Creepy October #Dracula & #Ghosts Oh My! #Halloween Reviews

 Nothing says Halloween and October better than Dracula and ghosts.

Just finished reading two books that definitely will find their place at the top of your TBR pile!

I love when I find something that hooks me and won't let go to the very last page.

 There's been plenty of talk going around about the recently released Reluctant Immortals, a Dracula tale by Bram Stoker award-winning author Gwendolyn Kiste. Once I saw the cover and heard the premise I was lucky enough to get to the top of the library list.

* Goodreads

About the Book:

Inspired by the untold stories of forgotten women in classic literature— Lucy Westenra, a victim of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester's attic-bound wife in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre—as they band together to combat the toxic men bent on destroying their lives, set against the backdrop of the Summer of Love, Haight-Ashbury, 1967.

Review: I have to admit that going on, I didn't remember all of the story of Jane Eyre, having read it decades ago. But regardless, the book provides abused women of the past a chance to fight their abusers again and get their revenge in a new setting.

I like how Dracula was given some new abilities to escape the traditional methods usually used for his extermination. And it was a real horror treat to have the historic and much maligned Renfield come back into the picture as well. I wasn't quite as sure of the "monster" that inhabits Bertha, making her undead as well, but giving readers a glimpse into Lucy's ability to die and return back to life - and what happens to her when she does - definitely adds a new layer to the story. The revengeful nature of the women felt like it went on a bit too long at times, but overall, this was a unique take on old classics and an enjoyable read. 5 stars 

Literally Dead: Tales of Halloween Hauntings, Gaby Triana , editor. (Releases 9/21)

About the Book: Anthology of 19 short stories presents a plethora of ghostly hauntings. Includes: 

JONATHAN MABERRY - "When You See Millions of the Mouthless Dead Across Your Dreams in Pale Battalions Go"
LISA MORTON - "Halloween at the Babylon"
TIM WAGGONER - "No One Sings in the City of the Dead"
JEFF STRAND - "Ghosts of Candies Past"
LEE MURRAY - "The Ghost Cricket"
GWENDOLYN KISTE - "A Scavenger Hunt When the Veil is Thin"
SARA TANTLINGER - "How to Unmake a Ghost"
ALETHEA KONTIS - "The Ghost Lake Mermaid"
CATHERINE CAVENDISH - "The Curiosity at the Back of the Fridge"
SCOTT COLE - "Postcards From Evelyn"
DENNIS K. CROSBY - "Bootsy's House"
STEVE RASNIC TEM - "When They Fall"
CATHERINE McCARTHY - "Soul Cakes"
MAUREEN MANCINI AMATURO - "A Bookstore Made of Skulls"
HENRY HERZ - "The Ghosts of Enerhodar"
JEREMY MEGARGEE - "Always October"
DANA HAMMER - "A Halloween Visit"
DAVID SURFACE - "The Crawlers in the Corn"
EVA ROSLIN - "Pink Lace and Death Gods"

Review: I love haunted and horror shorts and this collection doesn't disappoint. This presents a range of emotions from the sad and haunting tale of the ghost hunter in Jeremy Megargee's Always October, to the sweet Soul Cakes by Catherine McCarthy, and the quirky, odd and funny Ghosts of Candies Past by Jeff Strand. There's surely a story here for everyone! 5 stars