WOMEN IN (YA) HORROR MONTH PART TWO:THE LEADERS OF THE PACK

This article features many of my favourite YA female horror authors, all have written at least three high quality (very) dark fiction novels, some of them many more. Several expertly manoeuvre around the genres and have penned adult novels, stories for younger kids or made impressive jumps into dark fantasy. In fact, these days it is very normal for authors to regularly flit between horror and fantasy, with the latter holding a larger slice of the marketplace.

This piece is also a companion read to the recently published article “Women in (YA) Horror Month: 30 YA Authors You Should Know.” If you missed this first article, please catch up with it behind the link: https://gingernutsofhorror.com/young-blood/women-in-ya-horror-month-30-ya-authors-you-should-know

Female authors undoubtedly dominate YA horror and dark fantasy fiction, but it is still a worthwhile exercise in bringing these names together under a single literary roof. I have worked in school libraries since 1994 and have enjoyed recommending many of these authors for many years and others whom I have discovered only recently I endorse with equal enthusiasm. Needless to say, the school library I manage has a superb horror selection and I love flagging these authors to my pupils.   

If you have a serious interest in YA, you should know who these authors are and if you do not, it is time to go exploring. If you are a librarian looking to develop a dark fiction collection in either a public or school library, then the combination of both these lists should be an excellent starting point.

Some of these women pick up considerably more media coverage than those who might not use social media, and a few are ripe for literary discovery on a wider scale, or with a lucky break could hit the bigtime overnight. Never forget also, if you are looking for a cool book for your favourite niece or nephew this is the perfect place to start. This list is an absolute treasure trove of great books and wonderful authors.

Some of the reviews reference a Ginger Nut multi-article feature from 2020 where we listed and ranked our top hundred YA horror novels of the previous, click the link if you want to see this earlier feature. The earlier articles reviewed the books in groups of ten.

https://www.gingernutsofhorror.com/young-blood/top-100-ya-horror-novels-of-the-decade-revealed-final-thoughts ​

COURTNEY ALAMEDA                                                                                                                    ​

Courtney has written three outstanding horror novels on the bounce, which beautifully blend in fantasy and science fiction. Check out Shutter (2015), Pitch Dark (2018) and Seven Deadly Shadows (2020) and tell me if you have ever read such a wildly diverse trilogy of novels! I cannot wait to see what this incredibly talented author gives us next.

Here is our review of her debut Shutter which GNOH ranked as the 42nd best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.

After firstly reading the brilliant science fiction horror Pitch Black I had no choice but to track down Courtney Alameda’s earlier novel Shutter which was equally impressive. As with her other work, the level of intricate supernatural world-building is first rate and there are numerous ghosts built into a first-rate story. Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat, a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum, as in this world supernatural occurrences, ghosts, and much nastier beings are common as mud. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens of the camera. Hence why the book is called Shutter, the analogue SLR camera is her best weapon, with the help of her team Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film.

Early in the novel a job goes wrong and one of Michelle’s friends is infected with a curse which will lead to death in seven days unless the team figure out how to break it. As a YA horror novel Shutter really delivered in spades, it was fast paced, powerfully drawn characters, loaded with creatively drawn monsters, and Micheline’s team of sidekicks had more than enough whack to kick ensure both the Ghostbusters and Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchises remain in retirement with their pipes and slippers.

​ALEX BELL

Since Frozen Charlotte was first published in 2014, I have lost count of the number of kids I have recommended this creep-fantastic novel to. Children love the idea of tiny, but deadly, dolls.  Alex also wrote the excellent Haunting for the hugely successful UK horror brand Red Eye and the very quirky fantasy horror Music and Malice in Hurricane Town (2019) which blends music with the supernatural in New Orleans. In recent times Alex has mainly been writing for younger children, but her prequel to Frozen Charlotte, Charlotte Says (2017) is also highly recommended. It’s time to return to YA Alex. A Frozen Charlotte trilogy perhaps?

Here is part of our review of the smash hit Frozen Charlotte which GNOH ranked as the 9th best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.

