NancyO
First off, a huge thank you to everyone who emailed to check if I was still alive and okay—I can’t tell you how much that meant! This past year has been…well, weird, and not the kind of year I’ll be looking back on fondly. After my sweet spouse's major health scare (all good now, thankfully), my...
NancyO
9789992033876Mons Culturae Press, 2023190 pppaperback(read in April) Taking its place on my favorite books of 2025 shelf, this collection of stories sits next to Snuggly's The Onyx Book of Occult Fiction, which is where I first read anything by its author, Martin Locker. His contribution to that...
NancyO
9781939063702Wakefield Press, 2021originally published 1943translated by Iain White246 pppaperbackSometimes you just find that book that you know is not only unlike anything you've ever read but also makes you wonder just how in the hell you're going to find aything that ever tops it. This past...
NancyO
"There would be tokens and talismans of the true country ..." --- from "The House of Flame"9781783800476Swan River Press, 2024198 pphardcoverIt's no secret that Mark Valentine is one of my favorite writers and now, with Swan River's publication of Lost Estates, I've added another gem of a book to...
NancyO
9781905784356Tartarus Press, 2024 (first Tartarus edition 2000)originally published 1951289 pphardcoverI hadn't actually planned on reading this book this summer, but I had recently finished reading Circles of Stone: Weird Tales of Pagan Sites and Ancient Rites (ed. Katy Soar) as part of my...
NancyO
9781949641578Two Lines Press / Calico215 pppaperbackI think I'm finally back from my long hiatus caused by the when-it-rains-it-pours syndrome that seems to plague my house every so often and just knocks me mentally on my can. I've declared June a drama-free, stress-free month here so it may...
NancyO
9780712354271British Library, 2022305 pppaperbackIt's been a while since I've been here -- vacation and then a subsequent case of covid have sucked up my time pretty much since Thanksgiving and I'm just now feeling up to posting again. I couldn't let the year go by without reading at least one...
NancyO
"Nobody asks questions, and it goes on." 9781639640225 Schaffner Press, 2023 originally published in 2003 as El Criadero translated by Andrea G. Labinger 177 pppaperbackAs I am never shy about saying, I love fiction in translation and so when something new comes along, I take notice. This...
NancyO
9781739733940Broodcomb, 2023281 pphardcoverFirst things first: a mega thank you to Jamie Walsh -- you know why. I had actually started this post Tuesday of this past week, and I had meant to finish it long before today, but I've had a weird week of waking up at 4:30 in the morning and have...
NancyO
9781783807482Swan River Press, 2021 (originally published 2012)197 pppaperbackI've been more than a bit depressed lately, coping with the recent death of one of my friends, and figured I needed to get off my can and do something other than simply sit and stare into space. My go-to therapy is...