Continuing our spooky theme this month, in the spotlight today is this little gem my husband rescued. “The Haunting of Gillespie House.” I think the people were going to throw it away! The Horror I know! Now remember…”Just because he’s dead doesn’t mean he’s gone.”
Elle is thrilled to spend a month minding the beautiful Gillespie property. Over an hour’s drive from the nearest town, the aging mansion is ideal for someone seeking solitude. But as she explores her new home, Elle makes a startling discovery: there’s a graveyard nestled deep in the woods, containing a generation of the house’s residents…all who died the same year.
Then things start to go very wrong, very quickly.
There are skittering noises inside the walls…slamming doors…whispers in the night…a locked room…and a horrifying mystery that wants to be solved. As she investigates further, Elle begins to unravel the property’s dark and dangerous history. At its center is Jonathan Gillespie, a tyrannical cult leader and the house’s original owner. And as Elle soon learns…
Darcy Coates is the USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen horror and suspense novels.
She lives in the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cat, and a collection of chickens. Her home is surrounded by rolling wilderness on all sides, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
It’s October! So be on the lookout for Spooky Book Spotlights all month long! Starting with THE MONSTERS THEY MADE US by Frank J. Camacho! “The Monsters They Made Us” is a haunting debut that blends dark fantasy, supernatural horror, and dark academia on the rocky coast of Massachusetts.
The Monsters They Made Us (The Heirs of Driftmoor Book 1)
Release Date: October 1, 2025
Genre: Dark Fantasy Horror/ Dark Academia
Featuring ⦁ Supernatural coming-of-age ⦁ Found family vs. bloodline ⦁ Monsters as a metaphor ⦁ Character-driven plot ⦁ Coastal decay ⦁ Generational trauma ⦁ Small-town lore ⦁ Faustian bargains
Some monsters are born. Others are made. But the worst are inherited. Long before Driftmoor was a town, it was a threshold where the veil between the natural and supernatural ran thin. Where wicked bargains were struck in the dark. Bargains that cursed four bloodlines forever.
Dorothy arrives at Driftmoor Academy hoping to leave her past behind and become someone new. But after a car crash leaves her teetering between life and death, dark abilities awaken inside her. Whispers through the halls. Nightmares claw at her sleep. And death follows wherever she goes.
As Dorothy is pulled into the gilded world of Driftmoor’s elite, pieces of a forgotten legacy begin to surface—along with a power she doesn’t understand and a past someone tried to erase. And she’s not the only one marked by what came before.
There’s the boy touched by the sea, who’s drawn to a song no one else can hear. The socialite carved from gold and expectation, clinging to perfection before it shatters. And the son born in shadows, raised by a family that never intended to keep him. Linked by the bargains of their ancestors, the heirs of Driftmoor must each decide: will they surrender to their curses, harness the power they’ve inherited, or let it destroy them?
Frank J. Camacho was born and raised in New Jersey. He grew up immersed in CW shows and fantasy books, which sparked his love for emotionally tangled characters, small-town secrets, and supernatural drama. When he’s not writing, he’s making overly specific Spotify playlists or redecorating a room he swore he was done with. The Monsters They Made Us is his first novel and the first book in The Heirs of Driftmoor series.
Today I’m spotlighting the interesting FLAME IN THE SILVER STORM by Rocio Carranza. A dark fantasy gothic this is book 2 in The Eternal Curse series. How Far Would You Go To Save the Ones You Love? Let’s dive deeper to find out!
Flame in the Silver Storm (The Eternal Curse Book 2)
Release Date: September 30, 2025
Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Gothic
Tropes: Witches & Pirates Forced Proximity Political Intrigue Feminine Rage Found Family
There is a darkness encroaching the lands of Serit. From the Givensmir kingdoms to the Blackthorn coven, bitter rivalries threaten the lives of magic and mortalkind alike.
With the truth of her mother’s demise fresh in her heart, Eve has fled her life of comfort to escape the clutches of Givensmir’s new and vengeful king. Stowing away on a pirate ship bound for destinations unknown, Eve and her familiars must place their trust in its captain. A man with a dark past and a proclivity for secrets.
