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Recommendations
Cat out of Hell
by Lynne Truss
Recommended by Thomas Schotter, Marketing Assistant
Intended audience: Adults
For people who both love and hate cats comes the tale of Alec Charlesworth, a librarian who finds himself suddenly alone: he's lost his job, his beloved wife has just died, and to top it all off, his sister has disappeared. Overcome by grief, he stands in his sister's kitchen staring at the only witness to what's happened to her: her cat, Roger. Who then speaks to him.
A book that truly shows us that cats know a lot more about us than they let on. And that they are minions of the devil. This book is available in SCLENDS.
Devolution
by Max Brooks
Recommended by Darnell Glover, Circulation Manager
Intended audience: Adults
As the ash and chaos from Mount Rainier's eruption swirled and finally settled, the story of the Greenloop massacre has passed unnoticed, unexamined, until now. But the journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town's bloody wreckage, capture a tale too harrowing and too death-shattering in its implications, to be forgotten. Because if what Kate Holland saw in those days is real, then we must accept the impossible. We must accept that the creature known as Bigfoot walks among us, and that it is a beast of terrible strength and ferocity.
I enjoyed this book because the story centered around the big foot lore. What if they truly exist and what if we are truly infringing on their territory? Are we really ready to live in nature not knowing what is out there? As we destroy more and more of nature we may be surprised at what we encounter. The book can be found in SCLENDS.
Frankenstein Lost Souls
by Dean Koontz
Recommended by Tina Mellen, Information Services Librarian
Intended audience: Adults
A twist on the legend of Frankenstein - Victor Leben (who was known as Frankenstein), a mad scientist, uses stem cells to create a race of super humans (a perfect combination of flesh and machine). The survival of the human race rests with five people to prove him wrong. The dangers they face are more than they have ever encountered in the past.
This book is a page turner and hard to put down. This book is available on SCLENDS and cloudLibrary.
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
by Erik Larson
Recommended by Bratton DeLoach, Information Services Librarian
Intended audience: Adults
FDR's ambassador to Berlin, William Dodd, has a front row view of the increasing fear and terror of Nazi rule in Hitler-led Germany of the mid1930s.
Erik Larson brings to life an obscure event in American diplomacy, occurring in Germany during the 1930s. SCLENDS and cloudLibrary.
Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
by Grady Hendrix
Recommended by Cheryl A. Graffo, Library Assistant
Intended audience: Adults
A supernatural thriller set in South Carolina in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious stranger who turns out to be a real monster.
It's not a straight horror book - it addresses racism and economic disparity as well. It's available in SCLENDS, Hoopla and cloudLibrary.
Suicide House
by Charlie Donea
Recommended by Darnell Glover, Circulation Manager
Intended audience: Adults
Inside the walls of Indiana's elite Westmont Preparatory High School, expectations run high and rules are strictly enforced. But in the woods beyond the manicured campus sits and abandoned boarding house, infamous among Westmont's students as a late-night hangout. Here, only one rule applies: don't let your candle go out-unless you want the Man in the Mirror to find you.
Ok so by now we have figured out I like the unexplained, however I also like a good mystery. This book was like a supernatural mystery. You guessed it I enjoyed it! This book can be found in SCLENDS.
Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
by Erik Larson
Recommended by Bratton DeLoach, Information Services Librarian
Intended audience: Adults
A serial killer is loose during the 1893 Chicago World Exposition.
Erik Larson is an excellent author and brings to life people, achievements, and events in Chicago during the last decade of the nineteenth century. This book can be found in the SCLENDS catalogue and cloudLibrary.
Final Girl Support Group
by Grady Hendrix
Recommended by Cheryl A. Graffo, Library Assistant
Intended audience: Adults
In horror movies, the final girl is the one who's left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious, a victim and a hero. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her?
I'm recommending this one because I grew up in the 80's watching the movies the book is based on. It's available on SCLENDS.
Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson
Recommended by Traci Cox, Marketing & Communications Manager
Intended audience: Adults
The classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre. First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. The story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers--and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
It's a classic! It's the kind of good, old-fashioned scary story that makes your hair stand on end. Is the house haunted, or is it something else? Read to find out! Multiple copies of the book are available in the SCLENDS catalog, or, if you prefer the audiobook, it's available in the cloudLibrary.
Ninth House
by Leigh Bardugo
Recommended by Libby Voight, Senior Library Assistant
Intended audience: Adults
Alex Stern was the sole survivor of an unsolved multiple homicide back in California before she got a scholarship to Yale. She finds she doesn't really fit in there either, but she uses her ability to interact with ghosts to keep an eye on the mysterious secret societies full of the rich and powerful. Then her mentor disappears and a girl is murdered on campus.
I enjoyed how all of the mysteries wove together with the magical elements. Leigh Bardugo is better known for her young adult Grishaverse series but Ninth House is much darker and written for adults. It's perfect for readers who enjoy supernatural mysteries, dark academia, and unreliable narrators. Ninth House is available through SCLENDS, the ebook is on cloudLibrary and Hoopla.
Spook
by Mary Roach
Recommended by Traci Cox, Marketing & Communications Manager
Intended audience: Adults
In an attempt to find out what happens when people die, the author of "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientist, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that there is an afterlife.
I enjoy Mary Roach's style and humor as she attempts to answer mysterious questions like "Do ghosts exist? Is there evidence that the soul weighs 21 grams? Is ectoplasm really a thing?" If you're interested in the subject matter, this is a fitting book to read during the month of October. This book is available in SCLENDS.
Toil & Trouble: a Memoir
by Augusten Burroughs
Recommended by Cheryl A. Graffo, Library Assistant
Intended audience: Adults
For as long as Augusten Burroughs could remember, he knew things he shouldn't have known. He manifested things that shouldn't have come to pass. And he told exactly no one about this, save one person: his mother. His mother reassured him that it was all perfectly normal, that he was descended from a long line of witches, going back to the days of the early American colonies.
I'm recommending this one because who hasn't wondered how they know things they shouldn't? It's available in SCLENDS, Hoopla and cloudLibrary.