How is April over already? It feels like it only started a few days ago, and yet…time is just moving way too fast! Thankfully, May contains 2 Bank Holidays, which is great for me, and I have some leave this week for rest and reading and my usual blog stuff, as well as working on DHR and getting us all set up for Pride in Horror Month. It’s too late for public submissions for PIHM, but we are doing something a bit different this year and asking folks for pieces of queer history they’d like to share. If you have a person, place, or event you’d like more folks to know about, you can find a handy form to tell us all about it here.
2026 Reading Challenges
Updates: #1 / #2 / #3
Goal: 22/70 (+6)
The Divination Hollow Reviews Horror Challenge 2026
5/12 (+2) Prompts Completed
Currently Reading
With a disabled protagonist
I am still reading Duma Key – it is taking a long time to get through! On the plus side, I’m really enjoying it. King is an excellent crafter of character. I’m about 70% through this, so hopefully going to finish it early May.
Read
A new to you author
I picked up Hallowed Be Her Flesh during the DHR Queer Your eReader event. I really enjoyed this and definitely recommend if you’re looking for something that’s sapphic, part cosmic horror, part religious trauma, and totally engaging.
Paranormal
When I Was Death is YA Horror about a teen girl who travels with a group of girls, hoping to find out what really happened to her sister before she died. It’s got grief, sapphic characters, friendship and the personification of Death.
Books to Read: You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight, All the Hearts You Eat, The Shadow in the Glass
Musicals Reading Challenge 2026
4/24, +1 Bonus (+2) Prompts Completed
Read
1980s: Annie – Let’s Go to the Movies – Hollywood/Movies
For this one, I read The Making of Horror Movies. If you enjoy horror film history, I definitely recommend this – it’s a Who’s Who of horror legends, from Bela Lugosi to Nigel Kneale and John Carpenter. I quite enjoy books like this, that cover a whole lot of different people with biographies on each.
Bonus: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend I’m the Villain in My Own Story – Morally grey MC or villain’s POV
The audiobook of Butcher & Blackbird was fantastic, so much so that I immediately picked up the second book in the series. I really liked this twisted, dark romance between two serial killers – some excellent horror moments as well as laugh out loud ones.
Books to Read: London: The Biography, Ahsoka, Three Holidays and a Wedding
Twenty Genres in 2026
5/20 (+1) Prompts Completed
Currently Reading
Classic
For this, I went for Something Wicked This Way Comes as an audiobook. I’m almost halfway through and really enjoying it – can completely understand why it’s so beloved by horror readers.
Read
Thriller
I wasn’t very impressed with Triple Threat – it wasn’t very good: the characters were…a bit insufferable, and not as clever as the book kept trying to tell us they were. A shame, because I really had been looking forward to this one! Originally it was going to be Oxford Blood, but the copy I hadn’t wasn’t quite working, so had to switch it up.
Books to Read: Tell Me I’m Worthless, A Thief and a Gentleman, The Diabolical Bones
Grim Readers 2026 Horror Reading Challenge
4/12 (0) Prompts Completed
Currently Reading
Psychological Unravelling: Characters losing their grip on reality
Rhiannon Grist’s Home Sick fits this perfectly. I’m only about 30% into it, but it’s clear from the start the MC has been through something and is about to go through worse. It’s really intriguing – I find I’m not exactly clicking with her, but what’s happening to her is fascinating enough to keep me hooked.
Classic Chills: Classic or older work of horror (pre-1990)
This one is Something Wicked This Way Comes again. I’ve had the audiobook for a while and really wanted to make sure I read it this year, as it’s been on my TBR for a good long while!
Books to Read: Tell Me I’m Worthless, The Fiends in the Furrows II, You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight
Netflix Movies & TV Shows
16/24 (0) Prompts Completed
Still no movement on this, but I think I’m doing really well with my existing challenges, so should be able to get to this one maybe towards the end of this year. Considering we’re just in May and I’m almost halfway through the two shortest challenges I have, I’m hopeful!
Books to Read: So You Want to Talk About Race, All That Remains, A Discovery of Witches
How is your reading going so far this year? I do have another couple of challenges I’ve signed up for just in case I do manage to do really well with these and want some more variety, but I’m not touching them for the moment. One is also not limited time, but I wanted to bookmark it in a sense and maybe pick it up next year. I definitely think although we’ll be continuing the DHR Horror Challenge next year, it’ll be the only horror challenge I do – two challenges is too much horror!
Unwrapping Words 