#I am intrigued by haunted houses and ghosts and curses but i am so sensitive

[artemisbarnowl]

I KNOW i am a huge baby but when will they invent a horror movie that doesnt rely on jump scares or gore???

[maddie-grove]

Little Book Review: Anna Dressed in Blood

Author: Kendare Blake.

Publication Date: 2011.

Genre: YA horror.

Premise: Cas Lowood, a teenage ghost hunter with a tragically dead father and a remarkably understanding witch mom, is used to moving from town to town, putting dangerous spirits to rest with his magic sword. An intriguing tip takes him to Thunder Bay, Ontario, where a slain teen girl from the 1950s is said to haunt an old Victorian house. Will this job be business as usual, or will Cas make friends, resolve issues from his past, and become horny for a murderous ghost?

Thoughts: Back in high school, I came up with an idea for a story in which a teen boy helps a ghost solve her own murder, and then they fall in love. I went into Anna Dressed in Blood without knowing much--I checked out an audiobook from Libby and only read a paragraph-long summary--so I was both surprised and charmed that Blake had written a ghost romance similar to my own teenage idea.

I probably would have adored this book as a teen circa 2007; there's a lot of romantic angst, plenty of dark gory shit, and an utterly nonthreatening "bad boy" hero who is nice to all girls but prefers the weird girl (specifically, a Finnish-American ghost from 1958 who is cursed to murder people) above all. Now much of the book seems cheesy. Between the magical weapon, the seemingly Supernatural-inspired name, the humbly described good looks, and the aloof but compassionate attitude towards others, Cas feels like the invention of a sensitive, nerdy teen. He's just vulnerable enough to inspire sympathy and just edgy enough to seem cool, but he's never enough of either to cause any substantial obstacles. The result is likable, but not super-memorable. Anna, a wry and down-to-earth girl wracked by trauma and guilt (plus a literal demon), is more interesting, but Cas's other new friends--a nerd, a nice but feckless popular girl, a hotheaded jock, and a wise old man--are also pretty basic, characterization-wise.

Still, the novel is spooky fun, with satisfying explanations and payoffs for the supernatural events. If you're feeling nostalgic for, say, 2005-2011, it might be especially enjoyable.

Hot Goodreads Take: "Despite being totally uninterested in high school he knows all about how they work. It's implied this is because he's been to so many, but clearly his knowledge really comes from watching shows on the CW," one reviewer says of Cas. I am enjoying the idea of a deleted scene where Cas relaxes with an episode of Gossip Girl. "If only I could be normal," he would muse. "If only an attractive but morally dubious classmate could make me a really good grilled cheese sandwich before trying to sell my sexual favors to their lecherous relative in order to buy a hotel. I'm really missing out."