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...

Finished @tkingfisher.com’s #WolfWorm the other night. I do okay with most bugs but boy am I glad I buzzed my hair a couple weeks ago! Every unexpected touch is a jumpscare. phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/12/16/w...

My top four Tam Lin retellings, plus playlist! phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/09/07/s...

@keithrosson.bsky.social’s #CoffinMoon is out next week!

How it feels when you library holds and #NetGalley ARCs come on at once. #booksky

I find myself chasing the high of a book that isn’t even out yet 😭 @kjcharleswriter.com

One of my professors (now passed and dearly missed) told me that it’s best to write about things that either you really love or really hate. This is why, if I can’t quite figure out what I want to say about a book I’ve read, I go and find other reviews.

Reading The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, and some passages in Good Stab’s voice are like taking a big sip of a good whiskey, and just letting it roll around your tongue. Sooo good. @sgj.bsky.social I recommend Jameson Triple Triple, btw. Very smooth and affordable.

#HobtownMysteryStoriesVol3 is the weirdest and most disorienting installment to date, plus it sheds light on what exactly is going on in Hobtown! phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/08/02/h...

The suspense in #TheHomecoming kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t bear to look, and HAD to know what was going to happen.

Finally read the latest two #DresdenFiles novels in preparation for next year’s #TwelveMonths phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/07/28/p...

#AllofUsMurderers is one of my favorite books so far this year, and I want to reread it immediately. phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/07/26/a...

I’ve read Mariko Tamaki and @nicolegoux.bsky.social‘s #ThisPlaceKillsMe three times already. I promise you need it.

Tom’s right. As someone who’s mostly skipped over classic eco-go in the past, I was amazed and immediately dug up some Wyndham audio adaptations while waiting for the books to come in.

Trying to make the blog more user-friendly, which means adding a search bar and replacing the amazing disappearing buttons with text links.

@authoroux.bsky.social drops us into a horrifically gothic fairytale in #AGirlWalksintotheForest phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/06/06/a...

Hey, remember @toril.bsky.social’s webcomic Hotblood!? #HotbloodVol1 is coming out and it’s even more gorgeous than you remember! phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/06/04/h...

And in another instance of “I can’t wait until closer to release,” @scumbelievable.bsky.social is out to destroy us again with #BlackFlame in the best way possible phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/06/03/b...

I know it’s a bit early for reviews, but @seananmcguire.bsky.social knocked it out of the park with the upcoming October Daye book, Silver and Lead! phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/06/02/s...

PI Vandy Myrick is back in book 2! #DeathOfAnEx is a great sequel, and the series is promising to be one of THE detective series to follow.

Took a break from the usual horror/comics/fantasy fare to check out #KissMeMaybe. Glad I did! A fun #queerromance with an asexual lesbian lead and a bisexual love interest. phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/05/05/k...

#WelcometoStHell is a really honest look at how complicated body image is as a teen, and why it can be so hard to recognize gender dysphoria. It’s also really funny.

#Motherlover is a great comic about queer love

A gothic horror comic, you say?

#ECCruelUniverseVol1 is another great comics anthology

On a lighter note, #DraculasBrunchClub is a good addition to your middle grade Halloween comics, or your favorite babybat’s year-round collection!

I know it’s not out until September, but I couldn’t wait to devour #CoffinMoon

@katyhoran.bsky.social’s #MurderBallads is going to be someone’s gateway to folklore scholarship and I am here for it!

I’ve been craving more since @unshavedmouse.bsky.social’s Knock Knock, Open Wide and #TheBurialTide does not disappoint!

Finally got my hands on #BHH by @sgj.bsky.social! A favorite of the year so far phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/04/21/t...

I really love Biker Mice from Mars, okay?

I knew #TheRiverHasRoots was going to be good, but I didn’t expect to get chills!

Enjoyed @GigiPandian’s #TheLibraryGame, out from @MinotaurBooks! Enough clues for the reader to identify the culprit, and enough fun stuff to keep you entertained while the characters figure it out.

#TheStaircaseintheWoods keeps showing up everywhere I look.

Nicky Gonzalez’s #Mayra is amazing! phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/04/12/m...

Love this one!

Finally got to sit down with a book that influenced so many of my teenage favorites! #TheVampireTapestry is a persistence predator, with steady, deceptively slow pacing always climbing toward revelation, and the tension is exquisite phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/03/15/t...

Tempted to launch a parallel Substack just because it’s easier than doing footnotes in Wordpress. I’ve got three(ish) posts/essays I keep abandoning because my asides are too much for mere parentheses.

I’ve been wanting to get into Gemma Files and wasn’t sure where to start. Luckily, @darkmoonbooks.bsky.social was prepared for this eventuality! phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/e...

#DirectDescendant is somehow nostalgic and still a breath of fresh air. phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/03/11/d...

The #gothichorror crop is so good right now 😭 #booksky

Blood on Her Tongue is compulsively readable. One of my notes is literally just 👀 phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/02/04/b...

It's official. I have no idea how to write an intelligent review of immersive nonfic. Couldn't do it with Shirley Jackson’s letters, can't do it with Syme's Letter Writer. Need hard copies of both though, & probably so do you. (Maybe I’ll work something out if I tear away from stationery shopping.)

Some books make you hold them up and scream “THIS IS WHY I LOVE #COMICS!” Bury the Lede is one of them. ✅noir ✅comic ✅queer phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/01/24/b... phantasticreads.wordpress.com/2025/01/24/b.