Book Review | Ugly Little Things by Todd Keisling

Ugly Little Things is a collection of horror stories by Todd Keisling.

THIS IS GOING TO HURT.

The eleven stories in Ugly Little Things explore the depths of human suffering and ugliness, charting a course to the dark, horrific heart of the human condition. The terrors of everyday existence are laid bare in this eerie collection of short fiction from the twisted mind of Todd Keisling, author of the critically-acclaimed novels A Life Transparent and The Liminal Man.

Travel between the highways of America in “The Otherland Express,” where a tribe of the forsaken and forlorn meet to exchange identities. Witness the cold vacuum of space manifest in the flesh in “The Darkness Between Dead Stars.” Step into the scrub of rural Arizona and join Karen Singleton’s struggle to save her husband from a cult of religious fanatics in “When Karen Met Her Mountain.” Visit the small town of Dalton in “The Harbinger” and join Felix Proust as he uncovers the vile secrets rooted at the heart of Dalton Dollworks. And in the critically-acclaimed novella “The Final Reconciliation,” learn the horrifying truth behind the demise of the rock band The Yellow Kings.

With an introduction by Bram Stoker Award-winner Mercedes M. Yardley and illustrations by Luke Spooner, Ugly Little Things will be your atlas, guiding you along a lonely road of sorrow, loss, and regret. This is going to hurt—and you’re going to like it.

After reading and loving Todd Keisling's The Final Reconciliation earlier this year, I was excited to have the opportunity to read more stories by Keisling in Ugly Little Things.

The first thing I want to mention is The Final Reconciliation is included in this collection. You can read my full review for that here. It's my favorite novella I've read so far this year.

I didn't realize that several of the stories in Ugly Little Things had been previously published. This was fine for me as I hadn't read any of the other tales, but your mileage could vary on that.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a few of the tales fell into the novelette/novella range. I'm a big fan of that format when it comes to horror, and I think these longer works are also the best of this collection.

I highly recommended The Final Reconciliation earlier this year, and with Ugly Little Things you get that novella and more. It's kind of a no brainer if you are interested in checking out Todd Keisling's work. He's an author I keep on my radar, and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.

8/10: Great Read

Review copy provided by publisher

Book Review | Final Girls by Riley Sager

Final Girls is a psychological thriller from Riley Sager.

Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout's knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media's attempts, they never meet.

Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.

That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy's doorstep. Blowing through Quincy's life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa's death come to light, Quincy's life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam's truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.

Why did I read Final Girls?

Stephen King put Final Girls on my radar. I may not always like his recommendations, but I do pay attention to them.

“The first great thriller of 2017 is here: Final Girls, by Riley Sager. If you liked Gone Girl, you’ll like this.”—Stephen King

I've been waffling for weeks about reading Final Girls. The hype has been so strong, but readers I trust haven't had a positive reaction to it. I decided I needed to read it for myself. I think my curiosity won out with this one.

The Strengths

I was able to read Final Girls in pretty much one sitting. It was an easy read which was exactly the kind of book I needed to pick up.

I had a lot of interest in the premise and the backstory of these "final girls". I wanted to know what happened to them, and I was anxious for some twists and turns (whether or not I actually got them).

I enjoyed Riley Sager (aka Todd Ritter's) writing. I will read more books by him in the future.

The Weaknesses

Too many implausible things happened in Final Girls. I feel like I can usually go with the flow in a lot of what I read, but I couldn't suspend my disbelief with this one. I'm just not buying it.

Most of the psychological thrillers I've read the last few years have had really unlikable characters. Final Girls is no exception to this trend.

At this point, I don't even want to see grape soda in the store. Seriously, how much grape soda did the main character have in her house? I would mention the Xanax, but I think a Xanax would come in handy after suffering through the repetition of Final Girls.

Would I recommend Final Girls to others?

Yes, I would recommend Final Girls to others. I have a love/hate relationship with psychological thrillers, and my reaction to Final Girls was keeping in line with my previous experiences. If you typically love them, though, I would say yes, pick this one up.

6/10: Good Read

Have you read Final Girls? What did you think? Are you a fan of psychological thrillers or do you run the other way when a book gets compared to Gone Girl?

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | September 10

I'm praying everyone is safe from Irma (and Harvey). The last time I posted I was confident Harvey was going to stall out and head north, but I was wrong. Harvey went back into the gulf and came right back at us. Thankfully we had no water in our home, but a lot of our friends and family weren't so lucky. There's so much devastation here; it will be a while before things feel normal again.

I don't have any posts to share or shows/movies to discuss, but I did manage to read some amazing books.

