Back of Book: 

During a business visit to Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania, a young English solicitor finds himself at the center of a series of horrifying incidents. Jonathan Harker is attacked by three phantom women, observes the Count's transformation from human to bat form, and discovers puncture wounds on his own neck that seem to have been made by teeth. Harker returns home upon his escape from Dracula's grim fortress, but a friend's strange malady—involving sleepwalking, inexplicable blood loss, and mysterious throat wounds—initiates a frantic vampire hunt. 

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Adult | Horror | Paranormal 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟 

Back of Book: 

A timeless, terrifying tale of one man's obsession to create life—and the monster that became his legacy.

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Adult | Horror | Science Fiction 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

Back of Book: 

In Gold Creek, Michigan, legend has that the ghost of a local grave digger still walks the cemetery, swinging his shovel, looking for his next victim to bury. But when the town’s wealthy undertaker dies, his estranged daughter must contend with the ghosts that haunt her own family... 

After she left home at seventeen, River Gold swore she would never return to Gold Creek. Growing up at the Gold Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens was a nightmare. Classmates constantly teased her for being part of the “Ghoul” family, while her own family denied that she was actually a Gold. Her father, undertaker Gregory Gold, certainly never acted like a father. He was far more interested in profiting off other people’s tragedies. But now Gregory has died. And River has surrendered to her mother, Fiona’s, pleas that she come back for his funeral.

But the mourning period is cut short when it’s revealed that Gregory died of poisoning—and Fiona is arrested for his murder. Clearly, Fiona, his third wife and the funeral home’s cosmetologist, is being framed. There are plenty of more likely suspects, and River is determined to prove her mother’s innocence. That she’ll have to work with the sheriff—her high school enemy—is a small price to pay.

With a fortune at stake, River is sure the killer lies among Gregory’s first two wives, their children, and grandchildren. Yet soon, other discoveries will be made, and longstanding secrets unearthed. But when teenagers start disappearing from the cemetery, the danger hits closer to home than River imagined possible. Drawn back into the lives—and lies—of the Golds—she’ll have to use her every resource to keep herself, and her loved ones, safe.

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Adult | Horror | Mystery | Thriller 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟 

A spooky thriller set in a small Michigan town featuring a crematorium, a mysterious grave digger, and the murder of a the leader of a dynasty that deals in death. 

Sixteen years ago, River swore that she would never return to her hometown or the Gold Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens in which she was raised. But when Gregory Gold I, the head of the household and her father, dies from mysterious causes, River has no choice but to return to Gold Creek to support her mother. With Gregory's massive amount of wealth at stake, River is convinced that one of the members of the Gold family is to blame for Gregory's murder. The longer she stays in Gold Creek, the more deadly secrets that come to light. Inside the Gold Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, no member of the Gold family is safe when the family business is up for grabs. 

I found the beginning of this book to be pretty interesting. It took a bit of time to wrap my head around the entire family (I am really grateful for the family tree that was included in the front of this novel), but I eventually got it down. The set up of the funeral home and the family estate was extremely suspicious from the start, but I found it very entertaining trying to figure out who would benefit the most from Gregory I's death. There was so many characters that for the longest time it was near impossible to even warrant a guess, but things become more clear with time and I was pretty much set on the fact that certain characters were guilty. 

The subplot that follows River and her ex-boyfriend, Michael, was pretty interesting. The cop who is investigating the murder is River's estranged boyfriend's brother, which made for a very interesting dynamic. River's daughter, Sarah, and Luke's son, Jackson, also have a bit of a thing, which is a tad weird due to the close relations of their families, but I did really enjoy how those two interacted with one another. Jackson has went through many traumatic events, and seeing Sarah help him through all the new turmoil was sweet. 

The reveals in this one weren't super shocking when it comes to who was doing certain things, but it was quite alarming the lengths that some of the Golds were willing to take. Many of the scenarios that pan out in this book are very close to incest, which I found greatly disturbing, especially due to the fact that literally three different incidents occur throughout this book that are waaaaay too close to family members sleeping with each other. I don't think any of them are technically related, but man is the Gold family messed up. All these incidents most definitely soured this book a bit for me, but it added a shock factor that I didn't see coming. I feel like I would be remiss not to warn about this in the review though. 

Also, the epilogue was super confusing. I'm not sure exactly what seeing this scene did to add to the story except I guess reveal a certain character's dark secret. I'm almost positive I know who the Gravedigger is, but the book didn't make it one hundred percent clear. The epilogue was certainly creepy as heck, so I guess it did a good job of not letting the reader down easy at the end of this book. Still, why? 

Overall, "The House by the Cemetery" was a decent horror read that had pretty typical thriller vibes with some shocking reveals that had me greatly disturbed. It reads very much like a dark family drama, so if you like juicy secrets and family members having dirt on each other, I'm sure that would enhance the entertainment value of this book. I didn't love this book, but I found it oddly hard to stop reading about the messed up antics of the Gold family. Not a book I would typically read, but an interesting dive into adult horror nonetheless. 

Back of Book: 

In the ominous, frightening world of Stephen King there are things unimagined, almost unspeakable, working the NIGHT SHIFT: 

Strange presences in Jerusalem's Lot, a town abandoned for generations—and with good reason. No one who wanders there now, after the sun has set, ever comes back alive...

And the hideous growths on the hands of a former astronaut—tiny round and yellow eyes popping through the skin, watching him, not liking what they see...

And the mysterious little girl lost in a fierce Maine blizzard, calling out to her rescuers in a pitiful voice. But she walks on top of the snow—and she leaves no tracks...

And the grim-faced children in a Midwest town where no one seems to live past the age of nineteen...

And the vermin in the second sub-cellar of the old mill—abandoned to darkness for a hundred years and now assuming shapes and sizes nature never intended them to take...

And the giant folding and steam pressing machine in the Blue Ribbon Laundry—an impressive and reliable piece of equipment, until it gets its first taste of human blood...

Note: This anthology includes. . . 

"Jerusalem's Lot" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Graveyard Shift" 🌟🌟🌟 

"Night Surf" 🌟🌟🌟 

"I Am the Doorway" 🌟🌟🌟 

"The Mangler" 🌟🌟🌟 

"The Boogeyman" 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Gray Matter" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Battleground" 🌟🌟 

"Trucks" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Sometimes They Come Back" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Strawberry Spring" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"The Ledge" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"The Lawnmower Man" 🌟🌟 

"Quitters, Inc." 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"I Know What You Need" 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"Children of the Corn" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"The Last Rung on the Ladder" 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"The Man Who Loved Flowers" 🌟🌟 

"One for the Road" 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

"The Woman in the Room" 🌟🌟 

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Adult | Horror | Science Fiction | Fantasy | Contemporary | Short Stories 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

(Note: I individually ranked the stories above, but collectively, I gave Night Shift four stars.) 

Back of Book: 

A tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways

Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance.

But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb.

The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Adult | Horror | Paranormal 

Review: 🌟🌟