But no matter how far she runs, the Blood of the Blackthorn continues to haunt her dreams, beckoning her to fulfill its fatal prophecy, and soon Eve is forced to choose her fate.
To risk the lives of those she loves or let the magic consume her.
Rocio Carranza, a multi-genre writer, spent most of her youth with a book in her hand, consuming stories of fantasy and horror as if her life depended on it.
This naturally led into a love of writing stories as an excellent way to get lost in worlds of her own making—fighting epic battles, undoing curses (or casting them), and confronting the things that go bump in the night.
When she isn’t typing frivolously at her computer, you can find Rocio galivanting about Austin, TX with her husband and two kids or with her nose in at least five different books she likes to read at a time.
Curious to know more?
You can find Rocio on social media on IG/Threads/TT @rociocarranzawrites and Bluesky @rociocarranza.
Today, I am spotlighting this gothic Beauty and the Beast retelling in a fantasy setting. UNRAVELED is first in a new series called A Kingdom of Beasts and Ruins! If you like Howl’s Moving Castle and ACOTAR, this new series may be for you!
Unraveled (A Kingdom of Beasts and Ruins #1)
Release Date: September 9, 2025
Genre: Gothic Romantasy/ Fairy Tale Featuring
⦁ Enemies to lovers ⦁ Found family ⦁ Forced proximity ⦁ Touch her and 💀 ⦁ Female friendships ⦁ A Beauty and the Beast retelling ⦁ Slow burn ⦁ Morally Gray MMC ⦁ His familiar/pet loves her more ⦁ Feisty FMC ⦁ Bookish FMC Everyone knows to never look a fae in the eyes, yet no one warned me he would hide behind the mask of a beast. Death awaits those who get caught in the Wild Hunt, and only a magical veil protects the people of Penumbra from the monsters coming for them. So when a beast threatens to destroy the veil, Mia Clementine must break her vows of sorcery and use her magic to fight him, or risk losing everyone she loves. But the beast isn’t what he seems, and now the fae king owns her soul. Dragged into his mythical land, she must unravel the curse that turned him into a monster in order to regain her freedom—or die trying. The longer she stays in his world, the more irresistible her feelings for him become. Hate turns into passion, and newly discovered truths test her loyalties, forcing her to choose to save her people or the fae world she’s grown to love.
Abbey Fox loves to write action packed Fantasy Romance stories, with ass-kicking heroines, swoon-worthy heroes and a healthy dose of spice. Sometimes, when she should be crafting new worlds and putting her characters’ lives in danger, she is tending to her plants and painting her favorite characters.
To connect with Abbey, you can follow her in her Instagram account @abbeyfoxauthor or subscribe to her newsletter for all the latest info.
Spotlighting today is the upcoming beautiful Snow White & Rose Red retelling, Beyond the Border Forest: Into the Prawdziwy Las Series: The Immortal Seasons Cycle Book 1 by Molly Haniszewski. Let us now step beyond the border.
Beyond the Border Forest: Into the Prawdziwy Las Series: The Immortal Seasons Cycle Book 1
Expected Release Date: September 30, 2025
Genre: LGBTQIA+ Snow White & Rose Red Retelling
Features
🍄 Fairytale retelling 🌈 Queer Rep ❤ Plus Size Heroine 🌲 Enchanted Forest 💙 Trans Love Interest 😂 Hilarious Banter 🦌 Slavic Folklore ☕ Studio Ghibli Vibes 💪🏻 Unlikely Heroes 🩷 Sapphic Romance 🌟 Riddles ❄ Seasonal/Elemental Magic
Two kings rule the ancient woods—the Oak King in summer, the Holly King in winter—and no mortal may cross into their realm without leave. But when eighteen-year-old Rowan Gwózdek’s sister vanishes, Rowan defies the old laws and enters the forbidden forest, desperate to find her. She isn’t alone for long. Keziah, a trans (and very handsome) hunter with a shadowy tie to the Oak King, offers his help—and a perilous path to the Bear Maiden, a creature said to grant wishes. Together, Rowan and Keziah face mossmen, a wood dragon, and other servants of the forest kings.
