Top Horror of 2018

According to reader reviews via Goodreads, these are the best horror novels of last year.  Keep the light on while you read these!

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White - Elizabeth Lavenza has been starved and beaten by her "caregiver" until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything-- except a friend. To escape from misery, Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and soon she and Victor are inseparable. But as the years pass, Elizabeth's survival depends on managing Victor's dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. She is determined to stay alive no matter the cost... as the world she knows is consumed by darkness.

Devils Unto Dust by Emma Berquist - Keep together. Keep your eyes open. Keep your wits about you. The desert is unkind in the best of times. And the decade since the Civil War has been anything but the best of times for Daisy Wilcox-- call her Willie-- and her family. This tense, heart-pounding alternate history about a young woman fighting to survive the unthinkable will keep fans of 'Westworld' and 'The Walking Dead' reading late into the night. A horrifying sickness has spread across the West Texas desert. Infected people-- shakes-- attack the living, and the surviving towns are only as safe as their perimeter walls are strong. The state is all but quarantined from the rest of the country. Glory, Texas, is a near ghost town. Still, seventeen-year-old Willie has managed to keep her siblings safe, even after the sickness took their mother. But then her good-for-nothing father steals a fortune from one of the most merciless shake hunters in town, and Willie is left on the hook for his debt. With two young hunters as guides, Willie sets out across the desert to find her father. And the desert holds more dangers than just shakes.

Dracul by Dacre Stoker & J. D. Barker - It is 1868, and a twenty-one-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water, and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night, the longest of his life. Desperate to record what he has witnessed, Bram scribbles down the events that led him here ... A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents' Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen--a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen--and that the nightmare they've thought long ended is only beginning. A riveting novel of gothic suspense, Dracul reveals not only Dracula's true origin, but Bram Stoker's--and the tale of the enigmatic woman who connects them.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland - Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania-- derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. Now laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. But it's not a life Jane wants. When families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy... and the restless dead are the least of her problems. Book 1 of 2 in the Dread Nation series 

The Listener by Robert McCammon - 1934. Businesses went under by the hundreds, debt and foreclosures boomed, and breadlines grew in many American cities. In the midst of this misery, some folks explored unscrupulous ways to make money. Angel-faced John Partlow and carnival huckster Ginger LaFrance are among the worst of this lot. Joining together they leave their small time confidence scams behind to attempt an elaborate kidnapping-for-ransom scheme in New Orleans. In a different part of town, Curtis Mayhew, a young black man who works as a redcap for the Union Railroad Station, has a reputation for mending quarrels and misunderstandings among his friends. What those friends don't know is that Curtis has a special talent for listening... and he can sometimes hear things that aren't spoken aloud. One day, Curtis Mayhew's special talent allows him to overhear a child's cry for help, which draws him into the dangerous world of Partlow and LaFrance.

Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer - Nita doesn't murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet--her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they've been "acquired." Until her mom brings home a live specimen and Nita decides she wants out; dissecting a scared teenage boy is a step too far. But when she decides to save her mother's victim, she ends up sold in his place--because Nita herself isn't exactly "human." She has the abilityto alter her biology, a talent that is priceless on the black market. Now on the other side of the bars, if she wants to escape, Nita must ask herself if she's willing to become the worst kind of monster. Book 1 of 2 in the Market of Monsters series 

Outpost by W. Michael Gear - The first book in a thrilling new sci-fi action adventure, set on Donovan, a treacherous alien planet where corporate threats and dangerous creatures imperil the lives of the planet's inhabitants. A ghost ship, the Freelander, appears in orbit. Missing for two years, she arrives with a crew dead of old age, and reeks of a bizarre death-cult ritual that deters any ship from attempting a return journey. But maybe it's worth the risk, for a brutal killer is stalking all of them as Donovan plays its own complex and deadly game. Book 1 of 4 in the Donovan series 

The Outsider by Stephen King - An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories. An eleven-year-old boy's violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City's most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad. As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King's propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? 

