Before reviewing this story I feel the need to get a few disclaimers out of the way. First up, spoiler warning. I’ll try not to explicitly spoil anything, but some of the things I mention may lead you to get ahead of the twists before they’re revealed. Second, gore. I’m really not the best person to rate gore as (not to blow my own horn) I’ve got a pretty high tolerance for gore, but this story does revolve around a mad scientist, so if you don’t like hearing about experiments and the like I’d steer clear of this one. Third, there are a few places that may warrant a trigger warning, specifically for domestic abuse, and sexual assault, though these aren’t terribly big or often. (Maybe a little often on emotional abuse)

Still here? Great, let’s begin!

The Madman’s Daughter, by Megan Shepherd

One thing I’d like to get out of the way is the love triangle. I’m not one to hide my disdain for love triangles, and I think that the world is growing more and more aware of how absolutely terrible they are. More specifically the Twilight TM kind, where there are two gorgeous and amazing guys fighting over a really blah chick. I’m happy to say that the only damsel moments that I noticed were when she actually couldn’t do anything, more specifically times that involve swimming, but that is reasonable considering the day and age this is set, 1 it makes sense for her not to be able to swim because she was raised a lady, 2 she’s a girl, she’s in dresses and corsets, I’m pretty sure Olympic swimmers wouldn’t be terribly eager to jump into the ocean in one of those monstrosities. But, I digress, and to make things easier the three characters in le’ love triangle are named Juliet, Edward (har har), and Montgomery. Now, another big problem with love triangles is that it’s usually very obvious who the chick is going to pick. Let’s be real, it’s usually the one introduced as a love interest first. But, in this story I actually found myself bouncing back and forth on who I thought she’d end up with. As the story progresses there are some very interesting developments in the love interests that give genuine cause to revaluate who is the better man.

Next thing I’d like to talk about is her father. I find that estranged fathers often fall into two categories, either the child detests actually likable guys, or the child adores and defends literal scum. This story falls into neither category as Juliet doesn’t try to defend his awful actions, and is often the one who hates him the most. But, one thing that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before with terrible parents is the horror one can feel realizing that you share traits with them. Juliet often has to take a step back, realizing that she also shows some of the traits that made her label him as ‘mad’ and in this, the audience can do the same thing. With stories involving experimentation the audience may be horrified by what they learn, but let’s be real, who among us would read something like this and not want to find out everything. It’s morbid curiosity that’s told in a way that would make anyone consider their own labeling of this 'mad’ scientist.

Again, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, this is a mystery story, and as everyone knows mysteries aren’t any fun when you know the ending. Learning about all of the things going on on the island, the Doctor’s experiments, his surgeries, why he needs all of the things he sent Montgomery to London for in the first place, it unravels at a delicious pace, little seeds for the story planted early on and carefully nurtured, then, as with most gore stories it’s descriptions that cinch it. The time when this takes place lends to the difficulty that Juliet had describing some things, giving an uneasy feeling of knowing some things simply defy description. Juliet tries her best to make sense of things but is limited by her time. As far as the medical terms go she is fairly well versed in terminology there, but it can be difficult to balance proper terminology for things with terms that the average reader will actually know. This story does a good job of it. Unfortunately, there are few of the experiments and procedures described that suspend disbelief a little too far, but they’re easy to put aside while focussing on the action.

Finally, the climax. Good god, the climax. Another spoiler warning here, because I’m telling you now, it takes a lot to bring me to tears. This ending had me literally sobbing. It cranks up the adrenaline, holds your interest in revealing the mystery, and tying up so many loose ends. It is beautifully catastrophic in a way that lends itself to the revealing twist. It keeps your attention on an exceedingly worrying decision, one that completely consumes Juliet’s every thought as it reaches the end then rips the rug out from under you in an equally heart-shattering ending that I for one did not see coming. This story literally left me sobbing for a good five minutes straight as it wound to a close, and I absolutely recommend it for anyone who enjoys mystery, horror, and suspense.

How do you think aliens would react to the whole Frankenstein name thing? Because think about it humans seriously name everything living or not, but the monster doesn’t actually have, like, an official name.

