October 27, 2025 • 47 mins
Join Amanda and Kelsey on a spine-chilling journey through eerie and supernatural books perfectly tailored for October. Dive into their handpicked selection of spooky novels, from haunted historical fiction to unsettling psychological thrillers, and discover the stories that will keep you up at night.
00:00 Welcome to Lit Vibes Only
01:02 Spooky Chitchat w/ Kelsey & Amanda
15:26 Spooky Book Recs
45:56 Follow Us on Socials
Follow us on TikTok & Youtube @litvibesonlypodcast and on Instagram @litvibesonly_podcast. You can also email us at litvibesonlypodcast@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you!
See you on Mondays!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Amanda (00:06):
Welcome to Lit Vibes Only, where we lit the shit out
of books we love and hate.
I'm Amanda, the insightful,thrill seeker and historical
fiction nerd.
Kelsey (00:14):
And I'm Kelsey, the unhinged, diehard, romantic and
fantasy reader.
Welcome, welcome,
Amanda (00:21):
welcome.
Kelsey 2.0 (00:22):
This is our Lit Chats episode of Yes, October
Ooky season.
Before we get into it, we wantto direct you to our socials.
We are at Lit Vibes Only podcaston Instagram and on YouTube and
TikTok.
We are at Lit Vibes onlypodcast.
So come check us out over thereand don't forget to rate and
(00:45):
review our podcast because thatreally helps us get traction and
others to see us on Spotify andApple.
So go over and do that realquick.
Amanda (00:58):
We deeply appreciate it.
Please, and thank you.
And yeah, welcome to our, ourspooky episode.
Are you really big intoHalloween?
I
Kelsey (01:07):
feel like you aren't.
No, not really.
I'm not really big into anyparticular holiday.
No.
But.
Yeah.
Halloween though, I get to dressup at school, which is Yeah.
Fun.
Mm-hmm.
And I'll do some sort of thingwith probably some of my
colleagues.
Mm-hmm.
Just because it's fun and thekids have fun.
(01:28):
Love it.
The kids get to dress up and andwe get to dress up along with
them and just be silly.
Yeah.
Amanda (01:34):
Yeah, I, yeah, growing up we didn't celebrate Halloween
'cause I I grew up in a reallyreligious family and so that was
like very taboo.
But then obviously I went toschool for theater.
I love costuming and so I feellike in college.
I would do the costume thing.
Okay.
And then at my old school, Iwould get into it and do wigs,
full costumes.
(01:54):
I haven't really done thatthough since moving to Seattle.
Oh, okay.
And starting at my new, well,it's not new anymore, but the
school that I've been at for awhile now.
But maybe I will this year.
I, I also don't really have alot of friends in the area who
are big into Halloween, who arelike hosting mm-hmm.
Halloween parties.
But in theory I do like the ideamainly because I like to dress
(02:15):
up.
Yeah.
And I have eight wigs I thinklike I just selected over the
course of Yeah.
My life and doing a lot oftheater.
'cause I've purchased wigs forshows that I've done.
For old costumes.
When Suicide Squad the first onecame out, I went with a group of
friends and we all dressed up.
So I, I was the joker, so I hadlike a, like a lime green wig.
(02:37):
Oh my gosh.
I like get into it.
Yeah, yeah.
But I just haven't since movinghere, which is kind of sad.
Maybe I'll, maybe I'll dosomething.
This year I did watch K-Pop,demon Hunter, and I knew that's
all the rage and I'm like, maybeI'll go all in.
Yeah.
Did you like that?
Because we are wanting to watchit too.
I, I liked it.
I thought it was, it was cute,fun.
It had a good message.
(02:57):
Obviously the music's amazing,you know?
Mm-hmm.
I don't normally watch animatedmovies anymore, but, oh, it was
fun.
It was fun.
And I can see why people likeit.
Yeah.
And the songs are very catchy,so
Kelsey (03:10):
I also, I really like animated movies.
Still, I
Amanda (03:14):
like Pixar movies.
Yeah, I will watch those.
And that's pretty much it.
Mm.
I don't know that I've seen
Kelsey (03:21):
any other.
There's these anime, famousanime movies that we've watched
that I think you would like.
Who?
Like you mean from StudioGhibli?
Like I've seen those?
Yeah, I think so.
Spirited Away, like those, yes.
And Totoro.
Amanda (03:35):
Yeah.
I haven't seen that one.
You need to see that one.
Know.
It's so cute.
And there's another one.
Oh, what is it?
The Blue
Kelsey (03:41):
Heron is the other one that recently came out like a
year ago or so.
But that's good.
But one's.
Amanda (2) (03:47):
Older, it's like some, some someone's delivery
service or what is it?
It's super popular.
Mm-hmm.
And I know someone who'slistening right now knows
exactly what I'm talking about.
Probably young girl comment andlet us know.
And I think it's also a studioGibble, but yeah.
I don't, yeah, I don't watch alot of animated stuff anymore,
which I think is probably truefor a lot of adults who aren't
(04:07):
into anime.
If you're into anime, obviously.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
But anyhow, so yeah, this is ourspooky episode.
We wanted to do something thatwas, you know, in line with what
was happening in this month.
Kelsey (04:17):
Yes, it's Amy Halloween this week.
Amanda (04:19):
It's gonna be Halloween this week.
And so, mm-hmm.
We thought, what better time totalk about spooky books that
we've read and.
Yeah.
So we've each chosen four booksthat we feel have like spooky or
eerie or like supernaturalvibes.
That might be a fun read forthis month or heading into next
month, I guess,'cause it's theend of October now.
(04:40):
Mm-hmm.
But before we do that, I'mcurious like what your criteria
is for what makes a book spooky,like
Kelsey (04:49):
for you.
Okay.
For me, it doesn't have to belike a horror book.
Okay.
Or.
Even a mystery attached to it.
It's just really a book thatmost of what's on my list is
more a psychological Okay.
Like thriller thrillers.
Okay.
But not all of them arethrillers.
(05:10):
So it's like there's some sortof psychological element where
it.
Tripping you up a little.
Okay.
And you're not entirely surewhat's going on.
Okay.
And then there is one, well, Iguess there's two that are, the
setting is creepy, but notnecessarily what's happening in
(05:31):
the book.
Okay.
Is creepy.
The atmosphere.
The atmosphere, exactly.
Okay.
The setting of where thecharacters are is creepy, but
like the way the charactersrespond to the atmosphere and
the setting, is not Okay.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
So, if I could see myself inthat world, I'd be like, this is
creepy kind of thing.
(05:51):
Get me outta here.
Yeah.
Amanda (05:53):
Okay.
That makes sense.
I feel like for me.
I, well, neither Kelsey nor Iread a lot of horror.
Mm-hmm.
That's not really our, our vibeor genre.
Yeah.
I have dipped my toes a littlebit more into the water this
year and it's something I wannacontinue doing because mm-hmm.
I do find it fascinating and Ican handle scary books much
(06:13):
better than I can handle scarymovies.
'cause like I don't really watchhorror movies.
Oh gosh.
But I think for me.
If there's a supernaturalelement of something involving
oh, okay, ghosts or like evilspirits, something haunted or a
haunting definitely comes tomind for me.
And you'll see that in some ofthe books that I've chosen.
(06:33):
Quite a few of them actuallyinvolve that.
So like that supernaturalelement is where I get like the
creepy vibes, the creepy feelsfrom okay, and actually.
And looking at all of mine, thefour that I'm going be going to
be talking about, that is truefor all of them actually.
They all have a supernatural elwhether it is ghosts or Yeah.
(06:56):
Like some sort of evil spirit orsomething.
Yeah.
As h as haunted.
Mm-hmm.
I think is true for all of them.
And because of that, it doeshave that.
Atmosphere of unease and thatsomething's just off.
Right?
Something is just mm-hmm.
Not the way that it's supposedto be, which, yeah.
I think it's, to your point whenyou're talking about kinda
(07:17):
psychological books, it's yeah,something is off with this
character.
Mm-hmm.
Something is off with theirbehaviors, and that just as a
reader makes you feel like.
Descent or un decenteredunstable.
Yeah.
Uncertain.
And that Gotcha.
Can lead to that like vibe ofunease.
Mm-hmm.
So, yeah, I personally lovepsychological thrillers.
(07:40):
I like supernatural thrillers.
And I know there's a fine linebetween horror Yeah.
And supernatural thrillers.
In fact, I don't even know ifthere is a line.
Maybe they're one in the same,
Kelsey (07:50):
well,
Amanda (07:51):
I don't know.
Something
Kelsey (07:51):
like it by Stephen King is.
Horror.
Right, right.
Yeah.
And I would never read a booklike that.
Amanda (07:59):
But what I mean is so how would you define, and I've
asked folks on TikTok thismonths ago.
Yeah.
Like, how would you define asupernatural thriller versus.
A horror novel or do you notmake a distinction?
Kelsey (08:12):
I dunno.
Yeah.
I, I haven't, I haven't read alot of those, so I, yeah, I
wouldn't have a basis.
Amanda (08:19):
Yeah.
For me, I think it's the same.
I think the other thing I'll addto really quickly when I'm
thinking about ooh, creepy,unsettled, that's the word I was
looking for, unsettled is ifthere's an element which I don't
like, but if there's like anelement of.
Like violence or gore.
'cause that often can be a partof horror.
Both in movies Yeah.
And in books.
Mm-hmm.
(08:39):
And for.
One of the books that I'm gonnabe referencing today, like there
is like that kind of goryaspect.
Mm-hmm.
That again, doesn't, I don't,that is not for me and mm-hmm.
It tends to make me squeamish.
But I do know that for a lot offolks, that's part of why they
Kelsey (08:58):
enjoy, that's funny, creepy things.
Yeah.
Because there's a lot of gore.
There can be a lot of gore andfantasy as well, just because
Oh, of fighting and stuff.
And sometimes it could be reallyexplicit.
It's gross, really gross.
But but oh, I haven't
Amanda (09:12):
encountered that yet in any of the romantic books you've
had married.
Funny, which is great
Kelsey (09:16):
that Yeah.
I'm not, I'm not a huge fan ofthat, but but thinking about
gory, a gory film mm-hmm.
Did you ever watch, saw.
Oh my God, no.
Oh, absolutely not.
Because I know what it's about.
I used to watch them though.
Oh, to, no, I could never, Iused to like, I could never so
into them, and I don't know why.
It just wasn't scary Really?
It was just like gross.
(09:37):
No, it's just about torturingpeople.
Yeah.
It was just gross.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, I just, but I could watchthose, but not something scary.
No, it's not so weird.
Amanda (09:46):
Don't, I don't like jump scares and I hate gore, so that
like I hate jump
Kelsey (09:49):
score scares.
Amanda (09:50):
Yeah.
But for me, and this is true,both for kind of gory action
movies and like horror.
I like feel it in my body.
I don't know how to explain it.
Yeah.
I have this, like sympatheticresponse physically.
Mm-hmm.
And so I, I physically cannotwatch someone.
Being tortured or watchingsomeone's eyeballs get carved?
I, I, I can't, I physicallycannot do it.
(10:12):
I have to look away.
And so for people who just like,are like munching on their
popcorn and just I'm like, howare you?
Okay.
How do you not feel sick to yourstomach and.
Just physically in pain.
I don't know.
Like I,
Kelsey (10:27):
so the other thing I will say about like creepy books
and movies is I believe a lot ofthat shit.
So oh, a lot of the supernaturalstuff.
Like I believe in a lot of thosethings.
So.
If I see it, I'm like, oh God,that person's gonna fucking hot
me now.
And I'm like, I'm freaked out.
So what is the one where the twogirls are at the end of the
(10:47):
hallway?
What movie is that?
The Shining, oh God.
Is it The Shining?
I think so.
I don't know.
I think so.
