The book that made me scared of the dark again.... Anna Dressed in Blood

Cas Lowood is a real life Ghost Buster, who also happens to be dealing with high school and the legacy of a father who died at the hands of a cannabalistic ghost. We learn early on that he tends to be a loner but the story would be depressing if he didn't pick up some friends at some point, and that he does. On arrival in Thunder Bay, Cas is expecting to kill Anna Korlov and soon learns that things were going to be a lot more complicated than the average stab-n'-go.

For my second time reading the book, I expected a bit of boredom. Some time had passed since I first picked it up, but the main surprises would still be gone. I was wrong. This story doesn't even know who boredom is. I was at times completely terrified and had to use a flashlight to save myself from the dark. I was sure that ghosts were hiding in the walls of a house which no one could possibly have died in (or so I choose to believe). I am not particularly fond of being afraid of my house, but the great thing about this book is that the horror was always balanced out with the humour. While I probably won't drop a dedicated review on Girl of Nightmares, the second part of the duology, I can say that it didn't disappoint on the horror either. Anna Dressed in Blood never takes itself too seriously, and you shouldn't either.

This world has stuck with me for the past four years. Blake has managed to bring complexity and humour to being a teenage ghost buster. Anna's relationship with our main characters is utterly ridiculous, but also completely reasonable for a world in which each murderous ghost is given a story and pain. Somehow this book manages to turn murderous rampages into pity, and I love that it does. From the first ghost we met I was hooked. And if ghosts and ghost-busters weren't enough to sell you on giving this a read - there's also an entire paranormal network to learn about. The fantastic world-building was coupled with fabulous characters and a fast-paced plot. Anna, Thomas, Carmel and Cas had me absolutely flying through the book (which only took me a couple days to finish thanks to pretending impending deadlines didn't exist.)

However, my one sticking point for making this God-tier would have to be the romance aspect. While it was great to see a ghost buster fall in love with a ghost, I did find myself getting a bit sick of it by the end. Despite this, I'm going to have to give this a 4/5 for being so damn memorable (and because I recommend getting it stuck in your head too.)