I don't have a clue how long I have owned an old paperback copy of The Pet by the late author Charles L. Grant but I have had it quite a long time, and I'm going to take a wild guess I'd probably bought it at a thrift store.

The Pet (pub. 1986) centers around Donald "Don" Boyd, a seventeen-year-old who would rather be spending his time with animals than doing typical teenage stuff, such as playing football. His father (Norm) is the principal at the local Ashford, New Jersey high school and he's always giving Don slack about not having a girlfriend and questing  his choice of wanting to attend a veterinarian school. To make matters even worse, Norm is frustrated with the teachers' contract negotiations and takes out all of his anger on Don. Add in some bulling from a few football jocks, I guess you can say Don's life isn't exactly perfect.

Late one autumn night, Don runs into the serial the killer "The Howler" and barely survives the encounter. The Howler is later found dead in a park. The authorities come to the conclusion that Don killed The Howler in self-defense, which leads to everyone calling the boy a hero. The truth is Don is not even close to being a hero.

It seems a black horse, which looks oddly similar to the horse in a poster on Don's bedroom wall, was the one that saved him that night. And this is no normal horse! The horse is supernatural and will attack anyone who threatens Don's well being.

Final Thoughts

What Am I Currently Reading?

Starting early tomorrow morning, I'll be reading The Bad Place by Dean Koontz and I'll be posting the review for it sometime in the evening hours as the 11th book in my 13 Reads of Halloween! event, which involves me reading & reviewing 13 horror books in 13 days. The 12th and 13th titles are Hell-O-Ween by David Robins and Halloween II by Jack Martin.

I've been starring at my computer screen for several minutes pondering whether or not I bought Joe Hill's Stranger Weather last year or early this year at my local library for $2. I guess the older I get the more my memory starts to disappear. Or I might just need some more sleep!

Stranger Weather contains four short novels by Joe Hill (a.k.a. Stephen King's son) - Snapshot, Loaded, Aloft, and Rain.

Set in 1988, Snapshot centers around Michael Figlione, a kid who finds himself crossing paths with the "The Phoenician" who uses a Polaroid Instant Camera to erase his victim's memories.

Loaded centers around a mall security guard named Kellaway, a racist who's down on his luck. Then one morning a shooting incident occurs at the mall that will change his life forever.

Aloft centers around a group of friends going skydiving. After something goes wrong with their plane, they have to jump out sooner than expected, which leads to a bizarre trip through the clouds.

Rain takes place in Boulder, Colorado and centers around a storm that rains splinters (or needles).

Final Thoughts

As October nears its end for 2019, I came to the revelation that many cable channels here in the United States will being playing countless marathons of cheesy Christmas themed romantic movies. I for one intend on ignoring these types of movies and it has nothing to due with the fact that most of them are cheaply made with bad acting. My reason for not wanting to watch warm and fuzzy flicks is because they're kind of depressing when you are single, like me. The last thing I want to do is watching a sappy movie about two strangers falling in love.

Personally, I have absolutely nothing against romance! Believe it or not, men actually like to have a little bit of romance in their lives, especially around the holidays when it's cold outside and you just want to snuggle up with a lovely woman in front of a warm fireplace. Or in layman's terms – you're wanting companionship.

There are only 32 days until Thanksgiving and 59 days until Christmas Day. So what are you waiting for? There's no time like the present to put yourself out there in the dating world. I know... I know... I know dating can be a scare experiencee as there are many odd ducks out there but there are also many single women in the world who are looking for the same companionship as you.

Between work, kids (if you have any), paying bills, walking the dog, running errands, and whatever else is in your life, you probably either don't have the time and/or energy to go out on Friday or Saturday nights to a bar or nightclub. The good news is that you now live in the internet age where you don't even have to leave your home or put on pants (I'm joking!) to find a potential date, companion, or love interest. Thanks to the internet you're just a swipe away from finding a date or soulmate just by using your cell phone, tablet, or notebook.

Don't act clueless as you're more than likely known what I'm talking about!

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

Good Afternoon, Everyone!

What Am I Currently Reading?

I barely survived my reading schedule last week but I did get all the horror books read. Starting today, I have five more reads scheduled for this week - Stranger Weather by Joe Hill, The Pet by Charles. L. Grant, The Bad Place by Dean R. Koontz, Hell-O-Ween by David Robinson, and Halloween II by Jack Martin. I'll finish reading Stranger Weather this afternoon and the review will be posted sometime tonight after I watch The Walking Dead.

Recent Reviews

I have many books in my library (a.k.a. - cheap bookshelves and closets) that I'd purchased at used book stores or thrift shops and I picked put these titles because I loved their covers. One of these titles happens to be "The Place" by T.M. Wright, a 1989 horror-fantasy that I've been meaning to read to read for quite a long time.

The Place centers around the Galway King, his wife Ella, and their children, Justin and Greta, coming across a "terrifying" event in the woods that leads a madman, Harlan DeVries, to hunt them down. To deal with the trauma, Greta goes to her imaginary world called The Place, where she believes she would be safe. However, The Place's bright blue sky has turned black-red and the magical felines there will no longer talk.

The evil of the real world has found its way into The Place and Greta must find a way to survive.

Final Thoughts

Gothic horror-romances are my favorite books to collect. The genre is pretty much defunct but these types of books were very popular in the 1960s and 1970s. I started collecting Gothic horror-romances because of their creepy covers, which always features a young woman wearing a dress or nightgown and running away from a mansion or castle. The cover arts reminds me of the "Hammer" horror movie posters.

I found Ravensridge by Jennifer Hale at a thrift store several years ago and today marks the very first time I have read it. Before writing this review I attempted to do a bit of research on the author and I learned Jennifer Hale one of the pseudonyms used by Frank E. Smith. All of his Gothic were published under that name.

The 189-page novella centers around a twenty-something photographer named Melissa Manion, who had left her life in Washington, D.C. to travel to the Virginia mountains for a photo gig at the Ravensridge mansion. The previous day, she had called her good friend Charles Courtney and he gave her a weird warning about Ravensridge, which is his ancestral home. The phone had gone dead before he could explain to her what was wrong.

Melissa's arrival at Ravensridge isn't a welcoming one by the Courtney family due to the fact Charles never mentioned she was going to take photos of the estate. She's shocked to learn that Charles has gone missing. There's something very strange occurring at Ravensridge.

Once upon a time, Ravensridge was dubbed "Hangman's Hill" because the mansion was owned by Jason Courtney, a powerful judge who sent many men to the gallows.

Melissa is determined to find the whereabouts of her friend and to do so she must deal with Ravensridge's haunted past. Many young woman have gong missing over the years and she might be its next victim.