Melody Writes

I thoroughly enjoy horror stories set in the deep north. There is something about the icy cold isolation that just heightens the tension for me. Even if I am reading the book in the midst of summer, I always feel a chill. We Like it Cherry by Jacy Morris delivers on the chills, for sure. Ezra Montbanc hosts a video series about the cultures and celebrations of Indigenous tribes in North America. Buried in an endless string of powwows, Ezra is losing faith in his show and longs for an exciting assignment to punch things up. In a classic case of “be careful what you wish for”, Ezra gets just that. He is invited to observe and record an isolated and mysterious tribe, the Winoquin, as they conduct a once in a lifetime ritual. He believes that this discovery will be what catapults his tiny show from obscurity into the primetime. Travelling with him are Stu, his cameraman and secret lover, Jonesy, a rough-around-the-edges sound man, and Scott, their uptight producer. Each of the main four ha...

This book is a fever dream of vampires, blood, and toxicity, and I loved it. I devoured it as quickly as my schedule would allow. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is my second V. E. Schwab book (first was The Invisible Life of Addie Larue), and the one that has cemented me as a fan. Schwab’s writing is magnetic and her books are hard to put down.   This story is about three vampires from different time periods. All three are young, beautiful, sapphic women, and even though they all end up afflicted with the same curse, they each approach their fate differently. First, we have Maria from 1532, who always hungers for more. Second comes Lottie from 1827, who wears her heart on her sleeve. Finally, we have Alice from 2019, desperate to break out of her shell. These three women come together in a whirlwind of blood, lust, and love that spans centuries.   Schwab tells these women’s stories through rotating viewpoints. Each woman’s voice is distinct and interesting, but my favouri...

In July, I set out my first ever "reading plan", an idea I stole from  Cliff's Dark Gems  on Youtube. I decided that I liked the idea and am carrying it forward in August. I have also once again signed up for another writing course. This one is a short story writing course from Crystal Lake. In keeping with that theme, I'm going to focus on reading short fiction this month. Photo by Mahendra Kumar on Unsplash July Reading Plan Progress In July, I set out to read an ambitious 8 books over a few categories and completed 5/8, and read a bonus book that wasn't on my list. Completed: The Knave of Graves by S. J. Shank  - Read my review here Hush Don't Wake the Monster Vampire Hunters from Speculative Publications  - Read my review here Theatre Macabre by Sèphera Girón  - Read my review here Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia  - Review forthcoming. Part of my  Horror Reading Challenge All Systems Red by Martha Wells August ...

Theatre Macabre is a short collection of speculative poetry all centered on the stage. The book is cleverly laid out like a stage performance itself, beginning with the aptly named "Curtain Up" a poem about anticipating that moment just before the curtain rises and a play begins. I was in a number of productions during my high school days. This poem captures that nervous uncertainty that comes while you work to calm your jitters and accept that even if mistakes are made, the show must go on. Setting up the book like this allows the reader to imagine each poem as a performance in itself, and Girón brings this metaphorical structure home by wrapping up the collection with a quick little poem called "Curtain Down". The final poem is short, but I think this fits the theatre idea. So much time and energy is spent leading up to a production - rehearsals, costumes, nerves, lines - and then, rather suddenly, it's over.  All of the poems in this collection are about some...

Vampire Hunters combines several things that I love - found fiction, creepy atmosphere, history, and monstrous vampires. This collection is dark, gripping, and genuinely scary. Beginning in ancient Greece and continuing to the modern day, these twenty-two tales offer a rich variety of vampire lore told through a collection of letters and diary entries compiled over the centuries. Presenting the stories as historical records only adds to the unsettling nature of the work and adds a sense of realism few books possess. Tying all these stories together is a sort of bonus tale. The book is divided into sections and at the front of each one is correspondence from one curator to the next. The main difficulty with found fiction is the question of “why was this recorded”? The individual stories do a good job of this on their own. This framing story really adds to the suspension of disbelief that this is a real curated history. This is an excellent anthology for vampire fans of all types. I do r...

