The Experiment in Terror series by Karina Halle is a book we think about a lot during the Fall. It has the perfect aesthetic! For Halloween it is the perfect horror romance full of ghosts and legends and all other kinds of paranormal weirdness. And it has that slightly melancholy breathlessness of Autumn. Where everything is dying off, ready to renew again in Springtime. It also has a romance that manages in equal parts to thrill me and frustrate me and leave me physically unable to tear myself away from the page. Unless I am hiding behind the nearest available cushion as it’s on a scary part!

experiment-in-terror-series-guide

In this guide the Experiment in Terror series we are going to cover everything you need to know no matter where you are in the reading process. Perhaps you’ve read it already and want to see who we imagine as the key character. If so, check out our fantasy cast. Uncertain whether it’s your cup of tea? Have a quick peek at the series synopsis, it will give you the jist of the series without giving anything away. Or perhaps you aren’t sure which novella or book comes next? Well, we have the Experiment in Terror series reading order laid out for you.

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Series Synopsis

A (very) mature new adult urban fan­tasy series that is scary, sexy and relat­able, filled with the super­nat­ural and things that go bump in the night.

In a large, flaky nut­shell, the Exper­i­ment in Ter­ror Series is an eight-part sci-fi/fantasy/horror series that revolves around a pair of ghost hunters. Well, aspir­ing ghost hunters, any­way. After film­ing a creepy expe­ri­ence in her uncle’s dilap­i­dated light­house, 22-year old Perry Palomino becomes a YouTube and inter­net star overnight. She attracts the atten­tion of Dex Foray, a pro­ducer and cam­era­man for a site that spe­cial­izes in var­i­ous webisodes, who con­vinces her to be a host for a low-budget ghost hunt­ing series. The only prob­lem is, nei­ther Perry or Dex are entirely “with it” — I mean, they see ghosts, after all.

And when the duo isn’t wrestling with their very notion of real­ity, they’re grap­pling with a work­ing rela­tion­ship that’s deep-cut with sex­ual ten­sion. As the series moves on, lead­ing Perry and Dex to new locales and super­nat­ural sit­u­a­tions, their lives become more and more inter­twined, where they dis­cover that ghosts aren’t the only things that can haunt them.

Excerpt from Karina Halle’s Experiment in Terror series website.

Read Experiment in Terror if you like…

  • Horror romance
  • Ghosts and ghouls
  • A romantic relationship full of sexual tension with a will-the-won’t-they vibe
  • Some creepy and scary moments
  • A plus sized heroine
  • Age gap – the heroine is early 20s, hero is early 30s

Our thoughts on the Experiment in Terror series

The month of August 2013 will forever remain the month that the Experiment in Terror series by Karina Halle took over our lives’. We couldn’t rest until we had consumed every single book in the series; we were women possessed. The whole month went by with all our texts focussed entirely on the Experiment in Terror series. To give a flavour of the texts in question…

“OMG have you gotten to this part yet…”
“I can’t BELIEVE Dex/Perry did that…”
“Hands off bitch, Dex is mine!”

We couldn’t help it! Karina Halle has done a fantastic job of wrapping horror and romance together in a terrifying and sexy package then throwing it at us for our delight and enjoyment. There are some genuinely scary and creepy moments in these books. In fact, there were points in these books where I had to put them down, take a deep breath, remind myself that ghosts aren’t real, then go back in.

Then there were moments when our hero or heroine, Dex or Perry, had done something that made me wanna sigh like a teenager or throttle them for acting like teenagers. I had to put the book down and take a few moments to calm myself down for that as well! The Experiment in Terror series engages your attention and sucks you in. Even when you are annoyed at the characters, you still have to read on! And I loved it. Dex and Perry are human and make very human mistakes making them feel real and relatable.

For more of me gushing about this series, check out recommendation post: Horror Romance: Experiment in Terror series by Karina Halle

Reading Order

1. Darkhouse | Our review

2. Red Fox | Our review

2.5. The Benson | Our review

3. Dead Sky Morning

4. Lying Season

5. On Demon Wings

5.5. Old Blood

5.7. The Dex Files

6. Into the Hollow

6.5. And With Madness Comes the Light

7. Come Alive

8. Ashes to Ashes

9. Dust to Dust

9.5. Ghosted

10. Come Back Haunted

11. In The Fade

The races you’ll find in the series

Every book is so unique. You never know what kind of horrifying mystery Dex and Perry will be looking into next.

There is so much to look forward to in the series. As well more sexual tension than you can shake a stick at, brilliant one liners and emotional moments that rip your tear ducts wide open there are also the monsters. Lots and lots of monsters. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the Experiment in Terror series is fully of the evil-Casper types, although they appear in terrifying and twisted abundance. Karina Halle also explores other monsters that may lurk under our covers (hehe see what I did there?!). So here is a glimpse of the creatures you can expect to pop up in the series ready to scare you into sleeping with the lights on.

