LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH: LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATION IN YOUNG ADULT (YA) HORROR FICTION

In the UK February 2023 is LGBT+ History Month, an event founded in 2004 which aims at increasing awareness in schools. You can find out more about it here:
https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk 

To coincide with this important series of events we have re-examined all our old YA reviews (and a few still not yet published) to highlight novels which have LGBTQ+ characters and themes. Schools OUT sets a different theme every year and whilst the 2023 is connected to cinema and film, we are concentrating on teen horror.
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If you were to flip back a decade or longer LGBTQ+ representation in YA horror fiction was tiny and I would have struggled to make a list a fraction this size. Thankfully, times have changed and there is a steadily increasing array of LGBTQ+ characters, which are naturally written into plots with their sexuality either being a key part of the storyline or they are simply accepted for being gay within the context of the plot without much further comment. Both particular styles of LGBTQ+ representation are great and it is fantastic that the stereotypes associated with such characters which were common in earlier decades have been left in the past where they belong.

There are some amazing books listed below (alphabetically by author) and many top YA writers from the LGBTQ+ world are featured. They the novels are YA (rather than Middle Grade) and are aimed at teens of varying ages. Do get in touch about omissions which can be factored into future articles.

Alison Ames: To Break a Covenant
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Page Street Kids

I went into To Break a Covenant expecting yet another supernatural thriller about teenage witches. A trope which has been truly flogged to death over the years, but this absolute cracker of a debut totally broke that particular mould and was so much more, with the four teenage girls in this novel being bound to a covenant of friendship. The dynamics of the four, initially Clem (the narrator) and Nina, who later welcome Lisey into their group, before finally Piper whose arrival is the driving force behind this very clever, but beautifully restrained, supernatural thriller. Clem narrates the action as the girls approach the end of high school, she is gay, but her sexuality does not play a major part in the story as her friendship group expands from two to four. There was a certain innocence to the group and I found the friendship part of the story very convincing, with the supernatural angle about a haunted mine, which has made their town Moon Basin a tourist centre for ghost hunters a fascinating backdrop.

The main story kicks off when Piper arrives, her father is an engineer who is going to be working stabilising the mine, but after a while begins to act weird. The three other girls have seen this type of behaviour before and realise the inhabitants (who or whatever they are) of the mine have got their hands into him. This was a terrific blend of supernatural and convincing teen drama with strong friendships, which climaxes with a bleak, but superb and moving ending. This was a winner all the way. 

​AGE RANGE 12+

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Rebecca Barrow – Bad Things Happen Here

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hot Key Books (28 Jun. 2022)

Rebecca Barrow’s dark thriller/drama Bad Things Happen Here, which is set on an island mainly populated by rich folks, is seen from the point of view of Luca Laine Thomas, who has struggled to get over the death of her best friend Polly Stern several years earlier. Luca believes there is a curse on the island and that there have been too many unsolved deaths of local teenagers.

Early in the novel Luca’s older sister Whitney dies and Luca begins her own investigation into whether this is connected to the earlier deaths. Meanwhile, Naomi moves into the house which was once owned by Polly’s family and the two girls become friends. Along the way there is a prominent LGBT+ storyline and the fact that Luca is mixed-race also has a part to play. Ultimately the story is about broken friendships, secrets, betrayals and half-truths which blend into a murder mystery, as the story hurtles towards the big reveal of who killed Whitney. I’m sure genuine teen readers will have a lot of fun with this book with the boozy parties and sexual tension which permeates the book. It was also nice to read a modern novel which did not have the characters having their noses in social media 24/7. 

​AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Emma Berquist Missing - Presumed Dead
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ GreenWilBk (27 Jun. 2019)

With a brief touch, Lexi can sense how and when someone will die in Emma Berquist’s second novel Missing Presumed Dead. To Lexi this is most definitely a curse and because of it she struggles to make friends, isolates, and spends much of her time alone.
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After Lexi foresees a brutal murder, but is unable to prevent it, the ghost of the dead girl repeatedly appears to Lexi and she feels she has more connections with the dead rather than those she lives with. The dead girl is also very beautiful and Lexi is more than happy to help the ghost solve her own murder as there is a strong attraction.  It was a nicely paced supernatural murder mystery with a natural LGBT+ element to the story which develops as the plot moves on.

​ AGE RANGE 12/13+.

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Tori Bovalino - Not Good for Maidens

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Titan Books; 1st edition (13 Sept. 2022)

Tori Bovalino follows her outstanding YA debut horror novel The Devil Makes Three with another deliciously captivating dark read. The story unfolds through two narratives told eighteen years apart, in the present-day Lou Wickett lives in Boston and is looking forward to the return of her aunt Neela, who is close to her in age and the pair are more like sisters. Lou lives with both her mother and her aunt, who have been keeping secrets from her regarding their joint history in York, where they come from a lengthy line of witches. The second narrative jumps back eighteen years to York where (aunt) May was the same age as Lou and was having a fun time in York, until she falls for another girl. The problem was the girl was not any old girl, she was a goblin and much of the novel concerns the weird relationship between humans and goblins in York.

I enjoyed both narratives, which both have great LGBT+ representation with Lou being asexual as well as her aunt being gay. Considering Lou has no idea she comes from a family of (former) witches she adapts very quickly when she realises to rescue her aunt she has to visit the Goblin Market herself. The story was a fine balance of clever characterisation and well-developed fantasy setting where to survive following the rules is vital and it was made even more believable that there is no indication that Lou will become a witch overnight. The romance in the historical setting had a Romeo and Juliet vibe and the idea that covens of witches might operate in plain sight was nicely portrayed. 

​AGE RANGE 13+

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Theresa Braun - Fountain Dead
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Unnerving (15 Nov. 2018)

Mark and his family relocate due to work reasons and he finds himself friendless and lonely in a big old house which right from the start gives him the creeps and feelings of unease. Crucial to the story, he is also becoming aware that he is gay. The sexual awakening part of the story is managed very well and is convincingly woven into the supernatural plot which spirals back to the early inhabitants of the house in the 1860s. Mark also has a dominating mother, and a little sister, both of which play an important part of creating a convincing family dynamic.
Although Fountain Dead is not a long book, I hope teen readers find the 1860s storyline set in the Civil War period concerning American Indians as engaging as the present-day sequence which takes place in 1988. Often in haunted house novels it is the location which dominates proceedings, but on this occasion I thought the central character Mark was the real highlight of the story. This thoughtful and entertaining ghost story has much to catch the eye of teens you enjoy character driven supernatural thrillers.  

​AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Adam Cesare – Clown in a Cornfield

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperTeen; Reprint edition (20 Jan. 2022)

I do love a ‘Final Girl’ story and main character Quinn Maybrook ticks many of the boxes when Clown in a Cornfield goes through the gears. This is truly a book of two halves in which the first establishes the plot with the story exploding in the second stanza. Upon arrival in the sleepy and remote small town of Kettle Strings (Missouri) Quinn and her father Doctor Glen Maybrook are quickly sucked into a white-knuckle ride where the action takes place over a single night. The LGBT+ storyline concerns one of the support characters and happens quietly in the background, although it does continue in the sequel Frendo Lives where the two boys are still a couple.


The clown part of the story is inspired by ‘Frendo’, the Baypen mascot, a creepy clown in a pork-pie hat which has been connected to the town for decades.  The clown action sequences were outstanding set pieces and are guaranteed to nail any teenage reader to the page as the body count spirals with the kids trapped and being hunted in the cornfields. This highly entertaining novel is loaded with old fashioned gore, unrelenting action and gleefully violent fun which is played out with a nice group of teenage characters.

​ AGE RANGE 13/14+

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​Darren Charlton – Wranglestone

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stripes Publishing (6 Feb. 2020)

In Darren Charlton’s excellent zombie love story Wranglstone the creatures are referred to as the ‘Restless Dead’. It might be a post-apocalyptic tale, but at heart it is also a love story between two boys who find each other in a novel which has its own clever take on the zombie myth. The ‘Wranglestone’ of the title is an excellent location for what is effectively a survival story set a generation or so after a zombie holocaust. Most people are dead and the story focusses upon a group of survivors who live on an island and follow very strict rules to survive. Early in the story everybody is edgy as when winter arrives, the lake will freeze and that will bring the Restless Dead to their doorsteps.

You could argue that Wranglestone is not a horror novel, for long periods the zombies are in the background, with the focus more on Peter and Cooper and their place in the community. The boys are very different with Cooper more outgoing and has the role as hunter and defender, showing Peter the ropes in how they go about defending their home.  I thought the story had excellent world-building, a credible backstory and was a unique take on the zombie yarn. It was also refreshing to read about a teenager who knew he was gay from the outset, there was no questioning or ambiguity, he had been attracted to Cooper since day one and that was that. 

​AGE RANGE 12/13+

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Darren Charlton – Timberdark (Wranglestone 2)

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stripes Publishing (6 Feb. 2020)

Timberdark continues the love story of Peter and Cooper which began in Wranglestone, picking up the story shortly after the events of book one. It would have been easy to have produced an action-packed sequel, but once again the author holds back on this and concentrates on the developing relationships and what happens when they begin to venture beyond the familiar boundaries of the wilds of Wranglestone and get deeper into the quirks and intensities of first love.
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Peter and Cooper head out looking for other survivors and end up staying in another community in which civilisation has begun to return. The novel concerns how Peter (gets a job in a cinema) and Cooper (labouring jobs) deal with this, making new friends and how this might fit into their developing relationship. The couple stuff dominated the book, probably too much so for some readers, and it took up significant chunk of the page-length. The other principal element concerned the mystery surrounding what Timberdark actually meant and what Cooper might know about this and whether there were secrets in their relationship. As an extension there was the fear of ‘returnees’ those who had been bitten, but were not zombies, in which there was a general distrust of. Charlton takes the book into ambitious directions and the result was an engaging take on the zombie story. 

​AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Kayla Cottingham - My Dearest Darkest
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Fire (16 Jun. 2022)

My Dearest Darkest is set in the prestigious arts school Ulalume Academy where strange things begin to happen. Events kick-off with Finch Chamberlin auditioning for a place in the school, on the way home there is a crash and both her parents drown after seeing a ghostly stag on the road. Finch survives, (or does she?) and when she later takes up her place at the school is very pale, has an irregular heartbeat, and has a weird supernatural connection to an entity which lurks in the caves under the buildings and seems to have the ability of granting wishes (but at what cost?)

The supernatural story is balanced with ‘mean girl’ style situations and the teen dynamics were a lot of fun.  The second narrative takes in Selena St. Clair, who is one of the most popular and bitchy girls on campus, after a music project pairs them together the two slowly click and a romance develops. Considering the two girls were very different, you might be surprised that the bisexual Selena was attracted to the mousy and quiet Finch. There was a fair bit of sexual angst and tension thrown into the story, underage drinking, partying with the supernatural story bubbling in the background.

​ AGE RANGE 13+

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Kayla Cottingham – This Delicious Death

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Fire (16 Jun. 2022)

Kayla Cottingham’s second novel concerns a tightknit group of older teenage girls who are in their final days of high school who head out on a road-trip to attend a desert music festival. The dynamics of this part of the novel played out as a blend of teen drama and comedy, with a major LGBT+ storyline and a snarky first-person narrative from one of the girls, Zoey. However, the second major plot was significantly more off-beat and moves from teen drama into bloody horror, but with a light breezy touch.

Partly told through convincing flashback, we find out that three years earlier the melting of the atmosphere, causing a small percentage of people to undergo a transformation that became known as the Hollowing. Those impacted slowly became intolerant to normal food and were only able to gain sustenance by consuming the flesh of humans. However, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy the hunger of those impacted by the Hollowing. The main characters (Zoey, Celeste, Valeria and Jasmine) are Hollows and have accepted they have to eat SynFlesh to survive. This Delicious Death was an odd blend of comedy, teen drama, romance, and horror thriller which although the tone misfired was a quirky imaginative tale that had LGBT+ storylines flowing naturally with the cannibalism! 

​AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Victoria Dalpe – Parasite Life

Publisher ‏ : ‎ ChiTeen (1 Feb. 2018)

The teen market is saturated with vampire novels, but Parasite Life sails miles above the pack, partly because the ‘teen-life’ sequences are so painfully believable, an isolated and lonely seventeen-year-old girl with no friends is horror enough. However, when the supernatural angle is filtered into the plot, it is done so cleverly and believably you are going to be sucked into a unique take on the vampire myth. Blend both story strands together, supernatural and teen angst, and you have an intoxicating and very feminine vampire tale. Jane is the novel’s powerful narrator and voice, who spends her time looking after her invalided mother who either cannot or refuses to talk to her and has an undiagnosed wasting illness.  However, early in a novel outgoing and vivacious Sabrina arrives at her school and life takes an amazing and exciting upturn.


There is a budding sexual attraction between the two girls which awakens something hidden in Jane and it takes the girls into some dark places as the novel progresses. These relationship scenes are a combination of sexy, sensual, sleazy and terrifically edgy writing as Jane discovers her hidden talents. This is a very mature YA novel which was originally published in 2016 and is slated for a long overdue 2023 rerelease. 

​AGE RANGE 14+

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Ryan Douglass – The Taking of Jake Livingstone

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Andersen Press (3 Mar. 2022)

The Taking of Jake Livingstone, the debut novel of Ryan Douglass, blends a supernatural story and thriller with a strong social thriller which focuses on the every-day trials of a gay Black sixteen-year-old boy. Jake sees dead people, being a medium who watches the dead play out their last moments over and over again, particularly if they were violent ends. On the back of this, the local community is beginning to recover from a mass shooting from another teenager whose ghost Jake begins to see. However, the ghost of the teen murderer Sawyer Doon does not behave like a normal ghost and begins to target Jake. But what does this particular ghost want? Jake has enough problems of his own and the last thing he needs is to be stalked by a restless spirit.

There was considerable depth to the non-supernatural part of the story, which touches on challenging subjects such as rape and institutional racism. Jake is one of the very few Black pupils to attend St. Clair Prep. and is self-conscious, feeling he always sticks out. Things look up when another Black boy joins the school and the pair hit it off. Before long we realise Jake is gay and this has caused problems within his family, also coming from a poor single parent family does not help his standing at school. Jake was a very engaging, well-drawn character, and the school scenes with Allister were very convincing, with the book working well as a high school teen drama. Jake is an unlikely hero, but he was extremely easy to like and teens should enjoy how his sexual identity is slowly revealed in the book and the moving way in which his brother reacts to it. 

​AGE RANGE 12+

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Helene Dunbar – The Promise of Lost Things

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Fire (1 Oct. 2022)

After finishing The Promise of Lost Things, I realised it continued a story started in Prelude for Lost Souls (2020) but it still read fine as a standalone story. The setting was outstanding, a strange small town called St. Hilaire, where everybody living there are mediums and make their money contacting the dead for tourists in holiday season. However, the town has its own weird rules, rituals and lives in its own bubble and has an odd relationship with the outside world. In the background there is a powerful Guild which pulls the strings and early on we are introduced to the ‘Rules of Conduct for Mediums’ and quickly we realise ghosts are indeed real as the main character spends most of his time with one!
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The Promise of Lost Things also has a convincing LGBT+ story which develops as things move on, but which never particularly dominates and was very naturally written into the story. The plot is told from three points of view, Russ, Asher and Willow. Russ is a medium of average power who sees the ghost of his dead boyfriend Ian (a powerful medium), Asher an outsider who is trying to understand the truth of the town and Willow a powerful medium who is a member of the Guild and has her own agenda. The novel twists around these various plotlines, with the friendship of Russ and Asher building and plotting nicely in the background. 

​AGE RANGE 13+

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Sara Farizan – Dead Flip

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Algonquin Young Readers ​

Dead Flip was a quirky teen drama with a supernatural vibe which attempts to tap into the nostalgia of the eighties and nineties through its two storylines which are told around five years apart (1987 and 1992). I would not necessarily call it a straight horror novel as it leaned heavily of teen drama, friendships and had an LGBT+ storyline in the 1992 narrative. The plot jumps backwards and forwards a fair bit and shows how kids can grow apart from being best friends at twelve, to blanking the former best friend in the school corridor five years down the line.
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In 1987 the three best friends do everything together, Cori, Maz and Sam, however, when they are twelve and out Halloween trick or treating Sam accuses Cori of spending time with ‘cooler’ kids and feels she is drifting away from the trio. After an argument Sam stomps off and disappears and although there are searches he is never seen again. In 1992 Cori and Maz are no longer friends, but Maz had never got over the loss of his friend until something truly out of this world happens, concerning the five years gone Sam. It is so bizarre Maz calls on his old friend Cori, who has her own problems having hidden her true gender identity. What follows is a blend of mystery, teen angst, friendship stuff, a taste of horror and a supernatural pinball machine! 

​AGE RANGE 12+

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Courtney Gould - The Dead and the Dark

Publisher ‏ : ‎ FIBS ​

The Dead and the Dark was a quirky combination of horror, dark thriller with a twist of gay teen romance thrown into the mix. The action takes place in the small Oregon town of Snakebite, where several teenagers have disappeared. Now attracting media attention, a team of ghosthunters from a popular TV show hit the town looking for answers and a big story, much of the novel revolves around Logan, who is the daughter of the presenter of ParaSpectors and is used to being dragged from place to place and fake haunting to haunting. But this time it is different….


Quite early in the action we realise that this is one of those towns where weird things happen, the weather is unpredictable, ghosts are real and that the town in buried in a layer of secrets. Beyond the secrets, there is something in the darkness and the town is the target or perhaps part of the problem. Although the book had plenty of engaging characters and Logan was a fun narrator as she struggles with girlfriend, dad and supernatural problems. 

​AGE RANGE 13+

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Mira Grant – Alien Echo

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Imprint 

Alien Echo is aimed at the YA audience and is set in the Alien universe created by Ridley Scott and developed by James Cameron. For much of the novel (unless you’re aware of the connection) you could be forgiven for not even noticing this was an addition to an iconic franchise. At a certain point, the creatures are described as having a mouth (within a month) and then the acid for blood is a give-away (but maybe not to a genuine teen reader).