Alex Bell’s dark and unsettling tale of tiny porcelain dolls, the size of two pence pieces, is an edgy read loaded with tension and dark atmosphere. Right from the opening pages of Frozen Charlotte, with teenagers unwisely fooling with online Ouija boards, it builds into an outstanding page-turner with these evil little creatures whispering from behind a locked glass cabinet and with their words, they have the power to kill.  Equally demonic, the dolls can control and influence others to do their bidding, sneaking around a vast haunted house sowing horrible plans and turning characters against each other.

Loaded with gothic atmosphere, superb setting, a huge house converted from Dunvagen School for Girls which was closed in 1910 (and features heavily in the prequel), poor Sophie is sucked into a mystery which takes her all the way back to 1910. But first she must solve the secret of what really happened to her dead cousin Rebecca. Bearing in mind this novel is aimed at kids it has some hair-raising scenes, these nasty little dolls, once they escape from their cabinet even blind one of the characters with their “stick a needle in their eye game”. The pace moves fast, the characterisation is strong and the combination of mystery and the supernatural is finely balanced. It is perfectly pitched at children who like a good mix of horror, thriller, and mystery story. It also has an outstanding prequel, Charlotte Says and both books have been massive hits in my school library.

KENDARE BLAKE
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I was a big fan of Kendare’s debut Anna Dressed in Blood (2011) and most kids I recommend it to just jump straight into the sequel, Girl of Nightmares (2012), which is testament to just how good it is. However, since then Kendare has concentrated on dark fantasy, which have convincing horror elements, particularly the quartet Three Dark Crowns. Her other series Goddess War is also a blend of fantasy and mythology. It would be great to see Kendare return with a traditional YA horror novel (she has a new book out in 2021), All These Bodies, so here’s hoping it’s dark and hopefully edges her back into the world of horror. She would be most welcome.

Here is a review of her debut Anna Dressed in Blood which GNOH ranked as the 18th best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.

Anna Dressed in Blood and its sequel Girl of Nightmares which appeared the following year are clever and highly entertaining spins on the teenage exorcist, ghost hunter, story (with a taste of romance thrown into the mix). Although the ghost ‘Anna’ is referenced in the title, the story is mostly seen from the point of view of Cas Lowood, who has inherited an unusual vocation: he kills the dead. Whilst most kids Cas’s age are enjoying high school, instead he moves around the country with his mother following leads about hauntings, local lore, and unusual deaths. He is also a boy with on a mission, his father before him, was gruesomely murdered by a ghost and Cas takes revenge on every supernatural entity he encounters.

The novel kicks off when the mother and son arrive in a new town in search for a ghost known as ‘Anna Dressed in Blood’ who apparently got her name after having her throat cut and blood flowed freely all over her dress. However, this ghost is incredibly powerful and might not be all bad, so their normal strategy of ‘track, hunt, kill’ goes out the window as he has a weird connection with the ghost after she spares his life after his initial attempt to exorcise her goes badly wrong. The novel is populated with believable well drawn high school characters, balanced with the obvious sympathy you feel for poor Anna. And the ending will most certainly make you return for the sequel, most kids I know who have read book one, head straight to book two and why not? I did exactly the same thing.

RIN CHUPECO
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​Rin started her career with a serious bang, with two excellent horror novels, The Girl from the Well (2014) and its sequel The Suffering (2015). Since then, her fiction has edged away from traditional horror into dark fantasy, including the excellent trilogy which begins with The Bone Witch (2017). However, this series does feature heavy supernatural overtones with the dead walking amongst us. The Never Tilting World (2019) duology followed next, with another new fantasy series beginning in 2020 with Wicked as you Wish. It is time for a new horror novel Rin!

Here is our review of The Girl from the Well which GNOH ranked as the 10th best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature

At first glance the cover of The Girl from the Well looks like a rip-off of Ringu, but in fact there is very clever Japanese folklore written into the context of the book. This novel is largely narrated by a ghost named Okiku, who being dead for several hundred years and was originally killed when she was thrown down a well. The main thrust of this story revolves around the ghost who also brutally kills child murderers and rapists. She can see dead children almost hanging around the neck of their killers and the ways in which she seeks revenge is both nasty and gruesome. By killing the murderers, she releases the trapped spirits of the children.

