Creepy Reads. Take two...or three. I forget.

Its been a while since I've slung out some book recommendations so here are a few!

Gill's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez

A short read but insanely hilarious. A story about a redneck vampire, a truck driving werewolf, a ghost and her ghost dog, a large kick ass woman, and many almost Lovcraftian twists and turns. Plus it shows you the true meaning of the Magic 8-Ball and why girls named Tammy are evil. Freakin' HILARIOUS! What I enjoyed most about Martinez's work is how cinematic he writes. Its very easy to visualize everything he puts out on the page. Its a very quick read and really fun.

Monster also by A. Lee Martinez

While I didn't find it quite as funny as Gill's All Fright Diner, its still pretty dang fun. Monster is the story about a guy named Monster who's job it is to collect supernatural creatures, sorta like a dog catcher in Hell. This of course leads him to meet up with Judy, a supermarket clerk and Slacker. And this leads to an almost end of the world plot involving ancient Gods and a crazy cat lady. Gill's was funner but I felt Monster had a more interesting story, really rich characters, and a fantastic world created for it. And I know I'm going to enjoy a book when it opens up with a Yeti eating everything in the Supermarket frozen foods section.

Heart Shaped Box - By Joe Hill

Now for a COMPLETELY different pace. Stac recommended this one to me and to be honest I was pretty skeptical after reading the summary. The story revolves around an aging rocker named Jude who buys a haunted suit off of Ebay. But I assure you there is SO much more than that to the story. I would say more but it would give a lot of the surprises away. Hill creates a wonderful complex character in Jude and as the story progresses you learn about him, his past and his sins. The book is haunting and bleak but with a surprisingly optimistic message. It also goes in directions that are completely unexpected. A great page turner, and one of the creepiest and frightening ghost stories I've ever read. Books don't usually scare me. Heart Shaped Box did.

Zombie CSU - By Johnathan Maberry

Johnathan Maberry is slowly becoming a favorite of mine. First with Patient Zero (which I finished and it was AWESOME!) and now with Zombie CSU which was one of the most enjoyable "nonfiction" books I've ever read. Yeah, I did say nonfiction. Let me explain. Maberry interviews experts in Forensics, Medicine, Police, Military and more to discuss how these professionals would really act in a zombie uprising. He writes each chapter like a police case file and gives some wonderful insight that we don't get from the movies. Maberry is obviously a lover of the zombie genre and his love shows through in this book. And being a zombie genre lover myself I hung on every word. Its a really unique book, well researched, and has some great supplements such as zombie quizzes, movie recommendations, and interviews with zombie authors and artists. My favorite chapter of course was on zombie pop culture. If you like the zombie genre, this is a must read.

And that's all for now! More to come when I'm able to unpack my books again!