#j.h. moncrieff

[litandlifequotes]

Do not let bitterness twist your heart into something unrecognizable.

Those Who Came Before by J.H. Moncrieff

[iinkribbons]

@bladesout asked 3,4,& 7!

I am putting all of this under read more because I got carried away.

3. whose writing has impacted your writing style the most? (you can choose anyone! famous writer or not.) S.D Perry - Resident Evil Novels. My favorite thing she speaks about with the novels is that she was told Wesker was dead. Not coming back so in The Umbrella Conspiracy she made his death super duper not coming back to life. Just to be told later for Code Veronica that hey -- Wesker is back. So she had to put a note like I was told he wasn't coming back sorry for the discrepancy. It made me realize with writing, things happen. Just roll with it! Kerri Maniscalco - I only ever read the Stalking Jack the Ripper series because the mystery & twists were they were always just amazing! Always tried to guess the killer before the characters figured it out. Failed every single time. I loved the dynamic between Audrey Rose & Thomas they were Sherlock Holmes & John Watson inspired. The other part of her book series I just loved was that she talked about how she "rewrote" parts of history for the stories to make sense. I honestly just took it as have fun if you need to change something to make it flow. Change it. J.H. Moncrieff - I am a bit pickier with her books. I loved Return to Dyatlov Pass & found out later the second book I bought from her Shadow of the Sasquatch was a continuation of the first one. She has some stories in a few anthology books I have read. I don't really have anything from her books other than just have fun with what you are writing & not be afraid to put people through trauma. Especially trauma they can grow as a person from.

4. which muse of yours is your all time favorite? if you stopped writing them: why?

That is a really tough one. Every character I pick is a character I adore in some way or another. I will pick 2. - Abigail "Fetch" Walker was one I really had fun writing. I was dating someone at a time who wrote Delsin Rowe. We wrote the ships, we wrote the heartbreaking threads with the Evil Karma, & we developed the characters past their one game. But the fandom was really dead already & it was feeling difficult to fit them into other worlds easily. Well me & that one person broke up. I tried a few times after to bring Fetch back but there was never an interest in her character so I had to just give up on her. - Lara Croft is one of my older muses. I always get drawn back to her, she can literally fit in any world because of her character & because Trinity can literally be put anywhere & make sense as a villainous organization! I think she has to be my all-time favorite character in existence for many reasons.

7. describe your favorite relationship dynamic. (can be any kind, platonic, romantic, familial, antagonistic, etc.) Frenemies & Familial. This one is just pretty basic. I like the rivalry between frenemies. I also just love it when characters are so close they count each other as family.

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

more notes:

"a ship cannot go in two directions" ...well, it can actually, but that only happens when your ship breaks in half.

i should stop trying to make random talking head in a terrible shows metaphor fit into a fact.

the crime writers name is j.h. moncrieff and her about section on her website includes the passage "when not writing, she loves exploring the world’s most haunted places, advocating for animal rights, and summoning her inner ninja in muay thai class."

im honestly low-key intrigued by her books? which means im probably going to read them because i have adhd and no impulse control.

whoever is directing the reenactments has never met another human in their life before

oh my fucking god they have to blur the bow art on one of the ships they have stock footage of. fucking hell, this show has a budget of 7.

anyway, the ship looks better that way. ive said it before and ill say it again, there is not a single piece of bow art that doesnt look dogshit.

so one of the episodes is about a young worker who doesnt come back to the ship after they stop at a port, and ahhhhh this is boring. i wanna watch a bad episode of tv about trying to solve crimes that happened on a cruise ship, not watch a reenactment of fbi agents dig up a body in the woods.

do enjoy moncrieff making it sound like wheelbarrows are exotic gardening tools and not ,,you know. wheelbarrows.

came across a show called cruise ship killers which is just Peak Daytime TV Crime Documentary, and somehow i think im marathoning it and notes so far:

cruise ships continue to be the ugliest boats ever

people have to come up with real unique excuses when they killed someone on a cruise ship which led to a guy changing his story from "my wife was blown overboard" to "the ukranian government is framing me for murder".

he was found guilty. the jury did not believe all of ukraine was guilty as he claimed (this case was in the 90s btw)

several times its noted that other passengers are annoyed that their holiday has been so rudely interrupted by a murder and can everyone just hurry up please so they can continue?

