Hollow Folk by Andrew K. Clark — A trippy ride through a hotel trapped in time by the sins of the land’s past.

Cover Image courtesy of

Quill and Crow Publishing 

No, this is not some ripoff of The Shining by Stephen King, but it does share some common ideas. This is arguably the third book in Clark’s Dark Things series, although it’s billed as a standalone. The first two books are connected by family histories that overlap. You wouldn’t know there was a connection to the first two books here if you didn’t have the privilege of reading them, but there is, and that connection is the hotel’s location in the Hollow and a similar backstory involving a dreadful religious past.

Clark plays with a deeply flawed rural Christian history in these books, a history that intertwines with an evil backwoods folklore that creates some sexually charged creepy stuff relating to our fears, our inhibitions and our carnal desires. We are guilt ridden by what we are taught by the church, but it can fuel us into unconscionable acts that are worse than the sins we have been taught to feel bad about. …I’m speculating here, as I’m only halfway through the book at this point. But maybe I’ll leave this part in to prove this isn’t some stupid AI summarization and to prove I was right.

Anyway…yes. My speculation still feels spot on. The book has three Holloway employees trapped in time when the hotel’s grandfather clock—and every clock—stops ticking at 3 AM. The characters, Ethan (our narrator), Teresa and Kal, begin having weird experiences with ghosts and creatures who may or may not be real as they try to figure out what the hell is going on. The existing guests have essentially disappeared, and the hotel itself seems to be gradually overtaken by poisonous things and gothic creatures of menace.

Also, Ethan and Teresa are falling in love. It’s a weird and creepy developing relationship filled with bugs and body horror linked to a heartbreaking past buried deep underground. It’s an interesting read filled with creatively gross and erotic scenes that will evoke readers to say “what the hell..?”

The gothic nature of this book is more reminiscent of a Shirley Jackson piece, although there are plenty of nods to King’s Overlook Hotel.The hotel feeds the characters and makes them complacent in a way that is sometimes frustrating, because it doesn’t foster propelling the story forward at times. But there is a reason for this that makes sense. It’s not a book for everyone, but if you enjoy the weird and grotesque, and you’re not shy of explicit sexual scenes, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy it. 

Some of it was too much for me, because I was thinking, “guys, we get it. You’re mad hot for each other, and the weird stuff that’s happening during the sex doesn’t creep you out, but come on! Your buddy’s gone missing and this isn’t natural. Where’s the moment of freaking out?” But like I said, there is a definable reason…

It’s a solid piece of weird, dark romance/horror. But it is weird. It is dark. It is erotic. You have been warned.

Find Hollow Folk here, or at your favorite online book retailer.

Two Book Reviews in One Sitting: A Terry Pratchett classic and a solid introduction to the work of Tessa Hastjarjanto

Book Review #1 — Eric by Terry Pratchett

Cover Image courtesy of
HarperCollins

Eric, by Terry Pratchett, is an interesting entry into the Discworld series because the title character is more of a catalyst than he is the protagonist of this story. The protagonist is the ever bumbling wizard Rincewind, who is never really sure where he is, why, or what he’s supposed to do about it. Which is admirable in the sense that his adventures are fueled by pure panic, and yet laced with a manner of knowing there’s nothing he can do except run and hope for the best. He’s not the wise Hermit in a deck of Tarot cards, he’s the Fool, always tempting DEATH who wracks his skull because Rincewind is in his periphery, and always okay because of his tenacious and menacing protector, a rabid piece of luggage with legs.

If you’ve never read a book out of the Discworld series, and that summary above leaves you puzzled, well…welcome to Terry Pratchett’s crazy imagination.

Eric is a young teen who has decided to practice a little bit of demonology to get the things he wants: beautiful women, a kingly status and everlasting life. He says a few magic words after cobbling together a devil’s trap, and voila! Rincewind appears scratching his head. Because he’s not a demon, last time he checked. He does have a half assed ability to travel through time, though, and that will have to do. But with every wish comes consequences, and the folly of human nature throughout the ages is the general consequence that Rincewind and Eric have to run from every time.

The Discworld mirrors our own history in that it has an Aztec like society, and a Ulysses type hero, so be prepared to recognize some nods to ancient world history with new names. All in all, this is a light, fast read with maybe a moral about being careful what you wish for. Mostly, though, it’s just fun.

You can find the entire collection of Discworld books here at Terry Pratchett’s website. 

Book Review #2 — A Dress to Kill For by Tessa Hastjarjanto

Cover Image from
Author website

A Dress to Kill For, written by Tessa Hastjarjanto, may be short, but it's an extremely well told little horror story about the lengths the society folk will go through to keep their fingernails clutched around their status. A touch gothic, a touch eldritch or folk horror, this short piece is well paced and well worth the read. Find more of her work here at her personal website. https://tessa.narratess.com/

The Children, by Melissa Albert — An ARC Review

Cover Image courtesy of
Harper Collins/William Morrow

First, thank you to the publishers for providing this ARC via NetGalley. This is my first read from author Albert, and I didn’t know what to expect.

Here’s what to expect: A dark fairytale about the repercussions of childhood fame. It’s more than that, because it’s dark and edgy with elements of magical realism and characters full of seemingly irreconcilable flaws until (maybe?) the bitter end, and if you like flawed and struggling characters, this book holds promise. I personally tend to favor stories with characters who have their own demons to face, and this delivers on that point. There’s something to hate about almost every character in this book, even the MC, but those unlikable qualities deepen character and lead to sincere moments of empathy.