And then there's one about thecannibal.
Oh.
Guy.
Cannibal Lecter, HannibalLecter.
Silence of the Lands, cannibal.
I've seen that.
I can't watch that.
Yeah, that's creepy.
But like I really do likemysteries.
(11:09):
Yeah.
And mysteries.
That can be like a littlecreepy, you know?
Sure, yeah.
Of course.
But like I'll watch those.
Yeah.
Course.
But.
Amanda (11:14):
I don't know, but wait.
Okay.
Rewind.
Since this is our spooky
Kelsey (11:17):
episode,
Amanda (11:18):
tell us more
Kelsey (11:19):
about the creepy things you believe in.
Oh, yeah.
I believe there's ghosts.
I believe in things likeSasquatch and I grew up with
stories about like littlepeople.
There's, oh yeah.
All.
Sorts of things that, like frommy culture's perspective, that
are actually real.
And you live your life in a waywhere you try to stay away from
them and wow.
Okay.
Yeah.
(11:39):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I believe in those things andI believe that spirits can
disrupt our lives.
Mm-hmm.
If we're fucking around.
So yeah.
Amanda (11:47):
I believe in that stuff.
Are they like, so when you sayspirits, are they like.
People who were once alive andnow are dead are, are, are
spirits separate from that?
They're just like spirits thatthey're
Kelsey (11:56):
both, they're like, okay.
Okay.
Yeah, they're both, they can belike entities or they could be
people who who have passed awayknew.
Or people who have passed.
Yeah.
Who have lived lives here.
Amanda (12:05):
Interesting.
Mm-hmm.
I grew up in a very you know,evangelical fundamentalist,
yeah.
Conservative Christianhousehold.
And so obviously like we believein angels and demons.
Okay.
And they're real.
Right.
And like you were saying, canhave an impact.
On your life, right?
Yeah.
It can influence things andcause harm, et cetera.
Mm-hmm.
And you know, like we'reconstantly engaged in spiritual
(12:27):
warfare to keep things that bay.
So it's one reason why we didn'tcelebrate Halloween, right?
Mm-hmm.
Because that was like thedevil's holiday and we're just
like welcoming bad things intoour lives if we're doing that.
Mm-hmm.
And you definitely did notwatch.
Scary movies, especially if theywere about like demons or evil
spirits.
Oh.
'cause then you're likebasically opening a doorway for
(12:47):
those things to enter your life.
That's the thinking.
Yeah.
At least it wasn't our house.
So it's if you engage with thosethings, you're like welcoming
them in to like your life, yourmind, your home.
Mm-hmm.
And then getting rid of them isdifficult.
There are some aspects of thatthat I
Kelsey (13:00):
believe in.
Yeah.
I know.
Like it's that's reallyinteresting.
But not in the way that I'm likehaving to live my life in this
way, like you were talkingabout.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's just certain things likeyou don't do, so like closing
your blinds in the wintertime,like you have to do that at
night because you're invitingthings in.
If you have them open.
Oh, interesting.
Yeah.
(13:21):
It does impact how you live yourlife.
Yeah, but not like daily, day today, you know?
I don't know.
Amanda (13:26):
Well, yeah, I guess, I guess for me growing up, because
evil spirits could be associatedwith so many things.
Like for example, right, Uhhuh,we were not allowed to.
And again, this is not true forall Christians.
This was like our particularhousehold.
My mom was very strict, right?
Like we couldn't, we obviouslywe couldn't read Harry Potter
'cause I was witches and witchesare bad.
Anything that had to do withwitches or witchcraft wizards.
(13:48):
Magic.
Absolutely not.
Yeah.
Pokemon.
We were not allowed to watchPokemon.
They're cute.
Cute.
I know, but they're like, it wascute.
Anything related to thedomination monsters or like
weird creatures like, so therewere so many limitations on the
media we could engage with thebooks that we could read,
because any one of those thingscould lead you astray and again,
(14:09):
be an opening for an evil.
Force or the, the devil or evilspirits to like interesting.
You know, get in there and leadyou astray.
Yeah.
So who knew that years later Iwould be celebrating a podcast
episode celebrating spookinessand that I've read so much.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(14:30):
So I think, you know, for thisstructure of this episode.
Kelsey and I both have fourbooks that we have read that
have kind of the spooky vibes.
We are not gonna spoil anythingfor you guys today.
It's gonna kind of function abit like a lit Rex episode in
that we're gonna you know, giveyou a quick rundown of why we
think they're spooky and youknow, mm-hmm.
Maybe why you should check themout.
And that's pretty much it.
(14:52):
So, again, no spoilers.
We're not gonna do a deep diveinto these texts.
Yeah.
It's yeah.
Here are some good spooky readsfor you.
Kelsey (15:00):
I, I feel like we should have done, like if you like,
read this book.
Amanda (15:06):
No, that would've been great.
But you know what though,because I don't read that many
spooky books, I feel like Iwouldn't have enough.
Other books to reference, youknow what I mean?
Sure, sure.
I mean with the four that wehave,
Kelsey (15:16):
but
Amanda (15:16):
yeah.
Kelsey (15:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I'll go first.
Great.
Yeah.
Take it away.
So if you like, I'm gonnaactually try to do this off the
cuff.
Okay.
Oh, okay.
So if you like necromancy Oh, Isee what you're doing.
I thought you were to say, ifyou like this book, you should
read this book.
I'm like, I don't, no.
I see, I see.
Okay.
If you like Neri Mancy, and.
(15:38):
Countless skeletons, wanderingabout and people creating
skeletons out of nowhere amongother things.
And mazes and puzzles.
And mystery.
Yeah, and mystery.
You should read Gideon the Ninthby Tamson Muir.
Amanda (15:57):
Look at you recommending a book I made you read.
I'm so proud that you did likethat you did not like
Kelsey (16:02):
I personally didn't like, but if you like those
things, yeah, you probably wouldlike this.
Amanda (16:07):
It's very atmospheric too.
Like one of the things thatKelsey didn't like but is so
perfect for this episode is thatTan Muir spend so much time my
using her beautifully craftedwords, in my opinion, to create
overly done this setting that isjust so overwhelmingly eerie.
(16:27):
The setting is its own characterin my opinion.
Kelsey (16:30):
And that is, that is great.
That's what I, love about books,right?
Like they can be so manydifferent things.
And yes, I agree with you inthat, in that sense that the
world itself is like its owncharacter, but I think the world
takes kind of a backseat to thetwo main characters, which is
Gideon and what's her name?
(16:51):
Harrow Harrow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And their back and forth makesit less creepy in my mind.
It does.
Amanda (16:57):
But I think it's a good balance though, because the
whole book is, you know, aboutnecromancy and all of this
stuff.
Mm-hmm.
And so it takes this reallydark.
Magical practice and balancesout with like their sarcastic
banter.
And I think it works wellbecause they're so opposite.
I don't know.
I thought it was veryentertaining and they were
(17:18):
entertaining,
Kelsey (17:19):
but I didn't like the world as much.
But it is spooky and that's,it's a spooky world.
Maybe why I didn't like it.
I don't know.
Amanda (2) (17:26):
Maybe, but I think yeah, that's your vibe Also, if
you, it takes place kind of inspace.
You know?
They're like traveling for thesedifferent planet.
Oh, I like planets.
We forgot about Absolutely.
To the, to the first house.
We did an episode on thisalready, so you're welcome to go
back and listen to that.
Yes.
But that does have spoilers init, so FYI.
Mm-hmm.
But yeah.
And the bulk of the book takesplace in this like crumbling
(17:50):
palace.
Right.
Which again, in and of itselfjust has this really creepy
derelict.
Yeah.
Neglected, dead to king vibe.
So it's glorious.
It's funny.
It's also, there's a, there's aromance built into it as well.
Mm-hmm.
One that might surprise you.
So if you want something spookyand sarcastic.
(18:12):
Then I think if you like spookyget him, he makes the sarcastic.
That might be is a good one foryou?
For you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I completely agree.
My first one I would say if youare a fan.
Like me of historical fictionand also someone who enjoys
(18:33):
celebrating diverse stories andauthors while also looking for
something that is a littleeerie.
Then there is no better choicethan the reformatory by Tenin
Redu.
Oh.
Read that this year, one of mytop reads of 2025, and it
essentially tells the story ofthis adolescent boy named Robbie
(18:55):
who gets sent to a boys' reformschool in That's right Merna.
And it is based on a real boysreform school.
There were actually a couplethat did some really horrible
things to the, the boys who whopassed through their gates, and
so it's very much steeped inhistory.
Has a lot to say about race, ofcourse, because Robbie is a
(19:16):
young black boy down in thesouth in 1950 and so race plays
a huge role, but essentiallyRobbie's special because he can
see ghosts or hates as they'recalled in this book.
And so it is a bit of a ghoststory as well.
I thought it was.
It's beautifully written.
It dives into some reallyimportant issues.
(19:37):
It does have this creepy, almostgothic setting Mm.
At this you know, esteemed quoteunquote boys reformatory school
that has this really morbidhistory.
And yeah, I'm not gonna, I'm notgonna say anything more than
that.
But as a, as a historicalfiction reader, this was a
great.
Way to get into something that'smore because it is considered a
(20:00):
horror novel.
If you look for this book atyour bookstore, it will likely
be in the horror section.
That's where I found this one.
But I didn't find it like scaryin that I am, I'm not gonna be
able to sleep at night'cause I'mso afraid.
It's honestly, the thing thatmakes it scary is the horrible
ways humans treat each other.
That's that's kind of where thehorror comes from.
(20:21):
It's not from the ghosts it'sfrom like man's inhumanity
demand and the, the way that wecan just be so horrible to each
other.
But such a good book.
Easily five star read and yeah.
It's a, it's a little creepy.
Kelsey (20:35):
Somebody got it.
As you were talking, I was like,somebody just mentioned this
book to me.
Oh.
And I was like, oh yeah, Amandaread this recently.
Amanda (20:42):
Yeah.
And she
Kelsey (20:42):
loved it.
I was like, I think it was one Inever wanna read.
Amanda (20:46):
Yeah.
Kelsey (20:47):
I don't,'cause Yeah, go ahead.
Because, so when it's like reallike that, sometimes it's too
much for me.
Amanda (20:54):
Yeah.
In that I too close to home.
Just I
Kelsey (20:56):
get, yeah.
I get very ugh, sensitive aboutthose things.
Yeah.
And I just it ruins a month forme if I like in, you know?
Yeah.
Amanda (21:05):
Reading things like that.
Even just, yeah.
Thinking about your ownbackground and your own
heritage, like thinking aboutall of the indigenous.
Yeah.
Like children that were takenaway to schools such as this.
Right?
Yeah.
I mean, they weren'tnecessarily, well, I mean, some
of them were reform schools in away, or like boarding schools,
like they were called Horriblethings happened.
Yeah.
Right.
And a lot of the behaviors andactions taken against the young
(21:26):
men in this book are identical.
Yeah.
To what happened to youngindigenous people.
So yeah.
It, it's a, it's a heavy book.
Kelsey (21:33):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Amanda (21:35):
It ends well.
But it's a, it's a heavy book.
Kelsey (21:38):
Yeah.
That's good.
At least good ending.
But Yeah.
Seriously, like in reality thereis, there wasn't good endings
Yeah.
For the people that experiencedthese, these things, and it's
awful.
Yeah.
But yeah.
Gosh, it's just heart wrenching,I guess, too.
Yeah.
Like you're saying, it's justtoo close to home.
Yeah, my grandmother was in aboarding school, you know?
(21:58):
Mm-hmm.
And so it's yeah, it's.
Yeah,
Amanda (22:02):
it's real
Kelsey (22:02):
tough, tough stuff.
It's real.
But yeah, I would, I woulddefinitely designate that as
creepy.
