Do you have trouble figuring out what to read next? Is your to be read pile overwhelming you? We have the answer for you. Look to the stars and let them decide. Richelle and I sat down over a google doc and pored over horoscopes and star charts to determine 12 recommendations based on your own personal horoscope. Not really, we didn’t take it that seriously and you shouldn’t either. If you don’t like the book we recommended for your sign, there are 11 other books we recommend for you to read. If you’re a zodiac expert, please don’t come for us, we’re just having fun.
Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18):
You are original, temperamental, eccentric, attached to freedom, don’t do well with boredom
The Summer Job by Adam Cesare
Black T-Shirt Books
Insane innkeepers, cannibalistic cooks: the staff of the Brant Hotel would like to meet you!
Massive nights, picturesque days: there is nothing Claire doesn't love about her summer job in Mission, Massachusetts. Claire is just trying to keep her head down and start a new life after burning out in the city, but those kids out in the woods seem like they throw awesome ragers...
It's only once she's in too deep that Claire discovers the real tourist trade that keeps the town afloat, it's then that her soul-searching in Mission becomes a fight for her life.
Pisces (Feb 19-Mar 20):
You are empathetic, mystical, romantic, impressionable, imaginative.
The Gatherings by Jeremy Ray
The Gatherings were supposed to bring world peace. What they brought was the apocalypse. Celebrities, politicians, and other prominent figures put together The Gatherings, an event to be held worldwide promoting global peace.
When a friend invites Emily to one of the gatherings in a secluded apple orchard, she obliges. Sure, she is an introverted writer, but the world is so fractured that The Gatherings are something even she can get behind.
Everything is great until the dancing begins. Then it happens ...
In most apocalyptic tales, the end comes by way of viral plague, world war, or robot invasion. Never in a million years could Emily imagine it would be this way. Will Emily survive to see what happens after the end of the world?
Aries (Mar 21-Apr 19):
You are ambitious, highly competitive, fiercely independent, and you often rush headlong into things
Crossroads by Laurel Hightower
Off Limits Press
How far would you go to bring back someone you love?
When Chris's son dies in a tragic car crash, her world is devastated. The walls of grief close in on Chris's life until, one day, a small cut on her finger changes everything.
A drop of blood falls from Chris's hand onto her son's roadside memorial and, later that night, Chris thinks she sees his ghost outside her window. Only, is it really her son's ghost, or is it something else—something evil?
Soon Chris is playing a dangerous game with forces beyond her control in a bid to see her son, Trey, alive once again.
Taurus (Apr 20-May 20):
You have loads of willpower, and you are sometimes stubborn and possessive, persistent
Come Closer by Sara Gran
Soho Press
If everything in Amanda's life is so perfect, then why the mood swings, the obscene thoughts, the urge to harm the people she loves? What are those tapping sounds in the walls? And who's that woman following her?
Gemini (May 21-Jun 20):
You are energetic, quick witted, curious, and you love to talk
The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson
Gallery / Saga Press
Stranger Things meets World War Z in this heart-racing conspiracy thriller as a lonely young woman teams up with a group of fellow outcasts to survive the night in a town overcome by a science experiment gone wrong.
Turner Falls is a small tourist town nestled in the hills of western Oregon, the kind of town you escape to for a vacation. When an inexplicable outbreak rapidly develops, this idyllic town becomes the epicenter of an epidemic of violence as the teenaged children of several executives from the local biotech firm become ill and aggressively murderous. Suddenly the town is on edge, and Lucy and her friends must do everything it takes just to fight through the night.
Releases on September 29th from Saga Press
Cancer (Jun 21-Jul 22):
You are intuitive, emotional, intelligent, and loyal
The Nightmare Room by Chris Sorensen
Harmful Monkey Press
New York audiobook narrator Peter Larson and his wife Hannah head to his hometown of Maple City to help Peter's ailing father and to put a recent tragedy behind them. Though the small, Midwestern town seems the idyllic place to start afresh, Peter and Hannah will soon learn that evil currents flow beneath its surface.
They move into an old farmhouse on the outskirts of town—a house purchased by Peter's father at auction and kept secret until now—and start to settle into their new life.
But as Peter sets up his recording studio in a small basement room, disturbing things begin to occur—mysterious voices haunt audio tracks, malevolent shadows creep about the house. And when an insidious presence emerges from the woodwork, Peter must face old demons in order to save his family and himself.
Leo (Jul 23-Aug 22)
You are proud, bold, ambitious, loud, and popular
Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess
Unnerving Press
The summer of 1989 brought terror to the town of Shadows Creek, Florida in the form of a massacre at the local carnival, Cirque Berserk. One fateful night, a group of teens killed a dozen people then disappeared into thin air. No one knows why they did it, where they went, or even how many of them there were, but legend has it they still roam the abandoned carnival, looking for blood to spill.
