September 2016: Paranormal

Paranormal is defined as denoting events or phenomena such as telekinesis or clairvoyance that are beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Paranormal books involve unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation. Some popular subjects in paranormal books are supernatural creatures, ESP, clairvoyance, ghosts, UFOs, telepathy, and psychics. (From Wiki and Goodreads)



There is also a subgenre of paranormal romances.

I don't think there is any hard or fast rule. Let's see what you've got.

I'll be listening to The Shining by Stephen King as narrated by Campbell Scott.

I'm reading one right now!

Amy Girl / Bari Wood.

I think I will also try to get to these later:
Second Child / John Saul
Bite Me / Christopher Moore

I'll be listening to So Cold the River by Michael Koryta. I'm new to this author and to paranormal stories. But the reviews described this as a paranormal suspense and thriller. They compared him to Stephen King.

I hope to get through this one this month as I have a busy month ahead and I may get sidetracked. I'm sure I will finish it at some point but it may be late.

Amy Girl / Bari Wood
4 stars

It's the early 1970s. Amy is only 8 years old when she (mostly) sees her father kill her mother with a hammer. She was locked in a closet at the time, and she tried – with her mind – to stop him. From here on, when Amy gets upset, she feels a cold and is able to control other people with her mind. Her uncle, who is in a mental institution, sees things through other people and knows what's happened. One of the police officers who saved Amy from the closet decides to take her in as a foster child. His daughter, Greta, loves having Amy around, but teenager, Paulie, HATES Amy and will do anything to get rid of her.

I have had this over 25 years and never read it until now. There is an inscription from a couple of friends from high school and it took me this long to read it! It's a good thing I still “like” horror novels, because it was really good (though quite horrifying). There is a lot of violence, though, so beware.

My plan is to read The Three by Sarah Lotz and Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes, who are both, interestingly, South African authors. (Cannot get a touchstone for the first.)

I finished The Three by Sarah Lotz: no touchstone so here is a link. It is ambiguous horror, but just paranormal enough to qualify for this month's theme. Review written.

I finished reading So Cold the River by Michael Koryta.

The story is about Eric Shaw who goes to West Baden Indiana to gather family history information for a film he was hired to make by Alyssa Bradford. The only family information she gives him is a bottle of water labeled Pluto. Once in West Baden, Eric gets curious about the water and tries it. Later he has visions of the past which include Alyssa's husband's grandfather. Eric learns from some of the locals that the grandfather was bad and evil and may have killed someone. Eric tries to figure out what the story is amidst stronger and more frequent visions.

This was an entertaining and suspenseful story about visions, spirits and magic powers of mineral water from the natural springs in West Baden. Being paranormal, it wasn't believable to me but still a fun read.

Turns out I'm reading James Herbert's The Dark, a random grab of something quick because mom just left after 2wks and no reading has been done and I didn't feel in the right mood for the Dickens that is my next proper read. Wasn't thinking about paranormal at all when I chose it, but woo it works perfectly! Lol. As of yet (something like 65% done) I'm enjoying it, his writing isn't anything brilliant but the story is interesting and the tension is kept nicely elevated, and I quite like the main trio of characters. :) We shall see what the ending brings! :P

>9 .Monkey.: Always nice when something you are reading anyway fits for a challenge. Glad you're enjoying it!

Finished! The ending wasn't the strongest point, but it was alright. Overall enjoyable, would recommend as a quick suspenseful read when something less demanding is desired. ;)

I finished Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes, which starts out like a police procedural investigating bizarre serial murders, but ends up being more than a little bit paranormal (and weird).

I snuck in one more this month: Bird Box by Josh Malerman, which has mysterious creatures that make people go insane when they see them.

>13 sturlington: I'm thinking of reading that one for October. Thanks for the reminder. It's on my Kindle and I'm headed for vacation. Perfect choice.

I finished The Shining. It was so good. I'll likely listen to Dr. Sleep next month but I don't think it's scary.

The Killing Dance / Laurel K. Hamilton
3.5 stars

In the 6th book in the series, Anita finds out someone is trying to have her killed. She is still caught up in a triangle with vampire Jean-Claude, and werewolf Richard.

Mostly, I liked this one, but I definitely did not like the ending. I still don't like Jean-Claude. I also mostly like the audios of these books, as there are some good sound effects, but I do wonder if it's the narrator's voice for J-C that has me disliking him so much (I'm not sure of that, though). I know that, at least closer to the start of the book, it was easy for me to tune out during scenes with J-C. I am wondering, though, if the next book is where the series starts to go wrong. Not sure if I'll continue on or not.

So, I see I put Bite Me in my possibilities this month. I did read it, but it's really not horror (though it's tagged that way), so I'm not counting it here.

I finished The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper, about a professor specializing in Milton's works who battles against demons and other foes to rescue his daughter.