The ghost Okiku is attracted to a teenage boy whom she can also sense the aura of death around, he is not a killer, but is certainly troubled. Also, the boy can see her, as can the boy’s cousin, a likable trainee teacher. Soon we enter the realms of demon possession, exorcisms, and some bloody killing in this excellent horror novel. The book is initially set in America, before moving to Japan, where there is lots about the Japanese supernatural world. The Girl from the Well is an outstandingly well-paced read and you genuinely feel for seventeen-year-old Tark who faces his inner demons. It was very well balanced and the quirky three-way friendship with the ghost (who let’s not forget was a multiple murderer) worked really well, as did the family dynamics of the boy who doesn’t realise, he comes from a family who have powerful connections with the dead.

​KIMBERLY DERTING

Kim has an impressive body of work. I first came across her with the superb The Body Finder (2010) which is reviewed below and kicked off an impressive quartet. She also penned the excellent and highly original dystopian trilogy The Pledge (2011) which is cleverly based around languages and deserved to be much better known in this popular area of YA literature. Kim has a third trilogy, the quirky The Taking (2014) series about a girl who wakes up and has not aged in five years. Although she has written a couple of romance novels, Kim has not released anything new in a while. I hope this great author returns soon.

Here is our review of her debut The Body Finder which GNOH ranked as the 33rd best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.

YA fiction is top heavy with teenagers with weird abilities with Kim Derting’s The Body Finder quartet being one of my favourites, balancing a convincing supernatural story with a likable heroine and a style which is engaging, chatty, and easy to read. Sixteen-year-old Violet Ambrose has the power to sense dead bodies; she specifically feels the echoes the dead leave behind in the world and the imprints which might be attached to their killers, should a murder have been committed. When the story starts the only people, who are aware of this strange ability are Violet’s closest family and her oldest friend Jay Heaton, who she is also secretly in love with. It is an easy ability to keep secret until a teenage girl is murdered and a serial killer is suspected after a second teenager disappears.

The Body Finder is also periodically seen from the serial killer’s point of view who is amazed his victim’s bodies are discovered so rapidly and soon realises Violet is helping the investigation, inadvertently making herself the next target. This is one of those novels where you know the killer is going to get their comeuppance, but it is a fun and fresh read which is enhanced by the engaging friendship/romance side story between Violet and Jay. The sequels develop the story by having Violet working with the FBI and eventually a secret unit which tracks killers.

​LOIS DUNCAN

​The late great Lois Duncan published her first novel in 1958 and wrote a wide range of highly successful thrillers and dramas before her first horror novel I Know What You Did Last Summer (1973) which was rediscovered after the successful film 25+ years later. Buoyed by this success Lois regularly returned to horror and crossover supernatural thrillers, the best known being Down a Dark Hall (1974), Summer of Fear (1976), Killing Mr Griffith (1978), Daughters of Eve (1979), Stranger With My Face (1981), The Third Eye (1984), The Twisted Window (1987), Gallows Hill (1997), and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). Lois laid the path for many other authors to follow!

My recollection of my childhood favourite Stranger With My Face:

I first read this amazing novel when I was ten or eleven and it scared the hell out of me! I later read a few other Lois Duncan novels over the next few years. When I worked in my first school library way back in 1994, I was absolutely delighted to find that this creepy little book was already in the collection. Over the next couple of years, I recommended it to many kids as possible, as it had a tremendous hook; what if you have a doppelgänger (which was out to get you)?

For long periods the book very cleverly keeps the plot tightly guarded over whether there is anything truly supernatural going on. Sixteen-year-old Laurie Stratton is challenged by her boyfriend after being seen out in town with another guy. However, she was in bed sick and then soon more mysterious sightings convince Laurie someone very real is out there, watching her. Is it truly a double or something dark from her family’s past returning to haunt her? This was an outstanding blend of thriller, chiller and jump scare moments which will have you turning the pages in super quick time.

FRANCES HARDINGE
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Frances Hardinge is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished all-round writers in the broad area of ‘dark fiction’ working in the world today. Her fiction is impossible to pigeon-hole to any specific genre, with Cuckoo Song (2014) probably her closest to what might be considered a traditional horror story. Very few YA (or adult) authors have her range or sheer imagination when it comes to world building and she virtually always sets her stories in historical, or fantasy settings.  Although most of her other novels are closer to fantasy, there are always horror or supernatural elements bubbling in her intricate plots, and the darkness is never far away. Since her 2007 debut with Verdigris Deep, Frances has just got better and better, with her last three novels being of exceptional quality: The Lie Tree (2015), A Skinful of Shadows (2017) and Deeplight (2019).


