Cassie was suspended for an antisocial incident at school. Her penance is to read to the ailing proprietor of the town’s esoteric bookshop. When Mr Gussy warns her off a very particular book in his shop, she can’t resist cracking open the ‘dark tome’ – only to find herself whisked far away and long ago to where an Italian has found a staircase to hell…
Category Archive: Spooktastic Reads
They have always walked among us. Some shift shape. Some drink blood. Some step freely between worlds to marvel at the kaleidoscope of lives lived differently. Now, some have chosen to show themselves to us. Others will stop at nothing to keep their secrets. But is humanity ready to live with monsters?
Welcome to Spooktastic Reads! I’m kicking off 13 days of celebrating the darker side of fantasy with a return to Bite-size Reads, my 2022 challenge to read (some of) the amazing anthologies on my shelves. Having trotted the globe with Chinese SF and African horror, for Spooktastic Reads I’m staying on home shores with some uncanny British tales.
It’s nearly that time – Spooktastic Reads starts on October 19 for thirteen days of your Wyrd and Wonder crew daring to venture into the darker side of fantasy. I’ve been revelling in tales of ghosts and curses since the summer, so what can you expect from my Spooktastic Reads?
Autumn is creeping up on us with its promise of arboreal colour, cosy sweaters, and dark nights perfect for curling up with a book that sets our hearts racing. As ever, your Wyrd & Wonder team are here to help! Spooktastic Reads will be back to dare the darker side of fantasy in the 13 days and nights leading up to Hallowe’en.
What? Oh! No, not – not you. You’re lovely. But one of my (admittedly intermittent) Spooktastic traditions is to divert from the strictly fictional into the fantastic realms of myth, (urban) legend and superstition. In past years I’ve talked about weird phenomena and haunts; this year I want to talk about curses.
Britain is in the grip of a global pandemic, but an older – and equally dire – threat is awakening up on the Wiltshire chalk. With only uncertain allies and limited resources at his disposal, Dan must unravel secrets from a time even the dryads can’t remember…
When Jess returns to Malaysia with her parents, she thinks she needs to figure out a job and how to finally tell them she’s in love with another girl. Instead, she’s hearing a voice in her head that wants her to confront a Forbes list business tycoon. Life is about to get even more complicated…
The nights are closing in, the wind is wailing, and the fantasy adventures of May feel like forever ago. But there’s an autumnal fix of Wyrd and Wonder on the way! Spooktastic Reads will be back in October to dare the darker side of fantasy for 13 days leading up to Hallowe’en. Are you brave enough to join us?
Mark Spitz was the very definition of average, carried along unresisting by the currents of middle class life… until the dead started walking.
Now he’s a traumatised loner – sorry, seasoned survivor – sweeping up the remnants of the apocalypse so that the living can return to Manhattan.
Welcome to Zone One.
Top Ten Tuesday is was created by The Broke and the Bookish, and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. We’re celebrating all things spooky for Hallowe’en, so I’m diverting from books to consider the stories that haunt us outside their pages.
As bombs fall on London, the Natural History Museum’s collections are evacuated to the country. Hetty accompanies the mammals to Lockwood Manor, but its haunted halls hold their own threats – to the collection, and to Hetty’s peace of mind…
We’re counting down the days to Hallowe’en with some #SpooktasticReads. Today’s prompt – dark fantasy – is the perfect excuse to enthuse at you about one of my favourite series: Aliette de Bodard’s Gothic fantasy Dominion of the Fallen.
Come, enter the shadows of Fallen Paris with me…
October is here: leaves are a-crunching, pumpkin spice is a-calling and Spooktastic Reads is nearly upon us. Will you join us for Wyrd and Wonder’s annual celebration of dark fantasy, Gothic horror and autumnal scares?
Wyrd and Wonder seems like a long-ago dream, but there’s time for more fantasy flailing before year’s end. We’re delighted to confirm Spooktastic Reads will be back to venture into the darker reaches of fantasy for 13 days leading up to Hallowe’en. Are you brave enough to join us?
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