The Siren and the Specter by Jonathan Janz - When David Caine, a celebrated skeptic of the supernatural, is invited by an old friend to spend a month in "the most haunted house in Virginia," he believes the case will be like any other. But the Alexander House is different. Built by a 1700s land baron to contain the madness and depravity of his eldest son, the house is plagued by shadows of the past and the lingering taint of bloodshed. David is certain there will be a way to explain the supernatural occurrences and write a bestselling book about his experience. But David himself is haunted, and twenty-two years ago he turned away the woman he loved, and in despair she took her life. Now David is forced to look into his past as he begins to suspect she's follwed him to Alexander House.

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix - In this hard-rocking, spine-tingling supernatural thriller, the washed-up guitarist of a '90s heavy metal band embarks on an epic road-trip across America and deep into the web of a sinister conspiracy. Grady Hendrix, horror writer and author of Paperbacks from Hell and My Best Friend's Exorcism, is back with his most electrifying novel yet. In the 1990s, heavy metal band Dürt Würk was poised for breakout success--but then lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom as Koffin, leaving his fellow bandmates to rot in obscurity. Two decades later, former guitarist Kris Pulaski works as the night manager of a Best Western--she's tired, broke, and unhappy. Everything changes when a shocking act of violence turns her life upside down, and she begins to suspect that Terry sabotaged more than just the band. Kris hits the road, hoping to reunite with the rest of her bandmates and confront the man who ruined her life. It's a journey that will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a celebrity rehab center to a music festival from hell. A furious power ballad about never giving up, even in the face of overwhelming odds, We Sold Our Souls is an epic journey into the heart of a conspiracy-crazed, pill-popping, paranoid country that seems to have lost its very soul ... where only a lone girl with a guitar can save us all. 

Vikings Fiction

Doing a two part series today and tomorrow: vikings!  Today: fiction!

Blood Eye by Giles Kirstian - In a thrilling adventure of brotherhood, warfare, and treachery, Giles Kristian takes us into ninth-century England, a world of darkness, epic conflict, and an unforgiving God served by powerful priests. On ships shaped like dragons, bristling with oars and armor, Jarl Sigurd and his fierce Norsemen have come in search of riches. And riches they are promised, by an English ruler who sends Sigurd and his wolves to steal a holy manuscript from another kingdom. Osric, an orphan boy, sees beyond the terror of these warriors, and somehow knows the heathens' tongue. Renamed Raven, rechristened in blood, he will join them. They are his people. And they will be his fate. Book 1 of 3 in the Raven series

The Circle of Ceridwen by Octavia Randolph - It is the year 871, when England was Angle-Land, and largely fallen to the invading Vikings. Ceridwen, lost in the frozen woods, is discovered by warriors accompanying young Aelfwyn, daughter of a Saxon lord, sold into marriage to a Viking war chief as part of a peace treaty. Becoming fast friends with Aelfwyn, Ceridwen joins the group to their destination- the captured fortress of Four Stones. There, Ceridwen finds living with the enemy affords her unusual freedoms and she find contentment in helping Aelfwyn restore the Four Stones to glory, until a new arrival shatters their peace and sets Ceridwen on an extraordinary adventure to save a man she has never met.  Book 1 of 6 in the Circle of Ceridwen Saga

Fate's Needle by Jerry Autieri - No land. No father. No brother. No son." When his father is murdered and his brother betrays him to steal his birthright as Jarl of Grenner, Ulfrik Ormsson finds himself adrift on a sea of vengeance and corruption. Aided only by a beautiful slave, a smiling warrior, and a group of blood-lusting berserkers, he must wrest back his homelands by force and face the most difficult decision of all to even the scales of justice and honor.  Book 1 of 7 in Ulfrik Ormsson's Saga