on some cruises, you can go to the staff and be like "hi, my room was broken into and all they stole was my underwear, please can i move cabins?" and theyll be like "sorry, were all booked up but you can disembark at the next port we stop at on your own cost :)". this is not a surprise

theres one case where theyre like "based on the victims diary, it has to be this guy" which is a fascinating approach to solving crime that does not lead to a conviction thankfully.

the show notes "an all male jury found him not guilty" in the diary episode as if its like a bomb theyve dropped, but when your entire case is based on the victims diary, its kinda hard prove murder beyond all reasonable doubt?

as ugly as cruise ships are, they do get some real pretty shots of the ocean and coasts

they really love to just repeat the same information over and over and over again. we get it, the guy was seasick.

remember the guy who stole someones underwear? yeah, he did that and then a few hours later, the victim was dead and it wasnt him. his wife was his alibi though so im sure that was fun for him.

there was another guy who didnt kill the victim but was being creepy and after establishing it wasnt him, the captain ordered him not to talk to any other women and to stay in his cabin for the rest of the trip.

also, they found him because someone came forward and was like "i dont know his name, but hes so suntanned, hes basically a tomato, youll recognise him" and they did

i think they say a variation of "little do they know, theyll be the last person to see X alive" every episode

its always nice to know that if you do go missing/overboard on a cruise ship, theres a decent chance your death will be ruled a suicide for convenience's sake <3

[marianas-art-world]

The Return to Dyatlov Pass by J.H. Moncrieff

[afraidof-thedark]

I was at a rural farmer’s market on a sunny day when something caught my eye. Amid stalls of questionable antiques was a treasure trove of old horror books that were in sad shape. Amid these gems was Murder in Amityville, written by Hans Holzer and published in 1979. Its two-dollar price tag made it too good to pass up, sad shape or no.

The DeFeo murders have always haunted me, even without the added notoriety of what happened to the Lutz family when they moved into the house a year later.

On November 13, 1974, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo Jr. stumbled into a bar in Amityville, New York, begging for help.

“I think my mother and father are shot,” he cried.

As it turned out, it wasn’t just his mother and father. DeFeo was the only survivor of a massacre that also took the lives of his four siblings, who ranged in age from nine to 18.

Ronald DeFeo Jr. was eventually convicted of the murders. He gave several different reasons for slaughtering his family, but the most chilling was that he heard voices in the house telling him to do it.

When several psychics, including the late Lorraine Warren–subject of the Conjuring movies–were invited to the house to conduct an investigation, they claimed an Indian chief was buried where the house now stood, and that he sought his revenge by getting any men living in the home to do terrible things.

Murdering six people would certainly qualify.

Here are the facts: DeFeo Jr. used a 35 Marlin shotgun to kill his family while they slept. He fired nine shots. His lawyer, William Weber, said the gun could be heard four to five blocks away when they tested it during the trial, and yet, all neighbours heard was the family’s dog barking.

Even more troubling, the DeFeos were all discovered in the same position–lying facedown in bed, apparently deep in sleep. The family’s bedrooms were on two different floors of the house. If the shotgun was loud enough to be heard four or five blocks away, how come none of the family woke up? The autopsy showed the bodies had not been moved after death, and there were no drugs or alcohol found in their bloodstream.

So if DeFeo did do it, how did he manage to kill six people with an extremely loud weapon without a single one hearing the blast and attempting to escape, or at least leaving their bed to find out what was happening?

I say if because the murders have always been cloaked in controversy. Some believe DeFeo had an accomplice, and many believe that accomplice was his eighteen-year-old sister Dawn. In one of DeFeo’s many versions of that night, a figure in a hooded jacket and dark gloves handed him the shotgun, and in his addled state (DeFeo both admits and denies he’d used drugs that night) he used the weapon to follow her bidding and kill his family. Sometimes the figure is a demon; sometimes it’s Dawn. Two aspects of Dawn’s death differ from the rest of her family’s–her killing was the most brutal, her head almost obliterated by the shotgun blast. There are also reports that her nightgown had unburnt gun powder on it, strengthening the theory that she also fired the gun. But if that was a valid suspicion, why not test her hands for gun powder residue?

Dawn DeFeo

Why would DeFeo show such brutality towards the sister he was closest to? The way she died fits the narrative that it was Dawn who killed the rest of the family. As the story goes, DeFeo was so horrified when he saw what she had done, he shot her in the head. (The rest of the family was shot in the back.)

