Twelve Months

Blacktail Brutal and vicious and full of heart, #Blacktail starts as the inverse of White Fang, then builds momentum and turns into an incredible epic myth.

The Unheld #TheUnheld is a queer weird western filled with body horror and complicated family dynamics. I wasn’t always certain where it was going but I couldn’t resist following along for the mystery and characters.

The Tea Dragon Society Finally got to read the gorgeous, sweet #TheTeaDragonSociety

Quaint Folk Karella’s #QuaintFolk is biting satire of folk horror and the supposed problems of modern life, while still maintaining the tension of the sub genre and keeping the characters human, more or less.

The Disaster Gay Detective Agency #TheDisasterGayDetectiveAgency is a fun, somewhat ridiculous romp, and I’m hoping to see a sequel in the future.

Kill All Wizards (audiobook) Kill All Wizards, by Jedediah Berry, narrated by Raphael Corkhill The barbarian Gotichmus sought out the ruling wizards, hoping to enlist their aid in righting a terrible wrong. Instead of a person, they him as a valuable chess piece and set out to use him in their…

Tapeworm EW EW EW! #Tapeworm is interestingly psychedelic but very gross, though probably tame to folks who read a lot of extreme horror. Ultimately the combination of bugs, body horror and sex was a bit much for me but it’s definitely worth a read if you aren’t squeamish!

This book is both good *and* got hosed by its scummy publisher. Please do your earballs a favor and get the audiobook!

@sarahmccarry.bsky.social destroys me once again

Possession Island #PossessionIsland is for every girl who grew up in a small town hoping for escape and dreaming of revenge.​

Orla! has arrived in a collected edition! 💜 👹 @johnlees.bsky.social @@sallycantirino.bsky.social@d@dearbhlala.bsky.socialle@letteringbear.bsky.socialesent this wickedly fun tale, equal parts awkward romance and off-the-wall gorefest. Details here: https://bit.ly/4trgTo1

Hemlock & Silver #HemlockandSilver is a fun, fast-paced book. While this is a retelling of Snow White, it’s easy to forget for the first half of the book until we get to apples and mirrors. Kingfisher’s usual style is in full swing, and of course parts are absolutely horrific, partly due to the…

Got to add a new badge to my About page and am unreasonably pleased 🥰 I’ve now reviewed 200 e-galleys from #NetGalley (though my blog hit 200 reviews a while back).

Goldie Vance Book One #GoldieVanceBookOne has all the mystery and adventure of Nancy Drew, but Williams works magic with the character designs, the settings and the clothes. The mysteries are fun and a bit ridiculous, and the characters are a delight.

Herculine #herculine has a unique effect where it builds momentum and gets away from you, like walking downhill in too-tall heels.

Uncanny Valley Complete Collection #UncannyValleyCompleteCollection. is sweet, and the backstory about the toon world was interesting (especially the villain origin). Kudos to Wachter for not only pulling off the human vs toon thing stylistically, but for mimicking various cartoon styles from…

When the Night Comes Knocking On the surface #WhentheNightComesKnocking looks like an Appalachian twist on The Mist, but it has some really interesting things to say about grief and guilt and regret.

The Other I love how Neugebauer uses the dual viewpoints in #TheOther. Elise and Logan have spent half their lives growing around each other, but are still two distinct people with different ways to experience the same events. It’s like a mini “Rashōmon” in the middle of the weird. Watching them…

Proper English I love a country-house murder. Closed circles with a limited pool of suspects are great, but the added remoteness and social trappings certainly add something. #ProperEnglish manages it well, with the added bonus of a sapphic romance in the mix.

Just got a new batch of ARCs in 🥰

A Lonely Broadcast #ALonelyBroadcast has engaging characters, creepy cosmic woods, quippy dialog that lands flat with the characters themselves sometimes in a way that’s honest to humorous responses to awful circumstances.

Thinking about #TheBurialTide again/still/always. This book is going to haunt me until I die.

