Tag: Horror

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

(Available through I-Share)

Ring Shout is perfect for fans of Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi, Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, and Jordan Peele’s movie, “Get Out”.

Ring Shout masterfully weaves together the horrors of the Jim Crow South, racism, and the rise of the KKK with Gullah folklore and root magic to produce a monster story that tackles themes of healing, resilience, and generational trauma. In Clark’s world, the infamous film “The Birth of a Nation” was used to summon monsters called Ku Kluxes, who feed off hatred held by humans, with the intent to bring Hell upon the Earth. These monsters disguise themselves as humans in the KKK while feeding off human Klan members’ hatred of Black folks. Not everyone has the power to see Ku Kluxes for what they really are though. Maryse Boudreaux – whose family was murdered for the KKK – and her fellow resistance fights hunt the Ku Kluxes and send them back to hell. In Macon, GA, a new showing of “The Birth of a Nation” is planned at Stone Mountain (a confederate monument) to summon a giant that will destroy Earth. Maryse and her companions will need supernatural help to defeat the Ku Kluxes and their new monster, but will it be enough?

I picked this book up in October since I was reading primarily horror in preparation for the Halloween season. At only 192 pages, Clark’s SF/F horror story is short but packs an absolute gut punch. I listened to this book as an audiobook, which I highly recommend. Throughout the story there are inclusions of “shouts”, which are ecstatic, religious rituals, first practiced by enslaved Africans in the West Indies and the United States, which sometime include songs and music. Hearing these shouts performed by the audiobook narrator brings the artistry of Clark’s story to a whole new level. I am not usually a big horror reader and I definitely read some duds this October, but Ring Shout is honestly the best book I have read in 2022. The ways in which Clark weaves the historical and political contexts into this story of the monstrous Ku Kluxes doesn’t feel heavy handed or forced by any means. The story flows well, and while the story wrapped up nicely by the end of the book, I do hope that Clark will continue Maryse’s story in another novella or book. Maryse is a complicated, nuanced hero who reveals a lot about what it means to be human and attempt a journey of healing.

Ring Shout is a must read for anyone who enjoys horror, monsters, and history!

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier

In My Sister Rosa, Che Taylor is a normal teenager living an abnormal life. His negligent parents, entrepreneurs from Australia, live a hectic lifestyle, constantly starting new businesses in different parts of the world, causing the family to move frequently. From the start of the book the story is set in New York, the newest location Che’s parents have opened a business in.

Che tries to live as normal a life as he can, setting goals for himself like becoming a better boxer and practicing sparring (against his parents’ wishes), getting a girlfriend, but most importantly, keeping his little sister Rosa under control to prevent her from hurting anybody.

Che alone has always sensed something was wrong with Rosa ever since she was a baby – her pets’ mysterious deaths, her compulsive lying, and her alarming lack of empathy. Rosa’s behavior grows more and more disturbing, and Che alone seems to be the only one to take notice of her psychopathy; his parents’ negligence and absence in his life and the family’s constant moving causes Che’s feelings of detachment from his parents and inability to make friends. He feels isolated in the world and his feelings of helplessness worsen as Rosa’s behavior grows more sinister and he seems to be the only one to notice.

Eerily compelling themes of crime, psychopathy, and passion depicted in this book are told in first-person by Che Taylor – an intelligent, perceptive, and engaging narrator. This book is a must-read for teens as it covers many issues a lot of readers can relate to, like peer pressure, social conflicts, and making friends. The psychological information on criminal behaviors are fascinating, well-woven into the story without being too boring or dense to read. Author Justine Larbalestier does a great job in this book, giving us a gripping, psychological thriller that will definitely keep you on your toes.

Call # Fiction L321m

Student review by Amina

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Thornhill by Pam Smy

In 2017, Ella has just moved into a home next to a former all-girls orphanage called Thornhill, and her slow discovery of its mysterious inhabitant is told solely through images. These images alternate with Mary’s unhappy diary entries from when she suffered through living at Thornhill in 1982. This diary chronicles targeted, repeated bullying as well as her continuing struggle to communicate, as Mary reports that others describe her as “selectively mute.” Ella’s and Mary’s stories converge in an unlikely way with an ending that is both shocking and provocative.

Smy expertly balances showing and telling in these parallel narratives that build and sustain two thoroughly engaging, suspenseful mysteries. The gradual reveals about Ella’s and Mary’s circumstances are paced perfectly throughout the storyline, resulting in a page-turner that is made especially exciting by its cleverly detailed black-and-white pictures; peppered within seemingly straightforward images are smaller subtle ones and hidden, haunting details that make lingering over them satisfying and necessary. Instead of individual panels, artwork spread across entire pages, adding weight and fullness to the lush and precise gradations of black and white. Ella’s portions have no dialogue, with the exception of some hand-written notes, which parallels smartly with Mary’s own self-chosen silence to create a radiating sense of loneliness. This deeply psychological story about abuse, neglect, and human connection across several generations is haunting yet entirely satisfying.

Call # Fiction Sm91th

Review by Vicki