God's Hammer by Eric Schumacher - It is 935 A.D. and the North is in turmoil. King Harald Fairhair has died, leaving the High Seat of the realm to his murderous son, Erik Bloodaxe. To solidify his claim, Erik ruthlessly disposes of all claimants to his throne, save one: his youngest brother Hakon.
Erik's surviving enemies send a ship to Wessex, where the Christian King Athelstan is raising Hakon. Unable to avoid his fate, he returns to the Viking North to face his brother and claim his birthright, only to discover that victory will demand sacrifices beyond his wildest nightmares.  Book 1 of 3 in Hakon's Saga

Hunting Season by Shelly Laurenston - Neecy Lawrence, winged warrior for a Viking goddess and second-in-command of the fierce Crows, doesn't know what to do with a nice guy. As it is, making up for a past she'd sooner forget leaves her barely polite most days. But Raven leader and loyal Odin warrior, Will Yager, isn't just nice. He's gorgeous, hot, and a distraction she simply can't afford. Yager has wanted Neecy in his life-and in his bed-for a long time. Not just for a night, but forever. And, like any self-respecting Viking, he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. So what if she's the most difficult, complex, never-gives-him-a-break woman he's ever known? She's more than worth the effort. In fact, she's worth everything. And if it turns out that twenty-four hours of non-stop, any-way-she-wants-it sex doesn't work with Neecy? Then it looks like he'll just have to get a little more creative... Book 1 of the Gathering series

The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell - This is the exciting--yet little known--story of the making of England in the 9th and 10th centuries, the years in which King Alfred the Great, his son and grandson defeated the Danish Vikings who had invaded and occupied three of England's four kingdoms.
The story is seen through the eyes of Uhtred, a dispossessed nobleman, who is captured as a child by the Danes and then raised by them so that, by the time the Northmen begin their assault on Wessex (Alfred's kingdom and the last territory in English hands) Uhtred almost thinks of himself as a Dane. He certainly has no love for Alfred, whom he considers a pious weakling and no match for Viking savagery, yet when Alfred unexpectedly defeats the Danes and the Danes themselves turn on Uhtred, he is finally forced to choose sides. By now he is a young man, in love, trained to fight and ready to take his place in the dreaded shield wall. Above all, though, he wishes to recover his father's land, the enchanting fort of Bebbanburg by the wild northern sea.  Book 1 of 11 in the Last Kingdom series

People of the Songtrail by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear - People of the Songtrail is the saga of the first European settlers to land on the shores of the New World. It is a story, like so many in America's history, of the swift and violent clash of cultures, and of extraordinary men and women on both sides who were brave enough to work for the fragile hope of peace. On the shores of what is now northeastern Canada, a small group of intrepid settlers have landed, seeking freedom to worship and prosper far from the religious strife and political upheaval that plague a war-ridden Europe... 500 years before Columbus set sail. Vikings, the first European settlers to land on the shores of the new world, intend to make it their home-- in spite of the Skraeling barbarians who stand in their way. In their swift and violent clash of cultures, there are men and women on both sides who are brave enough to work for the fragile hope of peace.  Book 17 of 18 in the North America's Forgotten Past series

Viking Warrior by Judson Roberts - A young man only at peace when he is at war
Young Halfdan is a slave. He is crafty with a bow and arrow and wise in the ways of the animals, but he can only dream of a warrior's life. That is, until the dark day a Saxon's blows lay his father on his deathbed, and his mother makes a tragic bargain for Halfdan's freedom.
A boy's destiny can come at the most terrible price. Halfdan must suffer a grave loss in order to grasp what he most desires: to train by, to live by, and, if the fates decree it, to die by the force of his sword and the swiftness of his arrow. He is to be a warrior -- a great warrior.
Bloody, furiously paced, heart-wrenching, and unflinching, this is a story of a land where the destinies of boys and men are forged in the heat of battle. Young Halfdan shall come to know the glories of true brotherhood and the unspeakable horrors of true evil. In this first book in a saga teeming with thrilling details of the Viking world, young Halfdan emerges as a new hero . . . a new myth . . . a new legend.   Book 1 of 4 in the Strongbow Saga

Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller - An eighteen-year-old chieftain's daughter must find a way to kill her village's oppressive deity if she ever wants to return home in this Viking-inspired YA standalone fantasy from Tricia Levenseller, author of Daughter of the Pirate King. How do you kill a god? As her father's chosen heir, eighteen-year-old Rasmira has trained her whole life to become a warrior and lead her village. But when her coming-of-age trial is sabotaged and she fails the test, her father banishes her to the monster-filled wilderness with an impossible quest: To win back her honor, she must kill the oppressive god who claims tribute from the villages each year or die trying? 

The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky - A young Inuit shaman's epic quest for survival in the frozen lands of North America in 1000 AD. Born with the soul of a hunter and the language of the gods, Omat is destined to become a shaman like her grandfather. To protect her people, she invokes the spirits of the sky, the sea, and the air. But the gods have stopped listening, the seals won't come, and Omat's family is starving. Desperate to save them, Omat journeys through the icy wastes, fighting for survival with every step. When she meets a Viking warrior and his strange new gods, together they set in motion a conflict that could shatter her world...or save it.  

Frontier Life Fiction

So, today is Talk Like a Grizzled Prospector Day, a holiday started by blogger Chris Jepsen in 2010 as a fun way to commemorate an important part of California's history.  I took todays theme inspired by this and went with the wider genre of Frontier Life Fiction.  Here are the 10 I'm featuring today!

Allingham: The Long Journey Home by John Horst - US Marshal and veteran copper of New York's Five Points, Allingham has established himself as a stellar lawman in the Arizona territory. He was a man once terse and tough, even bent on ending his own life, until he found a home, a family, in the unforgiving western land. Now he faces his greatest test, the loss of everything he holds dear and a range war to rival anything that Hell's Kitchen could ever offer. Follow Allingham as he rides with the cast of characters we've grown to know and love in the first Allingham stories: Warrior Saint, Hira Singh, Rosario, Old Pop, Pierce Hall, the O'Shaughnessy brothers, and some new characters as well; Pinkerton detective and longtime friend Stosh Gorski, Sheriff Commodore Perry Owens, and the grizzled and tough prospector, Hugh Auld. Will Allingham be able to survive the onslaught of physical and spiritual challenges? Will his grief be too much to bear? Will he be able to rectify the injustices in time?

Backed to the Wall by C. M. Wendelboe - Outlaws--fueled by cruelty they became addicted to during the War Between the States--roam and prey upon anyone unfortunate enough to cross their trail. In the Dakota Territory of the 1870s, the line between outlaw and lawman is often blurred. Some of those sworn to protect the helpless might exploit them instead. And some of those deemed hard cases might redeem themselves. Backed to the Wall plunges both a lawman and an outlaw into a blood battle that only one of them can survive--if the Indian raiders terrorizing homesteaders and cattlemen don't kill them first.

Escape to Fort Abercrombie by Candace Simar - Mama and little Elsa are kidnapped by Indians. As his father lies dying from a Sioux arrow in his chest, fourteen-year-old Ryker Landstad promises to take the nine-year-old twins to safety and rescue Mama and Elsa. They're in the middle of an Indian war, and it's risky to travel the main road to Fort Abercrombie. Ryker and the twins must cut across country through ten miles of prairie grass taller than a grown man. It takes all Ryker's gumption, and a little help from angels, to reach the fort, only to discover that Fort Abercrombie is besieged by 500 warriors. Ryker refuses to give up. He has no choice. He made a promise.

