Gnome in Your Home: A dark-ish romance with a new twist on Santa and the act of gift giving. please read all content warnings before diving in!
Christmas and Other Horrors: A delightful horror anthology filled with Christmassy cheer and gore!
Two-Parts Mistletoe: A short thirty-page queer read about love potions and meeting your anonymous booty call in real life for the first time.
Beneath the Monster: The grinch but for adults!
I read quite a few books over the holiday season, but these held my attention for whatever reason. I’m not apologizing for the smut! You should know me by now!
Per usual, SGJ delivers gorey vibes, fun, and cringe-worthy scenes! This being my third title by him in under a month, I have something to say about his style. I don’t hate it, in fact, I think it’s great. But! Don’t jump me! I think his horror is kinda cozy. It feels like it’s cozy, dark, fiction instead of straight horror. Granted, I have a lot more to read by SGJ so my opinion might change. For now, yes, it’s cozy and dark.
Now, onto the book! Let me be clear, Movie zombies scare the shit outta me. The idea of zombies is terrifying and I used to love Resident Evil, Doom, and Zombieland. One nightmare changed that for me. Anyway, this is my first zombie novel in fifteen years and I loved it! I think zombie fiction might bring me back to this world. I don’t know, we’ll see.
SGJ is heavy-handed with them icky vibes. I mean the description of brain-eating is ON POINT.
SPOOOOILERS AHEAD!
I enjoyed the characters and their journey. I knew Johnny T. had to go, and after Kent’s confession, I was hoping for him to have his head lopped off.
I wasn’t happy about Tiny Giant! I didn’t want him to turn or die. I screamed, “Nooooo you poor thing! I hate this so much!” But this isn’t a fuzzy found family romance so I was SOL. I wanted a kiss between Xombie and Terry! Again, as someone who reads romance pretty heavily, I needed it! (a me problem) But, I love the pinch of cute we got from them.
That is my one complaint. Other than SGJ breaking my heart with Tiny Ginat, I have NO NOTES! 4.5!
This! This and this! Midnight Rooms almost feels like a deconstruction of the Gothic genre and I for one lovvvved it! As we all know, I adore horror and all things creepy. The blurb for MIdnight Rooms grabbed me by the neck. From the first few lines I knew I’d devour this novel, and I did just that. Eleven hours, with a full-time work schedule. I tore it up!
Midnight Rooms follows Orebella, a young woman who is married and whisked away by a rich gentleman named Elias Blakersby. She is tossed into a world of mold, ruin, and the unwell. We witness Orebella spiral as she takes to her new life as wife and Lady of Korringhill Manor.
This is a dark gothic romance, and heavy on the DARK. Some have stated they’d consider some aspects extreme horror. I would not because I have read EH a few times. If I had to rate the horror in this book I’d give it two skulls for unsettling depictions of gore, blood, and one scene of grotesque violence. I loved Midnight Rooms for its supernatural atmosphere, creepy family ties, and secrets. Are all those secrets exposed? No, But I think the most important ones are given enough airtime. This mystique adds to the world Donyae crafted and expands it.
She put her foot in it! As black folks would say, mainly about food, but hear me out, it works here too. Thanks to the author’s attention to detail, I was fully immersed and invested. Midnight Rooms had me smacking my lips, glaring, and cussing.
As I have said this is a dark romance, if you aren’t acquainted with said genre, i do not read this book, please. Midnight Rooms deserves more than, “not my cup of tea”. Dark romance is just that. Elias and Orebella are rough, tumble, sharp, and a subplot. But, as a romance girlie too, I enjoyed it. As with most things in this lovely, horrifying fairy tale show. I felt mildew and mold on my skin, I inhaled tallow and was scared for poor Orebella most of the time.
If you like your Gothic read rotting from the inside out, by all means, give Midnight Rooms a chance. Please, this book deserves more readers. It is incredibly important to support Black authors who write horror, as our piece is so very small in this world. We need more support for scifi, paranormal, and horror writers to be honest. Our voices belong in every genre.
CW: Blood, gore, dubious consent, assault by others than the MMC, violence, possible incest, murder, drugging, and cannibalism
J. T. Frost 