Yeah, definitely.
Because it was more put inreality than not.
Yeah.
Yep.
Dang.
Okay.
Okay.
This is a book that you wouldlike, if you like.
Not really knowing what's goingon in a book.
(22:26):
And if you don't know what'sreal or, or fake, it's an
unreliable narrator.
Uhhuh, it's super trippy.
It's a trippy book.
Yeah, I think You would likethis book if you like those
things.
So this is Bunny by Mona Awa.
Amanda (22:47):
Such a
Kelsey (22:47):
convoluted.
Amanda (22:50):
Description,
Kelsey (22:51):
but it's'cause the book is convoluted.
It's so weird.
Yeah.
It's it, and in the end I had noidea like what it was about.
Yeah.
Because so to give you thesetting you're in the narrator's
mind, right?
Mm-hmm.
And perspective.
And she, what she's seeing isvery unrealistic and you don't
(23:11):
really know if she's liketripping or if she's actually
experiencing some of thesethings.
Mm-hmm.
But she.
Essentially is a collegestudent.
Mm-hmm.
I think grad student, right?
Yeah.
And she has this grad seminarwhere she has met these other
women who call themselvesbunnies.
Mm-hmm.
And they are just like thesepretty girls that dress well,
(23:34):
and they're all writers.
Mm-hmm.
And so it kind of goes into the,yeah.
The.
Different ideas that they allbring to the table.
Mm-hmm.
But also behind the curtain ofis this a cult?
Yeah.
And yeah.
What's going on with these girlsthat they're so, like, they call
each other bunny and Yeah.
Don't distinguish between oneanother.
(23:56):
Yeah.
So yeah, and they just have
Amanda (23:57):
like weird rituals and they're trying to come up with
ideas for their stories.
It's dark and sinister and yes,it's very dark and bizarre and
yeah, you spend a good chunk ofthe.
Novel.
Just like what?
Like WTF, like I dunno what'shappening here?
What's happening?
Kelsey (24:14):
What is this like referencing?
Like what is it actuallyreferencing in the real world?
Amanda (24:20):
I have also read this book and then we also, in my
book club, we read Rouge by MonaWad as well.
Mm-hmm.
And it's very similar in thatyou're just like.
What is real, what isn't?
How much is in the narrator'smind?
This is so fricking bizarre.
Yeah.
That's just her, that's herwheelhouse.
I So strapping for a wild ride.
(24:41):
Yes.
And know that you will probablyfinish this book just as
confused as when you started it.
Kelsey (24:48):
I believe I, I looked it up afterwards and it's
commentary on the grad gradschool.
Oh God.
Like culture, like Yes.
Thank you.
Yeah.
An academic culture.
Yeah, it's for sure.
It's a lot to do with that
Amanda (25:02):
for sure.
Even more so because they're inan MFA program, right?
They're like you were saying,they're all writers and it's so,
it's just you know, they're alltrying to be like edgy and write
the latest, greatest thing andlike, where do you get your
ideas from and what lengths willyou go to in order to, to
access, I don't know yourcreativity.
It's, yeah, it gets real dark.
(25:23):
Really?
Yeah.
And it's, and this is one sofeel like weird.
Yeah, it's weird.
It's, it's interesting too'causeit's like there's nothing
explicitly like horror, horror.
About this book?
Well, kind of some of theresome, yeah.
No, I take it back.
There.
There is some, some moreelements.
Yeah.
I take it back.
Yeah.
Because it, it does give, itdoes give culty ritual vibes.
(25:47):
Mm-hmm.
So, yeah, I take it back.
There is that, but there's not Iguess there's not an a
supernatural element with.
This particular book, the horrordefinitely comes in with like
their strange behavior and theirweird practices.
Is there a supernatural elementthat I can see?
It kind
Kelsey (25:59):
of is supernatural in that.
Okay.
I mean, I guess I'm trying tounderstand like,'cause I don't
wanna spoil for people, but butthe men in the book Uhhuh and
how they're, they come to life.
Amanda (26:10):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Kelsey (26:11):
Is that Supernatural or is that more something else?
I don't know.
Amanda (26:14):
I honestly don't know.
'cause the book is so weird.
Y'all just read it.
I guarantee you, you have notread a book like this before.
Oh yeah.
So, absolutely.
So if you are an avid reader andyou've read hundreds and
hundreds of books and you'relike, I've, I've seen it all,
and you have not read this book,you should read this book.
Yes.
Because it's gonna.
Yeah, it's gonna take you for awild ride and it'll be something
(26:38):
different, for sure.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
So my next one, so earlier thisyear.
Yeah, it was this year, was itlast year?
I think it was earlier thisyear.
I asked folks on book talk forrecommendations for like
supernatural thrillers.
Yeah, because I wanted to getmore into that genre, and this
is one of those books theyrecommended.
So again, I would say similar tomy first book, if you like
(27:01):
historical fiction.
Mm-hmm.
But also want a creepy ghoststory that connects to hauntings
and like town legends.
Then this is the book for you.
It is The Winter People byJennifer McMahon, and it starts
off.
Past, so the early 19 hundreds,it's like 1908.
(27:23):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And this woman is found dead inthe field behind her house.
Right?
Right.
After the very tragic death ofher daughter.
Oh.
So then it jumps to the presentday, and now this farmhouse is
inhabited by a new family, amother and two daughters.
And yeah, things just start toget a little creepy in this
(27:45):
house.
Oh, and ultimately I believe,I'm like looking at my notes
here.
The mom, yeah.
The mom vanishes one morning.
The daughters cannot find her.
She's just gone.
Mm-hmm.
And so that's the catalyst thatgets the plot going.
And so as they're trying tofigure out where their mother is
and what's happened.
Then cover some dark secretsabout this town and this house.
(28:10):
And it's not what you think itis.
I had my suspicions about whatit was going to be.
Yeah.
And it was not that, but, Iwould say it's definitely a
supernatural thriller.
It's very eerie.
You know, it takes place in NewEngland in the winter, so
there's this element ofisolation and this farmhouse and
you're kind of cut off from theoutside world, you know, getting
(28:30):
snowed in, and it's just, it'sdelicious and delightful and
creepy and perfect for the fallas we move into the winter.
Mm-hmm.
I wouldn't say it's a cozy readbecause it's creepy.
Yeah.
But because of the, the time ofyear that the book takes place,
it also, I think.
Fits that as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Was very happy with thisrecommendation.
(28:52):
Is the kind of book that maybewill keep you up at night if you
get scared easily.
But it was original, you know?
Okay.
And it took me by surprise and Ireally like that.
So the winter people check itout folks.
Kelsey (29:06):
This next book of mine is the only book in my list that
you haven't read, which I justlike, oh yes.
As we were talking about Bunny.
So this one I think is the leastcreepy.
Okay.
Of all of my books that I'mmentioning today, but I felt it
was it's a Ya Is Okay.
(29:27):
Kind of Why, but I felt it didhave elements like
psychological, like elements toit.
Okay.
And so that's why I chose it.
So you will enjoy this book, oryou should read this book if you
like.
Mystery.
Amanda (29:44):
Okay.
Kelsey (29:45):
Uncovering of people's identities and what is it?
Betrayal.
Okay.
And also the backdrop of acarnival themed.
Type esque book.
(30:06):
Okay, so this book is CarVal byStephanie Garber.
Okay.
And yeah, it just is about thesetwo sisters.
Mm-hmm.
Who.
Have a really controlling fatherand they haven't been able to
leave their their piece of land.
I don't remember if it's anisland or not.
They go to the island.
(30:27):
Okay, great.
They've never left their island.
Yeah, they've never left theirisland.
But there is this CarVal in thisother island nearby that they
really desperately desire to goto.
And so the mystery.
Unfurls from there.
Is that the right word?
Amanda (30:43):
Okay.
Sure.
Is is there a mystery at thecarnival or is the carnival a
mis, like what's the mystery?
Yeah, the
Kelsey (30:50):
carnival is the mystery.
And then also being, they'rebetrayed, like different in
different ways and uncover likedifferent identities of folks.
Okay.
Throughout their journey.
Amanda (31:02):
Okay.
Kelsey (31:02):
Yeah, it, and not
Amanda (31:03):
everything is as it seems.
Which makes sense in a carnival.
There's a lot of Yes.
Yeah.
Kelsey (31:09):
Characters and Yeah.
Interesting folks.
Amanda (31:12):
Okay.
I think, yeah, I think acarnival is a great backdrop for
it to be a little bitunsettling, Uhhuh, because
nothing is ever what it seems ata carnival, you know?
It's all about like illusions.
Yes.
And magic and flights of fancy.
Exactly.
Fantasy and, mm-hmm.
Ooh, okay.
CarVal.
But I saw this author's nameStephanie Garber.
I'm like, oh.
(31:33):
Is she related to Ramina Garber?
No, I don't think so.
Kelsey (31:38):
But yes, that's a good connect connection.
Author, siblings,
Amanda (31:41):
Ooh, okay.
That'd be wild.
That would be kind of crazy.
I don't know that, you know,it's interesting because, and
this is a tangent, sorry guys,you know, there's a lot of
actors, siblings, you know, butI'm like, are there, there's
gotta be at least a coupleauthors, siblings that have
both, found.
A claim as writers, that has tobe a thing.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, of course there are,because there's oh God, who are
(32:02):
the sisters?
Amanda (2) (32:03):
Bront sisters.
Yes.
Amanda (32:05):
Thank you.
I was like
Kelsey (32:06):
Charlotte, Emily, and Anne.
Yeah.
Amanda (2) (32:08):
Yeah.
Well, I know Charlotte andEmily.
I didn't know I, I don't know ifI've, I've read anything by Anne
Bronte but anyhow.
Okay, well, moving on.
Sorry, I went down a littlerabbit hole.
So my third book, I, you know, Ithink I did mention this.
Yeah, last year during ourNative American Heritage month,
potentially, I cannot remember.
So if you've been with us forHasn't been that long.
(32:30):
Yeah.
So if you've been with us sinceday one, you might've heard me
recommend this book before.
Mm-hmm.
But this is for sure a full onhorror novel.
You will absolutely find it inthe, the horror section at your
local bookshop.
And I would say you would likethis book.
If you're okay with Gore,'causethere are some gory moments in
it.
Okay.
If you enjoy again.
(32:53):
Supernatural element for sure,if you like, when those
supernatural elements are tiedto legends from a particular
culture and beliefs from aparticular culture.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And if once again, you enjoysupporting diverse stories and
authors, so mm-hmm.
This is Bad Cree by JessicaJohns, so the name kind of gives
(33:13):
it away that it's a young Creewoman who mm-hmm.
Left her home a while ago and,and moved to, I wanna say, let's
see, I think it's the UnitedStates.
I'm trying to remember.
She's originally from Alberta inCanada, but she leaves, and I
can't remember if she goes toVancouver or if I think it's
Vancouver.
I don't think she leaves Canadaentirely, but she basically
(33:35):
leaves her hometown becausesomething really horrible and
tragic happened to her sisterand she just has to get away and
start over again.
But.
It looks like her past hasfollowed her because she starts
having these really vividdreams.
And not only are they supervivid, but when she wakes up in
the morning, she's often likeholding items from the dream.
(34:00):
So there's some weird.
Like her dreams are taking onphysical form.
Okay.
Uhhuh.
So she also gets a text from hersister, her dead sister.
You know, that really throwsher.
And so she's
Amanda (34:17):
like,
Amanda (2) (34:17):
I gotta go home and figure out what the heck is
going on.
So again, that's how the storystarts.
It is very creepy.
Yeah.
This is full on creepy.
And the, how do I say thiswithout giving away anything,
the things that happen toindividuals in this book and I
guess like the evil Yeah.
Spirits result in some, yeah,some gory things happening.
(34:40):
Okay.
