Lydia's Books of Terror

Lydia's Books of Terror

Hi! I am Lydia; a Canadian horror author and reader who explores the most beautiful and diverse genre: horror. From classic to modern books, and often splatterpunk and extreme novels, I read horror almost exclusively and share it with you weekly. I curate the HWA new releases page and scour book lists for the best horror coming out each month. ✮ Music by aenorex https://aenorex.bandcamp.com ✮ Find my own books and more at ▹ http://typicalbooks.com Patreon is Bookworm Central for sneak peeks ▹ https://www.patreon.com/typicalbooks Socials and news ▹ https://linktr.ee/LydiaPeever

Episodes

June 14, 2025 17 mins

This week in my horror reading I wrapped up reading Cold Chills by Robert Bloch and really recommend one short story above all. The Plays The Thing is just perfect to me. The whole book i good for fans, or if you want a variety pack of sci-fi, horror, and weird tales. It is week two of #ReadingandRumps so I am into some more Richard Laymon!🔪 Week 2: The Basement is Always a Bad Idea (My pick? Endless Night. May have a basement, hi...

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Only a small clutch of books caught my eye this month. There were not many to choose from in terms of plain horror. I am also all over this candle. Book Loft, from Bath and Body Works. Not sponsored, just loving this scent in the office. (if interested in this lovely soy candle: https://amzn.to/4kNRUYc)Have you read any of these or added them to your reading list?I Can Fix Her by Rae Wilde https://amzn.to/43exWQb Of Flesh and Blood...

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This week I am still reading one story at a time in Cold Chills by Robert Bloch. I finished Lock Every Door by Riley Sager and the book is not on my shelf anymore even though I liked this book a lot. Please wash your hands before reading books, and if you must ruin books with food stuffs, don’t put them in your workplace book sale… I finished reading My Dark Vanessa from the backward bookshelf and picked out Someone’s Watching by A...

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You know I love me some Richard Laymon. He is one author I have read every summer for the past few years too. So, thank you, Regina for organizing this event! This June, buckle up for a backwoods bloodbath, lusty librarians, haunted basements, and enough bad decisions to fill a swamp. We're honouring the master of pulpy mayhem, Richard Laymon, with a month-long read-a-long that's as unhinged as his characters.Grab a paperba...

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This week I read The Summer I Died, Eternal Flower of Your Soul, and started reading Cold Chills, and Lock Every Door. I am still poking away at The Butchers Daughter and have a few books lined up; The No-End House, Full Brutal and My Dark Vanessa. Pick up Eternal Flower of your Soul here https://godless.com/products/eternal-...Let me know if you have ever encountered a filthy used book. Cheezie dust? Bodily fluids? Dead bugs? We h...

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This month I read a total of 9 books and talk about a few more. Here are some small reviews of:The Summer I Died by Ryan C. Thomas https://amzn.to/3H1cq9aNorth American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud https://amzn.to/3F0IY2tand Scurry by Seann Barbour https://amzn.to/4dnRJ32This is the first month I've used the tracker I am slowloy tugging into shape, and it shows the 25 books I've read, the stats like page count and gen...

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Today I want to talk about a critique I see all the time in the horror community. You see it in reviews, Reddit threads, BookTube comments—people asking for recommendations that will finally, actually, really scare them, like there’s one perfect book out there that’ll do the trick.Some seem to have bought into marketing and literally want a white-knuckled thrill-ride of scares... and that might just be impossible. Fear is incredibl...

14 books caught my eye from authors both new and well-loved. Some are form the HWA and some are new to me too! There is a little something for everyone - even romance and space travel - one thing is sure, they are all spooky, ghostly, deadly and dark...Symphony for Walpurgis: A Collection by Rami Ungar - https://amzn.to/3F2ohmu The Disappearing of Three Forks by K.L. Patrick - https://amzn.to/3GSSvsH Below the Grand Hotel by Cat Sc...

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DId the master of modern horror Robert Bloch write for the Devil? What do Brian Keene and H.P. Lovecraft have in common? What is reekly wead anyway? These questions hardly answered and more, this week at Typical Books of Terror. Since two books does not constitute a haul, here is a small variety episode. Monthly catchps or reading tallies are usually what I've done, but a weekly approach may work better this summer. So, weekly read...

