Carla

There are codes to solve within this text, as well as mysteries and references referring back to both House of Leaves and Poe's companion album Haunted.

A terrifying, ergodic meditation on what it means to write—and consume—true crime.

This is a book about shame, and how we do, or don't, handle it.

Download every one of her books she narrated. Even when the subject matter is dangerous and painful, like Beloved, her voice made me feel that warm, safe, storytelling feeling of having my mother or my elementary school librarian read to me as a child—that magic, storytelling feeling.

This is an unsafe ghost story. It will take you places you might not be ready to go, emotionally and historically. This is a reread, and I still feel worn out upon finishing it. But it is also a Great American Novel, and o say that without hyperbole. I was lucky enough to study it at Yale—my first read. Now I simply come to it the second time as a reader. I am enraptured and heart-rendered.

The beginning was strong and all about self-confidence and self-knowledge, then he tells some awful stories about both of his parents...but we are supposed to still align with and even celebrate his parents? which doesn't feel good. The second half is interesting stories about his career and his wandering a. The last third is arrogant and pretentious dribble. I hate to say that, because I still love him. But I finished it thinking what did I just read? And that's not how you should feel upon finishing a book, especially a memoir. If I didn't feel shook finishing Anne Heche's memoir, which is literally called Call Me Crazy, I shouldn't feel that way reading his. But the last twenty pages or more were not memoir but rather  I Am Your Guru, and they didn't feel good, and they tainted the rest of the book.

I would rate this higher, but it was difficult to discern which character was speaking—the transitions were abrupt, and there was no introduction or allusion to which character was now in charge of the story. This made for a sometimes confusing read/listen.

Uneven in one regard: the section on JonBenet Ramsey. I thought in reading another book by Douglas that he has a blind spot with regards to this case, and this book cements that feeling for me. The rest of this book is very professional and unbiased; the JonBenet chapter is biased (he calls Lou Smit a “hero”!) and sarcastic. He also makes statements without evidence, such as mothers and fathers would never do x or y. Interesting...but very frustrating.

John Lithgow is a marvelous audiobook narrator.

Fascinating and truly original idea that unfurls its secrets slowly. Bronson Pinchot's narration is absolutely superb.

I am glad I read this, but I have denominational disagreements with the doctrine of the author (I'm Episcopalian, for what it's worth). This book felt like it was coming from an evangelical, strict and literal reading of the Bible, so I did not jive with some passages. Also, l am not one who puts Easter and Jesus' death all over Christmas; many Christians do, and this author did, and I found that a little off-putting. You would not believe how many Advent devotionals talk at great length about his crucifixion. 
Some good nuggets here, but frankly I recommend The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Say About Jesus' Birth, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossman, both highly educated theologians that wrote their book not to preach but to educate and to learn.

I have read this before, and have no memory of it. Not a good sign. Perhaps that's brain fog plus Covid stress.

This is a fascinating but irritating read: irritating because Holmes is a liar and malingerer, and because the first part of the book is devoted to describing how he was an all-American child—baseball, big smiles, good grades, lovey-dovey, the whole nine yards. That part goes in far too long, and could have been summarized; the length of it was insensitive given what he did. It just went on and on about how he was the Best Boy you could have ever wanted, and not in context of his mental illness developing later. So odd.

For the lying and malingering: Is he severely mentally ill? Absolutely. But. He lies to his therapist and to the author, and others. He creates symptoms, writing in his notebook and telling the author that his symptoms interferes with what he wanted to do, so he chose to be only be catatonic at lunchtime. He claimed to be not be fully in control of his actions, yet stopped before he headed out to the theater to check his dating profiles, to see if he might have a chance of hooking up. And on and on. He also claimed that, in the theater, he couldn't see to choose targets because his helmet visor was scratched up—it was brand new. I found myself really getting angry and frustrated with the subject in a way I never do; I have been studying psychology since before I started my undergrad degree in it in 1990, and this never happens. This guy got under my skin.

Confusing listen, because the unrelated Ted Bundy kept getting interjected into the mix. The true crime story was about the murder of a mother and daughter, but the author kept pointing out what was going on with the Ted Bundy case at this time or that time during the investigation.