That I found a bit hard tostomach and I had to just kind
of shoulder my way through.
But if I'm rememberingcorrectly, it's really only like
maybe two or three scenes.
And then some smaller moments.
But yeah, Jessica Johnson is notshy away from being a bit
violent in some of the, themoments in this book.
(35:00):
So I will give, I guess, atrigger warning for that.
If you're someone who's a bitsqueamish or more sensitive,
there are those moments in thebook that you might wanna skip
over Skimm through.
But overall, I found itfascinating For me, it was a, a
window because I don't know, aton about indigenous cultures
and particularly some of thebeliefs that they have around
like spirits and life and deathand all of that.
(35:22):
And so I feel like I learned alot about that as well.
And it was great to support anindigenous author as well.
Yeah.
And it's been my reading in thatway.
So super creepy and like verymuch belong to this episode.
Kelsey (35:35):
Yeah, my husband read this book and I think he read
it.
Well,
Amanda (35:39):
you're, yeah.
You're the one who recommendedit to me because he had read it
and you're like, oh, I think
Kelsey (35:42):
Amanda might like this.
She liked it.
Yeah.
I just read that she's from theSucker Creek First Nation Uhhuh
and that's in Northern Alberta.
Yeah.
So very cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anything else you wannahighlight about Bad Creek?
I don't
Amanda (35:54):
think so.
Kelsey (35:54):
Aside from
Amanda (35:55):
go and read it.
If, if you really want like alegit 100% horror novel, like
this will do it for you, Ithink.
Kelsey (36:03):
Yeah, there's another author, native author that my
husband reads Stevens.
Something Stevens.
Amanda (36:11):
Okay.
Kelsey (36:12):
That's really creepy.
Okay.
And he constantly has, he'slike, God, this is creepy.
But he just keeps reading it,loves it.
I don't understand.
Yeah.
Y'all, yeah.
Okay.
This is my last book.
That is.
Definitely creepy vibes.
Oh, we love it.
And we'll keep you up at night.
Mm-hmm.
It certainly did for me.
(36:32):
Mm-hmm.
And this was, I read this like awhile back, a long time ago.
Same when I was single, and so Iwas living by myself and yeah,
it was certainly like sometimeslights on at night.
Yeah.
Creepy.
And so you'll like this book.
Mm-hmm.
If you enjoy.
Vampires, but not sexy vampires.
(36:54):
Uhhuh, very, very creepyvampires.
Uhhuh if you like apocalypsemm-hmm.
Stories apocalyptic.
Amanda (37:01):
Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey (37:02):
If you like reading many different points of views.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
And experiencing the world inmany different.
Like life's not only that, ifyou like a book that spans
hundreds of years and reallylike creepy psych, it's also
(37:29):
psychological too.
Yeah.
And it's part of a series.
So if you like series and it's aseries.
Mm-hmm.
This book is none other than ThePassage by Justin Cronin.
Amanda (37:38):
Oh, so good.
So good.
Oh my god, I love
Kelsey (37:41):
it.
This book.
Yeah, it definitely ugh.
I was sucked.
I'm a sucker for this book.
Oh, you were sucked that We'regonna have to cut that.
Oh God.
What did I say?
Like you're like I was suckedinto this book.
Just didn't finish my sentence.
That's hilarious.
I like, yeah.
(38:02):
When I.
Talk.
Sometimes I don't hear what I'msaying and it's just coming out,
so it just comes out.
And then I don't remember what Isaid.
Oh God.
Especially with the kelms, likeI Oh yeah, of course.
I'm like, wait, what did I say?
Yeah.
Because I think, I thought Isaid something else, but I did
not.
But yeah, this story starts witha young, like it's 6-year-old
(38:25):
orphan Amy.
Amanda (38:27):
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey (38:28):
Mm-hmm.
And.
The government is looking forher and it eventually does
kidnap her for her to be part ofthis experiment that's going on
somewhere in Colorado, I think.
Amanda (38:40):
Yeah, somewhere out west.
Yeah.
Kelsey (38:41):
And the story kind of.
Goes on from there.
Yeah.
And there's this cop that'simportant in Amy's life.
Mm-hmm.
The, the agent that picks her upmm-hmm.
And then realizes what'shappening to her.
Mm-hmm.
He's important in her life.
Yeah.
And she actually eventuallybecomes the savior of the world,
(39:02):
essentially.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
But yeah, so good.
It's so good.
Good.
Guys.
What I'll say is it does, itstarts with how it started.
Mm-hmm.
But then goes it like jumps,timelines.
Yeah.
And then it shows you what it'slike, like a hundred years
later.
Mm-hmm.
And they're still strugglingwith this world.
Mm-hmm.
And the way these people areliving is mm-hmm.
Like they're in like thisfortress in the Pacific
(39:24):
Northwest actually.
Yes.
Yep.
And, and one of the, thevampires is messing with their
minds.
Mm-hmm.
And it's so creepy.
And everything kind of shakesout from there.
And yeah.
Then it jumps again and it'scontinues to jump until the
final book, which is, you know,where everything wraps up.
(39:45):
But yeah, it, it is so good andit's such good storytelling.
Yes.
And you do need a glossary forall of the characters because
you will not remember all ofthem.
Yeah.
But it is, it
Amanda (39:58):
is.
It's excellent.
Yeah.
I would also say if you are afan of the last of us, you will
love this series.
Oh yeah.
I think there's a lot ofconnections between the two and.
The entire, I guess it's atrilogy, not a series, but the
entire trilogy it's allpublished.
Right.
So you're not gonna be waitingfor the next book to drop.
Mm-hmm.
I inhaled these books, I readthem back in 2018.
(40:19):
Wow.
And I, I just couldn't stopreading.
As soon as I finished the first,I was like, I have to read the
second one.
And they're long ass books,guys.
They're long, they are longbooks, but they will completely
consume your life in the bestway possible.
And so creepy.
Got the whole like,post-apocalyptic world going on.
Yeah.
Lots of things that'll getrevealed as you read it.
(40:42):
Mm.
Because you start off with verylimited information.
Going in, I think as blind aspossible is the best way to
experience a seriesfacilitating.
We just told
Kelsey (40:50):
you like the tin.
Yeah.
Snippet of Yeah.
The book.
And it's funny too, because thisis the first time I read these
books when they were released.
I think I read the first one awhile after it was released, but
then I had to wait for thesecond and third.
Mm.
And I had two friends that werereading these books along with
(41:10):
me and Okay.
It was just a fun.
You know how we experience thathere, right?
Yeah.
And in our book group, like thiswas one of the first books I, I
experienced that with like this,like excitement for the next
book and excitement over thestory and characters, like it
was, it was fun.
Amanda (41:27):
Yeah.
It's, it's a deep, dark.
Deep, dark trilogy and I, Ithink you'll love it.
You give it a try.
It's so good.
Oh, so good.
Yep.
Okay.
My last book, God if you, Ithink, hmm.
If you like horror books and.
(41:47):
Movies that have to do withchildren and like that kinda
creepy child aspect, which Iknow is, is quite pervasive.
It's like a trope in so many,yeah.
Horror stories.
I think you're gonna this book.
I.
If you like stories where youhave kind of this outsider
coming into an environment andmm-hmm.
(42:08):
Being like, what the heck isgoing on?
Something's wrong.
You're gonna like this book.
So it's Hidden Pictures by JasonKulik.
He is one of the.
New thriller authors that Idiscovered this year.
He's not new.
I just discovered him this yearand I think this was the first
book of his that I read, and Iwould say it is one of my top
(42:31):
thriller books.
Of all time now.
Wow.
Because it was just so uniqueand part of it's because it has
this kind of horror supernaturalelement.
Okay.
The gist of it is that there'sthis young woman named Mallory
who takes a job as a nanny forthis family to look after their
5-year-old son Teddy.
(42:51):
Okay.
Kelsey (42:51):
Already creeped out.
Amanda (42:53):
She loves, she loves it.
She's fresh out of rehab, soshe's like.
fresh, start getting back on herfeet.
She develops a really great bondwith this little boy who's like
the sweetest, but then shestarts to realize that the
pictures that he's drawing aregetting and increasingly creepy.
Kelsey (43:14):
Mm-hmm.
Amanda (43:14):
And like normally he's drawing like rabbits and
balloons and trees, and then.
One day she sees that he hasdrawn a picture of a man in a
forest dragging like a deadwoman's body.
And from there, right, she keepsseeing more and more pictures.
And what's creepy is that theyno longer look like they're
drawn by a five-year-old, likestick figures, whatever.
(43:36):
And they're like fully flushedout, like beautifully
illustrated.
Like images, and so she's whatthe heck is happening?
And so, mm-hmm.
It's really creepy.
There's definitely, again,supernatural forces at play
because she's fresh out ofrehab.
She's also, you know, notconsidered the most reliable
(43:57):
narrator or person in the story.
And so she's like, no one'sgonna believe me if I'm like,
yeah, I think your kid is likechanneling some sort of spirit
or something.
Yeah.
What the heck is going on?
The reason why I like this bookis because Jason Olli did
something very cool, is thatyou, you get to see the
illustrations in the book.
(44:18):
Oh.
Which are so creepy.
They are so, so creepy.
I cannot tell you because I, Ididn't know that was part of the
book because I was, it was onKindle, so it's like I could
flip through and see.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so I like, you know, turn,turn, turn the page on my
Kindle.
Yeah.
And like suddenly there's thissuper insanely creepy pencil
drawing, like glaring out.
At me from the page.
No.
It just adds this incrediblycreepy, eerie element.
(44:41):
I loved it so much.
It was so unsettling and sosurprising.
So if you're looking forsomething a bit different, check
this book out because it's notoften that you find that
additional element in an adultnovel, right that illustration
element.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
It really ratcheted up thecreepy vibe to 100, and it was.
(45:03):
Yeah.
Fabulous.
It was so fabulous.
Kelsey (45:06):
See, okay.
This reminded me of like verthinking back to verity.
Yeah.
That is how much child creepy Ican take and handle.
I see.
That is the line.
Yeah.
And
Amanda (45:17):
this then you would not is awful.
You would not like it.
And there's, oh, and there'salso another really crazy twist
that you would not see coming.
Oh, I did not see it coming froma like at all.
Wow.
That, that doesn't even have todo with the supernatural stuff.
Okay.
It's so good.
So, yes, listeners, if youhaven't heard of Jason Creek
freaked out before freaked, orif you've read him but not read
(45:38):
this book, you should absolutelyread it.
It's, it's just eerie, it'screepy, it's supernatural.
It's a thriller.
It's myster, all the things.
Mm-hmm.
Like it checked all the boxesfor me.
I, I wish I could read it againfor the first time.
Wow.
Truly.
It was so good.
Kelsey (45:55):
Oof.
Yeah.
I can't do creepy that, I mean,I think it's a great way to end
our, our episode.
It's an excellent way to end ourepisode Super.
Two super creepy, two supercreepy
Amanda (46:05):
books.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I would say if you have.
Listeners, your own suggestionsfor creepy, spooky season reads.
Definitely let us know if you'renot following us on socials,
this is one more reason why youshould be.
Yeah.
So, hop on socials, let us knowwhat books you'd recommend for
us to check out.
Or maybe just me,'cause I know Ifeel like I more creepy stuff
(46:27):
than, than Kelsey, but you cando that at Lit Vibes Only
podcast on Instagram.
Mm-hmm.
Or you can head over to TikTokand leave us a note there.
It's lit vibes.
Only podcast.
You can also check out the fulllength video episode on our
YouTube channel, which is also,yes, lit Vibe's only podcast.
So yay.
Be sure to do that.
We love giving recommendationsand we love receiving them, so
(46:50):
please do so.
Absolutely.
And as always, don't forget.
To rate and review.
