I'm so happy you loved Penpal! Penpal is the scariest book I've read. It beat Stolen Tongues for me because Penpal could actually happen. Was so excited to hear your thoughts.
AAAAH I am currently reading Penpal and just finished the Balloons chapter last night and I was so surprised that the ending got under my skin so much I had a hard time falling asleep. Your reaction makes me so excited to keep reading and finish. I picked it up because of Allison Paiges channel, and she mentioned that Penpal was originally a Reddit creepy pasta and so I think that is why its writing style is different than a lot of the other horror books.
SCREAMING!!!! I am SOO HAPPY you loved Penpal! It's also an all-time favorite of mine,,, I read it early last year and still think about it to this day 😍🤩 it scared the crap out of me because it preyed on vey specific phobias that I have & it made me never want to go to the movie alone ever again 😅
I remember reading the Penpal posts on creepypasta when the writer posted them years ago and I was so impressed. It's been so long I can barely remember it now but I keep meaning to read the full book, what an achievement for the author! It's so nice to see that people loved it as creepypastas and that it also translated so well into book form! I hope more authors end up doing that as there's so many creative short stories out there.
Haha the letting balloons go to find a pen pal thing was a big part of my childhood in the early 2000s. We never attached our picture but usually an email address or the school address. It’s something we did once a year I think. Maybe it’s a small town in Germany thing haha
Your thoughts about Penpal reminded me of a meme that said "thriller/horror readers be like this is book is so gross, disgusting, it gives so eerie vibes, it's so creepy. I liked it." 😂😂 I agree with the meme tho 😂
I felt the same way about Gone to See the River Man! At first I was like hmm this isn't too bad, and then once I realized what was going on I said OH 😳 looking forward to part 2!
I did the same thing this week. Went though stuff! Threw lots of paper clutter away. Hung art work on my bedroom walls. Found stuff to paste in my journals. Feeling good!
I am glad you loved Penpal Gabby! I really wanted you to read it... I think this book is gonna stick with me for the rest of my life *now back to the video
excited to see you read Penpal! I originally read it on the nosleep subreddit YEARS ago and it blew my mind! I have the ebook so this is definitely prompting me to reread it!
I've noticed this before but I love that we have the same blue blanket :) I got mine in a White Elephant a couple years ago and it's so thick and heavy I love it!
Glad you loved Penpal! I’ve heard mixed opinions but it was a 5 star read for me. The amount of times I had goosebumps/full body chills while reading it was insane. I was genuinely too creeped out to read it at night 😭 & the book made me cry at the end. Loved the friendship between Josh and the main character.
Also would recommend watching The Ritual movie as well, the atmosphere/setting is so well done and creepy! Edited to add: I remember that you DNF'd The Ruins, maybe you'd like the movie of that more? Would recommend checking it out anyway 😊
Love love love nick cutters books, I haven't read little heaven yet, but they are so long! I just read the deep a month ago. They do drawl you in though I'm excited to see your thoughts on this one!
Yay new Gabby video!!! ☺️ I have penpal on my tbr for this month, now I’m super excited! Also, I have to know how do you listen to audiobooks on 2.9x speed?!? I max out at 1.8x then my brain can’t process what’s being said 😂
I feel so weird saying I “enjoyed” reading GtStRM, because no part of it is enjoyable, but the story just gripped me. I’m adding Penpal to my tbr; I’ve been seeing so many good reviews for it lately!
Believe it or not that is what happened in elementary school.. a red ribbon with our name but c/o our school asking to know where balloon 🎈 landed, little info about us (age, fav. subject, fav. food, pet) and ask them for info.. it's crazy to think about children doing it anytime - now I want to read that - glad I found your channel
I’m currently in the middle of Last Seen Alive by Claire Douglas. Can’t decide if it’s more of a thriller/suspense. Really good so far if you’re looking for more book recs. 😊
I agree that bacon, egg and cheese is a good breakfast sandwich. However, for me it's a special treat these days. I can still drink two or three cups of coffee though, so if a place serves both, well, sign me up!