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So far this month I've read quite a few advance reading copies of good books. One was a real fit for me with some writing style snags, and one was not a fit at all, but I read it anyway to see how the creatures fared. One book bought, TED Klein's Reassuring Tales; and one book gifted, Pieces of Madness by Kasey Pierce. Coming up I'll be reading Senseless by Ronal Malfi and a few more books off thebackward shelf. Speakin...

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14 books caught my eye for the coming month. Two I have review copies lined up for, and one more will hopefully be added to the list... and I still want to buy another. A fine problem to have! Also, you will learn a little about Trajan Pro...Some new names in horror and some books from trusted names in the genre:Freakslaw by Jane FlettThe Thorns by Dawn KurtagichYour Own Dark Shadow: A Selection of Lost Irish Horror Stories by Jack...

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Victorian Psycho was a book that I noticed while compiling the new release list for February 2025. The yellow colour of the cover jumped out at me with the use of a fitting scalloped font and the oil painted girl’s face. You may recall that I likened this to the cover of the film Incident in a Ghostland. The book and film are very different but have a similar tone because in both there is someone completely unhinged rampaging aroun...

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There are 18 new horror books this month that caught my eye. Some of these covers are truly perfect, and we have everything from collections, gothics, and eco-horror to choose from.There is a mini-trend of using thorns on the covers this month, and only one with yellow text (insert sad trombone noise of lore and infamy here). Duotone covers remain a trend, though we see more photographic entries this time around. The most often use...

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Over the last month I was able to get into a few review copies, a potential Bram Stoker nominee, some of the books on the backward shelf, and plan my reading to come. Two if the most popular books I got to - and loved - were Victorian Psycho by Virginia Fieto and This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer. No wonder so many people had these on their reading list over the last few months! Really great work, on both counts. Reviews will be...

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Back to regular books! 17 of them! There are quite a few books coming as if there were not enough last month and they are making up for it. So many covers this month feature a black background and bright yellow text. Lithograph or woodcut style is in vogue, as is madness and folk horror. Sure, we have some outliers like books about snuff films (yes, please) and books bucking the trend with black text on a slime green background, bu...

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Extreme horror books speckled my shelf for years, but now that I put them all together, there is quite the collection! It turns out I have read most of the books on the Starter Pack post, thoughtfully curated by Klaus Kinion user over at r/extremehorrorlit. While not a list of must-reads, it serves as a helpful guide to those new to the genre or simply looking for their next read that is not too far off the beaten path.   / extre...

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Another year, another top ten, and yet another where I did not make my goal of 52 books. Close! But not quite. The top ten surprised me in a few ways, but the very top book was a given for me ~ as with any year, that number one spot just sort of stands out. I also discuss a few plans going forward, like reading more Richard Laymon, Edward Lee, and Ronald Malfi - all of which feature here. Indeed, there is a Lee book in the mail...

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For the 2025 version of the Read What You Own Challenge, I decided to flip the script. And flip the books. Literally. I chose 26 books that I have not read from my shelves and turned them around to create a fore-edge shelf. This is an aesthetic style of shelving that many people dislike... and you know... it kind of looks neat when it is just one shelf like this. The list has some Stephen King, Eric LaRocca, Richard Laymon, Josh ...

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The new year brings new books so here we are with the January installment. Is there a secret cabal of popular horror authors who decided to all release in the first month? Is it all to give us a boost in the dawn of 2025 that good things ar to come? If so... I believe it is working! See all of the books I talk about today at https://typicalbooks.com/newhorror. We have Lee, Larocca, Chapman, and Hendrix; plus a slew of other books...

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I’ve read a good amount of books so far in January and had some amazing book mail too! I did get a chance to finish Linghun by Ai Jiang, and have wrapped up Strange Stones, The Rising: Selected Scenes from the End of the World, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, then jumped into The Ushers by Edward Lee, a short story collection by one of my most favourite extreme horror authors. The Edward Lee book came from a shipment of books ordered...

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