But danger lurks deeper still. Caught between the warring Oak and Holly Kings, Rowan is forced to take sides in a battle far older and fiercer than she ever imagined. Saving her sister could cost her everything—including her way home.
Join the Kickstarter! It is the only place you can buy a hardback of Beyond the Border Forest! And you’ll also be able to get discounted paperbacks, ebooks, and other fun book-related goodies.
In our spotlight today is the first book in ‘The Wrath of Chaos series’, NEMESIS.
Nemesis (The Wrath of Chaos Book 1)
Release Date: August 1, 2025
Genre: Dark Romantasy
Features
• Morally Grey Shadow Mommy • A Fae King who Yearns • One Horse Trope — But it’s a Dragon • Delicious Banter and Tension • Dragons x Dragon Riders
The Asherian War has ushered Earth and its population into a new age. Humankind has gone, giving rise to a tenuous society of other races once confined largely to shadows and stories. The new paradigm is overseen by the Celestials, whose terrestrial ambassadors, the Legacies, wield a potent and manifold elemental magic—one ruled by the astrological sign one is born under. They were instrumental in banishing the dragons—ravenous and mindless beasts—to the gloomier land of a place known as the Outer Edge. Astraea, the powerful general of the Legacy Legion, cannot stand by when two massive dragons descend on the Legacy Compound and abduct her younger sisters. Leaping on one of their great scaly backs, becoming a willing captive to the darker margins of their world, she and her siblings undertake a shocking and revealing journey, one where prior deceptions are lifted, where alliances fall and former enemies become allies and where new, unexpected dangers are born. Dragons, Astraea learns, are hardly the mindless creatures she knew them to be—they are, as one named Nemesis tells her, thoughtful seekers of peace, with a wholly different perspective on the Asherian War, and their banishment to the Outer Edge. As Astraea and her sisters reconcile themselves to this new reality, the fae king, Asher—so named for the war, and who is very much in love with Astraea—pursues them to the Outer Edge. Though he can be pompous and presumptuous, there is no doubt Astraea herself is drawn to him. Now, as she cautiously opens her heart, and arms herself with new understanding, she and the others must also prepare to confront those who stand in the way of peace.
Known to many as “Shania Fillmore” of YTV’s THE NEXT STAR SEASON 4 and THE NEXT STAR: SUPERGROUP, this small-town girl from New Brunswick, Canada, has taken a turn from singing on television to pursuing her writing dreams.
Music, visual arts, reading, and writing are what she lives and breathes. The art world is her truest passion.
Settled back in her hometown, Shania Scichilone has spent her time as Musical Director during show season, and the rest of her time has been filled with writing and learning digital arts.
Her debut series, FATES DIVINE, begins her new career as an author.
This cover is so serene! Which is why it got caught in my spotlight! To Kiss the Sea by C.H. Carter is a sapphic fantasy fairy tale. Let’s dive deeper.
To Kiss the Sea
Publication Date: October 31, 2023
Genre: Sapphic Fantasy/ Fairy Tale Fantasy
Features
🌊 Fairytale retelling 🌊 Mermaids, pirates, and spies – Oh my! 🌊 Force proximity 🌊 Enemies-to-friends 🌊 LGBTQ/Queer normative society 🌊 Found family 🌊 Mental health rep 🌊 Multi-POV
In the Birde Isles, there’s a saying: You cannot take what the sea is not willing to give. Ally Kingfisher never gave it much thought until she experienced the sea’s wrath firsthand. But after a near-drowning leaves her with a deeply ingrained fear of the water, Ally still finds herself inexplicably drawn to its depths. As if something is calling to her from beneath the waves, and it only grows louder each year. Pasha is being punished for something she didn’t do, sentenced to a life of solitude until her kin return. But mermaids aren’t meant to live alone. Desperate for companionship, Pasha makes a deal that goes spectacularly awry, affecting the lives of everyone on the Isles for years to come. When a pirate captain kidnaps Ally’s mother and demands Ally deliver the ransom personally, she is forced to leave land for the first time. Turning to Pasha, the one creature whose help she doesn’t want but whose power over the water she needs, Ally strikes a new bargain to get her to her mother. But she’ll have to confront more than her fears along the way… Because even those in favor are still at the mercy of the sea.
