Hollow by Celina Myers—widely recognized as CelinaSpookyBoo—comes highly recommended in the paranormal and BookTok communities. As a paranormal investigator, I’ve noticed that mainstream paranormal media often lowers expectations for what a “real” investigation looks like. Many viewers are exposed to dramatized, sensationalized content, in which every unexplained sound is treated as proof of something sinister and as genuine evidence of ...
General Reads
Book Review: A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard | A Memoir of Survival and Resilience
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard is the emotional, heartbreaking story of a young girl whose innocence was stolen from her—the life she might have lived, and a horror most people can’t begin to fathom. In 1991, at just eleven years old, Jaycee Dugard was abducted while walking to her school bus stop. She spent eighteen years in captivity, hidden away from the world, before finally being rescued in 2009. Her story is both unimaginable and deeply ...
Book Review: My Time to Stand by Gypsy Rose Blanchard | A Story That Raises More Questions Than Answers
This isn’t a D.N.F.—it’s an N.D.F.: Narcissistic Dumpster Fire.My Time to Stand: A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Blanchard is so full of contradictions, I’m half convinced the co-authors were actively working against her. Here’s the problem: when it comes to Gypsy Rose Blanchard, facts are optional. They don’t matter to her, and they definitely don’t matter to her “gyp-babes.” It’s not just contradictions on the page—though there are plenty of them. ...
Book Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson | Netflix Did It Better
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is a classic I picked up after watching the Netflix miniseries. It absolutely boggles my bookish brain that the Netflix adaptations—both The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Haunting of Hill House—somehow outshine the source material. Though it hurts my literary soul to admit it, I think Netflix actually did it better. How could I, of all people, betray my inner bookworm and say a screen version is ...
Book Review: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James | A Classic That Crosses the Line
I don’t even know where to start with The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I hate sounding like a broken record every time there’s a disappointing book to discuss, but sometimes that’s just the truth. Occasionally, a book is so frustrating that when you sit down to write your thoughts—to convey them and connect with another reader who might feel the same—you want to get it right. Yet, sometimes the words fail because it’s hard to sum up your ...