If you wanna leave a comment, ifyou're on Spotify, if you wanna
leave a comment on this episodetelling us your book
recommendations, that would alsobe fantastic.
And you can leave a full reviewon Apple as well.
So thank you so much for joiningus for our little spooky session
(47:12):
today.
Happy spooky season.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Happy spooky season.
Happy Halloween and we will seeyou next Monday.
Bye bye.
Welcome to Lit Vibes Only, where we lit the shit out
of books we love and hate.
I'm Amanda, the insightful,thrill seeker and historical
fiction nerd.
Kelsey (00:14):
And I'm Kelsey, the unhinged, diehard, romantic and
fantasy reader.
Welcome, welcome,
Amanda (00:21):
welcome.
Kelsey 2.0 (00:22):
This is our Lit Chats episode of Yes, October
Ooky season.
Before we get into it, we wantto direct you to our socials.
We are at Lit Vibes Only podcaston Instagram and on YouTube and
TikTok.
We are at Lit Vibes onlypodcast.
So come check us out over thereand don't forget to rate and
(00:45):
review our podcast because thatreally helps us get traction and
others to see us on Spotify andApple.
So go over and do that realquick.
Amanda (00:58):
We deeply appreciate it.
Please, and thank you.
And yeah, welcome to our, ourspooky episode.
Are you really big intoHalloween?
I
Kelsey (01:07):
feel like you aren't.
No, not really.
I'm not really big into anyparticular holiday.
No.
But.
Yeah.
Halloween though, I get to dressup at school, which is Yeah.
Fun.
Mm-hmm.
And I'll do some sort of thingwith probably some of my
colleagues.
Mm-hmm.
Just because it's fun and thekids have fun.
(01:28):
Love it.
The kids get to dress up and andwe get to dress up along with
them and just be silly.
Yeah.
Amanda (01:34):
Yeah, I, yeah, growing up we didn't celebrate Halloween
'cause I I grew up in a reallyreligious family and so that was
like very taboo.
But then obviously I went toschool for theater.
I love costuming and so I feellike in college.
I would do the costume thing.
Okay.
And then at my old school, Iwould get into it and do wigs,
full costumes.
(01:54):
I haven't really done thatthough since moving to Seattle.
Oh, okay.
And starting at my new, well,it's not new anymore, but the
school that I've been at for awhile now.
But maybe I will this year.
I, I also don't really have alot of friends in the area who
are big into Halloween, who arelike hosting mm-hmm.
Halloween parties.
But in theory I do like the ideamainly because I like to dress
(02:15):
up.
Yeah.
And I have eight wigs I thinklike I just selected over the
course of Yeah.
My life and doing a lot oftheater.
'cause I've purchased wigs forshows that I've done.
For old costumes.
When Suicide Squad the first onecame out, I went with a group of
friends and we all dressed up.
So I, I was the joker, so I hadlike a, like a lime green wig.
(02:37):
Oh my gosh.
I like get into it.
Yeah, yeah.
But I just haven't since movinghere, which is kind of sad.
Maybe I'll, maybe I'll dosomething.
This year I did watch K-Pop,demon Hunter, and I knew that's
all the rage and I'm like, maybeI'll go all in.
Yeah.
Did you like that?
Because we are wanting to watchit too.
I, I liked it.
I thought it was, it was cute,fun.
It had a good message.
(02:57):
Obviously the music's amazing,you know?
Mm-hmm.
I don't normally watch animatedmovies anymore, but, oh, it was
fun.
It was fun.
And I can see why people likeit.
Yeah.
And the songs are very catchy,so
Kelsey (03:10):
I also, I really like animated movies.
Still, I
Amanda (03:14):
like Pixar movies.
Yeah, I will watch those.
And that's pretty much it.
Mm.
I don't know that I've seen
Kelsey (03:21):
any other.
There's these anime, famousanime movies that we've watched
that I think you would like.
Who?
Like you mean from StudioGhibli?
Like I've seen those?
Yeah, I think so.
Spirited Away, like those, yes.
And Totoro.
Amanda (03:35):
Yeah.
I haven't seen that one.
You need to see that one.
Know.
It's so cute.
And there's another one.
Oh, what is it?
The Blue
Kelsey (03:41):
Heron is the other one that recently came out like a
year ago or so.
But that's good.
But one's.
Amanda (2) (03:47):
Older, it's like some, some someone's delivery
service or what is it?
It's super popular.
Mm-hmm.
And I know someone who'slistening right now knows
exactly what I'm talking about.
Probably young girl comment andlet us know.
And I think it's also a studioGibble, but yeah.
I don't, yeah, I don't watch alot of animated stuff anymore,
which I think is probably truefor a lot of adults who aren't
(04:07):
into anime.
If you're into anime, obviously.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
But anyhow, so yeah, this is ourspooky episode.
We wanted to do something thatwas, you know, in line with what
was happening in this month.
Kelsey (04:17):
Yes, it's Amy Halloween this week.
Amanda (04:19):
It's gonna be Halloween this week.
And so, mm-hmm.
We thought, what better time totalk about spooky books that
we've read and.
Yeah.
So we've each chosen four booksthat we feel have like spooky or
eerie or like supernaturalvibes.
That might be a fun read forthis month or heading into next
month, I guess,'cause it's theend of October now.
(04:40):
Mm-hmm.
But before we do that, I'mcurious like what your criteria
is for what makes a book spooky,like
Kelsey (04:49):
for you.
Okay.
For me, it doesn't have to belike a horror book.
Okay.
Or.
Even a mystery attached to it.
It's just really a book thatmost of what's on my list is
more a psychological Okay.
Like thriller thrillers.
Okay.
But not all of them arethrillers.
(05:10):
So it's like there's some sortof psychological element where
it.
Tripping you up a little.
Okay.
And you're not entirely surewhat's going on.
Okay.
And then there is one, well, Iguess there's two that are, the
setting is creepy, but notnecessarily what's happening in
(05:31):
the book.
Okay.
Is creepy.
The atmosphere.
The atmosphere, exactly.
Okay.
The setting of where thecharacters are is creepy, but
like the way the charactersrespond to the atmosphere and
the setting, is not Okay.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
So, if I could see myself inthat world, I'd be like, this is
creepy kind of thing.
(05:51):
Get me outta here.
Yeah.
Amanda (05:53):
Okay.
That makes sense.
I feel like for me.
I, well, neither Kelsey nor Iread a lot of horror.
Mm-hmm.
That's not really our, our vibeor genre.
Yeah.
I have dipped my toes a littlebit more into the water this
year and it's something I wannacontinue doing because mm-hmm.
I do find it fascinating and Ican handle scary books much
(06:13):
better than I can handle scarymovies.
'cause like I don't really watchhorror movies.
Oh gosh.
But I think for me.
If there's a supernaturalelement of something involving
oh, okay, ghosts or like evilspirits, something haunted or a
haunting definitely comes tomind for me.
And you'll see that in some ofthe books that I've chosen.
(06:33):
Quite a few of them actuallyinvolve that.
So like that supernaturalelement is where I get like the
creepy vibes, the creepy feelsfrom okay, and actually.
And looking at all of mine, thefour that I'm going be going to
be talking about, that is truefor all of them actually.
They all have a supernatural elwhether it is ghosts or Yeah.
(06:56):
Like some sort of evil spirit orsomething.
Yeah.
As h as haunted.
Mm-hmm.
I think is true for all of them.
And because of that, it doeshave that.
Atmosphere of unease and thatsomething's just off.
Right?
Something is just mm-hmm.
Not the way that it's supposedto be, which, yeah.
I think it's, to your point whenyou're talking about kinda
(07:17):
psychological books, it's yeah,something is off with this
character.
Mm-hmm.
Something is off with theirbehaviors, and that just as a
reader makes you feel like.
Descent or un decenteredunstable.
Yeah.
Uncertain.
And that Gotcha.
Can lead to that like vibe ofunease.
Mm-hmm.
So, yeah, I personally lovepsychological thrillers.
(07:40):
I like supernatural thrillers.
And I know there's a fine linebetween horror Yeah.
And supernatural thrillers.
In fact, I don't even know ifthere is a line.
Maybe they're one in the same,
Kelsey (07:50):
well,
Amanda (07:51):
I don't know.
Something
Kelsey (07:51):
like it by Stephen King is.
Horror.
Right, right.
Yeah.
And I would never read a booklike that.
Amanda (07:59):
But what I mean is so how would you define, and I've
asked folks on TikTok thismonths ago.
Yeah.
Like, how would you define asupernatural thriller versus.
A horror novel or do you notmake a distinction?
Kelsey (08:12):
I dunno.
Yeah.
I, I haven't, I haven't read alot of those, so I, yeah, I
wouldn't have a basis.
Amanda (08:19):
Yeah.
For me, I think it's the same.
I think the other thing I'll addto really quickly when I'm
thinking about ooh, creepy,unsettled, that's the word I was
looking for, unsettled is ifthere's an element which I don't
like, but if there's like anelement of.
Like violence or gore.
'cause that often can be a partof horror.
Both in movies Yeah.
And in books.
Mm-hmm.
(08:39):
And for.
One of the books that I'm gonnabe referencing today, like there
is like that kind of goryaspect.
Mm-hmm.
That again, doesn't, I don't,that is not for me and mm-hmm.
It tends to make me squeamish.
But I do know that for a lot offolks, that's part of why they
Kelsey (08:58):
enjoy, that's funny, creepy things.
Yeah.
Because there's a lot of gore.
There can be a lot of gore andfantasy as well, just because
Oh, of fighting and stuff.
And sometimes it could be reallyexplicit.
It's gross, really gross.
But but oh, I haven't
Amanda (09:12):
encountered that yet in any of the romantic books you've
had married.
Funny, which is great
Kelsey (09:16):
that Yeah.
I'm not, I'm not a huge fan ofthat, but but thinking about
gory, a gory film mm-hmm.
Did you ever watch, saw.
Oh my God, no.
Oh, absolutely not.
Because I know what it's about.
I used to watch them though.
Oh, to, no, I could never, Iused to like, I could never so
into them, and I don't know why.
It just wasn't scary Really?
It was just like gross.
(09:37):
No, it's just about torturingpeople.
Yeah.
It was just gross.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, I just, but I could watchthose, but not something scary.
No, it's not so weird.
Amanda (09:46):
Don't, I don't like jump scares and I hate gore, so that
like I hate jump
Kelsey (09:49):
score scares.
Amanda (09:50):
Yeah.
But for me, and this is true,both for kind of gory action
movies and like horror.
I like feel it in my body.
I don't know how to explain it.
Yeah.
I have this, like sympatheticresponse physically.
Mm-hmm.
And so I, I physically cannotwatch someone.
Being tortured or watchingsomeone's eyeballs get carved?
I, I, I can't, I physicallycannot do it.
(10:12):
I have to look away.
And so for people who just like,are like munching on their
popcorn and just I'm like, howare you?
Okay.
How do you not feel sick to yourstomach and.
Just physically in pain.
I don't know.
Like I,
Kelsey (10:27):
so the other thing I will say about like creepy books
and movies is I believe a lot ofthat shit.
So oh, a lot of the supernaturalstuff.
Like I believe in a lot of thosethings.
So.
If I see it, I'm like, oh God,that person's gonna fucking hot
me now.
And I'm like, I'm freaked out.
So what is the one where the twogirls are at the end of the
(10:47):
hallway?
What movie is that?
The Shining, oh God.
Is it The Shining?
I think so.
I don't know.
I think so.
And then there's one about thecannibal.
Oh.
Guy.
Cannibal Lecter, HannibalLecter.
Silence of the Lands, cannibal.
I've seen that.
I can't watch that.
Yeah, that's creepy.
But like I really do likemysteries.
(11:09):
Yeah.
And mysteries.
That can be like a littlecreepy, you know?
Sure, yeah.