During his interview with Holzer, DeFeo said he heard strange noises and “different things at night” starting on his very first night in the house at 112 Ocean Avenue. (The street name has since been changed to deter tourists.) “You felt as though somebody may have been walking around, pipes banging, all these strange noises,” DeFeo adds. “In fact, everybody thought there was somebody in there a week after we moved in.”

Sometimes the family could hear people screaming, DeFeo told Holzer, even though no rational source of the sound was ever discovered. A painting was moved from one floor to another, but everyone in the family denied they had done it. He said his parents believed that the devil was in the house, and that was the reason for the extreme amount of religious idolatry on the grounds. DeFeo in particular felt tormented by whatever was happening in the house, and ran away several times, warning his father that he feared he would kill everyone in the house if he wasn’t allowed to leave.

Clearly DeFeo was a troubled young man. He got in frequent fights with his father, who some claim could be physically and mentally abusive. He’d had problems with drugs and was often in trouble. Neighbours described him as a “punk.” But let’s say he was at least partially influenced by something in the house. I asked Laurie B., a noted local medium, if she believed such a thing were possible.

“Can evil spirits influence someone? The truth is yes, but only if the person chooses to be affected. You can have two people living in the same place and only one’s attitude changes. The reason is that within the individual (who changes) there was a lot of discontent.  And I’ve never heard of anyone killing because of a spirit; it’s mental health issues, a horrible childhood, jealousy or other personal reasons,” she said. “Now about Ronald DeFeo, back when I  heard about him, my first thought was that he suffered from schizophrenia or other mental illness.”

She goes on to explain why forces in the house could impact DeFeo and the Lutz family, while several people who lived in the home afterwards said they experienced nothing out of the ordinary.

“I found that the increase in spirit activity is equal to your emotional state. In places where no one pays attention, there’s no activity or it remains low, if anything at all. When people begin to notice, the sightings increase. If individuals provoke, or they’re uncomfortable with the situation or afraid, that acts like an adrenaline high for the spirit and their focus is all on you. Once the spirit has a taste of its impact on the living, he/she then continues to grow and get stronger. Even if the next person had never been there before, the spirit is more than capable of causing havoc.”

Since Laurie has never visited the house on Ocean Avenue, she can’t comment on whether or not the house is truly haunted, but she could say what she would expect to find in a house where six people were murdered.

“Most commonly found in locations where there were a number of murder victims, sounds of footsteps or voices, even sounds of furniture being moved around, were often heard. Others might see orbs, shadows, apparitions and observe objects move. Some people feel the spirit stroke their hair, touch them or in extreme cases become more aggressive. There are reports that range from pleasant smells like flowers, to the stench of burning flesh,” she said.

“In some locations, there is what we call a residual haunting. It happens when a dramatic event leaves an imprint on the environment, which will then be re-enacted over and over again. It would be like watching a video that was made when the individual was still alive, but now all you see is the imagery of it.”

If DeFeo killed his family, what was his motive? He had problems with his father, but was close to his mother and Dawn. Was it to protect his inheritance? Was it insanity? Or did the house drive him to kill?

And why did none of the family hear the shotgun? Why didn’t anyone try to escape?

Sadly, we’ll probably never know, as the one person who could tell us keeps changing his story. But what do you think happened? Did DeFeo have an accomplice? Did the house make him do it? Was it an untreated mental illness that made him kill?

-J.H. Moncrieff

[chadwickginther]

The 2021 Reading List: February

The 2021 Reading List: February

Since one of my writing goals for 2020 was also to read more, and I’ve carried it through for 2021, I thought it would help to keep track of what I knocked off Mount Tsundoku. Here’s as good a place as any to post what I’ve read to keep me honest, and what I thought of each book immediately after finishing. In 2020 I decided to be a little more systematic about my reading plans. I started…

[toithomas]

What Toi Read in January

What Toi Read in January

We aim to please here at Lit Carnivale. You have the option to read the reviews below or scroll down to watch the review video. In January 2021, Toi read 2 nonfiction books, 0 middle-grade books, 0 picture books, 0 Anthologies, 3 fiction books (1 audiobook). Check it out. – Amazon Temples of Ghosts Rating: 5.0 I’ve enjoyed this series from the start, but this is clearly my favorite so far. In…

[hypable]

'City of Ghosts' author J.H. Moncrieff discusses visiting the most haunted places in the world

City of Ghosts author J.H. Moncrieff shares her own experiences exploring the world's most haunted locations and how they affect her books.

