The Video Store Massacre by Michael Grimala
A group of middle school students secretly meets in the projection booth of an abandoned drive in theater to watch tapes from the local video store. Their imaginations fueled by gory movies and back issues of Fangoria, the four kids hope to film nightmares of their own and once they find an old film camera buried in the woods, there's nothing to stop them. This is a fast paced, nostalgic read that feels almost straight out of the 1980s (except it's actually set in 1994, which explains a few of what I thought were anachronisms.) It captures the era without overdoing it and there are some genuinely creepy scenes throughout the book. It's fun horror that never gets actually scary.
The grand opening of Emma Brennan's new spa, cafe, and gift shop is only days away and she's busy making sure that every last detail is perfect. Another local spa owner has expressed her unhapiness with the new competition, but that doesn't faze Emma at all -- until the woman turns up dead. Conflicts between local business owners mean that there's no shortage of suspects or motives. The first in a new series, this mystery is set in Carmel, California, the same community as the author's Fairy Garden series of mysteries and features some of the same characters. If you want an extremely detailed setting and lots of information about sound baths and meditation, along with an occasional fairy flittering past, this is the series for you.
Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies.
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