Publisher: Soho Crime
Publication Date: 13/01/2022
Length: 257 pages
Genre: Japanese Fiction | Translated Fiction | Psychological Horror | Mystery | Thriller

CW: n/a

What transforms a person into a killer? Can it be something as small as a suggestion?

Turn this page, and you may forfeit your entire life.

With My Annihilation, Fuminori Nakamura, master of literary noir, has constructed a puzzle box of a narrative in the form of a confessional diary that implicates its reader in a heinous crime.

Delving relentlessly into the darkest corners of human consciousness, My Annihilation interrogates the unspeakable thoughts all humans share that can be monstrous when brought to life, revealing with disturbing honesty the psychological motives of a killer.
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18/10/202201/10/2022

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Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

Firstly, a huge thank you to Granta and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Granta
Publication Date: 14/07/2022
Length: 266 pages
Genre: Japanese Fiction | Translated Fiction | Short Stories | Horror | Contemporary Fiction

CW: n/a

An engaged couple falls out over the husband’s dislike of clothes and objects made from human materials; a young girl finds herself deeply enamoured with the curtain in her childhood bedroom; people honour their dead by eating them and then procreating. Published in English for the first time, this exclusive edition also includes the story that first brought Sayaka Murata international acclaim: ‘A Clean Marriage’, which tells the story of a happily asexual couple who must submit to some radical medical procedures if they are to conceive a longed-for child.

Mixing taboo-breaking body horror with feminist revenge fables, old ladies who love each other and young women finding empathy and transformation in unlikely places, Life Ceremony is a wild ride to the outer edges of one of the most original minds in contemporary fiction.
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12/10/202202/10/2022

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Blog Tour – The Creeper by A.M. Shine

Welcome to my stop on The Creeper blog tour! Huge thanks to Head of Zeus for giving me the opportunity to take part in this! I was provided a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication Date: 15/09/2022
Length: 240 pages
Genre: Horror | Gothic Horror

CW: graphic depictions of death and violence, grotesque imagery

Superstitions only survive if people believe in them…

Renowned academic Dr Sparling seeks help with his project on a remote Irish village. Historical researchers Ben and Chloe are thrilled to be chosen – until they arrive.

The village is isolated and forgotten. There is no record of its history, its stories. There is no friendliness from the locals, only wary looks and whispers. The villagers lock down their homes at sundown.

It seems a nameless fear stalks the streets, but nobody will talk – nobody except one little girl. Her words strike dread into the hearts of the newcomers. Three times you see him. Each night he comes closer…

That night, Ben and Chloe see a sinister figure watching them. He is the Creeper. He is the nameless fear in the night. Stories keep him alive. And nothing will keep him away…
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06/10/202201/10/2022

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Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi

Firstly, a huge thank you to Titan Books for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Titan Books
Publication Date: 19/07/2022
Length: 436 pages
Genre: Horror | Psychological Horror | Psycholical Thriller

CW: suicide, alcoholism, child abuse, domestic abuse, animal abuse, some homophobic language, some abelist language

For nearly two decades, Jamie Warren has been running from darkness. He’s haunted by a traumatic childhood and the guilt at having disappeared from his disabled brother’s life. But then a series of unusual events reunites him with his estranged brother and their childhood friends, and none of them can deny the sense of fate that has seemingly drawn them back together.

Nor can they deny the memories of that summer, so long ago – the strange magic taught to them by an even stranger man, and the terrible act that has followed them all into adulthood. In the light of new danger, they must confront their past by facing their futures, and hunting down a man who may very well be a monster.
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04/10/202201/10/2022

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Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi

Firstly, a huge thank you to Titan Books for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Titan Books
Publication Date: 04/10/2022
Length: 453 pages
Genre: Horror | Psychological Horror | Thriller

CW: brief mention of sexual assault, brief homophobic language

From the bestselling author of Come with Me, four standalone horror novellas set in a shared universe!

In The Skin of Her Teeth, a cursed novel drives people to their deaths.

A delivery job turns deadly in The Dark Brothers’ Last Ride.

In This Book Belongs to Olo, a lonely child has dangerous control over an usual pop-up book.

A choose-your-own adventure game spirals into an uncanny reality in The Story.
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28/02/202228/02/2022

Rosie | Little Bird Book BlogLeave a comment

Cover Reveal – The Creeper by A.M. Shine

Last year I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Shine’s debut novel The Watchers which I loved. So when Aries reached out asking if I’d like to take part in the cover reveal for Shine’s latest novel, how could I say no?

Publisher: Aries
Publication Date: 15/09/2022
Length: 240 pages
Genre: Gothic Horror

Superstitions only survive if people believe in them…

Renowned academic Dr Sparling seeks help with his project on a remote Irish village. Historical researchers Ben and Chloe are thrilled to be chosen—until they arrive…

The village is isolated and forgotten. There is no record of its history, its stories. There is no friendliness from the locals, only wary looks and whispers. The villagers lock down their homes at sundown. A nameless fear stalks the streets…

Nobody will talk—nobody except one little girl. Her story strikes dread into the hearts of the newcomers. Three times you see him. Each night he comes closer…

That night, Ben and Chloe see a sinister figure watching them. He is the Creeper. He is the nameless fear in the night. Stories keep him alive. And nothing will keep him away…
GoodReads

Drag to reveal the cover…

As well as the book, I also loved The Watchers‘ cover, so I’m thrilled that The Creeper is staying in the same style. It feels like the perfect wrapping for Shine’s novels with the stripped-back return to the classic Gothic Horror genre, where the characters are alone and isolated by the intense landscape – all highlighted through the minimalist design.

I also really love the touch of the landscape making up the silhouettes, to me it simultaneously shows how the characters can become ensnared by their surroundings yet also makes you feel as if the landscape is a character in the tale…!

What are your thoughts on the cover?

Interview with A.M. Shine

Read my Review of the watchers

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