[scifiandscary]

Return to Dyatlov Pass by J.H. Moncrieff #BookReview

Return to Dyatlov Pass by J.H. Moncrieff ~ a #horror novel ~ Bookreview by Lilyn G

In 1959, nine Russian students set off on a skiing expedition in the Ural Mountains. Their mutilated bodies were discovered weeks later. Their bizarre and unexplained deaths are one of the most enduring true mysteries of our time.

Nearly sixty years later, podcast host Nat McPherson ventures into the same mountains with her team, determined to finally solve the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass…

[mightystargazer]

Another year gone, another readinglist done!

W. Michael Gear Outpost

W. Michael Gear Abandoned

Angela Carter The Bloody Chamber

Sue Burke Semiosis

Rob Dircks Don't Touch the Blue Stuff!

Laurie Forest the iron flower

Joseph Nassise urban Enemies: a collection

Ezekiel Boone The Mansion

Richtel, Matt Dead on Arrival

Wilkie Martin Inspector Hobbes and the Blood

Wilkie Martin Inspector Hobbes and The Curse

Wilkie Martin Inspector Hobbes & The Gold Digger

Wilkie Martin Inspector Hobbes and The Bones

A. American Home Coming

Adam J. Wright Lost Soul

Adam J. Wright Buried Memory

Adam J. Wright Dark Magic

Adam J. Wright Dead Ground

Adam J. Wright Shadow Land

Robert Bevan Critical Failures VI

Darynda Jones Grave on the Right

Darynda Jones Grave on the Left

Darynda Jones Third Grave Dead Ahead

Darynda Jones Grave Beneath My Feet

Darynda Jones Grave Past the Light

Darynda Jones Grave on the Edge

Darynda Jones Grave and No Body

Darynda Jones Grave After Dark

Darynda Jones Brighter Than the Sun

Darynda Jones Dirt on Ninth Grave

Darynda Jones The Curse of Tenth Grave

Darynda Jones Eleventh Grave in Moonlight

Dan Simmons The Terror

Warren Fahy Fragment

Tim McBain The Scattered and the Dead

Scott Thomas Kill Creek

Kurt Anderson Resurrection Pass

Larry Correia Son of the Black Sword

Larry Correia House of Assassins

Chuck Wendig Blackbird

Chuck Wendig Mockingbird

Chuck Wendig The Cormerant

Chuck Wendig Thunderbird

Karen Thompson Walker The Dreamers

Hank Green An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

C.T. Phipps The Tournament of Supervillainy 5

Peter Clines 14

Peter Clines The Fold

Peter Clines Dead Moon

Sean Schubert Infection

Sean Schubert Containment

Sean Schubert Mitigation

Sean Schubert Resolution

James Marshall Smith Hybrid

Mark Tufo Demon Wars

Alan Dean Foster Interlopers

Anthony Melchiorri The Tide

Anthony Melchiorri Breakwater

Anthony Melchiorri Salvage

Anthony Melchiorri Deadrise

Anthony Melchiorri Iron Wind

Anthony Melchiorri Dead Ashore

Anthony Melchiorri Ghost Fleet

Anthony Melchiorri Devil to Pay

Scott Medbury Heel Week

Scott Medbury On The Run

Scott Medbury Cold Comfort

Scott Medbury Rude Shock

Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman Good omens

Barry J. Hutchison The Sidekicks Initiative

Catherynne M. Valente The Refrigerator Monologues

Ike Hamill Super Apex

J.H. Moncrieff Monsters in Our Wake

John Connolly The Underbury Witches

Jonathan Maberry Dead of Night

Lydia Kang Quackery

Tomi Adeyemi Children of Blood and Bone

Thomas Morris The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth

John A.Keel The Complete Guide To Mysterious Beings

Ted Dekker ADAM

Richard K. Morgan Altered Carbon

Ransom Riggs A Map of Days

Kevin Hearne Death & Honey

Benjamin Wallace Boom box 1

Benjamin Wallace Boom box  2

Benjamin Wallace Boom box  3

Benjamin Wallace Revenge of the Apocalypse

Victor LaValle The Changeling

Rick Chesler Sawfish

Nathan Barnes The Reaper Virus

Michael brent Collings The Deep

Bill Heavey If You Didn't Bring Jerky, What Did I Just Eat

Bill Heavey It's Only Slow Food Until You Try to Eat It

Bill Heavey Should the Tent Be Burning Like That

Jenny Lawson Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Mark Tufo The Spirit Clearing

