Adapting King – Joseph Maddrey
Horror nonfiction
3 books talking about movie adaptations of 14 Stephen King novels, tracing each project from acquisition to finished film.
Drawing on original research and new interviews with key filmmakers, author Joseph Maddrey offers fans a fascinating look at the collaborative process behind these adaptations.
In researching this series, Maddrey consulted dozens of public and private libraries and archives, including the Stephen E. King Archive in Bangor, Maine.
His discoveries will have “constant readers” seeing these adaptations in a whole new light.
Chimera Skin – Johnny Compton
Sci-fi horror
Swanson, a mutated man struggling to maintain his sanity, is civilization’s last hope.
Our world has been decimated after a messianic alien unleashes hell on Earth during its failed attempt to “uplift” humanity.
But Swanson may have figured out how to fight back, even if his plan forces him to leave the only planet he’s ever known.
The Disincarnates – Duncan Ralston
Supernatural horror
Damien’s childhood as a test subject in a paranormal research facility left him deeply reserved but uniquely gifted: he can see astral projectors and other unseen forces moving through the physical world. Now, he uses this sight at the Discarnate Detective Agency, handling unusual cases the Toronto police won’t touch. Alongside Chelle, a brilliant psychologist who can enter the minds of her patients, Damien and the DDA investigate the city’s darkest supernatural corners.
When a bloody symbol left at a brutal murder-suicide leads them to a hospitalized woman with no memory, and the exact same symbol painted on her mirror, Damien and Chelle must infiltrate her fractured mind to uncover the truth.
The investigation pulls them into a dangerous hidden world, from an astral community in an abandoned subway station to a dead cult bent on awakening an ancient entity known as The Dreamer. The deeper they dig, the more Damien fears they’ve drawn the entity’s attention. As the mystery unravels, the DDA must confront the ghosts of the past before their minds are turned against them… and the entire world is put in jeopardy.
There Are No Giant Crabs in this Novel – Jason Pargin
Cosmic, Comedy horror – Book 5 of John Dies at the End
A massive, sticky pile of severed human limbs suddenly appears in the parking lot of a vacant department store in a desolate small town. A set of footprints is found trailing away in the snow, as if a single pair of bare feet had wandered off the pile. If this wasn’t puzzling enough, the cops soon find that no one seems to be missing the limbs. Some of the fingerprints on the severed arms belong to living people with all their appendages intact, others match no one on file, and the rest of the limbs somehow have no prints at all.
This sounds like a case for local weirdos John, David, and Amy, partly because the cops don’t want the headache and partly because David’s own arm is in the pile, despite an identical copy of it still being attached to his body. When a mysterious man then shows up at David’s home claiming to be in pursuit of an entity he calls “the Penetrator,” it seems clear the trio is in for a long weekend.
In addition to stopping whatever this nonsense is, the gang will also have to quell the panicked headlines that threaten to ensue, which could prompt the feds to try to just wipe the whole town off the map (again). As such, the first thing you need to know is that, contrary to whatever ugly rumors you may have heard, there are no giant crabs in this novel.
There Used to Be People Here – Kennedy Cole
Ghost horror
In 1970s Mississippi, a Black detective and his temporary partner are assigned to a case that shifts from murder to paranormal conspiracy with life-altering repercussions.
Wenton, Mississippi: A man enters the bathroom of a local gay bar and doesn’t come back out. Instead he’s found cold, on the floor, and facing the wall. And no one seems to know how this happened.
Samuel Barkley is Wenton’s only Black detective. Assigned to the case, Samuel’s one goal is to keep his head down with eyes on moving up in the police ranks. But it’s not easy with Harvey, a new, temporary partner who Samuel can’t seem to like…or hate. Nor with the cold, questioning eyes and fake smiles from those in town. Persistent. Judging. Wrong. Samuel is reaching his breaking point.
As his investigation leads him to a curious plane crash cover-up, Samuel’s placid existence is turned on its head. Because what crashed in Wenton isn’t a plane. There are others here. They like it here. And if Samuel can’t stop them, they will find a way to stay.
