FUNERALS ARE FOR THE LIVING by Sami Ellis

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This review first appeared in Booklist on July 1, 2026.

Ever since the death of her sister, Jay, Junie Daniels has been holding things together through sheer stubbornness—paying the bills, planning her sister’s funeral, and caring for an increasingly withdrawn and depressed mother, which is more than any young person should have to handle. Then one day, Junie and her best friend, Omari, are in a less-welcoming corner of their southern county, tending to Jay’s grave, when they stumble upon something older and far more sinister than standard small-town prejudice: a cult of pale, ghostly women who follow the doctrine of the town’s slave-owning founder and who believe Junie possesses ancestral magic strong enough to raise the dead. What follows is a harrowing and unnerving ordeal rooted in the long, bloody history of racism in the U.S. Ellis delivers a distinctive creature feature told entirely through a Black lens that, despite its weighty themes, manages to retain a darkly humorous edge thanks to its sardonic, no-nonsense, unmistakably modern characters. Perfect for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson’s young adult horror novels.

REMEMBER ME, DAPHNE by Celia Krampien

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This review first appeared in Booklist on July 1, 2026.

Twelve-year-old Flora Abbott has always wanted a best friend—not a casual, fleeting acquaintance but a real, permanent partner: a best best friend. So, when a family moves into the long-abandoned house across the street, the one everyone believes to be haunted, she lets herself hope. Mac arrives like a promise—curious, courageous, and compassionate—but what feels like the beginning of a perfect friendship takes some sinister detours. Things at 13 Bly Street start to go missing; strange incidents seem to happen only when Mac is around; and Mac’s little brother, Danny, keeps turning up with an unsettling, distant look in his eyes. Soon enough, Flora begins to suspect it isn’t the house that’s being haunted at all. This ghost story is a poignant exploration of loneliness, self-doubt, and emotional bravery that’s charming, cozy, and exceptionally moving. Primarily known for her illustration work, Krampien’s lively art is a clear highlight. Read alongside Lindsay Currie’s Scritch Scratch (2020) and Ally Malinenko’s Broken Dolls (2025) at your next spooky sleepover.

THE HUNGRY FOREST by Kaela Rivera

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This review first appeared in Booklist on June 1, 2026.

Brothers Ryan and Teddy are dealing with their father’s tragic death in different ways. Ryan has decided to take his father’s advice on how to be a proper man to heart, putting on a brave face for the sake of his increasingly anxious mother and his overly sensitive younger brother, choosing instead to sweat out his grief on the track. Teddy, in an effort to feel closer to his dad, has taken up his dad’s old research into the many missing-person cases that seem to revolve around the mysterious, infamous forest at the heart of town. Then Teddy ventures into the wilderness, and Ryan—who blames his brother for their father’s death—must push past his resentment if he hopes to save him from the ravenous woods, which prove to be every bit as cursed as the legends say. Rivera (Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls, 2021) tackles themes of masculinity, mourning, and the immortal bonds of family in this gripping, atmospheric, and utterly eerie tale. Fans of Leslie Vedder’s Labyrinth of Souls series will find similar thrills here.

THE ISLAND AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT by Lucy Strange

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This review first appeared in Booklist on May 1, 2026.

Faye Fitzgerald has been unceremoniously sent off by an apprehensive aunt and her ailing father to a boarding school located on a remote, seemingly barren Scottish island, for, she is told, her wicked behavior—only Faye can’t exactly remember the wicked things she’s supposed to have done. At this reform school, she quickly discovers that the students are treated more like prisoners than pupils, and after learning of the sinister acts of her fellow classmates (window expulsions and sibling slayings not least among them), she can only assume she has done something equally monstrous to deserve such punishment. But when a supposedly deceased student finds her in the middle of the night with news of the faculty’s own nefarious misdeeds, Faye realizes that if nothing on the island is what it seems, then perhaps their proclaimed wicked, wild natures are also more complex than they first appear. Using strong and sympathetic characters, Strange skillfully explores themes of moral complexity, found family, and people’s inherently deep-rooted connection to nature in this stirring and atmospheric gothic mystery.

THE LOVELY DARK by Matthew Fox

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This review first appeared in Booklist on April 1, 2026.

Death has been on Eleanor’s mind a lot lately, particularly since her beloved grandmother passed away at the height of the pandemic. It permeates her thoughts so thoroughly that she isn’t especially surprised when, for one brief, impossible moment, she meets her grandmother’s ghost. And it’s on Eleanor’s mind when she dies herself, alongside her best friend, Justin, in a drowning accident soon after. Now Eleanor finds herself at Eventide House, a sort of spiritual boarding school where she can stay until she’s prepared to move on. But her soul isn’t ready for the afterlife just yet. Eleanor sets out to explore the mysterious house and its ominous surroundings, determined to find both her friend and a way back to their grieving families. In this imaginative and poignant reinterpretation of Orpheus and Eurydice, Fox transforms the tragic tale of loss into an evocative and endearing celebration of life, love, and lasting hope. The story’s thoughtful exploration of death will resonate with readers of books like John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things (2006) and Neal Shusterman’s Everlost (2006).