In 2019 Ginger Nuts of Horror interviewed Frances and, in this excerpt, she discusses her inspiration from folktales for Cuckoo Song, which GNOH ranked as the 17th best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.


“Cuckoo Song is very much inspired by the old changeling folktales. I’ve been fascinated by the figure of the changeling since I was young, because as a child I had an irrational fear of doubles, doppelgangers, and evil twins. I had nightmares in which somebody I trusted turned out to be something else impersonating them. When I started reading the old changeling folktales, however, I discovered that they were chilling in ways I hadn’t expected. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of those old stories was the way in which the human families reacted once they knew that they had a changeling in their midst. Changeling children (many of them babies) would be thrown in the fire, hurled into running water, beaten with sticks, or left on dung heaps to scream. To my surprise, I found myself feeling sorry for the changeling. Many aspects of Cuckoo Song are borrowed from the old changeling folktales. A tailor to see the truth. Eggshells and absurdity to flush out the imposter. A knife to hold the way open. A weaponised cockerel. A week of waning. A thing of sticks and leaves...”

Here is part of our review for Cuckoo Song:

This is an incredibly creepy and brooding novel, with exquisitely slow pace, which reveals its secrets very slowly. A girl wakes up after an accident she barely remembers, and everybody seems scared of her. She is, quite literally, not herself. Join Triss on the challenging quest to save her humanity in a memorable blend of fantasy, horror, period drama and folklore. Changeling stories are obviously great inspiration for YA fiction, but none tap into the mythology of the story better than Cuckoo Song.

​DAWN KURTAGICH

Dawn is three novels (and a novella) into an impressive career of writing top-quality YA horror fiction. She writes challenging, scary and highly intelligent stories which are perfect reads for teens ready to leap into adult fiction. Actually, adults reading her books might not even realise they are YA, which is particularly the case with her most recent novel. The Dead House (2015) set the ball rolling, which was then followed by The Creeper Man (2016) and most recently Teeth in the Mist (2019). A new book by this author is guaranteed to just straight to the top of my TBR pile.


Here is part of our review for The Creeper Man which GNOH ranked as the 8th best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.

The Creeper Man was a challenging, twisty, unpredictable, and layered in such an intelligent manner, adults could enjoy it as well as any teen reader. On the simplest level, the plot revolves around two sisters who escape London and their violent father to live with an aunt in a remote country house in the middle of a foreboding forest. Something happens to the aunt and she shuns the girls and locks herself in the attic. The intimidating dense and surrounding forest seems almost alive and threatens the sanity of the girls, which is questioned repeatedly throughout the novel. For much of this multi-layered corker you can never really be sure whether there is a supernatural entity at work or whether everything is psychological, as the girls have complex personal issues shadowing their judgements.


The Creeper Man of the title is a superb creation and is as effective as any bogeyman creation in most adult horror as he and the imposing forest edge closer to the girls as the sanity of the elder girl disintegrates. You will find yourself asking questions, such as when is it set? Why don’t the girls go to school? Why are there no phones? Is there a war going on? And not all these questions are answered as this claustrophobic read has a truly remarkable unreliable narrator in Silla. The merging of her delusions with reality plays a crucial part of this exceptionally clever psychological horror novel which is fiendishly well plotted with a superb ending and very clever twist. Teen horror of the very highest order.

​KIM LIGGETT

Kim’s fiction encompasses the paranormal, old school horror, dark fantasy and teen dystopia. She won the prestigious YA Bram Stoker award in 2017 for The Last Harvest, an old-fashioned tale of devil worship and conspiracy in a rural American town. However, I much preferred the superb The Grace Year (2019) which was one of the finest YA dystopian novels of the last few years and is one of the top recommendations in my school library (we have about six copies!) Kim has also written Blood and Salt (2015), Heart of Ash (2018) and The Unfortunates (2018).

