Welcome to Litsy!

I am posting one book per day from my extensive, and ever growing, TBR shelves. Some are new and some are old, some were gifts, and some I don't remember why I bought them.
Day 20
#ABookADay2024

From the author who wrote the screenplay for BEETLEJUICE, McDowell died of AIDS in 1994 at the age of 49, and I mourn the fact that he wasn't able to produce more works. This book had it all. Humor? √ Mystery? √ Horror? √ Quirky characters? √ Haunted house? √ Southern Gothic? √ The element of sand as an enemy? √ Supernatural? √ I could go on. A fast, riveting read with all the spooky “elements“ one looks for in a 1980s horror. Recommend? √!

#FFF #FirstLineFridays
@ThyBookOwl

“In the middle of a desolate Wednesday afternoon in the last sweltering days of May, a handful of mourners were gathered in the church dedicated to St. Jude Thaddeus in Mobile, Alabama.“

This will be my 1st read for #Scarathlon when I actually start it on 10/1. So excited! 🤩

It was just kind of weird, tbh. If the place is haunted, why does everyone insist on visiting and staying there for what seems like forever? What is up with the weird father/daughter relationship? Why do they keep going into the *terrifying* third house? Why do they need to honor the dead mom that everyone hated? Just go back to your actual home where you really live and problem is solved, hey? But no. Go back in the house. It‘s the only way. 🙄

@LeahBergen thanks so much for the fantastic #allhallowsreadswap package! I havent read The Elementals, but my tbr is now one story longer lol, and the treats will be perfect to hide from my kids and sneak while reading after they go to bed ... or maybe it's my husband I should hide them from 🤔

Also thank you to @MaleficentBookDragon for putting this swap together.

#Scarathlon2022 #ScarathlonDailyPrompts

A big #Orange jack o‘lantern on display in the diner by work where I stop & get breakfast once a week or so with two spooky season audiobooks I‘ve read with orange-ish covers. Either would work for #TeamMonsterMash genres.
🎃🧟‍♀️👻🧛🏻‍♀️🐺🐈‍⬛🧛🏻🎃

Quietly scary and thrilling. Slow and subtle like a June heat wave, the story sneaks up and it isn‘t the horrific element that gets you first, no. It‘s the badly damaged people who you question first. A great toe-curler for a sultry summer read 😈 📚📚📚📚

Who knew sand could be so creepy? A very effective haunted house book. Slightly annoyed by the "magical Black women" trope except she really was a great character.

#Haunted

Some somewhat #blackandorange titles suitable for October/Halloween reading. The bottom row are books I‘ve read-including the team pick for #scarathlon #teamhendrix & the top row are somewhere in my #TBR 🖤🧡🖤

I imagine if Tennessee Williams had written a play about a haunted house it would be something like this.
I had high expectations as I had read somewhere that this was one of the scariest haunted house stories ever written.
Two words: Um. No.
But it was entertaining.

review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#the-elementals

🎧 OMG I LOVED THIS BOOK! 😆

From the cover you wouldn‘t know what this is about. Do you like scary books like maybe Mexican Gothic?

I liked the characters. I loved the premise! I loved Odessa, Big Barbara! Luker & daughter India were some fun dark humor!

This could be a fun southern gothic horror in Beetlejuice fashion!

TW - A LOT of swearing!

Extra star for RC Bray‘s narration!! EDIT - “Eat my eyes”.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description or reason for wanting to read the book. Some are old and some will be new. Don't judge me - I have a lot of books.
Day 296

#tbrmountain #bookbuyingdiet

Huge disappointment. The characters are plain, so I didn't care what happened to them. Also, most of the time the story is only about how they spend their spare time. When something weird occurs, no atmosphere was added to the story. Also, apparently the only way to describe Odetta is as “the black woman“. That was pretty annoying. The rest of the book was just boring.