Thirty years later, best friends, Sam and Rochelle, are in the midst of a boring senior trip when they learn about the infamous Cirque Berserk. Seeking one last adventure, they and their friends journey to the nearby Shadows Creek to see if the urban legends about Cirque Berserk are true. But waiting for them beyond the carnival gates is a night of brutality, bloodshed, and betrayal.
Will they make it out alive, or will the carnival’s past demons extinguish their futures?
Virgo (Aug 23-Sep 22)
You are intelligent, methodical, and a lifelong learner
Bad People by Craig Wallwork
Underbelly Books
THREE MISSING CHILDREN. Over the past three years, the quiet Yorkshire village of Stormer Hill has lost three of its children. No bodies were ever discovered. No evidence found. No witnesses.
THE WRITER. Struggling to find inspiration for his new novel, celebrated crime author, and ex-police officer, Alex Palmer, believes the story of the missing children could end his writer's block, but is he prepared for the story that's about to develop?
THE DETECTIVE. Tom Nolan, a seasoned detective and loner involved in finding each missing child. Nolan is tasked with chaperoning Palmer and walking through each case. But as both men revisit the past, and dig deeper, neither are prepared for the chilling discovery to why the children were taken.
THE BRETHREN. A secret cult. Two men, and a series of brutal and unimaginable murders spanning over seven years with one intention; to show the world that death can be justified if it's for a greater good.
Libra (Sep 23-Oct 22)
You hate being alone, are clever, decisive, and have a strong sense of justice
Maria the Wanted and the Legacy of the Keepers
by V. Castro
Maria is a wanted woman. She's wanted by and Aztec trafficker, a cartel boss, the people she fights for, and now the Devil she can't resist.
Her journey begins as a would-be immigrant turned vampire in Juarez, Mexico until the injustices of the world turn her into somehting else. She's not just out for blood, she wants answers.
Maria spends twenty-two years in motel cleaning purgatory trying to keep her faith and sanity intact. When she feels all hope is lost she meets an ex-boxer that offers her a new job and teaches her to fight. During this time, she becomes an unlikely bad ass enforcer of justice for the community that has embraced her. Is she a saint or an old God from a forgotten past?
Not only does she evolve into the woman she always hoped to be, but she finds her creator – Adam- he is nothing like she imagined. He invites Maria to travel with him to England to join The Keepers, a vampire organization led by the ancient Mordecai and Dr. Elizabeth Appleton.
Learning that the true vampire way isn’t destruction but the safety of humanity, Maria joins The Keepers as they uncover a plot set into motion by Lucifer himself. The Keepers must end his corruption through political manipulation or watch as the world hurtles towards self-destruction.
Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 21):
You are brave, loyal, honest, secretive, ambitious, and jealous
The Bone Weaver’s Orchard by Sarah Read
Trepidatio Publishing
He’s run away from home. That’s what they say every time one of Charley Winslow’s friends vanishes from The Old Cross School for Boys. It’s just a tall tale. That’s what they tell Charley when he sees the ragged grey figure stalking the abbey halls at night.
When Charley follows his pet insects to a pool of blood behind a false wall, he could run and let those stones bury their secrets. He could assimilate, focus on his studies, and wait for his father to send for him. Or he could walk the dark tunnels of the school’s heart, scour its abandoned passages, and pick at the scab of a family’s legacy of madness and murder.
With the help of Sam Forster, the school’s gardener, and Matron Grace, the staff nurse, Charley unravels Old Cross’ history and exposes a scandal stretching back to when the school was a home with a noble family and a dark secret—a secret that still haunts its halls with scraping steps, twisting its bones into a new generation of nightmares
Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21): optimistic, lovers of freedom, usually with lots of friends, fun and spontaneous.
Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones
Tor.com publishing
Stephen Graham Jones returns with Night of the Mannequins, a contemporary horror story where a teen prank goes very wrong and all hell breaks loose: is there a supernatural cause, a psychopath on the loose, or both?
Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19): hardworking, the most serious and diligent, bit obsessed with status and trappings of success.
Along the Path of Torment by Chandler Morrison
Atlatl Press
(note from Richelle) Sorry Capricorn's, this one is coming with a warning label. This story deals with tough subject matter, it’s gross and has all the triggers but I loved the heart of this story.
Ty Seward is a sick man. Anorexic, sexually aberrant, and haunted by a ghostly apparition residing in his closet. Living in the shadow of an in-remission cancer he fully expects to return, Ty bitterly earns his meager living by working as an assistant to his uncle, a business-and-media mogul who runs a lucrative prostitution ring catering to the Hollywood elite. When Ty’s line of work introduces him to a precocious teenage girl who seems to possess a shrewdly keen insight into his inner machinations, he is forced to confront his hidden demons and repressed trauma, embarking on a bleak and harrowing odyssey of self-discovery in the decomposing City of Angels.
I am a huge horror advocate who loves to walk the line of fear by chasing ghosts and touching spiders. I am also chasing the dream of being a full-time horror reviewer.
Matt @teamredmon uses this email: teamredmon@gmail.com
Check out his blog: www.teamredmon.com