C.H. Carter is a fantasy author with a lifelong love of the genre in all its forms. In middle school, she wrote a fan letter to Tamora Pierce and received the most encouraging reply! That experience cemented her desire to become an author. (She also still holds out the hope they can meet in person one day!)
When not writing, you can find her working on a number of rotating projects (Crochet, anyone?) and obsessing over her two rescue dogs.
Caught in my spotlight this Thursday is THE LEGACY OF OPHELIA. The fifth and final book in the epic romantic fantasy series, The Curse of Ophelia. Luckily, you can now read this entire series on Amazon & Kindle Unlimited!
The Legacy of Ophelia
Publication Day: August 7, 2025
Genre: Epic Romantic Fantasy
Features
🪽 Meddling angels 🏛️ Curses & quests 🪽 Warrior clans 🏛️ Found family 🪽 Multiple slow-burn romances 🏛️ High stakes fantasy
Ophelia and Malakai have been ripped from their loved ones and are at the mercy of a vengeful god. But they quickly discover that in order to uncover secrets buried among realms, that may be precisely where they need to be. Even if it jeopardizes all they have fought to become. Meanwhile, their friends receive a surprise visit from a potential ally that spurs them to rekindle partnerships, deny the bounds of power, and push love to the brink of destruction. With myths resurrected and the very fabric of Ambrisk at risk, can the warriors survive their final battle against the deities? Or are they fated to become the legends stories are written of?
Everything culminates in this high-stakes, realm-shattering conclusion to the ‘Curse of Ophelia’ series.’ With a lovable found family, scorching slow-burn romances, and inspiration from Greek mythology, this series introduces a universe full of twisted lore and ancient battles that is perfect for fans of Chloe C. Penaranda, Sarah J. Maas, and Melissa K. Roehrich.
Nicole Platania was born and raised in Los Angeles and completed her B.A. in Communications at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After two years of working in social media marketing, she traded Santa Barbara beaches for the rainy magic of London, where she completed her Masters in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. Nicole harbors a love for broken and twisty characters, stories that feel like puzzles, and all things romance. She can always be found with a cup of coffee or glass of wine in hand, ready to discuss everything from celebrity gossip to your latest book theories.
Connect with her on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter as @bynicoleplatania or at www.nicoleplatania.com.
A bit of a change this Thursday. As I bring you a book review!
ABSOLUTELY MIND-BENDING!
The Afterlife Experiment (The Altered Planes Book 1)
Published: October 10, 2023
Genre: Dark fantasy/Sci-fi- horror/ American horror
Pages: 310 pages
Reality ends where madness begins.
Atra Hart’s shadow has grown teeth. It moves on its own and whispers her name. She calls it Dread, and it threatens to devour her mind.
When a fire breaks out at the asylum where she’s locked up, Atra seizes the chance for freedom, only to witness an electric-purple rift split the sky open. Like Dread, the rift is visible only to her.
Then, she awakens back in the asylum, unharmed, as if the fire, the escape, and the rift never happened. But everything feels wrong. No one remembers her old life. Her family, her friends—even her past—have vanished. The doctors insist she’s delusional, but the messages scribbled on the mirrors suggest otherwise. The darkness beneath her bed whispers secrets. And the black cat that watches from where the veils thin? It doesn’t belong here.
As Atra ventures deeper into the mystery, she uncovers a chilling truth: this isn’t an asylum. It’s a trap woven between broken realities. The rift isn’t a vision. It’s a crack in the barrier between worlds, and something is trying to come through. Dread isn’t a hallucination. It’s a harbinger, connected to something ancient that moves between realities like a parasite, searching for a perfect host.
