**Edited to correct the Long List to the Final Ballot** The 2021 Stoker ballot has been announced. Repeated below with links to the titles Monster Librarian has reviewed. The 2021 Bram Stoker Awards® Preliminary Ballot Superior Achievement in a Novel Castro, V. – The Queen of the Cicadas (Flame Tree Press) Hendrix, Grady – The Final Girl […]
**Reposted from the ML Archives** While Marvel Comics was the first to take advantage of zombies’ growing popularity by zombifying some of their most beloved heroes in Marvel Zombies, DC has now joined the fetid flesh party with Blackest Night. Unlike Marvel Zombies, in which Marvel lets the action take place outside the normal settings of the Marvel universe, […]
Graphic Novel Review: Dusk Vol. 1 by David Doub
March 3, 2022**Cross posted from the ML Archives** David Doub, 2009 ISBN: 978-0-578-01436-4 Available: New Dusk is David Doub’s first graphic novel. The book has four chapters. The first chapter jumps into the story without providing much background, but the reader easily picks up that Eve is the willing servant to Vampire Lord Ash, and that the two […]
**Cross posted from the Circulation Desk.** HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2021 ISBN-13 : 978-0062652638 Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com ) In Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales, Soman Chainani brings us tales so sharp they cut, with teen protagonists who seize their agency, and subversive, unexpected re-visionings of 12 familiar stories. The standout story in this collection […]
Book Review: All These Bodies by Kendare Blake
February 24, 2022**Cross posted from the Circulation Desk.** Quill Tree Books, 2021 ISBN-13 : 978-0062977168 Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com ) In All These Bodies, Kendare Blake imagines a murder spree throughout the Midwest in the summer of 1958, known as the “Bloodless Murders” or “Dracula Murders” because the victims have all been drained of blood. On September […]
**Reposted from the ML Vault.** Zuda Comics, 2009 ISBN: 9781401224622 Available: New High Moon presents an intriguing mix of horror and western. High Noon started out as a webcomic at the Zuda Comics site and won a competition where the viewers of the site voted for their favorite comic. The premise is fairly straightforward. Cole, a criminal who […]
Book Review: The Book of Living Secrets by Madeline Roux
February 19, 2022**Cross Posted from the Circulation Desk** Quill Tree Press, 2022 ISBN-13 : 978-0062941428 Available: Preorder (available March 8) hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com ) So many readers wish they could enter the worlds of their favorite books. The Book of Living Secrets will make them think twice. Adelle and Connie have been best friends for years, […]
Book Review: Litani by Jess Lourey
February 17, 2022**Cross Posted from the Circulation Desk.** Litani by Jess Lourey Thomas & Mercer, 2021 ISBN: 9781542027014 Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, compact disc, MP3 ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com ) Set in the mid-1980s, Litani is a mystery/thriller dealing with the unpleasant subject of child molesters, but the book is couched into language that will work for younger readers. While written for adults, […]
Graphic Novel Review: Hollow-Eyed Mary by Andre Duza
February 15, 2022**Cross posted from the ML vault.** Devil’s Due, 2009 ISBN: 9781934692585 Available: New One hundred percent rage and violence, Hollow-Eyed Mary is a brutal, vivid tale of a woman wronged and killed, and back for revenge. Raised by a twisted doomsday cult, Mary is after more than revenge. She wants to use the end of the […]
Graphic Novel Review: Deadpool vs Sabretooth
February 12, 2022ISBN: 9780785196198 Deadpool has found success, both in our world and in the comic world. At this point he runs his own merc crew, and is a legit Avenger. While I appreciate more serious toned comics and reflections of real world issues through super powered storytelling, the Deadpool comics are treasures (IMHO) for embracing the […]