Ambrose Ibsen Asylum

Ambrose Ibsen Forest

Ambrose Ibsen The Occupant

Stephen King The Man in the Black Suit

Sam Sykes The City Stained Red

Peter Meredith The Queen Unthroned

Peter Meredith The Queen Enslaved

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction Red Line

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction Horizon

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction Edge

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction Age

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction Evolution

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction End

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction Aftermath

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction Lost

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction War

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Missions from the Extinction Cycle

Drew Hayes Super Powereds Year 4

Dean Koontz Odd Thomas

Patrick F McManus Kerplunk! Stories

Mark Wayne McGinnis The Simpleton

Mark Wayne McGinnis The Simpleton Quest

John Connolly A Book of Bones

Drew Hayes Corpies

Nathan Ballingrud Wounds

Michael Todd Torn Asunder

Michael Todd Killing Is My Business

Michael Todd And Business Is Good

Marty Ross The Darkwater Bride

Richard Porter Top Gear Epic Failures 50 Great Motoring Cock-Ups

Parker Peevyhouse The Echo Room

P. K. Hawkins Shark Infested Waters

M. R. James The Conception of Terror Tales

Broad Reach Publishing I, Zombie

Bobby Hall Supermarket

Terry Pratchett Night Watch

Patrick F McManus Never Sniff a Gift Fish

Michael Talbot The Bog

Michael Edelson Seed

Matthew Scott Hansen The Shadowkiller

Jonathan Maberry Ghost Road Blues

Jonathan Maberry Dead Man's Song

Jonathan Maberry Bad Moon Rising

Jonathan Maberry Property Condemned

Jonathan Maberry Darkness on the Edge of Town

Chris Angus Flypaper

Dean Koontz The Night Window

John P. Logsdon Platoon F Big Ass Bundle

Robert Tomoguchi The Scribbled Victims

Richard MacLean Smith Unexplained

Mark Edwards The Retreat

Dennis E. Taylor Outland

Bobby Adair Freedom's Siege

Bobby Adair Freedom's Fire

Bobby Adair Freedom's Fury

Bobby Adair Freedom's Fray

Bobby Adair Freedom's Fist

Bobby Adair Freedom's Fall

Bobby Adair Freedom's Fate

William Gibson Alien III

Terry Brooks Running with the Demon

Steven Campbell Hard Luck Hank

Neal Stephenson Reamde

Neal Stephenson Fall, or Dodge in Hell

J.F. Holmes Irregular Scout Team One

Michael Stephen Fuchs Odyssey

Kameron Hurley The Light Brigade

TTC History of Ancient Egypt

Justin Cronin The Passage

Justin Cronin The Twelve

Justin Cronin The City of Mirrors

J.N. Chaney Orion Colony

J.N. Chaney Orion Uncharted

J.N. Chaney Orion Awakened

Christopher Dowell The Adventures of Badass Mike

Barry J. Hutchison Sentienced to Death

Adam Savage Every Tool's a Hammer

Rob Dircks Gigi Make Paradox

Eric Rickstad What Remains of Her

Robert Bevan 6d6

L. L. Akers Fight like a Man

L. L. Akers Shoot Like a Girl

L. L. Akers Run Like the Wind

Jonathan Mayberry Broken Lands

Alexander C. Kane Andrea Vernon and the Superhero-Industrial Complex

A.R. Shaw The China Pandemic

A.R. Shaw The Cascade Preppers

A.R. Shaw The Last Infidels mp3

A.R. Shaw The Malefic Nation

A.R. Shaw The Bitter Earth

Jim C. Hines Terminal Uprising

Mark Tufo Dog Days of War

Rick Gualtieri Get Bent!