Guinevere is the lead protagonist here. She, and her older brother Ennis, are the estranged children of a famed children’s book author named Edith Sharpe, who built her characters—even named them—after her own kids. The wild popularity of the book series thrust Guin and Ennis into an unforgiving public spotlight at a young age, and as adults, they have grown into their own famous artistic endeavors while having drifted far apart from their childhood days of protecting each other from their parents’ borderline abuse and neglect. 

Mostly neglect. Mother Edith is too focused on her writing; she has responsibilities to meet the demands of the public after all. And father Llewellyn watches his artistic prowess get increasingly shoved to a back burner due to his wife’s eclipsing fame. And the kids…well, they’re the titled characters of the book series, and rabid fans often choose not to tell the difference between fiction and their reality. Their childhood is robbed in many ways, not only because of public scrutiny, but also because mom and dad are so wrapped up in their artistic and Bohemian lifestyle that they tend to overlook what’s happening to their kids daily.

The story cuts back and forth between that childhood, that leads to a major tragedy, and to the present, where Guin is back in the spotlight with a memoir, and Ennis is embroiled in his own controversies involving his famed antics as a Banksy-like artist. Guin struggles to come to terms with imposter syndrome, with her past, the weird pieces that never fit together from it, and the desire to reconnect with her estranged brother to find answers.

It’s a compelling and well written piece, most definitely, with tough and heartbreaking character moments. That having been said, I personally found some usage of metaphor to be overly ambitious. Enough to pull me out of the story. I’m not wholly satisfied by the ending either, as I don’t feel like Guin truly came to terms with her traumatic childhood—or her imposter syndrome—in a useful way. I’d say more, but fear it will be a spoiler.

All in all, though, it’s an intriguing story with traumatic undertones and a creatively thought out, supernatural tinged, mystery at its core.

Due out June, 2026, find it here, or wherever books are sold.

Little White Flowers by Amber Hathaway—A Promising Start to a Gothic Horror Series

Cover art courtesy of
Deadly Seeds Press

What I wasn’t expecting from Little White Flowers by Amber Hathaway, was a story that thematically falls into the realm of religious themed/cult themed horror, which is kind of my wheelhouse when it comes to the horror I tend to write  

Alice and Andy are brother and sister, young adults, who are tasked with spending their summer in a rural Maine town to clean up an inherited piece of property previously owned by their deceased grandmother. Before she died though, grandma hinted to Alice about a secret and sordid past in her hometown, and Alice is eager to uncover the family history.

What Alice and Andy find when they reach the town of Evanston is a cut off community with deep religious roots that border on the puritanical. Things begin to go awry as the members of the community openly judge the siblings for their sinful lifestyles—that are barely sinful at all in the outside world—and then for a budding relationship between Alice and one of the boys of the town, Riley. 

Hathaway states at the end of the book that she drew inspiration from the likes of Stephen King, and Children of the Corn, but I was getting a Shirley Jackson vibe, in terms of ambiance and style. There is a gothic patina to the work as opposed to outright horror, imo, and I find it appropriate for a young adult or new adult audience. I honestly can’t keep up with all the audience configurations nowadays, but this wasn’t overly gory or overly explicit. Also, the love interest angle never crossed a perceived line. Adult topics are addressed though, including bullying, teen pregnancy, domestic and child abuse. 

The main characters, Alice, Riley and Andy are kind and caring and noble to a fault. You want to root for them, although at times I wished they had more fight when they were challenged with the horrible fate the town has in store for them. Their moments of worry, indecision and downright acceptance of the circumstances sometimes made the story drag for me. But there are a few pleasantly surprising twists in the last third of the book. It’s also important to note that it’s an open ended story, clearly designed to draw us in to the next book. 

The villains of the story are of the cloth of the ultra conservative Christian kind, which can come across as a bit two dimensional and on the nose at times. But there are a few surprises among those Christians who prove to be questioning the strict rules of the faith, and who may prove to develop quite nicely in a continuation of the series. 

And if gothic tinged stories that put a spotlight on religious trauma are for you, then you might want to check out this book and its upcoming sequel here. 

The Haunting of Hill House -- by Shirley Jackson -- The book that sets the stage for modern day Gothic Horror

Cover Image Courtesy of
Penguin Classics
Click for links to buy

It took me way too long to tick this one off my TBR list, having weened my horror teeth on Stephen King and maybe Anne Rice instead. My earliest introduction to Jackson was in high school, with her short story The Lottery, and that one stuck with me enough to know I would have to get to her greater work. So... here we are.

Shirley Jackson's genre defining work sets the stage for most Gothic horror novels to come after it, so if haunted house stories are your go to read, this one is a must in terms of foundational classics. It's that simple, without laying out the details of the story. It’s a short and easy read, and no—you can’t watch the Mike Flanagan series on Netflix and say you've "read it." The series isn’t an adaptation. It's more like a sequel. This book is more like the backstory.

I also believe that the title is a bit of a play on words. Hill House might not necessarily be a haunted house in as much as it is a house searching for a lonely spirit to haunt it. And that’s where our main character Eleanor steps in. I'm not going to explain the plot. You might generally say it's about a group of the first paranormal investigators, sans infrared cameras and detection meters, but it's also about more. It's about the young woman Eleanor looking for where she fits in life. The story can feel a bit meandering at times, but it makes sense by the end because we are not supposed to focus on the house as much as we are on Eleanor.

Anyway, it's a renowned read for a reason, so if you haven’t read it, go check it out. Or refresh. Then go enjoy the Netflix series, because Flanagan did a great job with broadening the scope of the book's tone and ideas.