Zero Day by Ezekiel Boone, 313 pages

In the thrilling, nerve-wracking finale of Ezekiel Boone’s “hair-raising” (Parade) Hatching series, the United States goes to war against the queen spiders that threaten to overtake the human race forever.

The world is on the brink of apocalypse. Zero Day has come.

The only thing more terrifying than millions of spiders is the realization that those spiders work as one. But among the government, there is dissent: do we try to kill all of the spiders, or do we gamble on Professor Guyer’s theory that we need to kill only the queens?

For President Stephanie Pilgrim, it’s an easy answer. She’s gone as far as she can—more than two dozen American cities hit with tactical nukes, the country torn asunder—and the only answer is to believe in Professor Guyer. Unfortunately, Ben Broussard and the military men who follow him don’t agree, and Pilgrim, Guyer, and the loyal members of the government have to flee, leaving the question: what’s more dangerous, the spiders or ourselves?

Skitter by Ezekiel Boone, 328 pages

First, there was the black swarm that swallowed a man whole, the suspicious seismic irregularities in India that confounded the scientists, the nuclear bomb China dropped on its own territory without any explanation. Then, scientist Melanie Guyer's lab received a package containing a mysterious egg sac; little did Dr. Guyer know that, almost overnight, Earth would be overwhelmed by previously dormant spiders that suddenly wanted out.
Now, tens of millions of people around the world are dead. Half of China is a nuclear wasteland. Mysterious flesh-eating spiders are marching through Los Angeles, Oslo, Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, and countless other cities. According to Dr. Guyer, the crisis may soon be over.
But in Japan, a giant, glowing egg sac gives a shocking preview of what is to come, even as survivors in Los Angeles panic and break the quarantine zone. Out in the desert, survivalists Gordo and Shotgon are trying to invent a weapon to fight back, but it may be too late, because President Stephanie Pilgrim has been forced to enact the plan of last resort.
America, you are on your own.

The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone, 334 pages

Deep in the jungles of Peru, where so much remains unknown, a black, skittering mass devours an American tourist whole. Thousands of miles away, an FBI agent investigates a fatal plane crash in Minneapolis and makes a gruesome discovery. Unusual seismic patterns register in a Kanpur, India, earthquake lab, confounding the scientists there. During the same week, the Chinese government "accidentally" drops a nuclear bomb in an isolated region of its own country. As these incidents being to sweep the globe, a mysterious package from South America arrives at a Washington, DC, laboratory. Something wants out. The world is on the brink of an apocalyptic disaster. An ancient species, long dormant, is now very much awake.
This was a terrifying read, especially when you're trying to eat lunch.

Red Rain by R. L. Stine, 369 pages

I got sent this to review for Night Owl Reviews, and I have to say that I'm excited that he's writing grown-up horror books. I've read a ton of Goosebumps over the years, as I'm sure other people did, so he's got a built in fan base.

Claw by Jack Younger, 219 pages

Remember watching Birds and thinking nothing could be scarier? Imagine it with pet cats going crazy and attacking one and all in groups. This was a totally hokey read from 1976, complete with a cigarette ad in the middle of the book. It was bad in a good way, I will never look at a group of cats the same way.

Dark Companions by Ramsey Campbell, 355 pages

This is a re-released collection of fabulously dark and creepy short stories by British horror author, Ramsey Campbell. "Out of Copyright" features an anthology editor who cuts costs by using stories out of copyright protection to avoid having to pay authors, but ends up paying a much higher cost. Another highly disturbing story was "Call First" featuring a nosy library employee who finds that curiosity didn't just kill the cat. One of the best things about these stories is that they didn't rely on blood and gore for the fright, but utilized mood, timing and pacing to bring the horror to the proper boil. While at times I found the stories overwhelmed by the British flavor and I felt like I was unable to appreciate them properly, these were still very reminiscent of Lovecraft and Poe.

Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman, 357 pages

Frank Nichols has inherited a house in Whitbrow, a tiny town in Georgia. With his academic life in shambles after falling in love with a fellow professor's wife, he and said professor's former wife, Eudora, decide to move to Whitbrow for Frank to write a history about one his family's scandalous and evil ancestors. But it doesn't take long for Frank to realize that not everything is as peaceful as it seems. The old plantation of his ancestor is across the river in the woods, dark woods that threaten Frank and the town he lives in. Woods that contain a presence, a presence hungry for flesh. But whose flesh and blood will satisfy it?
"Those Across the River" by Christopher Buehlman is dark, and creepy, a novel that is filled with a growing sense of dread. I could feel the music from Jaws or Halloween playing in the background during chapters of this book, lending itself to the growing uneasiness of the novel. Even when the evil was revealed, it still continued to deepen the terror level. A great cross between Stephen King and Dean Koontz, a must read for horror fiction fans.