Brian Keene Darkness on the Edge of Town

Christopher Moore Practical Demonkeeping

Christopher Moore The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

Christopher Moore The Stupidest Angel

Chuck Wendig Wanderers

John Connolly Conquest

John Connolly Empire

John Connolly Dominion

C. J. Tudor The Taking of Annie Thorne

Wellington, David The Last Astronaut

S. Bennett A Womans Journey with the Worlds Worst Behaved Dog

Levi Black Red Right Hand

Levi Black Black Goat Blues

Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl

Eoin Colfer The Arctic Incident

Eoin Colfer The Eternity Code

Eoin Colfer The Opal Deception

Eoin Colfer The Lost Colony

Eoin Colfer The Time Paradox

Eoin Colfer The Atlantis Complex

Eoin Colfer The Last Guardian

Ambrose Ibsen Transmission

Daniel Green End Time

Daniel Green The Breaking

Daniel Green The Rising

Patrick F McManus The Bear in the Attic

Mark Tufo Encounters

Mark Tufo Reckoning

Mark Tufo Conquest

Mark Tufo From the Ashes

Mark Tufo Into the Fire

Mark Tufo Victory's Defeat

Mark Tufo Defeat's Victory

Brett Battles Mine

Caitlin Starling the luminous dead

Craig A. Falconer Not Alone

Craig A. Falconer Second Contact

Craig A. Falconer The Final Call

Gardner Dozois Down These Strange Streets

Greig Beck Primordia

Kevin  Hearne Kill the Farm Boy

Kevin  Hearne No Country for Old Gnomes

Kathleen Meyer How to Shit in the Woods

Joe Hill NOS4A2

Drew Hayes The Case of the Damaged Detective

Simon Haynes Robot vs Dragons

Nora Roberts Blood Brothers

Nora Roberts The Hollows

Nora Roberts The Pagan Stone

Peter F. Hamilton The Reality Dysfunction

Paul Tremblay The Cabin at the End of the World

Gerry Griffiths Down from Beast Mountain

Eoin Colfer The Reluctant Assassin

Eoin Colfer The Hangman's Revolution

Eoin Colfer The Forever Man

C A Fletcher A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World

N.C. Reed Odd Billy Todd

Stephen King The Shining

Stephen King Doctor Sleep

Richard J. Dewhurst The Ancient Giants Who Ruled America

Laird Barron The Croning

Keith C. Blackmore The Troll Hunter

J.L. McPherson The Gorge

Erin Bowman Contagion

Erin Bowman Immunity

Stephen King The Institute

Douglas Adams Starship Titanic

Lee Murray Into the Mist

Lee Mountford The Mark

Keith C. Blackmore White Sands, Red Steel

Joe Hill The Fireman

Barry J. Hutchison The Hunt for Reduk Topa

Greig Beck Return to the Lost World

Greig Beck The Lost World

Ted Dekker Obsessed

James D. Prescott Extinction Code

James D. Prescott Extinction Countdown

James D. Prescott Extinction Crisis

James D. Prescott Missions from the Extinction Cycle 2

Dean Koontz Strange Highways

Mira Grant Rolling in the Deep

Mira Grant Into the Drowning Deep

Luke Romyn Ash

Thomas Olde Heuvelt Hex

Jeremiah Knight Hunger

Jeremiah Knight Feast

T. Kingfisher The Twisted Ones

Patrick F McManus The Horse in My Garage

Jeff Strand Wolf Hunt

Jeff Strand Wolf Hunt 2

Annie Wilder Trucker Ghost Stories

Kathryn Croft The Girl with No Past

Larry Correia Monster Hunter International

Larry Correia Vendetta

Larry Correia Alpha

Larry Correia Legion

Larry Correia Nemesis

Larry Correia Siege

Larry Correia Guardian

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction Inferno

Jack Townsend Tales from the Gas Station

Dean R Koontz Phantoms

Scott Sigler Blood Is Red

Stephen Chbosky Imaginary Friend

Larry Correia Grunge

Larry Correia Sinners

Larry Correia Saints

Larry Correia The Monster Hunter Files

Dean Koontz Innocence

Hugh Howey Half Way Home

Shaun Hamill A Cosmology of Monsters

Cameron Milan Zombie Slayer!!