Flight of the Hawk: The River by W. Michael Gear - Once again, New York Times and internationally best-selling author W. Michael Gear turns his master's hand to the frontier West. In the vein of his best-selling Coyote Summer, Gear now takes us to the 1812 Missouri Fur Trade. An intimate of the Burr conspiracy, the condemned and hounded John Tylor signs on as boatman with Manuel Lisa's expedition. But the river is now contested as the British, Spanish, and other fur companies prepare to break Lisa's hold. As the expedition battles its way up the violent river, Fenway McKeever lurks in Tylor's shadow. Not only is the half-mad McKeever paid to kill Tylor, but he's convinced himself that by destroying Lisa's expedition, he can sell his services to the highest bidder.

The Frontiersman by William W. Johnstone - Seventeen-year-old Breckinridge Wallace is a pioneer whose fearless instincts have finally landed him in trouble with an Indian enemy. Now, from the bustling streets of St. Louis to the vast stillness of the Missouri headwaters, Breck is discovering a new world of splendor, violence, promise and betrayal on his way to the new frontier. Most of all, he is clawing his way to manhood behind the law of the gun.

Hour Glass by Michelle Rene - After their pa falls deathly ill with smallpox, Jimmy and his sister, Hour, travel into Deadwood, South Dakota to seek help. While their pa is in quarantine, the two form unbreakable bonds with the surrogate family that emerges from the tragedy of loss. In a place where life is fragile and families are ripped apart by disease, death, and desperation, a surprising collection of Deadwood's inhabitants surround Jimmy, Hour, and Jane. There, in the most unexpected of places, they find a family protecting them from the uncertainty and chaos that surrounds them all.

Many Sparrows by Lori Benton - In 1774, the Ohio-Kentucky frontier pulses with rising tension and brutal conflicts as Colonists push westward and encroach upon Native American territories. The young Inglesby family is making the perilous journey west when an accident sends Philip back to Redstone Fort for help, forcing him to leave his pregnant wife, Clare, and their four-year-old son Jacob on a remote mountain trail.

The O'Malleys of Texas by Dusty Richards - During the Civil War, Texas Rangers Harp and Long John O'Malley patrol a vast, unguarded range, protecting the families of soldiers off fighting at the front. At war's end, the Rangers are disbanded, and the O'Malleys sign on with a cattle drive across the most treacherous and deadly stretch of the American frontier from Texas to Sedalia.

The Open Road by M. M. Holaday - After four years of adventure in the frontier, Win Avery returns to his hometown on the edge of the prairie and tracks down his childhood friend, Jeb Dawson. Jeb has just lost his parents, and, in his efforts to console him, Win convinces his friend to travel west with him -- to see the frontier before it is settled, while it is still unspoiled wilderness. They embark on a free-spirited adventure, but their journey sidetracks when they befriend Meg Jameson, an accomplished horsewoman, lost on the Nebraska prairie. Traveling together through the Rocky Mountain foothills, they run into Gray Wolf, an Arapaho determined to live on his own terms off the reservation. As their paths and purposes converge, the course of each of their lives changes forever. Although the open road continues to call to Win, and Meg moves forward with her plans to ranch with the aged liveryman who raised her, the bonds between the four friends tie their fates together through the decades that follow, as they fight the forces striving to close the frontier and as they witness a way of life disappear.

Wildwood by Elinor Florence - Broke and desperate, single mother Molly Bannister of Phoenix, Arizona, accepts the stern condition laid down in her great-aunt's will: to spend one year in an abandoned farmhouse deep in the remote backwoods of northern Alberta. If she does, she will be able to sell the farm and fund her four-year-old daughter Bridget's badly needed medical treatments. With grim determination, Molly teaches herself the basic pioneer skills, chopping firewood and washing her clothes with melted snow. Only the journal written by her courageous great-aunt, the land's original homesteader, inspires her to struggle on. But there's another obstacle to her success: an idealistic young farmer, Colin McKay, wants to thwart Molly's strategy to sell her great-aunt's farm to an oil company. Will Molly be cheated out of her inheritance after all? Will she and Bridget survive the savage winter, and what comes next? Not only their financial future, but their very lives are at stake.