Alien Echo was an entertaining YA science fiction horror which was set on the planet of Zagreus. The novel is seen from the point of view of a gay teenager Olivia who is the daughter of two distinguished xenobiologists. She has a twin sister, Viola, who has a serious medical condition which means she cannot go outside. In the early stages of the novel Olivia hooks up with Kora and things are going great, however, after her parents go on a routine expedition they bring something nasty back to the planet. Along the way there are friendship conflicts, family revelations, lots of killing and a battle for survival. You may well enjoy this better if you know nothing of the famous films it is inspired by it is a decent mix of teen drama and frantic action. 

​AGE RANGE 12+

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Andrea Hannah – Where Darkness Blooms

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wednesday Books

Andrea Hannah’s Where Darkness Blooms was a slow brooding atmospheric blend of supernatural thriller and intense family drama. The setting was outstanding, an isolated Kansas town eerie oozing with secrets (but no answers) where there are frequent weird goings on with very localised vicious storms and sunflowers which seem to be both alive and threatening. The supernatural element simmers in the background and it was interesting to see where it fitted into the main story of four teenage girls trying (and failing) to get over the disappearance of their three mothers (two of the girls are twins) two years earlier.
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Where Darkness Blooms focusses on the wreckage of how the teens deal with their loss and never give up their painful search. We have Delilah, who is dating Bennett, but there are intimacy issues, and the fact that one of the other girls, Jude, had an earlier summer fling with Bennett to complicate things. There is a very good LGBT+ storyline with Whitney both trying to recover from the death of her girlfriend six months earlier, whilst also attempting to move forward with somebody new. Finally, there is Bo who is desperate for answers and is sure the town locals are hiding something. Even though this was a thoughtful book, all the men and boys in it were painted too negatively, making it easy to see where it was heading (just blame the guys). 

​AGE RANGE 13+

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Christine Lynn Herman - The Drowning Summer
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Titan Books

Set on the small seaside town of Sand Dollar Cove, Long Island, The Drowning Summer revolves around two seventeen-year-old mediums Mina Zanetti and Evelyn Mackenzie who get wrapped up in a ritualistic three-year-old triple murder of three teenagers. The dark shroud of the unsolved killings still hangs over the town, with Evelyn’s father being one of the original prime suspects, but things quickly become much more complicated as the supernatural aspect of the plot thickens.
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A key part of the plot concerns the fact that the two girls are no longer friends, with the reason for their bust-up pivotal to the action. Mina’s mother is a skilled medium and does her best to put her daughter off further experimentation without supervision, but once she realises her former best friend (and very inexperienced medium) is once again messing around with the powers things really kick off with the prospect of a demon being set loose. This was a character driven and slightly angsty novel aimed at slightly older teens which never really throws the kitchen sink at the horror, showing restraint and a slow to develop supernatural feelings. There was also a prominent LGBT+ storyline as their on/off friendship moving into fresh territory. 

​AGE RANGE 14+   

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William Hussey – The Outrage
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Usborne Publishing Ltd

The Outrage explores a single-sex relationship in a sinister and scarily dystopian environment. The action is set in a near future version of Britain where gay relationships are banned and the government, the Protectorate, once seen as a loony fringe party enforce the ‘Public Good.’ This means that women must keep their hair from being too short, films which show positive gay relationships are banned and those who are gay have to keep it hidden, otherwise they will end up in a prison camp for reconditioning.
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To any teen reading this who has grown up in an era where homosexual people can marry and Pride is routinely celebrated, both the foreword by Jay Hulme and the afterword by Bill Hussey are essential reading. They put it into context and make it clear that the equality LGBT+ currently have in the UK has not always been that way and is hard earned, with Hussey recalling ‘Section 28’ which made the promotion of homosexual activities illegal when he was growing up. The story focusses on two gay teenagers Gabriel and Eric and tells their story in tandem, ‘before’ and ‘after’ whilst they try to live in a society where being homosexual is a crime. The scariest thing about the book was how real if felt, with some sections feeling eerily familiar, or still practiced in many countries. AGE RANGE 13+

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Justine Ireland – Dread Nation
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Titan Books ​

During the American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, the dead begin to walk and suddenly both sides of the bloody conflict realise there is a new enemy to fight. This stunning novel picks up the story fifteen years later, with the Civil War effectively abandoned. When Dread Nation opens many cities in the east of the country of already been lost to the plague and there is now a Thirteenth Amendment that ensures there is still no equality between white and black people who are still severely downtrodden, a key recurring theme throughout the story. Slavery still exists and the world-building around this is incredibly well thought out.


On one level Dread Nation is a convincing alternative history zombie horror novel, but it is much more than that, having much to say about race, equality and gender. It also has both a beautiful and memorable voice, being narrated in the first person by fifteen-year-old Jane McKeene who is Black and is used as a virtual slave as a type of bodyguard (called Attendants) to a white woman. Jane is a funny, sassy, proud and terrific LGBT+ character whom you will be rooting for all the way. The sequel Deathless Divide continues the story.  

​AGE RANGE 13+

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E. Latimer – Witches of Ash and Ruin

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown Books

E. Latimer’s Witches of Ash and Ruin is set in rural Ireland and central character seventeen-year-old Dayna is training to be a witch. She is part of a local witch’s coven, who effectively hide in plain sight, and her religiously strict father has no idea of her hidden life. The story is told in five different voices, the others being her ex-boyfriend Samuel and two other young trainee witches from another coven, Meiner and Cora. The two covens band together, with a lot of distrust and friction, whilst attempting to solve the murder of another local witch, with the killer being the fifth narrative. Dayna is also coming to terms with the fact she is bisexual, and sparks fly when there is obvious attraction between her and Meiner.


Everything moved along at a decent pace and is connected to a serial killer who may have murdered many times in the past.  Witches of Ash and Ruin was a light and breezy mythological fantasy novel with an authentic taste of rural Ireland.