Of course.
But like I'll watch those.
Yeah.
Course.
But.
Amanda (11:14):
I don't know, but wait.
Okay.
Rewind.
Since this is our spooky
Kelsey (11:17):
episode,
Amanda (11:18):
tell us more
Kelsey (11:19):
about the creepy things you believe in.
Oh, yeah.
I believe there's ghosts.
I believe in things likeSasquatch and I grew up with
stories about like littlepeople.
There's, oh yeah.
All.
Sorts of things that, like frommy culture's perspective, that
are actually real.
And you live your life in a waywhere you try to stay away from
them and wow.
Okay.
Yeah.
(11:39):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I believe in those things andI believe that spirits can
disrupt our lives.
Mm-hmm.
If we're fucking around.
So yeah.
Amanda (11:47):
I believe in that stuff.
Are they like, so when you sayspirits, are they like.
People who were once alive andnow are dead are, are, are
spirits separate from that?
They're just like spirits thatthey're
Kelsey (11:56):
both, they're like, okay.
Okay.
Yeah, they're both, they can belike entities or they could be
people who who have passed awayknew.
Or people who have passed.
Yeah.
Who have lived lives here.
Amanda (12:05):
Interesting.
Mm-hmm.
I grew up in a very you know,evangelical fundamentalist,
yeah.
Conservative Christianhousehold.
And so obviously like we believein angels and demons.
Okay.
And they're real.
Right.
And like you were saying, canhave an impact.
On your life, right?
Yeah.
It can influence things andcause harm, et cetera.
Mm-hmm.
And you know, like we'reconstantly engaged in spiritual
(12:27):
warfare to keep things that bay.
So it's one reason why we didn'tcelebrate Halloween, right?
Mm-hmm.
Because that was like thedevil's holiday and we're just
like welcoming bad things intoour lives if we're doing that.
Mm-hmm.
And you definitely did notwatch.
Scary movies, especially if theywere about like demons or evil
spirits.
Oh.
'cause then you're likebasically opening a doorway for
(12:47):
those things to enter your life.
That's the thinking.
Yeah.
At least it wasn't our house.
So it's if you engage with thosethings, you're like welcoming
them in to like your life, yourmind, your home.
Mm-hmm.
And then getting rid of them isdifficult.
There are some aspects of thatthat I
Kelsey (13:00):
believe in.
Yeah.
I know.
Like it's that's reallyinteresting.
But not in the way that I'm likehaving to live my life in this
way, like you were talkingabout.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's just certain things likeyou don't do, so like closing
your blinds in the wintertime,like you have to do that at
night because you're invitingthings in.
If you have them open.
Oh, interesting.
Yeah.
(13:21):
It does impact how you live yourlife.
Yeah, but not like daily, day today, you know?
I don't know.
Amanda (13:26):
Well, yeah, I guess, I guess for me growing up, because
evil spirits could be associatedwith so many things.
Like for example, right, Uhhuh,we were not allowed to.
And again, this is not true forall Christians.
This was like our particularhousehold.
My mom was very strict, right?
Like we couldn't, we obviouslywe couldn't read Harry Potter
'cause I was witches and witchesare bad.
Anything that had to do withwitches or witchcraft wizards.
(13:48):
Magic.
Absolutely not.
Yeah.
Pokemon.
We were not allowed to watchPokemon.
They're cute.
Cute.
I know, but they're like, it wascute.
Anything related to thedomination monsters or like
weird creatures like, so therewere so many limitations on the
media we could engage with thebooks that we could read,
because any one of those thingscould lead you astray and again,
(14:09):
be an opening for an evil.
Force or the, the devil or evilspirits to like interesting.
You know, get in there and leadyou astray.
Yeah.
So who knew that years later Iwould be celebrating a podcast
episode celebrating spookinessand that I've read so much.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(14:30):
So I think, you know, for thisstructure of this episode.
Kelsey and I both have fourbooks that we have read that
have kind of the spooky vibes.
We are not gonna spoil anythingfor you guys today.
It's gonna kind of function abit like a lit Rex episode in
that we're gonna you know, giveyou a quick rundown of why we
think they're spooky and youknow, mm-hmm.
Maybe why you should check themout.
And that's pretty much it.
(14:52):
So, again, no spoilers.
We're not gonna do a deep diveinto these texts.
Yeah.
It's yeah.
Here are some good spooky readsfor you.
Kelsey (15:00):
I, I feel like we should have done, like if you like,
read this book.
Amanda (15:06):
No, that would've been great.
But you know what though,because I don't read that many
spooky books, I feel like Iwouldn't have enough.
Other books to reference, youknow what I mean?
Sure, sure.
I mean with the four that wehave,
Kelsey (15:16):
but
Amanda (15:16):
yeah.
Kelsey (15:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I'll go first.
Great.
Yeah.
Take it away.
So if you like, I'm gonnaactually try to do this off the
cuff.
Okay.
Oh, okay.
So if you like necromancy Oh, Isee what you're doing.
I thought you were to say, ifyou like this book, you should
read this book.
I'm like, I don't, no.
I see, I see.
Okay.
If you like Neri Mancy, and.
(15:38):
Countless skeletons, wanderingabout and people creating
skeletons out of nowhere amongother things.
And mazes and puzzles.
And mystery.
Yeah, and mystery.
You should read Gideon the Ninthby Tamson Muir.
Amanda (15:57):
Look at you recommending a book I made you read.
I'm so proud that you did likethat you did not like
Kelsey (16:02):
I personally didn't like, but if you like those
things, yeah, you probably wouldlike this.
Amanda (16:07):
It's very atmospheric too.
Like one of the things thatKelsey didn't like but is so
perfect for this episode is thatTan Muir spend so much time my
using her beautifully craftedwords, in my opinion, to create
overly done this setting that isjust so overwhelmingly eerie.
(16:27):
The setting is its own characterin my opinion.
Kelsey (16:30):
And that is, that is great.
That's what I, love about books,right?
Like they can be so manydifferent things.
And yes, I agree with you inthat, in that sense that the
world itself is like its owncharacter, but I think the world
takes kind of a backseat to thetwo main characters, which is
Gideon and what's her name?
(16:51):
Harrow Harrow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And their back and forth makesit less creepy in my mind.
It does.
Amanda (16:57):
But I think it's a good balance though, because the
whole book is, you know, aboutnecromancy and all of this
stuff.
Mm-hmm.
And so it takes this reallydark.
Magical practice and balancesout with like their sarcastic
banter.
And I think it works wellbecause they're so opposite.
I don't know.
I thought it was veryentertaining and they were
(17:18):
entertaining,
Kelsey (17:19):
but I didn't like the world as much.
But it is spooky and that's,it's a spooky world.
Maybe why I didn't like it.
I don't know.
Amanda (2) (17:26):
Maybe, but I think yeah, that's your vibe Also, if
you, it takes place kind of inspace.
You know?
They're like traveling for thesedifferent planet.
Oh, I like planets.
We forgot about Absolutely.
To the, to the first house.
We did an episode on thisalready, so you're welcome to go
back and listen to that.
Yes.
But that does have spoilers init, so FYI.
Mm-hmm.
But yeah.
And the bulk of the book takesplace in this like crumbling
(17:50):
palace.
Right.
Which again, in and of itselfjust has this really creepy
derelict.
Yeah.
Neglected, dead to king vibe.
So it's glorious.
It's funny.
It's also, there's a, there's aromance built into it as well.
Mm-hmm.
One that might surprise you.
So if you want something spookyand sarcastic.
(18:12):
Then I think if you like spookyget him, he makes the sarcastic.
That might be is a good one foryou?
For you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I completely agree.
My first one I would say if youare a fan.
Like me of historical fictionand also someone who enjoys
(18:33):
celebrating diverse stories andauthors while also looking for
something that is a littleeerie.
Then there is no better choicethan the reformatory by Tenin
Redu.
Oh.
Read that this year, one of mytop reads of 2025, and it
essentially tells the story ofthis adolescent boy named Robbie
(18:55):
who gets sent to a boys' reformschool in That's right Merna.
And it is based on a real boysreform school.
There were actually a couplethat did some really horrible
things to the, the boys who whopassed through their gates, and
so it's very much steeped inhistory.
Has a lot to say about race, ofcourse, because Robbie is a
(19:16):
young black boy down in thesouth in 1950 and so race plays
a huge role, but essentiallyRobbie's special because he can
see ghosts or hates as they'recalled in this book.
And so it is a bit of a ghoststory as well.
I thought it was.
It's beautifully written.
It dives into some reallyimportant issues.
(19:37):
It does have this creepy, almostgothic setting Mm.
At this you know, esteemed quoteunquote boys reformatory school
that has this really morbidhistory.
And yeah, I'm not gonna, I'm notgonna say anything more than
that.
But as a, as a historicalfiction reader, this was a
great.
Way to get into something that'smore because it is considered a
(20:00):
horror novel.
If you look for this book atyour bookstore, it will likely
be in the horror section.
That's where I found this one.
But I didn't find it like scaryin that I am, I'm not gonna be
able to sleep at night'cause I'mso afraid.
It's honestly, the thing thatmakes it scary is the horrible
ways humans treat each other.
That's that's kind of where thehorror comes from.
(20:21):
It's not from the ghosts it'sfrom like man's inhumanity
demand and the, the way that wecan just be so horrible to each
other.
But such a good book.
Easily five star read and yeah.
It's a, it's a little creepy.
Kelsey (20:35):
Somebody got it.
As you were talking, I was like,somebody just mentioned this
book to me.
Oh.
And I was like, oh yeah, Amandaread this recently.
Amanda (20:42):
Yeah.
And she
Kelsey (20:42):
loved it.
I was like, I think it was one Inever wanna read.
Amanda (20:46):
Yeah.
Kelsey (20:47):
I don't,'cause Yeah, go ahead.
Because, so when it's like reallike that, sometimes it's too
much for me.
Amanda (20:54):
Yeah.
In that I too close to home.
Just I
Kelsey (20:56):
get, yeah.
I get very ugh, sensitive aboutthose things.
Yeah.
And I just it ruins a month forme if I like in, you know?
Yeah.
Amanda (21:05):
Reading things like that.
Even just, yeah.
Thinking about your ownbackground and your own
heritage, like thinking aboutall of the indigenous.
Yeah.
Like children that were takenaway to schools such as this.
Right?
Yeah.
I mean, they weren'tnecessarily, well, I mean, some
of them were reform schools in away, or like boarding schools,
like they were called Horriblethings happened.
Yeah.
Right.
And a lot of the behaviors andactions taken against the young
(21:26):
men in this book are identical.
Yeah.
To what happened to youngindigenous people.
So yeah.
It, it's a, it's a heavy book.
Kelsey (21:33):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Amanda (21:35):
It ends well.
But it's a, it's a heavy book.
Kelsey (21:38):
Yeah.
That's good.
At least good ending.
But Yeah.
Seriously, like in reality thereis, there wasn't good endings
Yeah.
For the people that experiencedthese, these things, and it's
awful.
Yeah.
But yeah.
Gosh, it's just heart wrenching,I guess, too.
Yeah.
Like you're saying, it's justtoo close to home.
Yeah, my grandmother was in aboarding school, you know?
(21:58):
Mm-hmm.
And so it's yeah, it's.
Yeah,
Amanda (22:02):
it's real
Kelsey (22:02):
tough, tough stuff.
It's real.
But yeah, I would, I woulddefinitely designate that as
creepy.
Yeah, definitely.
Because it was more put inreality than not.
Yeah.
Yep.
Dang.
Okay.
Okay.
This is a book that you wouldlike, if you like.
Not really knowing what's goingon in a book.
(22:26):
And if you don't know what'sreal or, or fake, it's an
unreliable narrator.
Uhhuh, it's super trippy.
It's a trippy book.
