R.I.P. Review: Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2)

I decided to kick off my reading selections for R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril by selecting the book with the creepiest, bestest cover. I read Anna Dressed in Blood during last year’s R.I.P. Event and added the 2nd book in this 2-part series to this year’s R.I.P. list. The art team for both Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) and Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2) did a phenomenal job. Which one of these two covers would have you grabbing the book, flashlight and hiding under the covers to read all night?

316 pages | Publisher: Tor Teen | Published: 9/2011

332 pages | Publisher: Tor Teen | Published: 8/2012

In the sixth row of the theater, in the third chair in, Anna winks at me. Or maybe she just blinks. I can’t tell. She’s missing half of her face.

I listened to the audio version, beginning the novel just before bed with the lights off. . .Not my best idea I must admit! After the first hour I had to turn the audio off, turn on a comedy show and wait until daylight to begin again! Girl of Nightmares picks up about six months after Anna Korlov, cursed, murderous ghost, disappears into Hell with the Obeahman {a demonous entity if there ever was one that literally “ate” his victims, including Cas’ father} in order to save Cas and his scooby-gang of ghostbusters. The trio of friends included Cas, the ghost-killer, Thomas, a budding witch whose grandfather is a voodoo master, and Carmel the popular “it” girl in the high school and gangly Thomas’ girlfriend. Although Cas continues to kill ghosts with the help of his friends, he can’t seem to get over Anna. He compares every girl to Anna and if being in love with a dead murderous ghost is not enough, Cas keeps seeing Anna in his nightmares. To him it seems that Anna is in pain, that she’s being tortured, and for her to sacrifice her ghostly self for him and the rest of the town, Cas just doesn’t think its fitting for her to be tortured endlessly, kind of like Prometheus on the rock. As Cas has more and more sightings of Anna, he draws into himself to the point of almost getting his friends killed by the very ghost they were charged with sending on to the other side. Cas realizes he has to find out what is happening to Anna and bring her back from hell if he can.

Of the many things I enjoyed about this 2-part series is that there are no zombies and no angels ~ only terrifying ghosts, voodoo and witchcraft, and a bit of “Ghost Whisperer” without the whispering. Blake has a way of describing horror that is in-your-face straight-up, yet gets under the skin. Along the journey for information, Cas and friends must walk through The Suicide Forest, a place known for poor souls to go to commit suicide….and now their ghosts protect (hide) the Order from whom Cas must go through to get to Anna. Creepy! and has me wondering if there is such a place in the world ~ I sure hope not! From coming up with the ghostly inhabitants of The Suicide Forest to creating a bad guy straight from nightmares, Blake surpasses even herself and Anna Dressed in Blood. Girl of Nightmares is a bit grittier, edgier yet still has Blake’s trademark humor in darkness. There’s a tone of seriousness about book #2 with Cas and friends growing up, making adult choices with a strength even many adults don’t have. Cas describes his confrontation with the Obeahman {really bad, bad guy/ghost/entity}:

His skin is black as a struck match, cracked and oozing liquid metal heat, like he’s covered by a cooling layer of lava. The eyes stand out bright white. I can’t make out from this distance if they have corneas. God I hope they have corneas. I hate that creepy weird-eye shit.

The audio version was narrated by August Ross and for the most part I enjoyed his reading. His timing and spacing were impeccable and the dry sense of humor Blake uses throughout the novel shines in August’s capable hands. The only section that bothered me was toward the end when Cas and friends meet up with Cas’ mentor, Gideon. August used a breathy kind-of European accent for Gideon and a breathy more American accent for Thomas. Gideon is a much-older man and Thomas is a teen yet the voices were almost identical. I liked the way Blake wrapped the story up in the end; however, there’s still a small opening for more sequels if she so desires. Between the novel and the listening, this one was high on the creep factor! Audio length 10 hours 3 minutes. I do recommend reading Anna Dressed in Blood prior to reading Girl of Nightmares. According to everything I’ve read, there will only be these 2 in the Anna series AND the movie rights have been purchased by Stephanie Meyer’s company Fickle Fish Films ~ pretty cool, huh?!?

Scream Factor: 4 Gurlish Screeches!

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I purchased this book for my purposes of reading and review.