Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Book Round-Up. Mr. N here and I’m taking over Friday Book Round-Up today. It is that time again when pumpkins take on eerie faces and the darkness of night that seems so peaceful in December is so spooky in October. With the coming of Halloween thoughts turn to ghost stories and things that go bump in the night. For me Halloween time means looking over my fave horror books and finding something chilling to read. *this year I have chosen the J. N. Williamson edited Best of Masques*. For all of you I am giving you the gift of what I think are eight of the best/scariest books I have ever read and am proud to own.
In no specific order:
Salem's Lot - Stephen King
Ben Mears has returned to Jerusalem's Lot in the hopes that living in an old mansion, long the subject of town lore, will help him cast out his own devils and provide inspiration for his new book. But when two young boys venture into the woods and only one comes out alive, Mears begins to realize that there may be something sinister at work and that his hometown is under siege by forces of darkness far beyond his control.
World War Z - Max Brooks
“The end was near.” —Voices from the Zombie War
The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.
Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.
Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?”
Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.
Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war
“I found ‘Patient Zero’ behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he’d rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was ‘cursed.’ I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy’s skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse.” —Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China
“‘Shock and Awe’? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can’t be shocked and awed? Not just won’t, but biologically can’t! That’s what happened that day outside New York City, that’s the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn’t shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! They’re not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid!” —Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers
“Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth.” —General Travis D’Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Haunted Hearts: A Ghost Story – Kimberly Dean
Does a ghost from the past want the man of her future?
Callie is thrilled when she inherits a house in the small town of Shadow Valley. The house is old and creaky, but she’s not afraid of hard work. Unfortunately, no matter how many repairs she makes, the strange noises won’t go away. Cold spots appear. Lights flicker. Footsteps sound down the hallway. Her nerves are soon so frayed that she resorts to calling the one person in town she hasn’t been able to get along with, bullheaded police chief Carter Landry.
Carter doesn’t have time to investigate things that go bump in the night—although, with Callie, the idea is tempting. He’s busy working with the governor’s task force on a major case and dealing with a rash of petty Halloween crimes. He knows that Callie’s house isn’t haunted… no matter what town legend says.
Still, when her distress call comes in, Carter is quick to respond. He may not believe in ghosts, but someone is intentionally scaring the sassy blonde. And he doesn’t like it. As he investigates, the friction between the two of them ignites into passion… and the strange occurrences in the house subside. But could Carter’s presence be the reason? Callie fears that her sexy cop may be the one the ghost has wanted all along.
The Flip (A Haunting On Long Island Series Book 2) – Michael Phillip Cash
Julie and Brad Evans are house flippers. They buy low, clean out the old occupants junk, and try to make a profit. Enter Hemmings House on Bedlam Street in scenic Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Too good a deal to pass up, but with an ominous secret. The old Victorian Mansion has dwellers that do not want to be dispossessed. As the house reveals it's past, will the couples marriage survive The Flip?
Horror House - J.N Williamson
Number 1129 Ridge Avenue - in the winter of 1871, Civil War profiteer Charles Wright Congelier, his wife Lyda and their young servant, Essie moved into the mansion after they bought it for a song. Weeks later, Lyda Congelier brutally murdered Charles and Essie after discovering her philandering husband having an affair with Essie. For roughly 20 years, the house stood vacant until a reclusive doctor named Adolph C. Brunrichter purchased the house in the early 1900s. A year later, the horrific sounds of a woman screaming followed by a huge explosion, brought firefighters into a true 'House of Horrors': Dr. Brunrichter had disappeared, leaving behind him gruesome remnants of his multiple demented experiments in the reanimation of the dead.
Ghost Story - Peter Straub
#1 New York Times bestselling author Peter Straub’s classic tale of horror, secrets, and the dangerous ghosts of the past...
What was the worst thing you’ve ever done?
In the sleepy town of Milburn, New York, four old men gather to tell each other stories—some true, some made-up, all of them frightening. A simple pastime to divert themselves from their quiet lives.
But one story is coming back to haunt them and their small town. A tale of something they did long ago. A wicked mistake. A horrifying accident. And they are about to learn that no one can bury the past forever...
Death Coach - J.N. Williamson
While the town of Thessaly slept, the sound of hoofbeats echoed in the night, an eerie, ominous sound that spoke of foreboding evil & terror. And out of the darkness it appeared, an ancient, intricately carved cariage powered by four gigantic black steeds. Looming just above the carriage, silhouetted by the moon, was the vampire, Lamia Zacharius. Older than time, reeking of evil, tonight she took on the form of a bird. Spreading her wings wide to help; shadow the driver's hideous face, she accompanied him on his midnight journey, thirsty for the taste of fresh human blood --- seeking out then next innocent victim to be taken by the DEATH-COACH.
The Longest Night - J.N. Williamson
Before the night is over they are destined to die again...and again...and again... More than half a century ago, the women died, victims of a crazed and hideous killer. But even in death they found no rest, for night after night they die again. And now the horror grows, as death reaches out to claim new victims and fresh blood...
Have a spooky, scary book recommendation? Share in the comments below and don’t forget to share using the buttons below. See you next week!
MRS N, Book Addict