Here is part of our review for The Grace Year which was one of our favourite novels of 2019:

Kim Liggett’s The Grace Year is a very clever mix of teenage angst and gender suppression in an unnamed, superstitious and backward (dystopian) society. Tierney James lives in an isolated village where at the age of sixteen girls are chosen to be brides and there is shame upon the families of those not chosen. The rejected individuals are then given menial jobs and are cast aside. Tierney is a tomboy and does not expect to be chosen…. However, before the marriages take place the girls (both chosen and not chosen) are banished for a calendar year to an isolated camp to survive for themselves, they are not allowed to leave and there are many dangers. Those who return after the year are not allowed to talk about the experience, many do not return at all.

Why does this happen? It is believed that for this year girls develop magical powers and if they’re kept isolated then they cannot cause any harm to the rest of the village, particularly men who may fall under their thrall. Kim Liggett creates a very believable setting and society in which suppression dominates the everyday lives of girls who do not know any better. This is a world in which a woman can be hung with little evidence and certainly no trial.  As the girl’s time in the isolated camp lengths the author plays an excellent game of smoke and mirrors as the full extent of the conspiracy is revealed. The Grace Year was an outstanding thriller with a young woman fighting against oppression in a society where she had no voice.

​AMY LUKAVICS

If there are any YA authors, men or women, who have written four consecutive YA horror novels of the quality of Amy Lukavics then I would be very interested in catching up with them. Ginger Nuts of Horror has frequently proclaimed Amy to be ‘The Queen of YA Horror’ as her fiction has the unique ability of getting under your skin and nobody nails the troubled female teenager better than Lukavics. All four novels are totally unmissable: Daughters Unto Devils (2015), The Woman in the Walls (2016), The Ravenous (2017) and Nightingale (2018). Although Amy has been quiet recently, there has been talk of an adult novella in the works. Bring it on Amy.
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Here is our review of The Woman in the Walls which GNOH ranked as the 23rd best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.


The Women In The Walls is a complex, character driven, and highly enjoyable supernatural tale which reveals its secrets gleefully slowly through an excellently paced story. Seventeen-year-old Lucy lives in a huge house in the countryside with her cousin Margaret, they rarely see anyone except for her distant and distracted father and Margaret’s mother, her aunt, who acts like a surrogate mother.  Much of the early action focusses on the two teenagers, who are very close, and how they deal with the suicide of a servant in the opening few pages. Although they are cousins they are as close as sisters and are inseparable.  I loved the vagueness of the setting, time period and location, and although the odd hint thrown in here and there it was hard to pin-point. Considering they are two seventeen-year-old girls, there are no mobile phones, internet, boys, sex, very little mention of TV, school or other pop culture references. Neither do they go to school as we are told Margaret got into too much trouble. They exist in their own bubble in this big empty house.


Lucy is very close to her aunt, in many ways closer than Margaret which leads to some friction, especially after Aunt Penelope disappears. No police come to look for the missing aunt and both Lucy and Margaret become suspicious. As do we the readers.  As the plot picks up the pace Margaret becomes withdrawn and believes she hears the voice of her missing mother in the walls, particularly the attic. Lucy, of course, doesn’t believe her. The novel has several very clever twists, a couple of which I didn’t see coming. You really can’t beat the cracker with the replacement cook! If you ever read it, you’ll know what I mean.  The biggest compliment I can give a YA novel is when I read it with the same intensity as an adult novel, which I do with this and everything by this outstanding author.

LISA McMANN
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Lisa has been publishing novels since 2008 and is incredibly prolific. In recent years she has been predominately writing Middle Grade fantasy, however, earlier in her career she wrote some terrific horror novels I would like to highlight. Wake (2008) kicked off an outstanding trilogy about a girl who is pulled into other people’s dreams when she falls asleep, and followed this series with the terrific supernatural tale, The Missing (2011) and dark thriller Dead to You (2012). I continue to regularly recommend the Wake trilogy to my students a decade after first discovering it.  Lisa has an animal story coming out later in 2021, but I hope she returns to YA dark fiction in some point in the future.

Here is our review of Wake, from back in 2016:

Janie has the weird ability of entering other people’s dreams. This is not as much fun as it sounds, as soon she realizes she is being stalked by a being from a nightmare which has been tracking her whilst she has been dream walking. This is a nasty curse (and is in no way a gift) to have, as when someone falls asleep close to Janie, like on a bus or train, she is pulled into their dream, like it or not.  Because of this Janie ends up struggling to cope with school life, and is very withdrawn, in a series which blends drama and the supernatural exceptionally well. Do not expect Janie to go on any sleepovers soon with the sequels nicely develop the original plot.

