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Horror

Mirka Andolfo’s Mercy

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In the small frontier town of Woodsburgh, during the Klondike Goldrush, an enthralling stranger appears. She wants to purchase the demolished mineshaft on the outskirts of town. Meanwhile, when the streets are cloaked in darkness, something abhorrent and violent is targeting the unwary townspeople, leaving a bloody trail in its wake. There are monsters in this town, human and otherwise, and the strange new visitor might know something about it.

Mirka Andolfo’s Mercy is Victorian gothic meets sci-fi horror with equal parts gore, romance, and tragedy. The plot could be considered obscure and so the reader is left to interpret what exactly is going on all one their own. I didn’t mind being repeatedly confused because the art is gorgeous! How often can you call a parasitic entity beautiful? If you like carriage rides, tragic love stories and interdimensional realms, I suggest you find Mercy in the Library’s catalog or for instant download on Hoopla.

Something is Killing the Children

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Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV
Format: Graphic Novel and eBook on Hoopla
Who’s it for?: Adults & Young Adults

Do you remember when you were a kid and that monster was hiding in your closet? Remember how your mind would run wild with thoughts of the most forbidding and insidious creature imaginable? Maybe it had sharp claws, long fangs, and garish yellow eyes. Now, imagine if this creature were real?

The children of Archer’s Peak, WI are being preyed upon by something brought to life by their most terrifying fears. The worst part? This is an evil only the children can see. The people of this small town can’t be expected to defeat an enemy they can’t even see. But the mysterious Erica Slaughter can see them and she kills monsters. Is there hope?

I recommend this enthralling and gruesome horror story to anyone who loves a good monster tale and doesn’t mind the carnage that comes with it. You can find Something is Killing the Children in the Library’s catalog or for instant download on Hoopla Digital.

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”

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Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” by Miles Hyman
Format: Graphic novel
Who’s it for: adults

Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” continues to thrill and disturb readers even after it was first published. “The Lottery” introduces upsetting questions about conformity, customs and traditions, and the ritualized violence that may besiege even the most rural, passive community.

This graphic adaptation by Jackson’s grandson, Miles Hyman, allows readers to experience “The Lottery” in a new format. In a small American community, the current residents are alive with eagerness and anxiety when they wake on the morning of the twenty-seventh of June. Everything has been organized for the town’s yearly ritual—a lottery in which all families must partake, and nobody desires to win.

 

Find Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” in the catalog! 

A Head Full of Ghosts

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A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
Format:  Book
Who it’s For: Teens and adults

The lives of the Barretts, an ordinary family, are torn apart when their fourteen-year-old Marjorie shows signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents’ misery, the doctors cannot stop Marjorie’s descent into madness. Their stable home soon devolves into a house of horrors. The family grudgingly turns to a Catholic priest for assistance. Father Wanderly recommends an exorcism; he believes the helpless Marjorie is the target of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is keen to document the Barretts’ troubles. With financial troubles approaching, the family agrees to be filmed, and thus become stars of The Possession, a successful reality television show.  

Fifteen years later, Marjorie’s younger sister, Merry, agrees to be interviewed. As she reminiscences about the events that occurred when she was just eight years old, secrets and painful memories emerge that contradict what they portrayed on the reality show. This book keeps you guessing throughout, making you question what really happened. 

Find A Head Full of Ghosts in the Catalog!

 

The Ruins

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The Ruins by Scott Smith
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Two young couples decide to take a trip to Mexico.  The group enjoyed the beach, hotel, and making friends with fellow tourists when the brother of one of the couples goes missing.   The group ultimately decides to go searching for the missing brother.  Trekking through the Mexican jungle, the group stumbles upon a village which is only the beginning of the creeping horror; they endure throughout the story.  What started as an exciting day-trip gradually spirals into a terrifying nightmare when they find the remains of an ancient ruins site… and the disturbing presence that lurks there.

Find The Ruins in the catalog

Gideon the Ninth

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Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Gideon the Ninth, book one of The Locked Tomb Trilogy, is a wild ride. The book is dark, imaginative, and fresh. Part fantasy and part science fiction, the book follows the heirs of the Nine Houses who have been selected by their god, the King Undying, to take part in a trial to join his group of immortal Saints and their personal knights, or Cavaliers.

The main character of the novel is Gideon, an indentured servant of the Ninth House, who is more comfortable with a sword than necromantic magic. Gideon has spent her entire life trying to escape the frozen planet of death where she was raised, and her future of eternal servitude as a reanimated skeleton.

Her chance arrives when her childhood rival, enemy, and ruler, Harrow, the Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and greatest bone witch to be born of the Ninth House, forces her to serve as her Cavalier. Gideon must protect and serve Harrow during the trial. If Harrow succeeds, she becomes an immortal disciple of the King Undying, and Gideon earns her freedom. However, Harrow and Gideon must first keep from murdering one another.

The book is both dark and hilarious. Who knew violence, tragedy, and a whole lot of bones could be so funny? It is also one of the best examples of enemies to…well, something approaching love at least.

Necromancers in space, what more can I say?

The second book in the trilogy, Harrow the Ninth, came out in August 2020.

Find it in the catalog.