We all know what ghosts are, right? Well kind of. There is a lot of lore about ghosts and hauntings in books and on the internet. And that’s just the written word, you then have TV programmes, films and documentaries as well. But, what everyone seems to agree on is that ghosts are the spirit of the living who stayed on this plane of existence for a variety of different reasons, mainly focused on unfinished business. In the context of the Experiment in Terror series that unfinished business is generally deadly and terrifying! Because that’s the case we recommend that you keep your salt/holy water/silver depending on hand! You never know you may need it.

Unlike ghosts the information on Skinwalkers is quite specific and comes from Native American culture. A Skinwalker is a man or a woman who through supernatural powers can turn themselves into an animal. This is generally done by using the pelt of the animal they wish to transform into. According to the Navajo the witches able to do this are evil and derive power from the terror they inspire in others. Another power a Skinwalker has is the ability to possess your body if you look them directly in the eyes. A Skinwalker is definitely not the sort of person you would like to run into! But, if you do just make sure you have a bullet dipped in white ash as this could be the only way to kill them.

Oh my, Demons. Where do we begin? Are they fallen angels? Twisted spirits? Or maybe they are something else entirely. But, what is interesting to know is that originally demons (or daimons) weren’t evil at all. The ancient Greeks believed daimons were spirits or divine powers with no malevolence implied at all. In fact it was the opposite. Of course, this was very much lost in translation and now there are so many different origins and legends about demons. The legends will depend on what part of the world you live in and what religion you ascribe to. It would be impossible to relay them all to you here, but it is fascinating to read about.

They wantsss your brainsss! According to zombies they are good eats. What are zombies? Popular culture has them as human beings that have risen from their graves to come back and snack on your cranium. A zombie is grotesque and mindless, walking at a slow shuffle yet somehow are always just a step behind you. We can have two routes for zombies.

Route one. It’s a virus! Humankind have unleashed a their own destruction in their pursuit of knowledge. An experiment goes wrong and unleashes a supervirus on the world that has the dead rising and snacking on the living.

Route two. Zombies are merely the puppets of a witch or magic practitioner. The zombie itself has no mind of its own and is merely a weapon in witchy hands. The most well documented zombie lore I could find was in African culture and related to Vodou where a bokor (a sorcerer) can raise the dead. H

There is one thing I know for sure: no matter what the route is, I certainly don’t want to be on the menu!

Fantasy Cast

Fantasy Cast-Dex Foray-experiment-in-terror

Dex Foray

Age: 32
Profession: Ghost Hunter/Cameraman/Producer on the internet series Experiment in Terror
Medical History: He is on meds for seeing things that aren’t supposed to be there. He practically rattles when he walks. If you throw in mood swings and a very chequered past he is the poster boy for poor mental health.
Appearance: 5’7″, dark hair and dark eyes. Dex isn’t typically handsome, but he is very compelling
Fantasy Cast: Daniel Bruhl

fantasy-cast-experiment-in-terror-Perry Palamino

Perry Palomino

Age: 22
Profession: Receptionist….Daydreamer….soon to be TV presenter of the internet series Experiment in Terror
Medical History: She has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, You can add in a dash of crazy dreams and a tendency to see things other people can’t. Low self esteem due to perceived weight issues and her general weirdness
Appearance: Long dark hair and blue eyes, short and curvy. Her fasion choices usually involve leggings and band t-shirts
Fantasy Cast: Kat Dennings

Max jacobs-fantasy-cast-experiment-in-terror

Maximus “Max” Jacobs

When we meet him: Red Fox (Experiment in Terror #2)
Profession: Ghost Whisperer
How do we know him? Max is an old friend of Dex’s. He used to be in Dex’s band Sing Swing Sinatra. Max always shows up at the right (or wrong) time and there may be more to him than meets the eye.
Appearance: Max is big and broad with fiery red hair
Fantasy Cast: Toby Stephens

Ada-Palomino-fantasy-cast-experiment-in-terror

Ada Palomino

Profession: Ada is still in school and she runs a very popular fashion blog
Who is Ada? Ada is the younger sister of Perry. She doesn’t seem to have inherited any of her elder sisters paranormal talents, but who knows what can happen in the future?
Appearance: Ada is slim with long blonde hair and an awesome fashion sense
Fantasy Cast: Elle Fanning

Jennifer-experiment-in-terror-fantasy-cast

Jennifer

Profession: Jennifer is one of the two presenters of the successful internet show called Wine Babes. Wine Babes pair cheap wines with cheap meals and fast food
How do we know Jennifer? At the start of the Experiment in Terror series Jen is Dex’s girlfriend. They met Wine Babes as Dex used to be the cameraman and producer
Appearance: Jen is tall, blonde, svelte and beautiful. And damn does she know it.
Fantasy Cast: Diane Kruger

Rebecca-fantasy-cast-expeirment-in-terror

Rebecca Sims

Profession: Rebecca is one of the two presenters of the successful internet show called Wine Babes. Wine Babes pair cheap wines with cheap meals and fast food
Relationship History: Rebecca is a lesbian and has just started a new relationship. She is all loved up and head over heels
Appearance: Dark hair, with a wicked 50s style, always perfectly dressed and perfectly made up.
Fantasy Cast: Sophie Ellis Baxter

Have we convinced you yet to give this series a try?


Updated on 15 September 2022