@TheAromaofBooks #BookSpinBingo #DoubleSpin

@JaneyWaneyB Look what Grande found 😁 She tried to talk me into opening it already 🐱 But we still have to wait a couple of days 🤞

#LitsyLoveSpringSwap #LLSS #CatsOfLitsy

@rsteve388 @Bookgoil

Reading journal/commonplacebook layout for my notes on Michael McDowell‘s horror novel The Elementals. Used the orange and peach pens for the colors of sand. New favorite novel! Listened to it narrated by actor R. C. Bray; fabulous experience.
Notebook is Tskui Moon Flower edition from Notebook Therapy.🌙

https://bookshop.org/a/6560/9781941147177

⭐ ⭐ ⭐1/2

Popsugar Prompt #37

I have several dear friends who like horror a lot more than I do and would really enjoy this novel. It is a very slow burn for the first two-thirds of the story, but when the action finally picks up it picks up fast.

#horror #creepy #librarybook #borrowed #popsugar

📕 1. Tagged book, The Elementals by Michael McDowell in print & Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer on audio.

📗 2. The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson

📘 2. I‘m most partial to peonies for flowers and herbs for looks/use.

#weekendreads #nature #nautral #parsley #sage #rosemary #thyme

So excited to finally have this in my hot little hands! I‘m not typically a horror reader, but this has been recommended to me by several people I trust. Plus, it‘s set in my husband‘s hometown. Hope it lives up to my expectations!

#horror #librarybook #library #alabama #classic #litsyloveslibraries

Excellent news, I know that a new copy of The Elementals by Michael McDowell is under that tree for me. (Shhhh I wrapped it for myself too 😂)
If you like horror and haven‘t read this classic, get on it! Sand has never been scarier.

"The Alabama panhandle, which consists only of Mobile and Baldwin counties, is shaped rather like a heavily abscessed tooth. Mobile Bay represents the large element of decay that separates the halves, and at their northern extremities the counties are further divided by a complex system of meandering rivers and marsh."

If you‘re looking for a nice slice of Gothic horror, this book‘s for you. Creepy and atmospheric, this eerie little masterpiece is sure to give you the chills (or at least the heebie jeebies). Unlike some books published decades ago, this one stands the test of time. (Interesting side note: this author co-wrote the Beetlejuice screenplay!)

This weekend I review the paranormal classic "The Elementals" by Michael McDowell.

https://youtu.be/HVccP0tIuW4

I really enjoyed this very atmospheric little horror story!
Read in the heat of summer with a tall glass of iced tea 🧊
Be safe, stay sane and wash your hands 💜

A great take on a twisted ghost story. In the first few chapters, I wasn‘t sure if I would get through it, but it somehow managed to catch me and keep me. Definitely worth a read.

Life at Beldame is fascinating. Just three old houses next to the ocean, totally isolated during high tide. I loved the descriptions of the heat and the lassitude. It's hard to understand why the group returns every year when so many creepy things happen there.

The first half of the book, not much happens. Just getting into the daily lives of the characters. Half way the book switches into high gear and gets more exciting until the end.

My TBR for the month of November 2019. Looking forward to these.

This was a fun horror! Not too scary, but creepy and atmospheric. Great characters and writing made this one a good October read.

Starting another horror story! 🎃🖤💀

A distant memory triggered by Litsy member @Linda_Bloodworth_Author after posting this book as her recently read.
I remember reading this book 24 years ago (1995 written inside the front cover) and after a quick hunt, here it is! The bookmark is still in place after I bailed on this novel, uh, sooo close. Might pop it in my TBR stack.
Thanks @Linda_Bloodworth_Author for your review!!

It was a slow build up and then it was a little fast, then slow and then hella fast. So, depends what mood you're in and if you like that sort of thing.

Two families own two houses on a deserted beach in Alabama. There is a third house, almost completely covered by sand. Everyone is scared of that one because it has been haunted for years. Yet both families keep coming back to Beldame.
The horror didn‘t scare me at all, yet in combination with great characters it made for a highly enjoyable read.

Thanks for sending me your copy Cindy, as always so well chosen!💜😘

#ReadingUSA2019 #Alabama

Not a big horror fan but this was a great story, beautiful writing that really captures the moment. Good stuff indeed.

This book! It was on NPRs list of scary books, and while I wasn‘t scared I was on the edge of my seat. After a matriarch‘s death the family goes to Beldame, a private area with three identical houses, but something is in the third house and it‘s getting stronger. I loved the relationship between Luker and India (though allowing a 13 year old to drink was a bit much), she was so mature and intelligent and brave. A page turner that had me on edge.

