Small Spaces

Legitimately terrifying and this is a kids book! Small Spaces slowly draws sets the scene, develops the characters, and then drops them into a slow boil of terror. I loved it. I couldn't put it down. When Ollie goes on a field trip to a local farm with her 6th grade class, she begins to find the parallels with the farms history and the creepy book she's reading unsettling. Ollie had stolen the book the day before from a distraught, crying, woman who was hell bent on destroying it. Ollie couldn't abide for a book to be damaged so she ran off with it and the more she read from it and the more she sees at the farm, she realizes that she could be in serious danger. Scarecrows ring the farm and seem to be keeping a special eye on her. As they're leaving the bus breaks down in the mist and Ollie knows she has to act fast before whatever is happening to the farm happens to her. Genuinely amazing. The characters are wonderful, the threat real, the scarecrows scary as hell, and the friendships precious. I can't wait to read the next one! I'll recommend this to everyone. It would make a great movie!!

The Amityville Horror

A ridiculously quick read, this non-fiction horror story outlines the 28 days of hell that the Lutz family endured in their Amityville house. Reconstructed over hours of audio interviews the author creates a compelling timeline of the strange, seemingly demonic events that took place at their house. Creepy, but not altogether nightmare inducing, this book is a good companion for the subsequent movie adaptations. Honestly I prefer the movies better because they embrace their fictitiousness and are, in my opinion, quite a bit spookier. Obviously, I doubt much of the story is true, but who doesn't love a good scary story involving a gruesome murder, a haunted house, and a large red eyed talking pig named Jodie? If nothing else it helped me get more in the mood for Halloween.