I may have to pickup penpal! I already put it on my TBR. The eerie music and the way you described it, it suckered me in 😂❤. Recently read Nothing but Blackened teeth and was dissappointed with it and now I’m on Bladerunner. Also I was wondering if you would ever read Gallant? It’s by VE schwab and its a ghostly story about an orphan who finds her dead mothers journal the artwork and premise got me so I bought it but Ive yet to read it
Dathan Auerbach also has another amazingly scary book called Bad Man that was one of the first scary books that spooked me so much! He writes incredible novels!!!
I did not read The Ritual, but I did see the movie (2017). And just FYI - No One Gets Out Alive has also been made into a movie (2021). I read Gone to See the River Man - 4⭐s for me. No shame in DNF-ing . Baby Got Backstories ! 🎃
You really enjoying Penpal and looking at all these comments about it I need to move it up my tbr immediately! I think I may have to make a purchase on Amazon today.
Before I read The Deep, I tried getting into Little Heaven but just the same. I also DNF'd it. I ended up liking The Deep though. Penpal crushed me upon the ending coz if you know you know since you've read it. The "waiting for some miracle to happen in the end but" ... argh!! :( The Ritual - just watched it on Netflix :)
Aghghgg!!! Fan girling so hard right now! I haven’t even watched the video in its entirety yet but I’m excited! Nervous but excited! I told you a punch in the gut and I mean that! we’ll see if it’s good or bad lol Now that I’ve watched the whole video I’m glad that you liked it!! Listen if you just want me to be your personal book recommender I am down! Lol
The most extreme book I've read was Exquisite Corpse 😭😭 it was a lot to take in. It falls under splatterpunk and I still don't know how I feel about it. I don't know if I can go through something like that again but at the same time I'm glad I did 😂 very mixed feelings. Would definitely not go around recommending to ANYONE
OMG! At my elementary school we released balloons into the air with our school address and our name and age to try and get someone to write back and out of our whole class MINE WAS THE ONLY ONE TO RETURN! And had completely buried that memory until you said this!!
We don't have the same taste in horror and thrillers most of the time but I still like watching you. 😃 I hated both Penpal and Little Heaven both so boring. I also DNFed Little Heaven too. 😃
In defense of the Dahmer series, that show stands out from other true crime shows because it immediately shifts to being about the victims and their story and how it impacted people in the neighborhood, Jeffrey's family, the victims' family etc. It was so different to me in that way than other true crime things. But I totally agree it's so messed up how glamorized serial killers are to an extent!
Oh gosh I dnf’ed Penpal, I actually really didn’t like the writing style in that one 😅 I didn’t find any new book to read but your horror vlogs are still my favourite to watch and I cannot wait for part 2 💜
The novel version of Penpal was hard to get into, it had a vague and overly descriptive narration style, I gave up with impatience in the first chapter. But, I found the original shorter, and more to-the-point version on reddit. This story was definitely chilling. Also depressing and sad, especially because an entire family was ruined because the protagonist's mother would not share their experience/what she knew with anyone. I couldn't come to terms with how a family was completely victimized, just for being friends with the protagonist's family, unawares till the end of the background information.
So sad my library doesn’t have gone to see the river man and it’s not on Libby for my library. Interested in what other horror books you read this month!
I LOVE Adam Nevill's ideas and concepts. But I struggle with his executions. His characters are often one note and hard to tell apart, and his books are way longer than they need to be. It's so frustrating because I love the premises of his stories and he has a few scenes that he successfully irked me (aka The Reddening, THAT scene haha). I have a difficult relationship with his work.
It’s funny. Some writers who write the darkest shit are the nicest people. My husband is an editor and we go to literary conferences a lot. We had dinner with Adam Neville once, among other people, and he was a super nice guy. In the case of the Ritual I would say strokes for folks. I enjoyed the movie.
