7/13/26
Here is a wonderful news story about a dog and a duck.
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Reminder that a week from tomorrow — Tuesday, July 21st — myself, Mary SanGiovanni, Christopher Golden, CJ Leede, Victor Lavalle, Nat Cassidy, Clay McLeod Chapman, John Langan, Nicky Gonzalez, Nicholas Kaufmann, Tanya Pell, and Tony Tremblay will be appearing from 5pm to 8:30 pm at the Brooklyn Brewery. This event is sponsored by The Twisted Spine. There will be two panel discussions involving all of us, and we will also be signing books. You can purchase books at the event or bring them from home. This is a ticketed event, so make sure you sign up in advance by clicking here.
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Women In Horror Year: Day 81
The Bell Chime by Mona Kabbani
"Can you hear the bell chime?"
A girl suffering from paralyzing night terrors finds a missing poster hanging from the door of her apartment building. On that poster is a photograph of a frighteningly familiar face.
It’s her.
Only, she’s never seen this photo before and something about its grin scares her. How its eyes seem to follow her no matter where she finds herself in the room.
Over a series of strange events to follow—events that will make her question whether her sanity is still there or fleeting—she must discover:
What is real and what is the nightmare?
I first heard of The Bell Chime — Mona Kabbani’s debut novel — when Kristopher Triana recommended it to me at a convention. Triana rarely steers me wrong with recommendations, so I’ve come to trust him in that regard (The Sadness, The Coffee Table, etc all). And he was right again with this one — a lushly written and deeply disturbing psychological horror story dealing with night terrors. The less you know about it going in, the better, so I’m not going to hash out the plot here. But what I will say is that it is difficult to believe this is her first published book-length work. Most writers don’t hit this level of craftsmanship until maybe five or six novels in. Some of us never hit it, even after fifty books written and published. Mona lets this story unfold with the expertise of a veteran — lingering where required and racing when needed, weaving a non-linear tapestry that is both engrossing and engulfing. Her descriptions and turns of phrase are beautifully done, and her characterizations evoke an almost desperate sort of empathy within the reader. Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended. And again, try to avoid as many spoilers and plot details as you can before you read it. The Bell Chime is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook from Full Corn Moon.
