Welcome to Litsy!

This book “worked” for me on just about every level. There‘s a psychopath kid ghost (who texts!!), spectral children kids giggling and playing patty-cake in alleys. The horror is real and gory. The MC is brittle and dealing with mortality, and there is a development I did not see coming. #childhorror

Waiting at the mall #childhorror reading. I‘m a shopping widower. 🛍️

Wyndham ensures the narrative is distanced from the events of the story: Much of this story about pregnancy and child-rearing is discussed almost entirely by men, & significant events take place off page. That, coupled with a main character being a philosopher, ought to make this dull. It can be “talky” and dry, but it is intellectually compelling. It was a natural choice for this year‘s #childhorror theme, though perhaps more sci fi than horror.

A thoroughly contemporary homage to Rosemary‘s Baby with a slowly spun out story of creeping dread and claustrophobia. Fantastic twist on classic horror stories. #childhorror

Pretty wildly uneven. The parents are so bland and self-absorbed I cldn‘t tell if they were intentionally satirical or not (Suzette‘s personality is Crohn‘s Disease, Alex is hot Swede Daddy) and there‘s no grip on Hanna‘s voice, who sometimes possesses an adult‘s intelligence, other times is astoundingly dumb. The plot varies between frustrating and fun, & I think the true #childhorror here is the potential regret of having a kid, psycho or not.

For our Christmas #childhorror selection, we read this extremely dark and pessimistic story about how parental “love” for their offspring can basically result in the genocide of humanity. In 340 pages, DiLouie covers a month and a half in a small town in the midst of a global phenomenon. This focus and the time he takes with the story makes it strong, and while it isn‘t always narratively satisfying, it is really effective: horrifying and moving.

The original member of our horror book club had a baby, so in her honor we are dedicating a year to #childhorror. We officially started in Dec. with Sealed, which, as @Reggie said, is a book that could convince you not to get pregnant.

The everyday anxiety when early pregnant is exacerbated by isolation, loneliness, oh, and the looming threat of a skin sealing epidemic.

How do you have enough hope to reproduce on a polluted, dying planet?