 

BE RIGHT BACK by Bill Wood

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This review first appeared in Booklist on March 1, 2026.

It’s been a year since the Sanera Four put a stop to the Carrington Ghoul and the vicious killing spree that shocked their small California town. Now, most of the gang are off at college, trying to put the whole traumatic affair behind them. But when they are drawn back to Sanera for a festival honoring the victims of the tragedy, they quickly learn that the past is never truly past. The Carrington Ghoul has somehow returned, now accompanied by other murderous figures from local legend, bearing a message every horror aficionado knows: sequels are always bigger, bolder . . . and so much bloodier. In this follow-up to the Scream-inspired Let’s Split Up (2025), Wood faithfully adheres to the sequel rules established by the famous film franchise, delivering a knowing, gleeful escalation of mythology, mayhem, and meta-commentary alongside its seasoned meddling kids. A thrilling entry in the modern slasher scene, standing right alongside Lisa Springer’s There’s No Way I’d Die First (2023) and Justine Pucella Winans’ How to Survive a Slasher (2025).

HERE LIES A GHOST by Shakirah Bourne

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This review first appeared in Booklist on February 1, 2026.

After Brody, his best and only friend, appears to give him the cold shoulder following a visit to his modest home, Jermaine feels resentful and embarrassed—enough that he’s willing to change his slightly awkward, science-loving personality to fit in with the Turbo Jets, their school’s popular athletic group. It quickly becomes apparent that the posse prefers pranks over camaraderie, particularly after they lock Jermaine inside an infamously haunted burial vault at the local cemetery. There, he encounters the ghost of Dorcas Chase, a girl who died in nineteenth-century Barbados. Jermaine befriends Dorcas, coming to see her as a guardian and guiding presence. But when her protective streak turns sinister, Jermaine begrudgingly reconciles with Brody—the only other person besides him who can see the ghost girl—to find a way to stop her spectral rampage and, hopefully, set her free. Using alternating chapters of straight prose and free verse, Bourne explores themes of grief, friendship, and forgiveness, while vividly bringing to life some of the harsh realities of her homeland’s colonial history in this haunting, thoughtful narrative.

 

OLIVE OAKES AND THE HAUNTED CAROUSEL by Kalynn Bayron

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This review first appeared in Booklist on January 1, 2026.

There are few things Olive Oakes loves more than solving mysteries with her cousin and best friend, Eli. She feels they’re cut out for far more than the small-scale cases they’ve been tackling all summer, though. Figuring out which neighborhood dog keeps pooping in their front yard is a sort of win, but it’s hardly thrilling detective work. When they tag along with her parents on a real estate job in the small town of Whispering Woods, Olive isn’t exactly expecting much. But soon they start hearing strange stories about missing children and a supposedly haunted carousel at the annual carnival, and Olive can’t help but feel she’s finally found a mystery worthy of her considerable sleuthing skills. Witty, whimsical, and wonderfully cozy, this first entry in a new middle-grade detective series delights from the very first page. Bayron has a particular knack for dialogue, bringing to life two exceptionally lively and charismatic central characters whom readers will be eager to follow. This clever, contemporary take on the classic Nancy Drew formula is sure to charm.

X MARKS THE HAUNT by Lindsay Currie

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This review first appeared in Booklist on January 1, 2026.

Twelve-year-old Will Stone loves hanging out in the local graveyard. It’s not as creepy as it sounds—his mom runs the old resting place, so it’s practically like his second home. He even lends a hand with the day-to-day work, thanks to his knack for genealogical research and his ability to make sense of the cemetery’s archaic, crumbling records. It’s a quiet, stable sort of life, which suits him just fine, particularly since the recent death of his dad, which turned his world upside down. Then, after a field trip, the resident school bully loses the key to an ancient crypt, accidentally awakening a restless spirit that soon shatters the serenity Will so cherishes. When the seemingly sinister specter starts sapping the life out of the surrounding landscape and haunting Will and his friends in increasingly unsettling ways, Will realizes he must uncover the identity of the agitated apparition before it destroys both the place he loves and the people he holds most dear. Set in Chicago’s historic Graceland Cemetery, Currie’s latest delivers another exciting and eerie mystery, expertly blending fascinating facts with fearsome fiction. Chilling, thrilling, and touching in equal measure, this story of supernatural suspense will appeal to readers of The Forgotten Girl (2019), by India Hill Brown, and Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave (2025), by Ally Russell.

DECEMBER 2025

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Hello. This was December. In sharp contrast to Halloween, when I was still very much in the bowels of what I tend to call The Gloom, I was starting to feel a lot more like myself as the Christmas season approached. Which meant I was able to get more into the spirit of things. Which meant, of course, a lot of themed reading. 

Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh. This had a great premise, but I feel it wasn’t used as effectively as it could have been. Some chapters that felt like they should have a bit of breathing room are rushed through, whereas other, somewhat more trivial scenes tended to drag on and on. The characters are charming as anything, though, and I liked it enough to pick up the sort-of sequel announced at the end of this book. Sometimes you just want to read hokey stuff for the holidays, what can I tell you.

