Screams

My dear friend texted me about Scream:  Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear and I bought it right away on audible.com.  It really is a topic right up my alley.  I am big fan of haunted attractions and have spent seasons visiting more than 30 of them in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.  I have written about fear a lot on here, and wondered why we like to be scared.  I had hoped that this book would have some answers and it did.  This was a good book, by a local gal, Margee Kerr who has had article published in the New York Times, and The Atlantic, among many other places about her studies of fear.
She has worked with a local haunt here in the North Hills, The Scarehouse in Etna, which I have been to, but not in a few years.  This book made me vow to go back this year.  And to be very brave and try the infamous Basement.  I have to admit that I never found The Scarehouse to be the scariest attraction, that does to Rich's Fright Farm, hands down.  But again, I have yet to try the Basement and I haven't been to Scarehouse in at least two years.  This fall I hope to visit RFF and Scarehouse and see how they compare.

In Perfect Harmony

Nic Sheff is a very interesting person and writer.  This is the second of his books I have written.  I read this one because of his name and also the cover looked fabulously scary.  Harmony House was scary.  I liked the way that he handled the religious aspects of the book.  I have complained about writers and movies that are inconsistent in their inclusion of religion in a book.  You know, the movies where houses of Baptists have crucifixes on the walls, that kind of thing.  But this was consistent.  This book does have a lot to do with religion.  And it doesn't really bash faith.  It just bashes faith that has turned bad.  Obsessive and twisted faith.  Radicalized Roman Catholics in this case. But as a person of faith, I wasn't offended by the material here, because it was clear that the depiction of faith in this case was to point out what happens when it goes awry.  The language was rough here, but I think people do sometimes talk this way, so it wasn't gratuitous, but if you can't handle bad language, you probably do want to skip this one.

Houses

The House by Christina Lauren was a book whose cover just sucked me in at the bookstore and so I had to get it on audio, due to my aging eyeballs.  I just discovered that Christina Lauren is actually two people!
My first attempt to listen, I don't think I was paying careful attention and so I gave up.  I really thought it was just a bad book, but there was just something that drew me back to it and I am SO glad!
The book alternates HIM and HER and I love books like that.  I also like the pacing of the book.  I haven't read a book with this concept before and I just found it very creepy.
The house Gavin lives in is more than a house.  It is his family.  It is the being that raised him.  I wonder if right-wingers would be more approving of a child being raised by a house or a same gender couple or a mixed race couple.  Remember the Cheerios commercial that drew so much criticism?
Very good book and it kept my attention and made me cringe at some points even.  Like when the house would reach out to Gavin to cuddle him...creepy...very creepy....
This is for older kids and just as a warning, there is sex in it.  Not described in too much detain, but enough that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under 17.  Am I getting old?  I don't think so.  I am not being critical.  I think it is well done and tasteful, but I just couldn't had this to a kid under 17.