If Atra can’t sever her connection to Dread, she won’t just lose her grip on sanity—she’ll become the vessel that lets the horror in. She’ll open the door to something that could end reality itself.
As I prepared to receive my ARC for the upcoming book, “In the House of Root and Rot” (book two in the Altered Planes Trilogy), I had to read book one, which the author had kindly gifted me as well. This book mind *ucked me and I liked it!
We are introduced to Atra, who has spent most of her life in an asylum. She sees a dark shadow companion whom she calls Dread, which no one else can see. We also meet Tom, her father, who had abandoned Atra, leaving her for dead after a sinister experiment went wrong.
A rift has opened in the fabric of time, and only Atra, Tom, and some others can see it. An ancient evil wants to break through. Atra has the final piece it needs.
Think Stranger Things meets Sliders meets The Travellers or Fringe. I don’t know! This book makes you question the very reality you are reading! This is the very first book where I couldn’t predict what would happen next! THE VERY FIRST! I was reading for my sanity, so there was that. These characters become you.
I love unreliable characters, and Weiss delivers cause this whole book is full of them. The ending leaves you craving what is next. What horrors and madness await us in the next book? Stay tuned, as I’m set to read the second book “In the House of Root and Rot” soon!
My overall rating is 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐out of 5 stars. This book gave me a trip, no drugs needed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sam was named after a dog, a fact her mother disputes to this day.
While she’s terrible at writing “About Me”s about her, she’s been told she’s great at writing about what fictional people do. The more miserable she can make them, the better.
Her love of horror films from the 80s, sci-fi shows from the 90s, and alternative music from the 00s have inspired her to write what she’s calling “Dark Science Fantasy” although she’s kind of making that up as she goes along.
When she’s not ready to pull her hair out after discovering another plot hole she’s created, she goes camping with her husband as far away from society as possible. So far, this tactic has been mostly successful and she’s only had to physically converse with a grand total of nine people this year. Next year, she hopes to get that number down to six.
Romantic fantasy and Irish mythology combine in this week’s spotlight with the stunning ALL GODS MUST DIEby Soraya Cole! Full of mystery, betrayal, a unique magic system, and a prophecy, get ready to be brought on one epic adventure, and this is book 1! Let’s read on!
All Gods Must Die by Soraya Cole (All Gods Must Die #1)
Release Date: September 2024
Genre: Romantasy/ Irish Mythology
Features
✨A strong female lead who can fight ✨Fated mates ✨“Who did this to you?” ✨ Fae. Gods. Monsters. ✨Competition with trials ✨Irish Inspired Mythology ✨Shadow and Light powers ✨Sloooww burn (But definite spice in book 2) ✨A prophecy ✨Action. Adventure. Mystery
ENTER A WORLD OF SHADOWS AND LIGHT… Seren was born into a world divided by shadows and light. And yet… she can wield both. She fights against the corruption plaguing her kingdom, but when dark creatures breach the shield and begin slaughtering under the cover of night, her world is thrown into chaos. To save her people, she enters the savage guards’ competition. A deadly game of betrayal, bloodshed, and lies with hopes of winning an audience with the royals. But the competition is only the beginning. As secrets unravel, Seren discovers a world far larger and more dangerous than she ever imagined. Gods. Fae. Monsters. And a prophecy that could destroy everything. In a world of Sidus and Caligo, where fae, humans, and beasts collide, one truth remains: All Gods Must Die.
Soraya Cole is a fantasy romance author. All Gods Must Die is her debut fantasy series and is inspired by Irish Mythology.
When she’s isn’t creating fantasy worlds with strong female leads and swoon-worthy heroes, she is spending time with her family in Ireland or trying to chip away at her never-ending tbr that only seems to grow bigger.
Soraya can be found on TIkTok and Instagram @sorayacoleauthor.
Freelance Writer Janny(Jan Marie)C 