dead and mutilated, as if from an animal. Lila is 13-years old and didn’t have many friends at school, until Macie took her under her wing. Unfortunately, Lila begins to hear things that don’t seem to be there. Lila’s mother Caroline, an artist, has been hiding her past from her daughter. A past that involved something in New Orleans where Caroline had lived with Lila’s father, Daniel.
The story is told from the points of view of both Lila (in 2019) and Caroline (2019 and 2004), but the chapter names tell us whose POV and when, so easy to follow. I really liked this. There were definitely some heart-thumping moments, though at the same time, it was a bit tricky to picture some things. I do need to add a warning that this is horror - there are some violent and gruesome scenes.
4 stars
Young girls are disappearing and turning up dead and mutilated, as if from an animal. Lila is 13-years old and didn’t have many friends at school, until Macie took her under her wing. Unfortunately, Lila begins to hear things that don’t seem to be there. Lila’s mother Caroline, an artist, has been hiding her past from her daughter. A past that involved something in New Orleans where Caroline had lived with Lila’s father, Daniel.
The story is told from the points of view of both Lila (in 2019) and Caroline (2019 and 2004), but the chapter names tell us whose POV and when, so easy to follow. I really liked this. There were definitely some heart-thumping moments, though at the same time, it was a bit tricky to picture some things. I do need to add a warning that this is horror - there are some violent and gruesome scenes.
