More than ready to Spring into Horror this April

As we are at the official start of the spring season today, it’s only fitting that the signups for Seasons of Reading’s next readathon, Spring Into Horror , have begun.

Starting on April 1(no joke) running until the end of month, this reading event encourages you to read at least one scary book(mystery, thriller,etc are just fine) during this time. For me, I prefer to stay on theme and have a trio of terrifying tales that should be popcorn worthy indeed:

Speaking of popcorn, my first choice is Chuck Tingle’s Bury Your Gays, which takes on Hollywood and it’s hellish standards.

Screenwriter Misha has managed to achieve a good amount of success with both films and TV, even earning an Oscar nomination that highlights his career nicely.

However, when the producers of his latest hit series demand that he use the title trope against his favorite character, Misha’s refusal leads to a shocking set of violent attacks against him by people dressed up as horror monsters he created from past projects. Yet, are those would-be assassins really in costume or have they kept off the screen to exact their own personal revenge?

Tingle has an amazing gift for blending humor, horror and human pathos into a grand design of storytelling that makes their work instantly legendary. I’m beyond thrilled to have this book start off my springtime scary season here:

Next up is The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn, which  is said to have mixed Practical Magic vibes into a Gone Girl simmering stew of suspense.

The sorceress of the title is Piers Corbin, who faked her own demise to escape a troubled marriage and discovered that she’s the latest in a long line of poison magic makers.

While working as a waitress at her aunt’s cafe in a remote mountain town, Piers hones her deadly talents in order to rid society of as many evil men as she can. 

When evidence of a serial killer’s handiwork in the area becomes well known, Piers decides that, despite the efforts made by the local authorities, this is a job that definitely requires her special skill set of magical vengeance.

I happen to  have won a copy of this book via an online giveaway (that came with a signed bookplate!) awhile ago and thought it would be best to save this one for this particular occasion. The author has a new novel out this month(Only Spell Deep) but I haven’t read her previous work so this ought to be an engaging introduction.

The tone of this book feels very Poison Ivy meets Sleeping with the Enemy to me but we shall see what fearsome flavors arise from these pages very soon:

And for the finale, I selected Rachel Harrison‘s Such Sharp Teeth.

Our leading lady is Rory, who moves back to her hometown to help out Scarlett, her pregnant twin sister. Running into her mother, entrenched in denial about their childhood as well as a former high school crush, Ian, she is already regretting this trip home.

Dealing with the metaphorical ghosts of her haunted past, however, pales in comparison when a chance encounter with a mysterious creature causes Rory to literally howl at the moon.

This frightening changes do have some benefits as Rory begins to feel truly powerful for the first time in her life. Can she even out this mystical balance or is Rory doomed to become a true monster in the worst sense of that term?

Having enjoyed Harrison’s latest novel, Play Nice, last year, this book seems to be a good way to connect with more of her work. Plus, it does remind me a little of that Amy Adams ‘ suburban supernatural movie Nightbitch, which sounds like a suitable companion piece for sure:

If you’re interested in signing up , I have a link in the first paragraph of this post to check out. A thank you in advance to Michelle Miller at Seasons of Reading for setting up this sinister start to a new season of page turning terrors to behold.

Horror is truly on the rise these days as this past Oscar night has shown us. While this genre has occasionally garnered a few Academy Awards from time to time, this year’s ceremony showed that horror is no longer to be ignored.

From Del Toro’s Frankenstein winning a good number of technical awards to some awesome wins for Ryan Coogler’s Sinners(which includes a groundbreaking win for Best Cinematography and Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan!) and Amy Madigan ‘s iconic performance as Aunt Gladys in Weapons being given a Best Supporting Actress award, horror is really giving audiences and studios a real run for their money. 

Let’s just hope they keep up this pop culture pace there as we really need to have this meta mirror reflect fully on our collective fears and learn to handle them for the betterment of all. That and have some pulse pounding fun along the way: