Thursday 23 October 2014

Halloween Recommendation: Part Two




Splintered
Author:
Publication Date: January 1st 2013
Publisher:  Amulet Books
 
This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own
 

 
 
 UnhingedAuthor:
Publication Date: January 7th 2014        
Publisher: Amulet Books


Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head
 
 


 Okay, so these aren't exactly traditional Halloween reads in the way that'll scare you with Horror, and obviously, this series isn't Horror, but it is Halloween-y in it's own right. Just think about Wonderland, it's pretty weird and creepy on it's own, but with Splintered, A.G. Howard takes Lewis Carroll's Wonderland and whilst keeping it familiar, twists it into something completely twisted and strange with this side of off. It's vivid and dangerous and seductive. Then there's Morpheus. Just saying.

While Splintered is centred on and set in Wonderland, Unhinged is set in our world with Wonderland bleeding through, which is actually more disturbing and mad than Wonderland itself. We also get to see the effect it has and Alyssa's slope down the crazy train.

So basically, this series is quite mad. Embrace the craziness. And hey, Elizabeth  this ones for weenies (your words, not mine) ;)


Have you started the Splintered series yet? If so, let's talk Morpheus, because, you know, Morpheus.

            


Morganville: The Series





The web series for The Morganville Vampires was brought to life after 832 backers pledged on Kickstarter. The project was fully funded in July of 2013, and now after a little over a year – the trailer for the series is finally here.

You may have heard of this series called The Morganville Vampires, if you haven't, where you been? ;) It's one of my favourite series, so excited to see my favourite characters come to life on the 27th October, make sure to watch, because you know, Claire, Eve, Michael, Shane,




 
 
 
Read the series? What'd you think of the trailer? If you've read the series, did you picture the characters the way they are? :)