A story of growth, change, and acceptance – The Knave of Graves – is a profound piece of work. It starts as a slow burn but soon evolves into a harrowing exploration of right, wrong, and learning from our mistakes. The story is easy to settle into, but difficult to climb out of. I took my time reading it, but it was still over too soon, leaving me with that post-book “can I have some more, please?” that often comes of good books. Jeppo is a grave digger, but he does not want to be. His true calling is an apotropaist – someone who makes charms/trinkets to ward off evil or for luck. Many take him for a charlatan, but his charms actually work and, despite perceptions, are what saves the little town he lives in from unseen disasters. He protects their cemetery from ghouls, and during the course of the novel, an evil sorcerer who seeks the bones of the saint protected by Jeppo and will stop at nothing to get them. Yet, Jeppo is not a standard hero. Resentful of his position, he often abuses...

Hello! Once again, life has shifted my plans. Some personal stuff has been going on, but also I am deep into Crystal Lake's Author's Journey Novella Writing Course  and am enjoying it immensely. Not only does my novella benefit from the eyes of experienced editors, but we get regular webinars on a variety of writing topics.  My novella is a retelling of the Sisyphus myth (the guy who pushes the rock) and his adventures in the Underworld. It feels good to possibly be able to finish a long form Greek Myth retelling. I'm about halfway to my projected word count and actually have the rest of the story plotted out. More to come as I continue... But, this blog post is about catching up. I have decided to do something new - a reading plan for the month of July. Usually, I read by the seat of my pants. I pull books on whims, start new ones without finishing the old, bounce around, realize an ARC is due... etc. No real plan. But I was watching a fun Youtube channel - Cliff's Dar...

When I was younger, I often felt like stories focusing sibling relationships were hard to find. There was often too much emphasis on romantic relationships or friend groups. I am not sure how much of that is true, or just in my memory. I have a brother who I am close to and because of all of this, I am drawn to stories that centre sibling relationships. I also enjoy stories about characters who experienced something while they were young that returns to haunt them in adulthood (thankfully, that preference is not based on my real life). Children of the Fog hits on both these themes. Lizzy and Dylan went through a traumatic experience together when they were children, and it tore them apart. Lizzy dreams of a "normal life" where she can forget the scars of her past and Dylan refuses to let go. Lizzy has a career and a loving partner, while Dylan is a homeless nomad, existing in the less acceptable parts of society. But the sinister presence that ruined their childhood is ba...

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash At the start of the year, I set some lofty goals for my writing and this blog. And as it always does, life has intervened. I have decided to adjust some of these goals going forward, at least temporarily. As well, the first quarter of the year is complete, and it's a good time to reevaluate. Here is my quarterly accountability post and some adjustments I am making. 1. Post Every Week Goal: Post every week (Sundays) Result so Far: Met until April 13 (15 weeks), adjusting to every other week I'm temporarily shifting this to every other week. I have signed up for Crystal Lake's Author's Journey course and in order to keep up with those obligations, I need to cut back a bit on other things. I struggled a bit with this goal during Moanaria's Fright Club course that I took earlier this year, and was forced to use old reviews written years ago. I could do that again now, but I would prefer to post better content in alternating ...

It is impossible to read Meg Elison's Number One Fan without comparing it to Stephen King's Misery. Both feature a famous novelist kidnapped by an unhinged fan who grows increasingly terrifying over the course of the novel. Both books speak to toxicity in fandom and the entitlement some fans develop towards creators. I cannot recommend Misery enough - it is a fantastic book - but I'm going to focus on Elison's book here. It is more than just a "gender-flipped" Misery. Note: My discussion will include some spoilers, but I will do my best to avoid the major ones. Eli Grey is on her way to a speaking engagement when she gets kidnapped by Leonard, a man who she thinks is a stranger, but knows her all too well. For years, Leonard has been circling at the edge of Eli's life, and he has finally decided to make his move. What follows was one of the most harrowing, uncomfortable reads of my life. The level of entitlement and intimacy that Leonard expects of Eli is ...