OCTOBER 2: Bad things happen to nice (and not-so-nice kids)

Even though I love summertime best of all, October is one of my very favorite months.  Chilly enough for a sweater, but still sunny.  Cider donuts and apple picking.  And scary stories.  Lots and lots and LOTS of scary stories.

If you've got any scary book or movie suggestions, come talk to me!

While I was on vacation I finally got to enjoy Joe Hill's latest, NOS4A2.  Not since The Nightmare Before Christmas has there been such a mashup of gingerbready good times and bloody horror.  Since the incessant playing of Christmas carols gives me murderous thoughts anyway, I loved the sinister world of Christmasland, where all the children are happy.  Very, very happy.  Forever.

I also got an advance look at The Troop by Nick Cutter.  Five boy scouts and their scoutmaster are spending the weekend on a lonely island near Nova Scotia.  What should be a routine camping trip turns into a gruesome bid for survival when an very unexpected castaway shows up on the island.

Guys, this book was stomach-churningly gross*, and I mean that in the best possible way.  This one doesn't come out till February, but keep it on your radar.  Horror veterans Stephen King and Scott Smith have both vouched for it.








*Once you've read it, that description's gonna make you laugh.