The time has come. It was inevitable; at last, we submitted to the will of Terriblo, listeners, and fate to bring down the evil monarch and find our destined mate - I mean, bring you our review of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, popularly known by its acronym of ACOTAR. To ease us through this experience, I've brought my emotional support Emily who herself is an avid reader who has suffered through not only this first book, but most of the series that follows.

In addition to our usual barnyard language, today's episode includes discussion or mention of hunting, kidnapping, murder, disfigurement, sex/sexual slavery, shapeshifting, & torture.

Happy Halloween! This episode was supposed to air on 11/4, but we figured you'd all appreciate hearing this one a week early in the spirit of the season. The next episode will air on schedule on 11/18, so make sure you check out some older spooky season TBC episodes while you wait:

• The Hog from Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson *Special Guests D & Ken from Antiques Freaks*
• Drag Queen Dino Fighters by MP Johnson *Patron's Choice*
• Man, F*ck This House by Brian Asman *Patron's Choice*
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in His Adventure on Earth by William Kotzwinkle *Special Guest Mary Parker*
• The Haunted Vagina by Carl Mellick III
• In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt *Patron's Choice*

This week it was Chris's turn to head over to r/horrorlit to pick through more of the sub's worst horror books from 2024. He was lured to The Paleontologist simply based on the thought that ghost dinosaurs seemed an especially funny concept.

In addition to our usual barnyard language, today's episode includes discussion or mention of child abuse, abduction, and murder; ghosts; implied pedophillia; and the pandemic.

References:

• Terrible Book Club, Episode 79 (2020): Museum of the Living Dead (A Plot-It-Yourself Horror Story) by Hilary Milton: This week it's 1985 and we're two children in an off-brand "Plot-It-Yourself" horror story. Chris wants to die as quickly as possible while Paris chooses life. Paris's microphone is backwards, Chris can't stop creating new lyrics for a bad 90s song, and we play another round of Power Rangers Monster or Weed Strain?
• Vintage Burn Podcast

For this year's Spooky Season, we headed over to reddit to see what r/horrorlit thought were the worst horror books they read in 2024. It seemed that Eric LaRocca's novella Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke was widely hated by the sub, but since the Antiques Freaks already reviewed that back in October 2023, Paris chose to instead read two short stories packaged together as Other Misfortunes with Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke in the edition she had.

Other Misfortunes:

• The Enchantment
• You'll Find It's Like That All Over

In addition to our usual barnyard language, today's episode includes discussion or mention of angels, demons, infidelity, death and the afterlife, marital stress, miscarriage, pet death, suicide, and gambling.

References & Resources:

• Antiques Freaks, Episode 245: Antique Apple Peeler Pricing - Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
• Esoterica YouTube Channel