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Getting Caught Up In the Wasp Factory

Buckle in. This post is going to contain major spoilers for Iain Banks’ The Wasp Factory. And it’s one of those books that has twists that range from fairly big to huge, and the BEST way to go into the book is without knowing much about it — definitely not knowing the spoilers. Before I put the spoilers, I will say that I loved the book. I read it as part of my serial killer series, but I’m not a hundred percent sure it’s a serial killer book despite the serial murder. At the same time it has a lot of important aspects of the genre that have solidified some…

Available Now! Hold My Heart by Koji A. Dae

Direct from Ghost Orchid Press: Ebook Paperback More Sellers Suffering from severe depression, Emma seeks out a serial killer who will kill her in the most gruesome way she can describe. But when she backs out of their agreement, she discovers the murderer is host to a parasitic creature from another dimension that feeds on the extremes of pleasure and pain. When the creature turns its attention to Emma, she is torn between the ecstasy of desire and guilt over her new urges. At the same time the killer, no longer protected from his memories by the creature, has to face a century of gruesome murders, including the death that…

Killer Romance: Deconstructing the Serial Killer Archetype in Butcher and Blackbird

I wanted to love Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver so much. It promised three things I love: serial killers, spicy romance, and alt culture/kink. I started reading it, and I was gripped. The first half of the book was really great. But as soon as the two main characters confess their love and started having sex, the book took a sharp turn for me that left me wanting… something else. I’ll probably break down the D/s relationship in Butcher and Blackbird in a later blog, but continuing in the serial killer lit critique, I want to try to put my own complicated feelings about D/s aside and focus on…

Dissecting Obsession: Why Do We Read About Serial Killers?

I commented on social media the other day that I’m looking for writers to discuss serial killer writing with. Unfortunately, x-twitter doesn’t lead to the depth of conversation that a hotel bar might, but I got a few responses. One of the discussions brought up an entire framework of serial killer fiction that I hadn’t considered before. Richard Kadrey mentioned that the modern serial killer author needs to look beyond the flashiness of the crimes and find something more interesting to tell. For example, why were they able to get away with their crimes for so long? This made me realize that while I tend to look at the “what…

Twisted Romance: Falling for a Serial Killer

When I picked up Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell, I’ll admit I was looking for something lighter than what I’ve been reading. One can only go so dark before they need to pull back and laugh a little. While I wouldn’t call the book a comedy, I will say that it was witty and bitingly sarcastic at times. The voice felt fresh and the subject matter felt new compared to the books I picked up and kept stalling out on (more about that in a later post). It was one of those train-wreck books that I kept itching to get at. Letters to Serial Killers The…

Bones and All: Serial Cannibalism

This was an unexpected jog off the path for me. I usually class cannibal stories as separate from serial killer stories. In my mind, they are closer to zombie stories than serial killer stories. I guess the flesh eating aspect of it (which, I find super gross) puts them into the same “ew” box in my mind. So I decided to watch the Bones and All movie starring Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet completely separate from this series. It was only after watching the movie that I realized that, yes, it is a serial killer story. Perhaps even more-so than a slasher. I enjoyed the movie so much that I decided to…