Charles Soule The Oracle Year

Christopher Moore Practical Demonkeeping

Christopher Moore The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

Christopher Moore The Stupidest Ange

Iain Rob Wright Sea Sick

Iain Rob Wright Ravage

Iain Rob Wright Savage

Keith C. Blackmore 131 Days

Keith C. Blackmore House of Pain

Keith C. Blackmore Spikes and Edges

Keith C. Blackmore About the Blood

Keith C. Blackmore To Thunderous Applause

Kevin Hearne The Princess Beard

Adrian Tchaikovsky Walking to Aldebaran

Cixin Liu Supernova Era

Dave Pedneau Night, Winter, and Death

Dean Koontz Nameless

Jack Hunt As We Fall

Jack Hunt As We Break

Katherine Arden Small Spaces

Katherine Arden Dead Voices

Larry Correia #1 in Customer Service

Myke Cole The Armored Saint

Myke Cole The Sacred Throne

Myke Cole The Killing Light

C. T. Phipps The Future of Supervillainy

Charlie Huston The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death

T.W. Piperbrook St. Matthews

T.W. Piperbrook Onset

T.W. Piperbrook Crossroads

T.W. Piperbrook Wasteland

Paul Tremblay Disappearance at Devil’s Rock

Ferrett Steinmetz The Sol Majestic

Grady Hendrix Horrorstör

Mark Tufo The Perfect Betrayal

William Goldman The Princess Bride

Joseph John The Eighth Day

Stephen King Gwendy's Button Box

Richard Chizmar Gwendy's Magic Feather

Ronald Malfi Snow

Robert Bevan Critical Failures VII

Mark Tufo Winter's Rising

Mark Tufo Cedar's Conflict

Mark Tufo The Edge of Deceit

Michael McBride Unidentified

Scott Sigler Infected

Scott Sigler Contagious

Prescott, James D The Genesis Conspiracy

Michael Crichton Andromeda Strain

Michael Crichton The Andromeda Evolution

Melanie Golding Little Darlings

Iain Rob Wright Escape!

Ambrose Ibsen Midnight in a Perfect World

Scott Baron Bad Luck Charlie

Scott Baron Space Pirate Charlie

Scott Baron The Dragon Mage

[authorunpublished]

Book Review: City of Ghosts

Book Review: City of Ghosts

Title: City of Ghosts [GhostWriters 1]

Author: J.H. Moncrieff

Genre: Contemporary, Horror, Paranormal, Mystery

Rating: 5 Stars

Description/Synopsis:

On the day the villagers were forced to flee Hensu, not everyone got out alive.

Jackson Stone is touring the abandoned Chinese city when he slips away from the group to spend the night, determined to publish an account of his ghostly experiences…

[devoteetodeath]

Blog Tour: Those That Came Before by J.H. Moncrieff

Blog Tour: Those That Came Before by J.H. Moncrieff

Synopsis:

An idyllic weekend camping trip is cut short when Reese Wallace’s friends are brutally murdered. As the group’s only survivor, Reese is the prime suspect,and his story doesn’t make much sense. A disembodied voice warning him to leave the campground the night before? A strange, blackened tree that gave him an electric shock when he cut it down for firewood? Detective Greyeyes…

[booksandtea]

Books and Tea Book Club | February Read-alongs I have no idea how the first month of the year is already nearly over but I’m back with more information for my Book Club! We have our monthly read-along feautring two great books, a little surprise update, and a small change too.

I gave the book club the theme of “Lesser known books” with the restriction of only nominating books with 5,000 ratings or less on Goodreads. At first glance people thought this was a bit difficult but once they got started the recommended list was ridiculously long. This meant when I came to creating the poll I actually dropped the bracket down to books with 1,000 ratings or less to make it easier to then drop to only 15 books to vote from.

I did promise the book club that there was a chance at a dual winner and thats is exactly what happened. I said it would only happen if two shorter books won but in the end I decided that supporting these authors that are lesser known is such a good thing that I had an obligation to host two.

Both authors have also replied that they’d be  happy to be involved so I’ll probably be reaching out more formally than I did on twitter to organise some things! The winners are:

The Gilded King by Josie Jaffrey | Return to Dyatlov Pass by J.H. Moncrieff (Yes I did just review Return to Dyatlov Pass so perhaps my talking about how much I was enjoying it influenced this vote a little)

A little surprise update is that we launched a secondary server that is directly affliated with Books and Tea, its called Blogs and Tea!