The phrase I coined for houses that just Aren't Right is “demented domiciles”. In Kevin Lucia's series about Clifton Heights, the demented domicile is the entire town. Is it the soil itself that is haunted? Perhaps. In this series of stories, October curses this small American town further by lessening the veil between the living and the dead and by welcoming pranks and costumes on Halloween. Anything can happen...and does. Demented Americana, indeed, whether the generic Woolworth's-style corner store might help...or hurt.

Occasionally lost the plot, excuse the pun, but otherwise a fascinating deep dive into these religious beliefs and practices. 

Interesting story, but a logistical error yanked me right off of it. The protagonist has no money at a critical juncture...then suddenly has money when needed. That felt like a cheat.

I am reviewing this book for Cemetery Dance in my position as an early reviewer, so I must note I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. 
A new, refreshing horror collection about the spaces between, running the gamut from simply the best Lovecraftian story I have ever read to the most disturbing body horror about the most selfish cat lady that has ever lived. Two of the stories take place in the time of Covid without being stressful to the reader, and both take a unique approach to this new horror we face, our”new normal” and the in-between space it has created in our lives. With carefully crafted introductions to each author, the reader will be making TBR lists as they go along, and making new horror friends as they crawl between these walls.

Excellent narrators for the three sections. Incredibly dark, violent and eerie prequel to Panic. Trigger warnings for fire, claustrophobia, heights, etc. It's in the title–this is a much more intense and dark look than the original. It reads like an adult horror novel.

I love Stevie Bell. I hope this series continues, and continues to be narrated by Kate Rudd.

Interesting, but I think it's telling that I forgot that I had already read it. I read it on the heels on her Women Who Kill book, and she made the same erroneous statement in both books, without sourced material. I say it's erroneous as a former (disabled) therapist, who has studied this material in great detail, and I quote directly: 

Psychologists say that everyone who attempts suicide has at one stage wanted to kill someone else.

some

I read it before her Children Who Kill book, and she made the same erroneous statement in both books, without sourced material. I say it's erroneous as a former (disabled) therapist, who has studied this material in great detail, and I quote directly: 

Psychologists say that everyone who attempts suicide has at one stage wanted to kill someone else.

some

Brutally honest memoir about growing up poor, chaotic, enmeshed...and then pregnant and on television. I listened to Leah narrate it herself, which I highly recommend.

If you want to further understand the Sylvia Likens case—how kids can be in the middle of someone's abuse and torture and not tell an outsider, and even participate—this is the book to read.

I highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Gunnar himself.

This is a wild ride of a true crime memoir, recommended if you are looking for something completely different. It is frustrating, in more than one way. Susan befriended her stalker and felt sorry for him–she is refreshingly forthcoming with her faults, and with the problems in her family and her background that led to her choices–but it's hard to read. When someone repeatedly violates your boundaries and endangers you, do not feel sorry for them and stop all contact. I have been stalked, I speak from experience.

The other frustration for me was the uneven writing. Susan penned phrases that were just gorgeous, and then she would use the word “awkward” three times in two sentences. She works in the publishing field, and had a co-author, so such a roller coaster in the prose was surprising.

I guessed what had happened to her, who the perpetrator(s) were, and I was well chuffed with myself. My psychology and counseling degrees aren't going to waste. :) What I noticed was Spoilerthe prose was the same for several of the individuals, notably the frequent and inappropriate “lol”s peppered throughout the emails and letters. It's rare for different people to have the same writing style, especially to have such an odd tic. Linguistic forensics is a fascinating field. Also, her friend seemed to enjoy what was happening, and told everyone, including people Susan didn't know, every detail. Things like stalking and threats of bodily harm tend to be a private matter.

I'm glad I read this book, yet I felt uncomfortable and strange after reading it. I don't know if this was a result of the things I've mentioned in my review, or my own history, and my own CPTSD.

I was given this book by Wild Blue Press in exchange for an honest review.

It's not only the story of the true crime that inspired the novel Peyton Place, but also the story of the peculiar and eccentric author herself. The two stories are hopelessly intertwined; Grace was a strange woman, who exaggerated and fibbed about everything except her fiction. She was desperate to write, abandoning her housework...and her family, emotionally. And she continued to stubbornly live amongst the community that resented her telling their stories out of turn for the rest of her life.

The crime itself is unclear. The motive is clear. But how it happened is not at all, was never worked out forensically by the court. That part doesn't make sense. See what you think.