As odd as this is going to sound… I had no trouble reading HOUSE OF LEAVES. Understood it, comprehended HOL but THEN there is PENPAL. Zoooom right over my head, but I never make it past the beginning really and I’m thinking like Gab, what in the world. Maybe I just need to push in further for me to get hooked and understand.
@@gabbyreads I think after watching your video on Penpal and this reply, I am going to read this book all the way because it does have high ratings and of course you have said it does get better, so I know it will be GOOD. Thank you
Zombie Joyce carol oates ... the road cormac m c carthy, also im reading The Butcher and just checked out the ritual from my library 😊 have a good day 👋
I am definitely into watching and true crime, but I didn’t feel like Dahmer needed to be made. I like documentaries but I agree, glamorizing serial killers doesn’t need to happen.
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I'm so happy you loved Penpal! Penpal is the scariest book I've read. It beat Stolen Tongues for me because Penpal could actually happen. Was so excited to hear your thoughts.
I agree, PenPal is a total horror classic. It should be a must read for all horror fans.
Agreed. Very creepy and well written book.
Would i be able to read this if i don't want to read ghost related horror books? Thank you!
@@wow5lolli absolutely!
AAAAH I am currently reading Penpal and just finished the Balloons chapter last night and I was so surprised that the ending got under my skin so much I had a hard time falling asleep. Your reaction makes me so excited to keep reading and finish. I picked it up because of Allison Paiges channel, and she mentioned that Penpal was originally a Reddit creepy pasta and so I think that is why its writing style is different than a lot of the other horror books.
SCREAMING!!!! I am SOO HAPPY you loved Penpal! It's also an all-time favorite of mine,,, I read it early last year and still think about it to this day 😍🤩 it scared the crap out of me because it preyed on vey specific phobias that I have & it made me never want to go to the movie alone ever again 😅
Ahhh yes it was so good and genuinely so creepy!!! 🥵
Girl can I just say how happy I am whenever i see you’ve uploaded. Especially long videos like this, I love it! 💚
Thanks so much 🥰
31:30 omg that shirt is so iconic I love it 😍
I remember reading the Penpal posts on creepypasta when the writer posted them years ago and I was so impressed. It's been so long I can barely remember it now but I keep meaning to read the full book, what an achievement for the author! It's so nice to see that people loved it as creepypastas and that it also translated so well into book form! I hope more authors end up doing that as there's so many creative short stories out there.
Haha the letting balloons go to find a pen pal thing was a big part of my childhood in the early 2000s. We never attached our picture but usually an email address or the school address. It’s something we did once a year I think. Maybe it’s a small town in Germany thing haha
The ritual has a movie adaptation on Netflix and it’s quite good!!
Your thoughts about Penpal reminded me of a meme that said "thriller/horror readers be like this is book is so gross, disgusting, it gives so eerie vibes, it's so creepy. I liked it." 😂😂
I agree with the meme tho 😂
I felt the same way about Gone to See the River Man! At first I was like hmm this isn't too bad, and then once I realized what was going on I said OH 😳 looking forward to part 2!
yeah that was definitely unexpected haha
LOVE Penpal and highly recommend the audiobook. It'll make you cry!
I did the same thing this week. Went though stuff! Threw lots of paper clutter away. Hung art work on my bedroom walls.
Found stuff to paste in my journals. Feeling good!
i recommend watching the ritual movie if only to see the monster/god at the end, i thought the design was super cool
Super happy to see this video . On a hectic day, this is like stress buster to me
I am glad you loved Penpal Gabby! I really wanted you to read it... I think this book is gonna stick with me for the rest of my life
*now back to the video
Just clicked on this video. Sooo excited!!!
excited to see you read Penpal! I originally read it on the nosleep subreddit YEARS ago and it blew my mind! I have the ebook so this is definitely prompting me to reread it!