As Books and Tea has grown a lot these past three years we’ve been aware it can be a little overwhelming to those who join just for the Blogger Hub section we had within the book club. Allie had been pondering over the idea for a while and last week we got to work on making this a reality.

Now that Blogs and Tea exists we’ve been able to expand the Blogger Hub and provide a quieter area for any bloggers to support each other in figuring out how to make their blog the best it can be. Whilst this is a new area for us we’ve had some great feedback and have a few ideas for it in the future; and will hopefully help bring back Micro Review (oh yes, we have a rebranded tag feature coming your way).

The last, much smaller, change that I actually haven’t mentioned elsewhere yet is that I’m going to test out having each Readalong’s chat existing for the full year to encourage new members to pick up older read-along books and support those who are slower readers or who’ve been too busy to pick them up. We’ll see how this goes!

I do still promise that I’ll be writing an updated Chat Overview for this year but here is last years post should you want to know more about the Book Club. I’ve been a lot busier than anticipated, oops. I hope at least one of these books interest you, if not we’re also taking suggestions for March’s Read-along of “Urban Fantasy” for a week or two. Then I’ll get a poll up next weekend for people to vote on their favourite choice.

Even if none of these books take your interest we’re always around to talk all things bookish and blog related so feel free to stop by.

What Urban Fantasy books would you recommend for a read-along?

If you enjoyed this post consider supporting Northern Plunder with a Ko-fi You can also find Lauren at: Twitter | Book Club | Instagram | BlogLovin

  Books and Tea Book Club | February Read-alongs #BooksandTeaBC Books and Tea Book Club | February Read-alongs I have no idea how the first month of the year is already nearly over but I'm back with more information for my…

[travisadork]

This was so much fun! Reposted from @hplovecast We have a new episode of H.P. Lovecast Presents: Transmissions available for your listening pleasure. This month, our guests are S.T. Lakata, author of IMAGINING RACHEL, and J.H. Moncrieff, author of SHADOW OF THE SASQUATCH. A special thank you to writer G.A. Lungaro, author/creator of the comic book series, ISIDORA AND THE IMMORTAL CHAINS. . . https://www.buzzsprout.com/1022692/8951346 . . #hplovecast #jhmoncrieff #stlakata #imaginingrachel #shadowofthesasquatch #horror #cryptozoology #romance #books https://www.instagram.com/p/CSE31rILtbs/?utm_medium=tumblr

[shanannigansthebibliophile]

Dragonfly Summer by J.H. Moncrieff @JH_Moncrieff #BookReview by Theresa Braun @Tbraun_Author @audible_com #AudioBook #Mystery

Book Review

Dragonfly Summer by J.H. Moncrieff

Jo Carter never thought she’d return to Clear Springs, Minnesota. But when the former journalist receives a cryptic note about the disappearance of her friend Sam twenty years before, she’s compelled to find out what really happened. During her investigation, she learns another high school friend has died in a mysterious accident. Nothing is as it…

[afraidof-thedark]

She was only nineteen years old.

Cindy Joy Elias was heading home from an evening with friends around 12:30 a.m. on March 24, 1977. A witness overheard the teenager say she was looking for a ride, adding she might hitchhike.

Sadly, only a few hours later, Cindy’s battered body was found just off a logging road about eight miles north of Aurora, a thirty-minute drive from the bar in Virginia, Minnesota where she’d last been seen. Cindy had suffered severe head trauma.

It’s now been over forty years since the college student’s murder, but neither Cindy’s family nor the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office have given up hope of finding her killer.

Cindy’s sister Judy Edwards gave an interview to local television station WDIO on the anniversary of Cindy’s death. “I would just like to know why she was killed,” Edwards said. “What made somebody think they could actually do something like that?”

The murder is one of Minnesota’s oldest cold cases. In 2008, Cindy’s body was exhumed in the hopes new evidence would help investigators find her killer. Several tips are called in each year, and every single one is thoroughly checked out.

Police believe whoever killed Cindy had knowledge of the area because of where her body was found.

At the time of her disappearance, Cindy was a college student in Virginia, Minnesota, who planned to become a social worker. She was the youngest girl out of her seven siblings.

If you have any idea what happened to her, please call the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office at (218) 749-7134. There is a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer(s).

Please share this post on your social networks. Let’s do our best to help find Cindy’s killer and bring her family some closure. Have any cold cases been solved in your area?

-J.H. Moncrieff