Yeah, I think You would likethis book if you like those
things.
So this is Bunny by Mona Awa.
Amanda (22:47):
Such a
Kelsey (22:47):
convoluted.
Amanda (22:50):
Description,
Kelsey (22:51):
but it's'cause the book is convoluted.
It's so weird.
Yeah.
It's it, and in the end I had noidea like what it was about.
Yeah.
Because so to give you thesetting you're in the narrator's
mind, right?
Mm-hmm.
And perspective.
And she, what she's seeing isvery unrealistic and you don't
(23:11):
really know if she's liketripping or if she's actually
experiencing some of thesethings.
Mm-hmm.
But she.
Essentially is a collegestudent.
Mm-hmm.
I think grad student, right?
Yeah.
And she has this grad seminarwhere she has met these other
women who call themselvesbunnies.
Mm-hmm.
And they are just like thesepretty girls that dress well,
(23:34):
and they're all writers.
Mm-hmm.
And so it kind of goes into the,yeah.
The.
Different ideas that they allbring to the table.
Mm-hmm.
But also behind the curtain ofis this a cult?
Yeah.
And yeah.
What's going on with these girlsthat they're so, like, they call
each other bunny and Yeah.
Don't distinguish between oneanother.
(23:56):
Yeah.
So yeah, and they just have
Amanda (23:57):
like weird rituals and they're trying to come up with
ideas for their stories.
It's dark and sinister and yes,it's very dark and bizarre and
yeah, you spend a good chunk ofthe.
Novel.
Just like what?
Like WTF, like I dunno what'shappening here?
What's happening?
Kelsey (24:14):
What is this like referencing?
Like what is it actuallyreferencing in the real world?
Amanda (24:20):
I have also read this book and then we also, in my
book club, we read Rouge by MonaWad as well.
Mm-hmm.
And it's very similar in thatyou're just like.
What is real, what isn't?
How much is in the narrator'smind?
This is so fricking bizarre.
Yeah.
That's just her, that's herwheelhouse.
I So strapping for a wild ride.
(24:41):
Yes.
And know that you will probablyfinish this book just as
confused as when you started it.
Kelsey (24:48):
I believe I, I looked it up afterwards and it's
commentary on the grad gradschool.
Oh God.
Like culture, like Yes.
Thank you.
Yeah.
An academic culture.
Yeah, it's for sure.
It's a lot to do with that
Amanda (25:02):
for sure.
Even more so because they're inan MFA program, right?
They're like you were saying,they're all writers and it's so,
it's just you know, they're alltrying to be like edgy and write
the latest, greatest thing andlike, where do you get your
ideas from and what lengths willyou go to in order to, to
access, I don't know yourcreativity.
It's, yeah, it gets real dark.
(25:23):
Really?
Yeah.
And it's, and this is one sofeel like weird.
Yeah, it's weird.
It's, it's interesting too'causeit's like there's nothing
explicitly like horror, horror.
About this book?
Well, kind of some of theresome, yeah.
No, I take it back.
There.
There is some, some moreelements.
Yeah.
I take it back.
Yeah.
Because it, it does give, itdoes give culty ritual vibes.
(25:47):
Mm-hmm.
So, yeah, I take it back.
There is that, but there's not Iguess there's not an a
supernatural element with.
This particular book, the horrordefinitely comes in with like
their strange behavior and theirweird practices.
Is there a supernatural elementthat I can see?
It kind
Kelsey (25:59):
of is supernatural in that.
Okay.
I mean, I guess I'm trying tounderstand like,'cause I don't
wanna spoil for people, but butthe men in the book Uhhuh and
how they're, they come to life.
Amanda (26:10):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Kelsey (26:11):
Is that Supernatural or is that more something else?
I don't know.
Amanda (26:14):
I honestly don't know.
'cause the book is so weird.
Y'all just read it.
I guarantee you, you have notread a book like this before.
Oh yeah.
So, absolutely.
So if you are an avid reader andyou've read hundreds and
hundreds of books and you'relike, I've, I've seen it all,
and you have not read this book,you should read this book.
Yes.
Because it's gonna.
Yeah, it's gonna take you for awild ride and it'll be something
(26:38):
different, for sure.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
So my next one, so earlier thisyear.
Yeah, it was this year, was itlast year?
I think it was earlier thisyear.
I asked folks on book talk forrecommendations for like
supernatural thrillers.
Yeah, because I wanted to getmore into that genre, and this
is one of those books theyrecommended.
So again, I would say similar tomy first book, if you like
(27:01):
historical fiction.
Mm-hmm.
But also want a creepy ghoststory that connects to hauntings
and like town legends.
Then this is the book for you.
It is The Winter People byJennifer McMahon, and it starts
off.
Past, so the early 19 hundreds,it's like 1908.
(27:23):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And this woman is found dead inthe field behind her house.
Right?
Right.
After the very tragic death ofher daughter.
Oh.
So then it jumps to the presentday, and now this farmhouse is
inhabited by a new family, amother and two daughters.
And yeah, things just start toget a little creepy in this
(27:45):
house.
Oh, and ultimately I believe,I'm like looking at my notes
here.
The mom, yeah.
The mom vanishes one morning.
The daughters cannot find her.
She's just gone.
Mm-hmm.
And so that's the catalyst thatgets the plot going.
And so as they're trying tofigure out where their mother is
and what's happened.
Then cover some dark secretsabout this town and this house.
(28:10):
And it's not what you think itis.
I had my suspicions about whatit was going to be.
Yeah.
And it was not that, but, Iwould say it's definitely a
supernatural thriller.
It's very eerie.
You know, it takes place in NewEngland in the winter, so
there's this element ofisolation and this farmhouse and
you're kind of cut off from theoutside world, you know, getting
(28:30):
snowed in, and it's just, it'sdelicious and delightful and
creepy and perfect for the fallas we move into the winter.
Mm-hmm.
I wouldn't say it's a cozy readbecause it's creepy.
Yeah.
But because of the, the time ofyear that the book takes place,
it also, I think.
Fits that as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Was very happy with thisrecommendation.
(28:52):
Is the kind of book that maybewill keep you up at night if you
get scared easily.
But it was original, you know?
Okay.
And it took me by surprise and Ireally like that.
So the winter people check itout folks.
Kelsey (29:06):
This next book of mine is the only book in my list that
you haven't read, which I justlike, oh yes.
As we were talking about Bunny.
So this one I think is the leastcreepy.
Okay.
Of all of my books that I'mmentioning today, but I felt it
was it's a Ya Is Okay.
(29:27):
Kind of Why, but I felt it didhave elements like
psychological, like elements toit.
Okay.
And so that's why I chose it.
So you will enjoy this book, oryou should read this book if you
like.
Mystery.
Amanda (29:44):
Okay.
Kelsey (29:45):
Uncovering of people's identities and what is it?
Betrayal.
Okay.
And also the backdrop of acarnival themed.
Type esque book.
(30:06):
Okay, so this book is CarVal byStephanie Garber.
Okay.
And yeah, it just is about thesetwo sisters.
Mm-hmm.
Who.
Have a really controlling fatherand they haven't been able to
leave their their piece of land.
I don't remember if it's anisland or not.
They go to the island.
(30:27):
Okay, great.
They've never left their island.
Yeah, they've never left theirisland.
But there is this CarVal in thisother island nearby that they
really desperately desire to goto.
And so the mystery.
Unfurls from there.
Is that the right word?
Amanda (30:43):
Okay.
Sure.
Is is there a mystery at thecarnival or is the carnival a
mis, like what's the mystery?
Yeah, the
Kelsey (30:50):
carnival is the mystery.
And then also being, they'rebetrayed, like different in
different ways and uncover likedifferent identities of folks.
Okay.
Throughout their journey.
Amanda (31:02):
Okay.
Kelsey (31:02):
Yeah, it, and not
Amanda (31:03):
everything is as it seems.
Which makes sense in a carnival.
There's a lot of Yes.
Yeah.
Kelsey (31:09):
Characters and Yeah.
Interesting folks.
Amanda (31:12):
Okay.
I think, yeah, I think acarnival is a great backdrop for
it to be a little bitunsettling, Uhhuh, because
nothing is ever what it seems ata carnival, you know?
It's all about like illusions.
Yes.
And magic and flights of fancy.
Exactly.
Fantasy and, mm-hmm.
Ooh, okay.
CarVal.
But I saw this author's nameStephanie Garber.
I'm like, oh.
(31:33):
Is she related to Ramina Garber?
No, I don't think so.
Kelsey (31:38):
But yes, that's a good connect connection.
Author, siblings,
Amanda (31:41):
Ooh, okay.
That'd be wild.
That would be kind of crazy.
I don't know that, you know,it's interesting because, and
this is a tangent, sorry guys,you know, there's a lot of
actors, siblings, you know, butI'm like, are there, there's
gotta be at least a coupleauthors, siblings that have
both, found.
A claim as writers, that has tobe a thing.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, of course there are,because there's oh God, who are
(32:02):
the sisters?
Amanda (2) (32:03):
Bront sisters.
Yes.
Amanda (32:05):
Thank you.
I was like
Kelsey (32:06):
Charlotte, Emily, and Anne.
Yeah.
Amanda (2) (32:08):
Yeah.
Well, I know Charlotte andEmily.
I didn't know I, I don't know ifI've, I've read anything by Anne
Bronte but anyhow.
Okay, well, moving on.
Sorry, I went down a littlerabbit hole.
So my third book, I, you know, Ithink I did mention this.
Yeah, last year during ourNative American Heritage month,
potentially, I cannot remember.
So if you've been with us forHasn't been that long.
(32:30):
Yeah.
So if you've been with us sinceday one, you might've heard me
recommend this book before.
Mm-hmm.
But this is for sure a full onhorror novel.
You will absolutely find it inthe, the horror section at your
local bookshop.
And I would say you would likethis book.
If you're okay with Gore,'causethere are some gory moments in
it.
Okay.
If you enjoy again.
(32:53):
Supernatural element for sure,if you like, when those
supernatural elements are tiedto legends from a particular
culture and beliefs from aparticular culture.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And if once again, you enjoysupporting diverse stories and
authors, so mm-hmm.
This is Bad Cree by JessicaJohns, so the name kind of gives
(33:13):
it away that it's a young Creewoman who mm-hmm.
Left her home a while ago and,and moved to, I wanna say, let's
see, I think it's the UnitedStates.
I'm trying to remember.
She's originally from Alberta inCanada, but she leaves, and I
can't remember if she goes toVancouver or if I think it's
Vancouver.
I don't think she leaves Canadaentirely, but she basically
(33:35):
leaves her hometown becausesomething really horrible and
tragic happened to her sisterand she just has to get away and
start over again.
But.
It looks like her past hasfollowed her because she starts
having these really vividdreams.
And not only are they supervivid, but when she wakes up in
the morning, she's often likeholding items from the dream.
(34:00):
So there's some weird.
Like her dreams are taking onphysical form.
Okay.
Uhhuh.
So she also gets a text from hersister, her dead sister.
You know, that really throwsher.
And so she's
Amanda (34:17):
like,
Amanda (2) (34:17):
I gotta go home and figure out what the heck is
going on.
So again, that's how the storystarts.
It is very creepy.
Yeah.
This is full on creepy.
And the, how do I say thiswithout giving away anything,
the things that happen toindividuals in this book and I
guess like the evil Yeah.
Spirits result in some, yeah,some gory things happening.
(34:40):
Okay.
That I found a bit hard tostomach and I had to just kind
of shoulder my way through.
But if I'm rememberingcorrectly, it's really only like
maybe two or three scenes.
And then some smaller moments.
But yeah, Jessica Johnson is notshy away from being a bit
violent in some of the, themoments in this book.
(35:00):
So I will give, I guess, atrigger warning for that.