​ AGE RANGE 13+

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Claire Legrand – Sawkill Girls

Publisher ‏ : ‎ KTegenBks

Sawkill Girls was hyped as a feminist horror novel and although it was very slow-moving strong readers might will surely engage with the three leading teenage teenagers. Set on an American island, Sawkill Rock, where girls routinely disappear, killed by an ancient creature which gets stronger as the novel progresses and after each meal. The story revolves around three girls, who are not exactly friends, but have to fight to survive and along the way develop strange powers which they can use against the monster.
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The teen issues part of the novel worked very well, tackling issues such as friendship, self-harming and sexuality, however, the creature itself did not quite have the same impact. This was an atmospheric, challenging, and eerie assertion of female strength against the odds and an ancient powerful evil. In the end Sawkill Girls was a clever balance of thoughtful spine-chilling horror story and part coming-of-age lesbian romance. 

​AGE RANGE 14+

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Sarah Glenn Marsh – The Girls Are Never Gone

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Razorbill

Dare Chase is the seventeen-year-old host of a brand-new paranormal investigation podcast and is pinning her aspirations on the fact that she is just about to intern at Arrington Estate which is supposed to be haunted by a drowned teen. Dare was a very engaging lead character, speaking in the first person, making it clear from the outset that she does not believe in ghosts. However, not long after arriving at the house strange things begin to happen as the teen digs into the history of the house and the podcast begins to pick up interest. Much of the focus of the supernatural element of the story surrounds the late, the previous drowning, and the uncovering of other skeletons in the closet.
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Dare Chase was a great lead character, suffering from Type 1 Diabetes she has to monitor her health constantly and early in the novel connects with another intern, Quinn. The developing relationship of the two girls was very nicely judged, with Dare accepting that she was bisexual. The book was populated entirely with female characters and the development of the podcast was another interesting facet of the book. The supernatural story advances as the novel progresses and is much more convoluted that you might think from the start.

​ AGE RANGE 12/13+

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Kate Alice Marshall – These Fleeting Shadows
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking Books for Young Readers ​

These Fleeting Shadows is another complex read from the outstanding Kate Alice Marshall which blends the supernatural, dark family drama, LGBT+ love story and twister of a thriller. Helen Vaughan’s grandfather dies and she returns with her mother to the expansive ancestral home of Harrowstone Hall for the funeral where she discovers she is the major beneficiary in the will. However, to claim the fifty million inheritance and estate she must live in the house for a year, without leaving the grounds and function as ‘Mistress’ to the house.

The novel is built around the fact that this is no normal house and the supernatural ‘The Other’ which resides inside. Helen also has visions connected to a troubled childhood which is connected to her complex family history. The story concerns Helen’s year in the house as she negotiates the family members, some of which want her to succeed and other see her fail. However, it is much more convoluted than that as the house is intrinsically a part of the family and soon Helen finds herself getting deeper into a supernatural family drama, not to mention the witch she befriends who lives on the grounds. Although the book might be too slow for some and does not rely on jump scares or violence more discerning and mature readers and guaranteed to be sucked into its intoxicating revelations, intense relationships and drama.

​ AGE RANGE 14+

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Caroline O’Donoghue – All Our Hidden Gifts

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Walker Books

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Caroline O’Donoghue’s impressive debut All Our Hidden Gifts is an enticing blend of teen and supernatural drama set around an Irish private school. The main strength of this novel was the convincing teen voice of Maeve Chambers who finds herself in the shadows of her elder and more talented siblings and also very lonely due to a terrible argument with her former best friend Lily the previous year. Maeve’s psychological state is crucial to the success of the story and she finds herself drifting along aimlessly until she finds a deck of tarot cards in the basement of the school. Not knowing anything about them, she starts fooling around with the pack and soon begins to give scarily accurate readings to the girls in her class.
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However, after discovering another new card in the deck that definitely shouldn’t be there, her ex-best friend disappears after a reading develops into an argument. She realises her ability might have had something to do with the disappearance and begins to investigate. For the most part All Our Hidden Gifts keeps the supernatural element of the story on the backburner and this story could easily be enjoyed by teens who never read that sort of thing. Along the way there is also a very convincing and thoughtful LGBT+ secondary storyline connected to Lily’s brother Roe which many readers will also connect with regarding coming out. 

​AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Aden Polydoros: The City Beautiful
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Inkyard Press

The City Beautiful was a fascinating read and a supreme blend of historical and horror fiction, with a vividly drawn and immersive setting. Alter Rosen is a Romanian Jewish immigrant living in Chicago, 1893 whilst his mother and sisters are still in his homeland. His English language skills are limited, works as a runner for a newspaper, and sticks predominately to the familiar large Jewish community. This was a very mature YA novel and younger readers may struggle with the level of detail, but for those looking for a challenge there was much to admire in an incredibly assured debut novel.  The Beautiful City even has a glossary as many Jewish words are used and I found myself enjoying the immersion of cultural facts dropped by the author which added another very convincing level to the story.

The horror element of the story also has a strong connection in Jewish culture or folklore. After the murder of Alter’s friend Yakov, he agrees to watch the body, as their faith dictates, but believing he saw it move touches the corpse. This breaks a burial custom which leads him to believe he is possessed by a spirit called a ‘dybbuk’ which is connected to the dead man. The story also takes in sexuality, as Alter is gay, which he is obviously kept quiet and when an old friend reappears proceedings get even more complex. The Beautiful City was a multi-faceted and very clever tale which adults could read without genuinely realising was aimed at teens. The blend of the Jewish story, the supernatural and sexuality were perfectly pitched and dropped into a superb 19th century setting which shimmered with realism and vibrancy.   

​AGE RANGE 14+

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Rory Power - Wilder Girls

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan Children's Books

Wilder Girls begins eighteen months into a quarantine in which the Raxter School for Girls has been cut off from the rest of the world. Because it’s set on an island, once a weird illness called the ‘Tox’ begins to manifest, keeping the girls isolated on a corner of the island is not too difficult. However, the government airdrop in minimal food and switch off the telephones and internet and the reader soon realise something truly fishy, or some kind of conspiracy, is going on. Because the school only has girls there are several intense differing LGBT+ relationships, a couple of which are very intense, especially against the bigger picture of the Tox.

The ‘Tox’ can lead to strange body altering manifestations such as developing a second spine, or an eye closing over, bits of anatomy fall off or grow in weird ways….. Over the eighteen months many girls have died and as the promised cure has failed to materialise the ‘Tox’ forces the girls to go to extremes to survive. The story is seen from three rotating perspectives Hetty, Reese and Byatt who have complex relationships and friendships with each other. Wilder Girls was a highly creative read which I’m sure teenagers will get sucked right into the successful blend the troubled teenage psych and extreme situations. 