Penpal is my favorite horror book! 🧡
Ily Gaby
Love the creepy Halloween music in this video. So fun!
I haven't even watched this video yet but I saw Penpal in the thumbnail AAAAAAAAH I'M SO EXCITED
You gave it five stars!!!!! Yassssssss it's one of my favorite horror books and I've been WAITING for you to read it lol
Penpal sounds absolutely amazing. I haven't added a book to my TBR so quickly in ages! 😂☺
I've noticed this before but I love that we have the same blue blanket :) I got mine in a White Elephant a couple years ago and it's so thick and heavy I love it!
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Gone to See the River Man; I’m nervous 🙈😂
Saw Penpal on the thumbnail, immediately clicked in. Glad you read it.
I think u would like the movie more then the book. Ritual
Glad you loved Penpal! I’ve heard mixed opinions but it was a 5 star read for me. The amount of times I had goosebumps/full body chills while reading it was insane. I was genuinely too creeped out to read it at night 😭 & the book made me cry at the end. Loved the friendship between Josh and the main character.
Love your vlogs and your vibe so much. Keep up the good work.
🌸😊
Thank you so much!!
Also would recommend watching The Ritual movie as well, the atmosphere/setting is so well done and creepy!
Edited to add: I remember that you DNF'd The Ruins, maybe you'd like the movie of that more? Would recommend checking it out anyway 😊
I can’t wait to read Gone To See The Riverman! I’m planning to read it this month.
Love love love nick cutters books, I haven't read little heaven yet, but they are so long! I just read the deep a month ago. They do drawl you in though I'm excited to see your thoughts on this one!
I really need to bump up Penpal on my TBR!
Omg yes Justin I think you’d love it!!
My horror recommendation is The Fisherman by John Langan if you're still interested after the two parts!
I see me!! AND IM SO GLAD YOU LOVED PENPAL‼️ It's one of my favorite, if not my favorite horror book! Tysm for reading it!!!
Yay new Gabby video!!! ☺️ I have penpal on my tbr for this month, now I’m super excited! Also, I have to know how do you listen to audiobooks on 2.9x speed?!? I max out at 1.8x then my brain can’t process what’s being said 😂
Hey, Gabby. So glad you decided to pick up Penpal. When I first read it, it was definitely strange and creepy.
I'm a film queen like you! Especially when it comes to horror movies and I really liked The Ritual movie
Lovely walk to the library🎃 The Ritual is on Netflix.
I feel so weird saying I “enjoyed” reading GtStRM, because no part of it is enjoyable, but the story just gripped me. I’m adding Penpal to my tbr; I’ve been seeing so many good reviews for it lately!
I totally agree! And yes ahhh I think you’d love Penpal!! 😍
Believe it or not that is what happened in elementary school.. a red ribbon with our name but c/o our school asking to know where balloon 🎈 landed, little info about us (age, fav. subject, fav. food, pet) and ask them for info.. it's crazy to think about children doing it anytime - now I want to read that - glad I found your channel
Good morning Gabby happy Thursday morning and I just wanted to say that your vlogs is amazing and you are amazing Supporter I'm proud of you
I’ll be in a bad mood then Gabby posts new video I feel better now lol ☺️ #favbooktuber
🥰🥰🥰
Gabby: *talking about penpal's unconventional structure and verbose language for a horror book*
House of leaves sitting on your bookshelf: "Bruh"
I’m currently in the middle of Last Seen Alive by Claire Douglas. Can’t decide if it’s more of a thriller/suspense. Really good so far if you’re looking for more book recs. 😊
You are fine to DNF if you need to. I read Pen Pal last month. It's sooo good! I think it's really nice how you and your family cook dinner together 😊
Amazing ! You are just amazing 💜💜💜💜
loved this & love you gabby 💙🤗
I agree that bacon, egg and cheese is a good breakfast sandwich. However, for me it's a special treat these days. I can still drink two or three cups of coffee though, so if a place serves both, well, sign me up!
