A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History’s Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors by Michael Farquhar

A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History’s Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors, Michael Farquhar, 2001 My favorite quote: “The rigid, repressed [Queen] Victoria was never a particularly cozy mum, candidly acknowledging early on that she derived ‘no especial pleasure or compensation’ from her large brood of

Pearls Before Swine by Margery Allingham

Pearls Before Swine (#12 in the Albert Campion series), Margery Allingham, 1945 (originally published as Coroner’s Pidgin) My favorite quote: “Nobody, nobody ever killed anyone simply in order to provide an awkward corpse in someone else’s house.” Notable characters: Albert Campion, the detective Most memorable scene: Campion in the bath while his servant, Lugg, and

Comes the Blind Fury by John Saul

Comes the Blind Fury, John Saul, 1980 My favorite quote: “All she knew was her anger. Her anger and her hatred … ” Notable characters: Michelle Pendleton, the new girl; Amanda, the blind dead girl Most memorable scene: I’m not gonna lie … Amanda, sailing off the cliff …  Greatest strengths: I have to say,

The Long Walk by Stephen King

The Long Walk, Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman), 1979 My favorite quote: “They walked through the rainy dark like gaunt ghosts, and Garraty didn’t like to look at them. They were the walking dead.” Notable characters: Ray Garraty, the main Walker; McVries, a Walker who befriends Garraty; Stebbins, a Walker with a secret; the

Midnight Cowboy by James Leo Herlihy

Midnight Cowboy, James Leo Herlihy, 1965 My favorite quote: “Her voice went soft and sweet: it seemed to be luring some small child into a gas chamber with promises of candy.” Notable characters: Joe Buck, the cowboy; Ratso Rizzo, the con-man Most memorable scene: The bus ride to Miami, of course … Greatest strengths: Clear,

Behind the Book: The Forgotten, by Tamara Thorne

The Forgotten: Cozy Horror I haven’t revisited my novel, The Forgotten, since the early 2000s, when I first wrote it. Now, I’m listening to it chapter by chapter, as the audio producer turns it in, and it’s quite an eye-opener. While there is, as always, plenty sex and violence — along with ribald problems like

Behind the Book: The Black Wasp

Monsters, murder, myths, and more … Go behind the scenes with Thorne & Cross and get an inside look at The Black Wasp, book three in Alistair Cross’s Vampires of Crimson Cove series, at Thorne & Cross: Carnival Macabre!

Masking the Monster

Do you prefer in-your-face horror or suggestive horror? Which frightens you most when you’re reading a ghost story or watching a scary movie? In Poltergeist, while we do see a number of masks worn by the real supernatural entity, for most of us, the clown doll that we see in place of the monster itself