​AGE RANGE 13+

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Julia Lynn Rubin - Primal Animals

Publisher ‏ : ‎ St Martin's Press ​

When Primal Animals kicks off sixteen-year-old Arlee Gold is arriving at Camp Rockaway, an elite summer program in a remote part of the North Carolinian wilderness which combines academic catch-up with outdoor pursuits, bonding and college networking. Outsider Arlee is quickly sucked into a secret society with terrifying and deadly consequences. The novel is told via Arlee’s first-person narrative and we quickly realise she has a lot of quirks and issues. Struggling at school, her successful mum and alumni of Camp Rockaway, hopes the summer will help Arlee shake off her phobia of insects, meet new friends and act as inspiration for college applications.

Arlee’s integration into the camp is nicely managed, the early stages concentrate on her personal insecurities, panic attacks, suspicions and sexuality, when she finds herself attracted to one of her cabinmates. There were some nice suspenseful moments along the way, such as why was Arlee’s mum spoken about in such hushed tones? All of which added to the rising paranoia regarding what was going on in the background. Ultimately Primal Animal was all about a teenage girl finding her voice with a natural LGBT+ story written into the plot. 

​AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Ryan La Sala – The Honeys

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic

Ryan La Sala’s The Honeys has a terrific opening twenty pages which the plot eventually circles back to. Marshall “Mars” Matthias is at home getting ready for bed, when his twin sister appears unexpectedly and attacks him, there is a struggle and she is killed when she falls backwards. As the family is both rich and influential the exact circumstances of Caroline’s death are hushed up and of course Mars is wracked with guilt for the accidental part he played in her death. As it is narrated in the first person we get a good sense of who seventeen-year-old Mars, a gender-fluid gay boy who is beginning to get comfortable with his own identity. Mars generally uses the ‘he’ pronoun but is also happy with ‘she’ or ‘they’ and his sexuality plays a significant part in the story and along the way makes very natural observations about makeup and the issues he has faced since becoming gender fluid.

The story revolves around Mars trying to find out what led to his sister to fall apart in his bedroom. This takes him to the prestigious Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy where she was staying, a camp he had previously stayed in when he was younger but was excluded because of his sexuality. Mars takes up Caroline’s place at the camp and gets to know her clique of best friends known as ‘The Honeys’ as their cabin is close to the beehives. Because of his sexuality, and the fact that he is the twin of their former friend, he is soon accepted into the group. Proceedings then blend into a complex teen drama, coupled with Mars having both visions and flashbacks which might shed light upon what happened to his sister. 

​AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Laura Stevens – The Society for Soulless Girls
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Electric Monkey

The split first-person narrative of ‘Lottie’ and ‘Alice’ was one of my favourite features of The Society Soulless Girls which is set in the elite Carvell College of the arts, with the supernatural aspect kept simmering nicely on the backburner for the first half of the book. As both girls were eighteen or nineteen and old enough to drink, it was nice to read a story with a slightly older college setting instead of the much more common boarding school.

The story starts not long after the college has reopened after a ten-year closure due to a series of murders for which nobody was ever caught. Sporty Lottie will be studying English and also hopes to investigate the decade old murders due to an old family connection. She is roommates with Alice who is studying Philosophy and although Lottie tries to be friends Alice rebuffs her, seeing her as a sporty airhead. The split narrative highlights how different the two girls are and the dynamics between the pair is the highlight of the novel. Alice dabbles in something dodgy which eventually leads to ‘The Society for Soulless Girls’ and things spike when there is a fresh murder. Along the way there is a major LGBT+ story fitted naturally into the story which is hinted at early on and becomes more prominent as the story moves on. AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Deirdrie Sullivan – Perfectly Preventable Deaths

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hot Key Books

Perfectly Preventable Deaths was a quirky read which has much to offer older teenagers taking in first love, Irish folklore, superstition, and dark magic. Sixteen-year-old twins Madeline and Catlin move from Cork City to the mountainous and very rural village of Ballyfrann, in the Galway area of Ireland. Their mother has remarried after the death of their father and their new home is a ram shackled castle. Never far away, perhaps too close for comfort, is a distant cousin of their stepfather who is apparently a witch. Nobody really talks about what she is capable of doing, but in the background lurks a sinister story of the disappearance and murder of many teenage girls from the local area. This bothers Maddie much more than her more outgoing sister Catlin.

On one level Perfectly Preventable Deaths is a story of two very different teenage girls whom for the most part support each other. Narrated by the reserved Maddie, who makes friends with a local girl who is believed to be gay, with her sister setting her sights on one of the local boys whom Maddie does not particular trust. Teenagers reading this will need to be patient, it takes its time introducing elements of witchcraft, earthy magic and folk horror, none of which particularly dominates the story, but this rather odd book is well worth staying the course for. Recommended for teenagers who enjoy a thoughtful read of dark magic and teen life.  

​AGE RANGE 14+

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Krystal Sutherland: House of Hollow

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hot Key Books

One of the great strengths of House of Hollow was the fact that the reader was, for most of the time, unsure whether there was something otherworldly going on or not. It was obvious from the outset that the family the story revolved around was peculiar, but the contemporary private school setting in Hampstead north London, grounded the action in the world of today. The novel is narrated by the youngest of three sisters Iris (the others being Vivi and Grey) and even she admits that odd things can happen around them, but kind of shrugs it off as the biproduct of being a ‘Hollow Sister’. Although the primary focus of the story is Iris, Vivi provides great LGBT+ representation, is bisexual and prides herself in picking up woman with ease and plays guitar in a band.

Whether Iris Hollow has special powers or is just plain weird is for the reader to find out, however, as a narrator she seriously crackles and gives House of Hollow a very authentic teenage voice. The reason the sisters are ‘special’ is because ten years earlier the three vanished into thin air, only to reappear a month later, with no memory of where they had been. Early in the novel the story takes a fascinating direction when, once again, Grey disappears, but leaves clues to where she might be only her sisters can decipher. The story then moves into the realms of dark fairy tales and folklore, without ever playing to the stereotypes you often get in this brand of YA novel. Make sure you hang in there for a terrific ending.