Read Last Week

The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale - I am so glad I grabbed this book from the library before the storm. It was exactly the book I needed when I needed it. If you've never read Lansdale, The Bottoms is the perfect place to start.

It by Stephen King - My goal was to finish rereading It before the movie came out. I'm absolutely thrilled to have read it again even if it will be awhile before I get to see it. I remember why I love this book so much.

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill - This was probably my most anticipated book of the year. I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed. I will try to get a real review out later this week.

So what about you? Let me know what you're reading this week or leave me some links!

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This post is being shared as part of Book Date's It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Top Ten Hidden Gems

These are some of my favorite books of all time, but they don't have many reviews on Goodreads. (Btw, Andy Davidson's In the Valley of the Sun is on sale today for $1.99!) I'd love to hear if you've read any of these hidden gems.

The Nightmare Chronicles by Douglas Clegg

Strangewood by Christopher Golden



Deep in the Darkness by Michael Laimo

Bad Things by Tamara Thorne

Before Leonora Wakes (Division #1) by Lee Thompson



Beyond the Door by Jeffrey Thomas

Inside the Outside by Martin Lastrapes



A Nearer Moon by Melanie Crowder

Garden of Fiends: Tales of Addiction Horror edited by Mark Matthews

In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson

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This post is being shared as part of The Broke and the Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | August 26

Hi all! I hope the winding down of summertime has been great to you all. I don't have much reading to report this weekend, but I wanted to make sure I popped in to give an update since I have been terribly quiet over the last couple of weeks. Between work and caring for my grandfather, my brain has been incapable of reading/reviewing.

I live on the Texas coast, but it looks like my area will be mostly spared from the hurricane. All of the projection models had it looping to us after landfall. Now that Harvey is on land, though, it looks like it will stay west of us. My work is closed through Wednesday due to the severity of what was expected here, but we are likely to only get rain. I've been feeling so guilty about not even replying to comments last week; I'm going to devote some serious time to getting caught up around here while I'm off.

Posted Last Week

I did a Top Ten Tuesday post listing some of my favorite audiobooks.

Read Last Week

A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quintet #1) by Madeleine L'Engle: This is my third reading of A Wrinkle in Time. Several years ago I reread it for Banned Books Week. At the end of my review I said I was definitely going to read it again with my boys. Weeeellll, I can't get them to read it. I even tried bribery. Since I went through the trouble of getting it from the library, I decided I would just read it to myself again. *sigh*

Firelight (Amulet #7) by Kazu Kibuishi: When Firelight came out last year, I only had access to a Kindle version through my library. When I spotted a print copy on the shelf last week, I wanted to read it again in print.

Can I just say how happy I am that Goodreads can handle rereads now? It is really going to save my challenge in times of stress.

Review Copies

I'm going to lift my ban on review copies in September. I may post some thoughts next week on what I've learned during my hiatus.

Paperbacks from Hell: A History of Horror Fiction from the '70s and '80s by Grady Hendrix - Quirk Books sent me a copy of Paperbacks from Hell. It is a must read for me due to the content, but I have to say this book is absolutely gorgeous. It's "a tour through the horror paperback novels of the 1970s and ’80s", and it's beautiful. All of the pages are in full color, and it's filled with nothing but vintage horror goodness. "Page through dozens and dozens of amazing book covers featuring well-dressed skeletons, evil dolls, and knife-wielding killer crabs! Read shocking plot summaries that invoke devil worship, satanic children, and haunted real estate! Horror author and vintage paperback book collector Grady Hendrix offers killer commentary and witty insight on these trashy thrillers that tried so hard to be the next Exorcist or Rosemary’s Baby. It’s an affectionate, nostalgic, and unflinchingly funny celebration of the horror fiction boom of two iconic decades, complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles. You’ll find familiar authors, like V. C. Andrews and R. L. Stine, and many more who’ve faded into obscurity. Plus recommendations for which of these forgotten treasures are well worth your reading time and which should stay buried." I can't wait to take the tour.

Current Distractions

• My kids are back to school and homework is in full swing. We are still trying to figure out our routines. I miss summer already.
• What kind of torture is this? I finally got caught completely up on Game of Thrones last week, and the season finale is tomorrow?! My husband and I decided to start back over with season one. LOL.
• Are you guys watching Ozark on Netflix? I'm almost through with season one, and I'm just not loving it like everyone else seems to be.
• I also started watching Defenders. My hubs is a huge comic book guy, but they are all hit or miss with me. I'm a big fan of Jessica Jones and Daredevil so Defenders is working out for me so far.

So what about you? Let me know what you're reading (or watching) this week or leave me some links!

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This post is being shared as part of Book Date's It's Monday! What Are You Reading?, Tynga's Reviews' Stacking the Shelves, and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.