If you're someone who's a bitsqueamish or more sensitive,
there are those moments in thebook that you might wanna skip
over Skimm through.
But overall, I found itfascinating For me, it was a, a
window because I don't know, aton about indigenous cultures
and particularly some of thebeliefs that they have around
like spirits and life and deathand all of that.
(35:22):
And so I feel like I learned alot about that as well.
And it was great to support anindigenous author as well.
Yeah.
And it's been my reading in thatway.
So super creepy and like verymuch belong to this episode.
Kelsey (35:35):
Yeah, my husband read this book and I think he read
it.
Well,
Amanda (35:39):
you're, yeah.
You're the one who recommendedit to me because he had read it
and you're like, oh, I think
Kelsey (35:42):
Amanda might like this.
She liked it.
Yeah.
I just read that she's from theSucker Creek First Nation Uhhuh
and that's in Northern Alberta.
Yeah.
So very cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anything else you wannahighlight about Bad Creek?
I don't
Amanda (35:54):
think so.
Kelsey (35:54):
Aside from
Amanda (35:55):
go and read it.
If, if you really want like alegit 100% horror novel, like
this will do it for you, Ithink.
Kelsey (36:03):
Yeah, there's another author, native author that my
husband reads Stevens.
Something Stevens.
Amanda (36:11):
Okay.
Kelsey (36:12):
That's really creepy.
Okay.
And he constantly has, he'slike, God, this is creepy.
But he just keeps reading it,loves it.
I don't understand.
Yeah.
Y'all, yeah.
Okay.
This is my last book.
That is.
Definitely creepy vibes.
Oh, we love it.
And we'll keep you up at night.
Mm-hmm.
It certainly did for me.
(36:32):
Mm-hmm.
And this was, I read this like awhile back, a long time ago.
Same when I was single, and so Iwas living by myself and yeah,
it was certainly like sometimeslights on at night.
Yeah.
Creepy.
And so you'll like this book.
Mm-hmm.
If you enjoy.
Vampires, but not sexy vampires.
(36:54):
Uhhuh, very, very creepyvampires.
Uhhuh if you like apocalypsemm-hmm.
Stories apocalyptic.
Amanda (37:01):
Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey (37:02):
If you like reading many different points of views.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
And experiencing the world inmany different.
Like life's not only that, ifyou like a book that spans
hundreds of years and reallylike creepy psych, it's also
(37:29):
psychological too.
Yeah.
And it's part of a series.
So if you like series and it's aseries.
Mm-hmm.
This book is none other than ThePassage by Justin Cronin.
Amanda (37:38):
Oh, so good.
So good.
Oh my god, I love
Kelsey (37:41):
it.
This book.
Yeah, it definitely ugh.
I was sucked.
I'm a sucker for this book.
Oh, you were sucked that We'regonna have to cut that.
Oh God.
What did I say?
Like you're like I was suckedinto this book.
Just didn't finish my sentence.
That's hilarious.
I like, yeah.
(38:02):
When I.
Talk.
Sometimes I don't hear what I'msaying and it's just coming out,
so it just comes out.
And then I don't remember what Isaid.
Oh God.
Especially with the kelms, likeI Oh yeah, of course.
I'm like, wait, what did I say?
Yeah.
Because I think, I thought Isaid something else, but I did
not.
But yeah, this story starts witha young, like it's 6-year-old
(38:25):
orphan Amy.
Amanda (38:27):
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey (38:28):
Mm-hmm.
And.
The government is looking forher and it eventually does
kidnap her for her to be part ofthis experiment that's going on
somewhere in Colorado, I think.
Amanda (38:40):
Yeah, somewhere out west.
Yeah.
Kelsey (38:41):
And the story kind of.
Goes on from there.
Yeah.
And there's this cop that'simportant in Amy's life.
Mm-hmm.
The, the agent that picks her upmm-hmm.
And then realizes what'shappening to her.
Mm-hmm.
He's important in her life.
Yeah.
And she actually eventuallybecomes the savior of the world,
(39:02):
essentially.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
But yeah, so good.
It's so good.
Good.
Guys.
What I'll say is it does, itstarts with how it started.
Mm-hmm.
But then goes it like jumps,timelines.
Yeah.
And then it shows you what it'slike, like a hundred years
later.
Mm-hmm.
And they're still strugglingwith this world.
Mm-hmm.
And the way these people areliving is mm-hmm.
Like they're in like thisfortress in the Pacific
(39:24):
Northwest actually.
Yes.
Yep.
And, and one of the, thevampires is messing with their
minds.
Mm-hmm.
And it's so creepy.
And everything kind of shakesout from there.
And yeah.
Then it jumps again and it'scontinues to jump until the
final book, which is, you know,where everything wraps up.
(39:45):
But yeah, it, it is so good andit's such good storytelling.
Yes.
And you do need a glossary forall of the characters because
you will not remember all ofthem.
Yeah.
But it is, it
Amanda (39:58):
is.
It's excellent.
Yeah.
I would also say if you are afan of the last of us, you will
love this series.
Oh yeah.
I think there's a lot ofconnections between the two and.
The entire, I guess it's atrilogy, not a series, but the
entire trilogy it's allpublished.
Right.
So you're not gonna be waitingfor the next book to drop.
Mm-hmm.
I inhaled these books, I readthem back in 2018.
(40:19):
Wow.
And I, I just couldn't stopreading.
As soon as I finished the first,I was like, I have to read the
second one.
And they're long ass books,guys.
They're long, they are longbooks, but they will completely
consume your life in the bestway possible.
And so creepy.
Got the whole like,post-apocalyptic world going on.
Yeah.
Lots of things that'll getrevealed as you read it.
(40:42):
Mm.
Because you start off with verylimited information.
Going in, I think as blind aspossible is the best way to
experience a seriesfacilitating.
We just told
Kelsey (40:50):
you like the tin.
Yeah.
Snippet of Yeah.
The book.
And it's funny too, because thisis the first time I read these
books when they were released.
I think I read the first one awhile after it was released, but
then I had to wait for thesecond and third.
Mm.
And I had two friends that werereading these books along with
(41:10):
me and Okay.
It was just a fun.
You know how we experience thathere, right?
Yeah.
And in our book group, like thiswas one of the first books I, I
experienced that with like this,like excitement for the next
book and excitement over thestory and characters, like it
was, it was fun.
Amanda (41:27):
Yeah.
It's, it's a deep, dark.
Deep, dark trilogy and I, Ithink you'll love it.
You give it a try.
It's so good.
Oh, so good.
Yep.
Okay.
My last book, God if you, Ithink, hmm.
If you like horror books and.
(41:47):
Movies that have to do withchildren and like that kinda
creepy child aspect, which Iknow is, is quite pervasive.
It's like a trope in so many,yeah.
Horror stories.
I think you're gonna this book.
I.
If you like stories where youhave kind of this outsider
coming into an environment andmm-hmm.
(42:08):
Being like, what the heck isgoing on?
Something's wrong.
You're gonna like this book.
So it's Hidden Pictures by JasonKulik.
He is one of the.
New thriller authors that Idiscovered this year.
He's not new.
I just discovered him this yearand I think this was the first
book of his that I read, and Iwould say it is one of my top
(42:31):
thriller books.
Of all time now.
Wow.
Because it was just so uniqueand part of it's because it has
this kind of horror supernaturalelement.
Okay.
The gist of it is that there'sthis young woman named Mallory
who takes a job as a nanny forthis family to look after their
5-year-old son Teddy.
(42:51):
Okay.
Kelsey (42:51):
Already creeped out.
Amanda (42:53):
She loves, she loves it.
She's fresh out of rehab, soshe's like.
fresh, start getting back on herfeet.
She develops a really great bondwith this little boy who's like
the sweetest, but then shestarts to realize that the
pictures that he's drawing aregetting and increasingly creepy.
Kelsey (43:14):
Mm-hmm.
Amanda (43:14):
And like normally he's drawing like rabbits and
balloons and trees, and then.
One day she sees that he hasdrawn a picture of a man in a
forest dragging like a deadwoman's body.
And from there, right, she keepsseeing more and more pictures.
And what's creepy is that theyno longer look like they're
drawn by a five-year-old, likestick figures, whatever.
(43:36):
And they're like fully flushedout, like beautifully
illustrated.
Like images, and so she's whatthe heck is happening?
And so, mm-hmm.
It's really creepy.
There's definitely, again,supernatural forces at play
because she's fresh out ofrehab.
She's also, you know, notconsidered the most reliable
(43:57):
narrator or person in the story.
And so she's like, no one'sgonna believe me if I'm like,
yeah, I think your kid is likechanneling some sort of spirit
or something.
Yeah.
What the heck is going on?
The reason why I like this bookis because Jason Olli did
something very cool, is thatyou, you get to see the
illustrations in the book.
(44:18):
Oh.
Which are so creepy.
They are so, so creepy.
I cannot tell you because I, Ididn't know that was part of the
book because I was, it was onKindle, so it's like I could
flip through and see.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so I like, you know, turn,turn, turn the page on my
Kindle.
Yeah.
And like suddenly there's thissuper insanely creepy pencil
drawing, like glaring out.
At me from the page.
No.
It just adds this incrediblycreepy, eerie element.
(44:41):
I loved it so much.
It was so unsettling and sosurprising.
So if you're looking forsomething a bit different, check
this book out because it's notoften that you find that
additional element in an adultnovel, right that illustration
element.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
It really ratcheted up thecreepy vibe to 100, and it was.
(45:03):
Yeah.
Fabulous.
It was so fabulous.
Kelsey (45:06):
See, okay.
This reminded me of like verthinking back to verity.
Yeah.
That is how much child creepy Ican take and handle.
I see.
That is the line.
Yeah.
And
Amanda (45:17):
this then you would not is awful.
You would not like it.
And there's, oh, and there'salso another really crazy twist
that you would not see coming.
Oh, I did not see it coming froma like at all.
Wow.
That, that doesn't even have todo with the supernatural stuff.
Okay.
It's so good.
So, yes, listeners, if youhaven't heard of Jason Creek
freaked out before freaked, orif you've read him but not read
(45:38):
this book, you should absolutelyread it.
It's, it's just eerie, it'screepy, it's supernatural.
It's a thriller.
It's myster, all the things.
Mm-hmm.
Like it checked all the boxesfor me.
I, I wish I could read it againfor the first time.
Wow.
Truly.
It was so good.
Kelsey (45:55):
Oof.
Yeah.
I can't do creepy that, I mean,I think it's a great way to end
our, our episode.
It's an excellent way to end ourepisode Super.
Two super creepy, two supercreepy
Amanda (46:05):
books.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I would say if you have.
Listeners, your own suggestionsfor creepy, spooky season reads.
Definitely let us know if you'renot following us on socials,
this is one more reason why youshould be.
Yeah.
So, hop on socials, let us knowwhat books you'd recommend for
us to check out.
Or maybe just me,'cause I know Ifeel like I more creepy stuff
(46:27):
than, than Kelsey, but you cando that at Lit Vibes Only
podcast on Instagram.
Mm-hmm.
Or you can head over to TikTokand leave us a note there.
It's lit vibes.
Only podcast.
You can also check out the fulllength video episode on our
YouTube channel, which is also,yes, lit Vibe's only podcast.
So yay.
Be sure to do that.
We love giving recommendationsand we love receiving them, so
(46:50):
please do so.
Absolutely.
And as always, don't forget.
To rate and review.
If you wanna leave a comment, ifyou're on Spotify, if you wanna
leave a comment on this episodetelling us your book
recommendations, that would alsobe fantastic.
And you can leave a full reviewon Apple as well.
So thank you so much for joiningus for our little spooky session
(47:12):
today.
Happy spooky season.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Happy spooky season.
Happy Halloween and we will seeyou next Monday.
Bye bye.
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