|
|
| The Upstairs House by Julia FineWhat it's about: Unable to finish her dissertation on Goodnight Moon author Margaret Wise Brown, delirious new mom Megan discovers that her upstairs neighbor appears to be the ghost of Brown herself, who's intent on settling unfinished business.
Read it for: an eerie supernatural allegory exploring the trials of new motherhood and postpartum depression.
Try this next: For more suspenseful books that tackle similar themes, read Little Darlings by Melanie Golding or The Need by Helen Phillips.
[also available as a physical book] |
|
|
The lost village
by Camilla Sten
What it's about: Obsessed with the vanishing residents of an old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt and her crew set up camp and are soon plagued by strange events that makes them realize they are not alone.
Why you might like it: A gripping ride that will satisfy mystery and horror fans alike.
[also available as a physical book]
|
|
| Bluebeard's First Wife by Ha Seong-nan; translated by Janet HongWhat it is: a disturbing and darkly humorous collection of 11 short stories exploring trauma, grief, and fraught relationship dynamics, penned by Korean author Ha Seong-nan (Flowers of Mold).
For fans of: stories that peel back the thin veneer of normalcy to expose the everyday horrors of the mundane, like Ottessa Moshfegh's Homesick for Another World.
Don't miss: the haunting "Star-Shaped Stain," about a woman visiting the site of an accident that killed her daughter one year earlier.
[also available as a physical book] |
|
|
Frankenstein in Baghdad
by Ahmed Saadawi; translated by Jonathan Wright
What it's about: In an effort to honor the dead in U.S.-occupied Baghdad, scavenger Hadi collects body parts from bombing victims, stitching them together to form a new body. But then the body disappears and begins wreaking terrifying vengeance upon the city.
Is it for you? If you like your horror to skew more literary, this visceral allegory offers a moving exploration of life in war-torn Iraq.
Awards buzz: Frankenstein in Baghdad is a Man Booker International Prize finalist and the winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
[also available as a physical book]
|
|
|
Unknown
by Didier van Cauwelaert
What it's about: Martin Harris returns home after spending three days in a coma, to find that his wife doesn't recognize him and another man is living in his house under his name. The imposter shares all of Martin's memories, experiences, and knowledge down to the last detail. Is it conspiracy? Amnesia? An elaborate hoax or his own paranoid delusion?
Why to read it: a fast-paced tale of one man's desperate attempt to reclaim his existence—even at the cost of his own life.
Of interest: Previously published as Out of My Head, the title was changed for the film starring Liam Neeson.
[also available as a physical book]
|
|
|
Ladivine
by Marie NDiaye
What it's about: After a woman, Clarisse, is murdered on a trip to visit her mother in Bordeaux, her daughter tries to uncover what happened to her with the help of a brown dog, who appears to have taken in the spirit of the deceased.
Why to read it: Sadness, regret, and insidious dread permeate every page of this beautifully crafted, relentless novel.
[also available as a physical book]
|
|
|
Long Beach Public Library 111 West Park Ave Long Beach, New York 11561 516-432-7201
Visit our Website
|
|
|
|
|