I may have to pickup penpal! I already put it on my TBR. The eerie music and the way you described it, it suckered me in 😂❤. Recently read Nothing but Blackened teeth and was dissappointed with it and now I’m on Bladerunner. Also I was wondering if you would ever read Gallant? It’s by VE schwab and its a ghostly story about an orphan who finds her dead mothers journal the artwork and premise got me so I bought it but Ive yet to read it
I haven’t read Gallant yet 👀
Great vlog Gabby
Love these videos so much 🤗
Thank you!!
Dathan Auerbach also has another amazingly scary book called Bad Man that was one of the first scary books that spooked me so much! He writes incredible novels!!!
I did not read The Ritual, but I did see the movie (2017). And just FYI - No One Gets Out Alive has also been made into a movie (2021). I read Gone to See the River Man - 4⭐s for me.
No shame in DNF-ing . Baby Got Backstories ! 🎃
I really enjoyed the ritual movie tbh I think you should give it a shot
I haven't read the Ritual, but the movie was good!
You really enjoying Penpal and looking at all these comments about it I need to move it up my tbr immediately! I think I may have to make a purchase on Amazon today.
I hope you enjoy it if you do! :)
I need to start some short horror!
Before I read The Deep, I tried getting into Little Heaven but just the same. I also DNF'd it. I ended up liking The Deep though. Penpal crushed me upon the ending coz if you know you know since you've read it. The "waiting for some miracle to happen in the end but" ... argh!! :( The Ritual - just watched it on Netflix :)
Aghghgg!!! Fan girling so hard right now! I haven’t even watched the video in its entirety yet but I’m excited! Nervous but excited! I told you a punch in the gut and I mean that! we’ll see if it’s good or bad lol
Now that I’ve watched the whole video I’m glad that you liked it!! Listen if you just want me to be your personal book recommender I am down! Lol
Hahaha thanks Nikki!!! 🤩💕 another solid rec, I loved it!!
Really enjoyed this vlog!
I'm definitely going to check out Penpal.
The most extreme book I've read was Exquisite Corpse 😭😭 it was a lot to take in. It falls under splatterpunk and I still don't know how I feel about it. I don't know if I can go through something like that again but at the same time I'm glad I did 😂 very mixed feelings. Would definitely not go around recommending to ANYONE
😂 😂 😂 Oh nooooo the comment about creepers after the Balloons chapter 🤣
Have you ever read Anne Rice?? My favorite!
"I'm quite a little bitch sometimes." 😂😂
OMG! At my elementary school we released balloons into the air with our school address and our name and age to try and get someone to write back and out of our whole class MINE WAS THE ONLY ONE TO RETURN! And had completely buried that memory until you said this!!
omg that's wild!!
We don't have the same taste in horror and thrillers most of the time but I still like watching you. 😃
I hated both Penpal and Little Heaven both so boring. I also DNFed Little Heaven too. 😃
I would recommend the catacombs by Jeremy Bates
Yes, it was weird, thinking back but I remember doing it in 1st grade, in 1987, it was a different time 😊
In defense of the Dahmer series, that show stands out from other true crime shows because it immediately shifts to being about the victims and their story and how it impacted people in the neighborhood, Jeffrey's family, the victims' family etc. It was so different to me in that way than other true crime things. But I totally agree it's so messed up how glamorized serial killers are to an extent!
Gabby reading horror books for those of us who can't handle it, aka me. 😄
Did you put a duvet inside the duvet cover?
Oh gosh I dnf’ed Penpal, I actually really didn’t like the writing style in that one 😅 I didn’t find any new book to read but your horror vlogs are still my favourite to watch and I cannot wait for part 2 💜
Aww I thought they did a decent job with My Best Friend’s Exorcism!