Some of the characters in this book are complete #FreakyFreaks ! #NoFemmeber

I'm still trying to figure out what I think of this Tennessee Williams/The Fall of the House of Usher mashup.

Somehow, I spent very little time on the Gulf Coast when I was growing up in Mississippi, but I know enough to say the atmosphere and description of heat is spot on. People I know from the coast say, "You go inside in May and don't come out until October." I honestly cannot imagine how people in the South functioned before AC. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Funny story, I recently signed up for Bookriot's TBR recommendation service where you fill out a survey, give them your Goodreads account, and they give you 3 book recs. There are different levels to the service which is nice. Anyway, Liberty Hardy was my recommender and she suggested this book for me. I actually already owned it but it was buried in one of my stacks, unread. So glad she prompted me to pick it up! It's spooky and amazing!

I am so late to the #Helloween party that I‘m sure you all have finished off the punch and blown out the candles by now, but I am so glad that I read this! It was such fun for Halloween. I also learned that the author is from the same small town in Alabama that most of my family (including Sandy! 🐕) is from. Small world right?

Thank you so much Jessica Roberts! Opened my #HalloweenHorrorswap today and love it all!! The candle is amazing, the candy looks yummy, pet sematary is one of my fav Stephen King's. I will use the tags as bookmarks cuz they are so cool! LOVE the book selection, cant wait to dig in! And the scarf and headband are so amazing!! The color is perfect, they are so warm, and i am impressed - nice work! Thanks for hosting @TheReadingMermaid

Late starting and finishing the #HELLoWeen read but enjoyed it. Atmospheric and written with charm and restraint, but with plenty of flourish too. Weirdly it felt like reading a short story to me. Thanks for the invite to the #80sparty @Cinfhen x x

3/5⭐Starts out w/ 1 wild funeral then slows down a bit giving you past and present family history of 2 Mobile Alabama families. The slow creepy factor in this book built up for one hell of an ending. This is a good creepy Halloween quick read perfect for this time of year!🎃👻 Thank you @Cinfhen for putting together #HELLoWEEN #8osparty 🤗🤗
Full review: https://griplitgrl.wordpress.com/2018/10/22/the-elemental-by-michael-mcdowell/?p...

Lunchtime! #currentlyreading

This one was weird for me and a first from McDowell. It‘s been on my TBR for a looong time and I forgot I had an ebook copy. Here‘s my Goodreads review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2148815209

#HELLoween #80sParty Yes, it was an 80‘s party, 1989 to be exact. This guy and I just celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary to boot. (We don‘t look quite this cool anymore 😂) Big hair was my jam 🤘🏻 I have really enjoyed this throwback party! Thanks @Cinfhen for organizing. Can‘t wait til the 90‘s!

Not the best horror I've read & more atmospheric than scary, but I enjoyed it. Listening to the audiobook was a big part of my enjoyment as the narrator (RC Bray) did a great job bringing all of the characters to life. I liked the Southern gothic feel, creepy houses in sand dunes setting, & the foreboding tone. It was a long lead up to the final, scariest parts, but worth an October listen. Mahalo to @Cinfhen for the #HELLoWEEN #80sParty fun! 😘👻

1. Can't believe this pic is seeing the light of day-only for @Cinfhen 🙄
2. It's a Halloween costume circa 82-84 (high school or just out) & not my standard dress
3. It's sprayed pinkish & styled (more) weirdly but that permy mullet is my own 😱
4. Not sure what I was going for-maybe 80s club?🤔
5. Check out the gold fridge & yellow & orange linoleum
6. I think it's a White Russian in the glass or something with Kahlua.🍹

#80sParty #HELLoWeen 👻

This was my standard look in the 80‘s. Bangs (most likely cut by my older sister) and braids (on the side or in the back). I also remember how popular these plastic charm necklaces where when I was a kid. My sister (10 years older than me) had so many strands of Twist a Beads. #HELLoween #80sparty

Progress is slow as I've had very little reading time.... I am enjoying the atmosphere.... Now I know he wrote the Beetlejuice screenplay I keeping seeing Lydia Deetz as India though 😂😂
Switching to a different audiobook for an afternoon of housework but will get back to it later 👍👍
@Cinfhen #80sparty #HELLoWeen