The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender: A great Fall read!

Snuggle in and prepare for a long, dark night of reading, because once you meet Delia, the ghostly heroine in Katie Alender's latest horror novel, you won't want to let her go.

16-year-old Delia has inherited a house from her aunt and namesake, Cordelia, and the family is moving there for the summer to fix it up and get it ready to sell. When they arrive they find that the house wasn’t always a house. Founded in 1866, the Piven Institute for the Care and Correction of Troubled Females (called Hysteria Hall by the locals) was in operation up until the 1940’s, when it was closed by the state medical board following a rash of mysterious deaths.

Delia becomes the next victim, only to find that even death does not free the souls of the “troubled” women, teens, and children who died within the walls of the house. To protect her family, Delia must discover the source of the house’s evil and destroy it, no matter what it takes.

It’s not often I read a book where the main character dies only seven chapters into the story, but it’s only once she’s dead that Delia becomes a heroine. Piecing the story together from bits and snippets told to her by the other ghosts, Delia realizes that there is something wrong with the house. But it’s not until four years later, when her baby sister returns, that Delia feels compelled to act against the evil that has taken root. The story is at turns sad and spooky, with an intriguing, suspenseful plot and likable narrator. I highly recommend this one.

Alender, Katie. The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall. New York: Scholastic, 2015. 4 stars.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions expressed in the review are mine alone. 

Kady Cross' Sisters of Blood and Spirit

Twins Lark and Wren Noble couldn’t be more different. While their features are exactly the same, Wren has straight hair naturally colored a vivid red, which matches her vibrant personality and energy. Lark has a more muted personality and stark white blond hair. Oh, and Wren is dead. She was born dead. But she’s always been by her sister’s side. Wren’s the one who went for help when Lark tried to commit suicide. She protected Lark in the psych ward, making sure human orderlies and other ghosts didn’t hurt her sister when the anti-psychotic drugs made her vulnerable. Now Lark is back in school, trying to ignore the stares and whispers from fellow students, and pretending that Wren was a hallucination that she’s been cured of seeing. Some people know differently, though. Kevin, the medium Wren ran to for help when her sister cut her wrists; Mace, the guy Kevin called to go check on Lark; and the twins’ grandmother, who they now live with since their mom couldn’t handle Lark’s level of crazy.

When Roxi approaches Lark AND acknowledges Wren, Lark begins to have some hope that she could make a friend post-asylum. However, Roxi is just trying to lure Lark to a meeting with Mace - who she's been avoiding - and some of their other friends from school. It seems that the group has done something stupid. Cutting across the grounds of an old asylum one night they managed to piss off a malevolent spirit. They were marked, and now the ghost can reach them wherever they go, leaching energy out of them, haunting them, possessing them, even killing them. Of course, they don’t know that. One look and Lark can see it, though. Mace is asking Lark - and Wren - for help. He can feel that something is wrong even if his friends don’t, he believes in Wren, and he knows that the twins are their only hope for fighting the ghost off. Lark feels obligated to help Mace, but she and Wren have no idea what they’re going up against.

I picked up this book because it was by Kady Cross. I LOVE her Steampunk Chronicles and the Immortal Empire trilogy (adult books written under the name Kate Locke). Those novels were extremely entertaining, well written, and revealed a fantastic imagination. I had high hopes for this new novel, even though it was a departure from her steampunk worlds.

I wasn’t disappointed. Sisters of Blood and Spirit is all of the things you want in a novel. Told in first person point of view by both Lark and Wren (in alternate chapters) the narrative pulls the reader in on the very first page. The primary and secondary characters are really well thought out and have depth and purpose within the novel - providing a great framework for the twins. The story moves quickly, each scene advancing the plot and pulling the reader in even more. And did I mention that it has just the right amount of creepy without really falling into outright horror? Which is good, because I like to sleep at night. 

Cross, Kady. Sisters of Blood and Spirit. New York: HarlequinTeen, 2015. 5 Stars.

Review of Maplecroft by Cherie Priest, or, Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave Cthulu 40 whacks...

Infamous Lizzie Borden and her sister, Emma, live an odd life in Fall River, Massachusetts. Though Lizzie was acquitted of the murder of their father and stepmother the verdict was not the end of the sisters’ troubles. Mrs. Borden’s sea glass necklace still whispers from the depths of the pit under the cellar, and strange predatory creatures, perhaps drawn by the sea glass’ hypnotic call, come to Maplecroft in the night. As they are the only ones aware of the deadly creatures invading the town of Fall River Lizzie cannot, in good conscience, leave the area unprotected. She spends most of her time researching ways to destroy the things. Her experiments, trials, and tests have all failed. So far, the only success she’s had is hacking them to pieces with her axe. And still more come tapping, slapping, at the walls of Maplecroft, looking for a way in.

Meanwhile Emma, a frail woman stricken with consumption, does her own research on marine biology. She picks up samples from the beach and studies them, writing articles for prominent journals and corresponding with biologists and professors under the pseudonym E.A. Jackson. She sends a particularly interesting, and odiferous, sample to biology professor Phillip Zollicoffer at Miskatonic University, a frequent correspondent.

Professor Zollicoffer, despite Emma’s warning about the sticky smell that accompanies her find, examines the sample without gloves or protective clothing. He is immediately fascinated by what it could be. He feels compelled to “take care” of it, entranced by it’s tentacular, slimy beauty and immune to it’s horrid stench. He names the creature Physalis Zollicoffris and quickly succumbs to her allure, following her instructions and catering to her desires. 

And as Zollicoffer begins his descent into madness Fall River experiences a wave of violence and illness, and the creatures multiply. 

This novel was incredibly creepy and very well written. The basic facets of Lizzie Borden’s historical record are expanded with fiction and interlaced with Lovecraft’s peculiar mythos and creatures. This weirdly wonderful blending of history and horror is told gradually in journal entries and letters by several characters, each delivering their perspective on the story, enriching the narrative and creating a sense of intimacy for the reader. The deliberate pacing and gothic tone of the novel create a feeling of unease in the back of the mind that grows as the novel progresses. I highly recommend this shiver-inducing novel.

Priest, Cherie. Maplecroft (The Borden Dispatches Series, Book 1). New York: ROC, 2015. 5 stars.