7 Horror Movies to Watch This Halloween

I’m fairly new to the horror genre, having previously, before this October, shied away from it. However, with Halloween fast approaching at the start of the month I decided to participate in a Challenge to watch 31 movies over the course of October. You can find the full details of the Challenge here as well as a link back to the original, but it’s given me an opportunity to watch a lot of movies that I wouldn’t normally have seen otherwise and as a result, allowed me to put this list together. Whilst not everything presented here is a definitive list, I've tried to go for a blend of not only classic movies, but also more modern ones as well as those that you may not have seen before, including one notable foreign film. So if you're a horror fan looking for a movie - or seven - to watch over Halloween, keep reading to see what films I've selected. 

Apocrypha: The Dying World #1: City of Burning Shadows by Barbara J. Webb

Hiding from the past, from the horror of his life as a priest after the gods disappeared. 

Hiding from his emotions, denying the nightmares that haunt his sleep and the anger that fuels his days.

Most of all, hiding from the truth—that no matter how much he keeps his head down, no matter how he clings to the echoes of everyday life, his city—his world—is dying.

When a new technology offers salvation to his desperate city, Ash must reach out to people he left behind and step back into the world that almost killed him. But coming out of hiding now could be the worst mistake Ash has ever made.

Because there are monsters in the darkness, feeding the chaos, watching the city burn. And once those monsters know his name, Ash will never be able to hide again.

[Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads]

The Alchemy Wars #1: The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis (Orbit Books)

My name is Jax.

That is the name granted to be by my human masters.

I am a clakker: a mechanical man, powered by alchemy. Armies of my kind have conquered the world - and made the Brasswork Throne the sole superpower.

I am a faithful servant. I am the ultimate fighting machine. I am endowed with great strength and boundless stamina.

But I am beholden to the wishes of my human masters.

I am a slave. But I shall be free.

[Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads]

The Song of the Shattered Sands #1: Twelve Kings In Sharakhai by Bradley P. Beaulieu (Gollancz)

In the cramped west end of Sharakhai, the Amber Jewel of the Desert, Çeda fights in the pits to scrape a living. She, like so many in the city, pray for the downfall of the cruel, immortal Kings of Sharakhai, but she's never been able to do anything about it. This all changes when she goes out on the night of Beht Zha'ir, the holy night when all are forbidden from walking the streets. It's the night that the asirim, the powerful yet wretched creatures that protect the Kings from all who would stand against them, wander the city and take tribute. It is then that one of the asirim, a pitiful creature who wears a golden crown, stops Çeda and whispers long forgotten words into her ear. Çeda has heard those words before, in a book left to her by her mother, and it is through that one peculiar link that she begins to find hidden riddles left by her mother.

As Çeda begins to unlock the mysteries of that fateful night, she realizes that the very origin of the asirim and the dark bargain the Kings made with the gods of the desert to secure them may be the very key she needs to throw off the iron grip the Kings have had over Sharakhai. And yet the Kings are no fools-they've ruled the Shangazi for four hundred years for good reason, and they have not been idle. As Çeda digs into their past, and the Kings come closer and closer to unmasking her, Çeda must decide if she's ready to face them once and for all.

[Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads]

MINI-REVIEW: Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon Publications)

I share some brief opinions on Slow Bullets, a short story by science fiction writer Alastair Reynolds,  published by Tachyon Publications.

The Scarlet Star Trilogy: Bloodrush by Ben Galley

I return to the SPFBO, starting with Ben Galley’s fantasy/western self published novel, Bloodrush, the first book in The Scarlet Star Trilogy, which is currently available to buy, and was the victor from Bookworm Blues' selection of novels.