​ AGE RANGE 13+

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Rosie Talbot – Sixteen Souls

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic

Sixteen Souls is the engaging debut of Rosie Talbot and although there is nothing particularly new about the plot (a teenager sees ghosts) it has considerable heart and a central character who had major problems, including a serious disability. Sixteen Souls also features a teenager who has not yet come out as gay to his family. Although his sexuality is a key part of the story it does not dominate it, because sixteen-year-old Charlie Firth lives in York, which is known to be the most haunted city in the world. This is made worse by the fact that Charlie is a ‘Seer’ meaning he can see dead people and they can see him, they can also hurt him. The way the supernatural story was a nice blend of horror and urban fantasy with Charlie trying to live his life as normally as possible, seeing his gift as more of a curse.
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The story is built around the fact that Charlie realises ghosts are vanishing from the places he usually sees them. Soon Charlie meets Sam Harrow, who is new to the area and also both a Seer and gay. What follows is a gentle, cute, romantic story which is nicely blended with the supernatural search for the missing ghosts and the dark purpose behind these disappearances. Lurking in the background is vivid worldbuilding and the spooky version of York created by the author is top notch and helps develop the mystery element of the story. Sixteen Souls was a highly entertaining queer take on the story of a sensitive young man, who is pushed far out of his comfort zone, who also happens to see dead people and the bizarre challenges that brings.

​ AGE RANGE 13+

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J.A. St. Thomas - Brain Damage

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Brain Damage features a troubled teen is struggling to get over the death of his elder brother three years earlier and there is a certain amount of survivor’s guilt as Desmond was in the car with his brother when he lost his life. He almost died himself and is still receiving long-term treatment for a serious brain injury which has had serious psychological side-effects. Desmond is also gay, and the issue of sexuality is cleverly and realistically threaded through the novel.
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After a drunken party Desmond believes he sees the ghost of a teenage girl, which is impossible because he saw the same girl at the party. From that moment on we have a clever and very well written horror/thriller story, as we're never quite sure how damaged Desmond is. The story flips back to when his brother was still alive and other friends are thrown into the mix in what was ultimately a very satisfying teen horror novel. 

​AGE RANGE 13+

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Aiden Thomas – Cemetery Boys

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan

Yadriel, a trans teenager, is the main character of Cemetery Boys, who comes from a lengthy line of ‘brujos’ which is the Latin American term for ‘witch’. Due to Yadriel’s sexuality he has clashes with his family and issues of acceptance with other members of the Latin East Los Angeles community. His best friend is his cousin Maritza who is supportive of his situation and helps him in his quest to become a recognised brujo. To do so the pair perform a ritual to find the ghost of his murdered cousin, Miguel, however, something goes from and instead they raise the ghost of another recently murdered teenage boy. Following the surprise appearance of the ghost the plot takes in a few murders, family drama, sexuality, and romance, all of which is handled with a relatively light touch.  
 
It was nice to see a trans character take the lead role, even if the horror was very minimal, with the plot predominately dancing around the Latin supernatural angle and the personal situation of Yadriel. Ultimately, Cemetery Boys has a very positive message about diversity and accepting people for being themselves, also giving the readers an insightful look into the Latin American community and some of the issues trans teens might face.

​ AGE RANGE 13/14+  

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Vincent Tirado - Burn Down, Rise Up
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Fire 

Burn Down, Rise Up is a fascinating debut from Vincent Tirado set in the Bronx area of New York which nicely puts Black and Latino characters front and centre. It also has a convincing LGBT+ vibe with a gay lead character who has a crush on one of her oldest friends. The problem is her best friend (Aaron) also has a thing for the same girl, Charlize. The first half of the novel sets the teen scene and in the second things go full-blown supernatural. When the novel kicks off there have been a spate of disappearances which have been connected to a mysterious urban legend, a challenge called the Echo Game which soon sucks sixteen-year-old Raquel, Aaron and Charlize into its orbit, connecting to an alternative version of the Bronx from the 1970s.

A cousin of Charlize was also rumoured to have been playing the Echo Game, which leads to a mysterious Illness which Raquel’s mother catches. Looking for a cure and answers they have to play the game themselves, taking them to a sinister world beneath the city connected to a dark chapter in New York’s past. Raquel was a great central character and teen readers will have fun following her on her dangerous adventures in taking on the Slumlord, a nasty character who lurks in the shadows of the book. AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Vincent Tirado – We Don’t Swim Here
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Fire

Vincent Tirado follows their impressive debut Burn Down Rise Up with We Don’t Swim Here another entertaining supernatural thriller. Like with their debut, although predominately a teen high school chiller does contain elements of racial social commentary and strong LGBT+ representation. The story opens with Bronwyn being uprooted and moving from Illinois to a small town in Arkansas, where his grandmother is dying. The family intend to remain there for a year, with Bronwyn who is a gifted swimmer. We quickly realise this small town is pretty weird and has its own rituals and customs, which play a major part in the dynamics of the plot.

The story is presented as a split first-person narrative between Bronwyn and her cousin Anais, the girls were close when they were younger but have seen little of each other in recent years. Anais, of course, is aware of the local customs and rituals and does her best to watch out for her cousin, who as an outsider is a target. As both girls are Black the story also has a racial element, as the school and wider community is predominately white. Even though there were other unanswered questions We Don’t Swim Here was a catchy supernatural thriller with an unsettling small-town vibe. 

​AGE RANGE 13/14+   

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Trang Thanh Tran - She Is a Haunting
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury YA

She Is a Haunting was a fascinating novel aimed at older teens set in modern-day Vietnam. The narrator is seventeen-year-old Jade Nguyen who is American Vietnamese and a lot of the story deals with her internal conflict over how she sees herself. She does not speak fluent Vietnamese and when she visits the home of her family for the summer feels disconnected and less than. As the same time she has been hiding the fact that she is bisexual from her family and she is particularly concerned how her mother will react when she finds out. So even before we get to the supernatural element, the story has a major focus on Jade, who is also struggling with a messy relationship she left behind in America with another girl. Queer representation is excellent and readers who have personal struggles in coming out will be sure to identify with Jade’s internal monologue.
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Jade has a complex relationship with her family, she has been promised funding for college if she helps restore an old house in Vietnam her father has bought. However, the house has a dark history and at times inserts itself in the narrative and the story also dips into the colonial aspects of the house. Along the way a new romance develops, following the pattern you might expect in a coming-of-age novel. The haunting and the house had some good ideas with the use of insects and body parts, some of which was a bit gory. This was an ambitious and quite challenging novel which might make an impression on stronger readers looking for a thoughtful read, but it is definitely not for all tastes.