“A Mistletoe Kiss” by Catherine Walsh. A short epilogue to Holiday Romance. I liked it more than the actual book. It was cute as hell, what can I tell you.

“The Stranger Things They Carried” by Casey McConahay. This was written for McSweeney’s, so it’s definitely meant to be satirical and irreverent, but it’s also genuinely good. Despite some of my criticisms and misgivings (I found the final season mostly bland do not @ me), I’m entirely too fond of this show and its characters.

Snowed In by Catherine Walsh. And I liked this one a hell of a lot better than its predecessor. The characters were much more to my liking, and their chemistry felt much more believable. I’ve thought I’d find the fake-dating trope unappealing and tedious, but I guess that, like every other trope in existence, it entirely depends on how it’s executed, and I thought it was done exceptionally well here. I certainly bought into it. It does feel a tad overlong, though, something that it shares with Holiday Romance, but I enjoy spending time with the fictional Fitzpatrick family, what can I tell you.

Merrily Ever After by Catherine Walsh. …So much so that I immediately bought the short story collection after finishing Snowed In. So, fine, I suppose I’m a Catherine Walsh fan now. Again, I just really like the Fitzpatricks and their friends, and this was a delightful, appropriately cheerful, and charming collection of stories. Zoe’s was my favorite, naturally, because Zoe’s great. Oliver’s was my second favorite, which caught me by surprise, because I found him to be a somewhat forgettable character in Holiday Romance. Sean’s was entirely too sweet for me not to fall for it. Hannah’s story was the weakest, I found, but still a lot of fun. Walsh’s dialogue is warm and witty, and I enjoy reading about warm and witty characters who handle everything like adults, even amidst all the Christmas shenanigans. I liked this collection a lot, what can I tell you.

“The Kill Clause” by Lisa Unger. Not an original premise by any means (it felt like an episode of Mr. & Mrs. Smith), but competently written and told. I wish this were a bit more Christmassy, though. I didn’t really feel the holiday vibes. Undoubtedly entertaining, though.

“The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” by Arthur Conan Doyle. For the life of me I can’t recall if I had ever read this before. It feels like I have, but if I did, I had forgotten all of the particulars. I didn’t even remember what a carbuncle was. Anyway. A short but super fun Holmes affair with a great wintry atmosphere (there’s little I love more than reading about coats and scarves and gaslight). Bit of a nothing ending, though. 

A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan. This turned out to be something of a lackluster read, unfortunately. A shame, since stories of Christmas chaos tend to be among my favorite things to read during the holiday season. In many ways, it reminded me of One Big Happy Family, another seasonal novel full of familial chaos, with the inexplicable tendency for nearly every character to talk and act like a therapist—often letting the steam out of what might otherwise have been a pressure-cooker plot. At least that story had something of an edge and a semblance of stakes. Merry Little Lie, in contrast, had little going for it. Everyone in this novel had secrets, to be sure, but even before they are revealed, the other characters have not only mostly figured them out, but also completely understood where they are coming from. This kind of empathetic behavior is commendable and, indeed, ideal in real life, but it is deathly dull in the realm of fiction, again serving only to eliminate what little tension your plot might have had. Alas. Still, it wasn’t without its charm, so I didn’t loathe my experience with it. I simply expected more.

“Understanding the Science” by Camille Bordas. Like most short stories with a literary fiction bent, I had no idea what to think about this one, other than I enjoyed its melancholy, reflective vibe.

Told After Supper: Ghostly Tales for Christmas Eve by Jerome K. Jerome. A sort of send-up of the storied tradition of telling ghost tales at Christmastime by the famed humorist. It’s charmingly and cleverly written, but I wish I had enjoyed this parody as much as I enjoy the tradition it so affectionately spoofed. This little volume is filled with marvelously macabre illustrations by the magnificently named late-Victorian illustrator K.M. Skeaping, which do as much as the text in creating atmosphere. Delightful work.

And that was December. And that was 2025. It was mostly a lovely holiday season, for a change. As for the year… well, it can just go straight to hell. 

The blog will be looking a bit different in 2026, as I’ll be stepping away from monthly wrap-ups and focusing mainly on my Booklist reviews. I love doing these summaries, but I often found myself speeding through books just for the sake of having more to write about, or picking up volumes I didn’t much want to read at the time, simply because I figured they would make for a nice feature. And that’s just a poor way to go about reading. I want to return to how I read before the dominance of  blogs and social media: intrepidly and intentionally, caring for little else than fully and wholly enjoying the stories before me, rather than appeasing an algorithm or an imagined, exacting audience. I don’t know. We shall see.

Until next time.

BOOKS BOUGHT—AND ANYWAY IT’S CHRISTMAS: 

  • Snowed In by Catherine Walsh
  • A Christmas Menagerie by Keith Simpkins
  • The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne
  • Castle Skull by John Dickson Carr
  • The Corpse in the Waxwork by John Dickson Carr
  • Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon

(This is the last we’ll be seeing of this segment, too—I believe I’ve held myself accountable enough.)