I saw the movie for The Ritual and really liked it!!!!
You're my favorite book vlog will definitely sign up for your Patreon, do you read science fiction and epic fantasies?
The novel version of Penpal was hard to get into, it had a vague and overly descriptive narration style, I gave up with impatience in the first chapter. But, I found the original shorter, and more to-the-point version on reddit. This story was definitely chilling. Also depressing and sad, especially because an entire family was ruined because the protagonist's mother would not share their experience/what she knew with anyone. I couldn't come to terms with how a family was completely victimized, just for being friends with the protagonist's family, unawares till the end of the background information.
Try Off Season by Jack Ketchum!
I'm nervous about extreme horror but I kind of want to try it??
Same! I think Gone to see the River Man might be a good place to start?
Neville new book is the Vessel. Nevill has movies on RUclips. 2 I believe one is the Ritual
So sad my library doesn’t have gone to see the river man and it’s not on Libby for my library. Interested in what other horror books you read this month!
I LOVE Adam Nevill's ideas and concepts. But I struggle with his executions. His characters are often one note and hard to tell apart, and his books are way longer than they need to be. It's so frustrating because I love the premises of his stories and he has a few scenes that he successfully irked me (aka The Reddening, THAT scene haha). I have a difficult relationship with his work.
It’s funny. Some writers who write the darkest shit are the nicest people. My husband is an editor and we go to literary conferences a lot. We had dinner with Adam Neville once, among other people, and he was a super nice guy. In the case of the Ritual I would say strokes for folks. I enjoyed the movie.
Very sad to hear you didn’t like Little Heaven. It was one of my fav books of 2023 and couldn’t put it down.
Please look at City of Masks by Daniel Hecht. Such a good ghost story, haunted house, ghost hunter story!
Great vlog👻🪦🦇📚☕🪴🎃🍁🍂🍁
I’ve never even heard of any of these books 👀
I've never heard of two of them lol, The Ritual and Little Heaven
As odd as this is going to sound… I had no trouble reading HOUSE OF LEAVES. Understood it, comprehended HOL but THEN there is PENPAL. Zoooom right over my head, but I never make it past the beginning really and I’m thinking like Gab, what in the world. Maybe I just need to push in further for me to get hooked and understand.
Yeah the beginning of Penpal was a little hard to get through haha 😅 only the first chapter was like that for me though
@@gabbyreads I think after watching your video on Penpal and this reply, I am going to read this book all the way because it does have high ratings and of course you have said it does get better, so I know it will be GOOD. Thank you
Hi Gabby!
Have you read Psycho? It's very good, I think you're going to like it ;)
Hope you loved Bros! It made my little gay heart happy 😊
It was so good!! I loved it 🥰💕
@@gabbyreads my boyfriend and I did too!🥹
I just read Little Heaven. I struggled and did not enjoy it. It should’ve been half the length with much more focus. It was all over the place.
Zombie Joyce carol oates ... the road cormac m c carthy, also im reading The Butcher and just checked out the ritual from my library 😊 have a good day 👋
Have you read "The Bloody Chamber" by Angela Carter yet?
Sorry for this question but, i'm french and i often heard english people say the "N words" but i don't know what is it ? ^^'
I Think N means black people calling niggers! I'm from Croatia but I think that's it!
i dnf’d little heaven too
I miss all your romance reading vlogs
I am definitely into watching and true crime, but I didn’t feel like Dahmer needed to be made. I like documentaries but I agree, glamorizing serial killers doesn’t need to happen.
Did you ever just read the last chapter, or last few pages of a book that you decided to DNF?
I usually don’t, but sometimes I do if I’m super curious 😌
I was curious to ask if your still playing royal match. I'm on like level 629 ❤️😅
Please checkout the brain drips yellow by Burn Moor !!
Well, on the good side, The Ritual is only about 90 minutes. It was OK, but not my favorite. I think Penpal sounds like a 100 times better book.