Fence Book One If you haven’t read this comic yet now is the time! #FenceBookOne collects issues 1-12 (so volumes 1-3 of the paperback collections), running the whole arc of team tryouts.

Crone Just finished #Crone and man, I feel wrung out.

The Extra #TheExtra has a great premise and excellent execution. Its brief enough that the tension holds beautifully.

Talking books with a friend and pointed out that if @ethanmaldridge.bsky.social’s Estranged had been out when we were kids it would’ve been our entire personality. Obviously I must reread and write an actual review.

Starve Acre #StarveAcre is a perfect little book. The pacing on this is masterful, like slowly unwrapping the dressings of a wound to find it festering underneath. Such a great, slow buildup to dread and unsettling revelation!

@davidmbarnett.bsky.social’s #ScuttlersCove is the perfect horror novel for summer phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2026/04/19/s...

@fionacreates.bsky.social’s #LadiesoftheKnight is queernorm A Knight’s Tale in the style of Mary Blair and one of the best graphic novels I’ve read! phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2026/04/18/l...

Orla! #Orla starts a bit too on the nose, but it ends up being a heartwarming little story. Sally Cantirino’s art throughout treads like an adult-rated Robert Munsch.

Dead Weight I read #DeadWeight right through, on the verge of holding my eyelids open with toothpicks like Odysseus just so I could see what happens next, and next, and next.​ What I lack in sleep I make up for in enthusiasm.

Call Off the Dark Call Off the Dark, by Hallie Shepherd Two years ago Helen’s husband died and her life turned upside down. She remarried too soon, running off with her new husband Wade to try and escape her grief living off the land. Helen isn’t made for living off-grid, and Wade is content to…

Hey gang, from today until April 30th, Juniper Books is gonna be donating a portion of sales of the fancy Sworn Soldier editions to Trans Lifeline!

Slayers of Old Slayers of Old, by Jim C. Hines Three retired urban fantasy archetypes live together in a sentient house/bookshop. When locals start summoning things that threaten Salem and the world at large, it’s time to get back in the game. In 2007 I was already burned out on high fantasy.…

Kill All Wizards Kill All Wizards, by Jedediah Berry The barbarian Gotichmus sought out the ruling wizards, hoping to enlist their aid in righting a terrible wrong. Instead of a person, they him as a valuable chess piece and set out to use him in their infighting. Now he’s out for revenge. I…

#GunpowderProhpets from @madcavestudios.com is a blast!

@secase.bsky.social’s #BurnitDownRigsbyWIVolume2 is a tough, heartfelt read phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2026/02/21/b...

The Price of Fear may be the single best #OTR show just because it treats all the creepy weird stories as personal anecdotes from Vincent Price’s everyday life. How can you beat that?

The worst part of a review to write is always the summary, but the posts look incomplete without them

#TheNightShip is a gorgeous look at people coming together (and tearing themselves apart) in crisis phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2026/02/18/t...

⚔️THE CROWDFUND FOR NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY 2026 IS LIVE⚔️ Three issues - our Timeworn Terra special - a New Jirel of Joiry story... The more re-posts this gets, the more bonus content we'll add to this year's issues! Go here to learn more and back the magazine👉 www.backerkit.com/c/projects/b...

#CaveGraveWildWestTales is a gritty, art-first piece collecting two western stories

Great voice but some of the characters fall flat and the plot goes haywire halfway through. The ending makes up for it, but boy was it hard to get there!

#TheCreepingBelow is physically difficult too read but has a great premise and I hope the story isn’t over

#DearSylviaLoveJane promises a solid historical sapphic mystery series

#ForeverStamps is a great blend of visual and information, arranged around topic rather than value or year

#RedandtheWolves a sort of fantasy dystopia with a heroine that must choose whether family is who raised her or who raises her up

#SummerShadows gives us vampire noir in the Mediterranean

#IllMakeASpectacleOfYou is a riveting, accessible Black Appalachian queer dark academic folk horror novel. phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/12/27/i...