Alien: I’ve been researching human culture and I’m finding your ‘monsters’ to be very interesting.

Human: Oh, sorry if the alien movies are offensive.

Alien: I haven’t gotten to any of those. I’m starting with your 'classic’ monsters. Like Dracula and Frankenstein.

Human: Actually, Frankenstein isn’t the name of the monster. It’s the name of the scientist who made him.

Alien: I see. It’s always such a shame when stories are misconstrued like that. So what’s the monster’s real name?

Human: He, uh, kinda doesn’t have one.

Alien: What?

Human: He doesn’t really have one. The book never gave him an official name.

Alien: Are-are you serious.

Human: Yeah, why?

Alien: Humans name everything. You named a literal rock yesterday. Human Amy named her houseplant. And you’re telling me arguably one of the most iconic characters in human entertainment doesn’t have a name?

If I’m going to give my review of “Girl of Nightmares” by Kendare Blake I’m going to have to make some more comparisons to Supernatural. From what I understand a lot of people did not enjoy the introduction of The Men of Letters, which I can understand. In the beginning Supernatural was fairly simple, hunt ghosts, solve mysteries, Scooby Dooby Doo. But, keeping things that simple with an extended narrative would be nearly impossible, and I doubt the writers could possibly keep it from getting old. When scary stories are continued on its impossible not to address certain questions, like where the monsters go after they’ve been killed, and with The Anna Series possibly the biggest question that has to be addressed is the Athame, where it came from, who made it, why and how it can kill ghosts. Then there’s where the last book left off. Where did Anna go? I’ll give a fair warning if delving into heavy lore, somewhat vague answers, and secret organizations is not something you enjoy then this book is not for you. I doubt many would be able to not read it if they enjoyed the first novel, a character as likable and memorable as Anna is hard to leave at a loose end without confirmation that she gets a happy ending. And the same and opposite can be said for the Obbia man. The ghost that killed our main protagonist’s father and nearly killed him is someone that you’d want to see get their comeuppance. But both characters left the same way, and to the same place. This sequel was able to answer the questions the last book left off on. It has a plot that sets up all of the questions and new mysteries very well and wraps up nicely. If you enjoyed the first book I, of course, recommend this one. The answers are very satisfying and I can honestly say the time I had to wait to hear the rest of the story drove me crazy so I can’t imagine just leaving it. But I feel it’s only fair to warn you that this book was very emotionally draining for me. I won’t give spoilers but the rollercoaster it keeps the reader strapped to is definitely a very fun one, if that’s the sort of ride you enjoy.

Book number three was “Anna Drenched in Blood” by Kendare Blake. Yes, I have the same name as in this title, how astute of you to notice. But in all seriousness, the name almost put me off because I knew it would be kinda weird, but I still thought it could be interesting so I listened to it, and it was weird but it was still a great listen. I will say this was a definite shift from what I’d listened to so far as it is a horror. I was on a bit of an LGBT binge but I knew that well would dry up sooner rather than later so I decided to embrace that fact. Anna Drenched in Blood is the story of a hunter. Something like Supernatural but from what I can tell it’s just ghosts with him, some voodoo and witchcraft is in there too. I’d also like to note the somewhat humorous fact that the protagonist’s name is Cas. Short for Cassio, but I think that’s enough talking about Supernatural. In the story, we get to see Cas on a more normal hunt before he starts looking into Anna Drenched in Blood, as is her legend’s name. We learn that she is different than other ghosts he’s met, but I don’t want to spoil it for you so that’s as much as I’ll say. It’s an intriguing mystery, and the slow unravel is very fun. The characters are all very interesting and I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen a book where the comic relief actually gets a romantic interest. Again, no spoilers. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of horror, or just feels like a sloppy book, especially this time of year. 10/10 would recommend. Side note, though it is part of a series and I will post when I finally listen to the sequel, I’m just waiting for it to become available for checkout.

You don’t know horror until the teacher addresses a complaint that a parent sent in and it was your f*cking parent about something you told them about.