​ AGE RANGE 14+

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Kaitlin Ward – Bleeding Earth
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Adaptive Books

Bleeding Earth was a unique read which was a clever mix of apocalyptic, dystopia and an end of the world scenario cleverly played out through the eyes of a very spunky and likable teenage girl, Lea. Near the opening of the novel blood begins to seep from the earth, initially it is thought to be an isolated incident, but it quickly worsens and soon nobody can go outside without welly-boots on. Before long, the water supply is contaminated and the shops are empty of food, this is all very convincingly described, and kept deliberately low key as things go from bad to worse.
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There are some particularly yucky scenes and soon hair and bones start growing out of the earth and the hair really does have a life of its own and can trap those dumb enough to venture far from home in the rivers of blood. Lea is a great lead character who is gay and is just embarking upon her first meaningful relationship when things all kick off and you’ll root for her all the way as she struggles to survive and hold onto her sanity and those close to her. 

​AGE RANGE 13+

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Erica Waters – Ghost Wood Song
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperTeen

The debut novel from Erica Waters, Ghost Wood Song stars Shady Grove, who is named after a famous bluegrass tune and longs to follow in her late father’s footsteps by playing old school bluegrass music. Part of the conflict comes from the fact that the other members of her band, including Sarah (who Shady has a thing for), want to play more modern or mainstream tunes. Older teens looking for a slow-burning drama with a strong musical theme and supernatural overtones will find much escapism in these pages.
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Family dynamics play a key part of story after a death in the family, whilst Shady struggles to get over the death of her father, continually returning to one of his favourite songs. She believes that her father’s fiddle had the power to conjure up the dead and is set on finding it and although the supernatural story was interesting, I was more drawn to Shady’s relationships with Sarah and others. The music scenes genuinely sparkled, as they should in novels with this kind of vibe, and I thought Shady was very cool in sticking to her guns and not selling out. Ghost Wood Song also had an outstanding ending and although it might be too slow for some teens, those who enjoy a thoughtful read, with well-drawn characters are in for a treat. 

​AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Erica Waters – The River Has Teeth
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperTeen

All of Erica’s novels feature LGBT+ female teenage characters who financially struggle and might be described as coming from the wrong side of the tracks and she convincingly gives these marginalised teens a voice. The action takes place in a small town in Tennessee where young girls have been disappearing and seventeen-year-old Della believes her mother to be the culprit. Della is the youngest of a long family line of witches whose magic is connected to the area of land where they live and cultivate for the potions they create and make a living from. However, Della believes the magic has gone bad which turns her mother into a creature when darkness comes. Things get complicated when the police and others come snooping what can the teenager do to protect her dangerous mother?

​The story is told via a split first-person narrative, between Della and Natasha, whose sister is one of the disappeared girls. Natasha comes from a rich family but has her own problems from being adopted and accepting she is bisexual. After the police draw a blank Natasha comes to Della for help and after an initial personality clash the novel documents their developing friendship, secrets, and more. The River has Teeth was convincing on several levels and although magic never dominated the novel, it had an earthy type of feel to it and within the constraints of the book and the way the family operated was excellent. The conflict between the two teenagers, and developing friendship, was also a pleasure to read, both having their own problems, issues and clashes. AGE RANGE 13+

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Erica Waters – The Restless Dark
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperTeen ​

The Restless Dark was a solid read but failed to hit the impressive heights of the author’s two previous novels. The story revolves around three girls participating in a challenge to find the body of a serial killer (the Cloudless Killer) who jumped into a waterfall, with his body never being discovered. The event is being sponsored by a popular true crime podcast and has attracted true crime buffs and a wider collection of weirdos.
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The cover of The Restless Dark has three female faces and the story features first person narratives of two of them: Lucy who was almost the Cloudkiss Killer’s final victim and is there under disguise and Carolina who fears her own rage and has serious religious backage. Erica Waters always has exceptional LGBT+ representation in her novels, but on this occasion it was a shame to see all the male characters either portrayed as obnoxious morons or so far in the background they were completely anonymous. For the most part the dynamics of the novel follows the developing relationships of the young women, the fallout after another character being seriously injured and the possibility that the serial killer lurking in the shadows. AGE RANGE 13/14+

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Andrew Joseph White - Hell Followed with Us

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Peachtree Teen ​

Hell Followed With Us has to be one of the strangest YA fantasy horror novels I have read in ages and will probably make more sense to American audiences, due to its heavy use of religion. It also has terrific LGBT+ representation, with most of the characters falling under different parts of that banner due to the complex nature of the story. The main character is a transgender boy called Benji who is on the run from a cult (a type of Evangelical Christians) who unleashed Armageddon through a virus which Benji is connected to, leading to very gruesome body horror as the infection can turn him into a dangerous bioweapon. Whilst looking for a place to hide Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the Acheson LGBT+ Centre, known as the ALC and the wide range of gender representations in the centre and the pronouns they use to identify themselves.

Teens who are interested in gender are sure to get a lot out of this book as it goes out of its way to be inclusive and builds a highly original, and wildly inventive story, around Armageddon. Benji’s sexuality was nicely explained, from his days in the church to how he likes to dress, going into detail about breast binders and menstruation etc. It was heartening to have an autistic character (Nick) lead the ALC, who realises the truth about Benji and his inner monster. This was a very gory book, which will have several triggers for readers who might have had similar problems as Benji and Hell Followed With Us is a rage filled blast at conformity, told via a unique story. At times it was not easy to follow but you will rarely see such a large and unapologetically queer collection of characters as in this wild end of the world romp.

AGE RANGE 14+
Tony Jones

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