​JEYN ROBERTS

I first came across Jeyn a decade ago with her excellent debut, Dark Inside (2011) about a crazy apocalypse which turns the world upside down, which was expanded into a top-notch trilogy loaded with great characters and a strong whiff of dystopia and other worldly madness. Her other novels have blended fantasy and thriller with traditional horror, The Bodies We Wear (2014) and Wendigo (2017), however, it is her time-slip ghost story When They Fade (2016) which is my personal favourite and was deservedly nominated for the YA Bram Stoker Award. Jeyn has not published anything for a while and I hope she returns with some new YA fiction soon.

Here is our review of When They Fade which GNOH ranked as the 28th best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.


When they Fade is a complex and gripping supernatural thriller story told through two convincing and distinct voices, firstly, Tatum, who is having serious problems at school. Her ex-best friend Claudette was having an affair with a teacher and having concerns for her, reports the dalliance to their guidance councillor. When confronted Claudette and her boyfriend teacher turn the tables on Tatum and nobody believes her. Her life becomes a misery as she is outed as a tattletale and much of this back story is told via flashback. The second character the narrative follows is Molly, a ghost, originally murdered in 1970 by a serial killer not long after the Woodstock Music Festival. She repeatedly reappears as a hitchhiker on the stretch of road close to where she originally disappeared. One evening Tatum is out driving and she picks up Molly and when their hands touch the ghost foresees a horrible death for the other girl and their stories begin to connect.
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When they Fade is a superb fusion of painful and realistic high school bullying, ghost story, thriller and even a believable romance as Tatum tries to confront her demons. The author does an excellent job of creating a gripping ghost story with convincing characters, both alive and dead.

MADELEINE ROUX
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Madeleine was first published back in 2011 with an adult zombie duology Allison Hewitt is Trapped before making her major YA splash with the excellent Asylum (2013) which is reviewed below. Two sequels and other novellas followed before Madeleine started dabbling in other genres. The House of Furies (2017) trilogy blended fantasy with the supernatural, with the author then writing fiction connected to both the Dungeon and Dragons and Warcraft franchises. Most recently Madeleine has turned to science fiction with Parasite (2019) and Reclaimed, which is published later this year.

Here is our review of Asylum which GNOH ranked as the 36th best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.


2013 saw the arrival of Madeleine Roux on the American horror scene with Ayslum, which has since spawned two sequels and several novellas. The novel utilises atmospheric black and white photography which adds both tension and ambiguity to a fast-paced thriller set in an old building which was once a mental asylum before being converted for summer college courses. It has not been modernised too much and some of the old trappings of the original hospital are still visible, including vintage photographs which have the habit of turning up in odd places. This was quite a cinematic book, and although it never quite strays into slasher territory, it has many of the hallmarks of the genre. I am surprised it has not become given the cinema treatment. 
     
Sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford has been accepted for the summer program at the New Hampshire College Prep and is looking forward to spending time with other intellectually minded kids. He quickly makes friends with Abby and Jordan, but a weird photo left in his bedside table throws him off his game and snoops into the murky history of the asylum, uncovering the startling fact that it was once the last stop for the criminally insane. For the most part the story is quite restrained and slowly they realise that they all have connections to the hospital and the action picks up pace. It is a relatively easy and undemanding read with Dan and his friends being good company and some decent twists and turns in the final third.

FEMALE POINT HORROR AUTHORS
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Although RL Stine will always be the author most closely connected to the legendary Point Horror novels of the early nineties, there are a number of female authors who also made significant contributions to the series. Many were highly prolific and published a massive number of other titles beyond Point Horror. One could argue that the Point Horror series has not aged particularly well, and YA horror has significantly more depth than it did back in its ninety’s pomp. However, they are of their time and many of these trashy pulp classics are remembered with great nostalgia by adult readers of today as the perfect gateway to adult horror, which was most certainly true. Ladies of Point Horror we salute you!

D E Athkins, who wrote several Point Horror novels, was a pseudonym for Nola Thacker, who also wrote as Tom B Stone. The latter name was responsible for the Goosebump inspired series, Graveyard School, which ran for 28 books between 1994-98. When not writing light romantic books about ice skating Athkins authored these Point Horror tales: Blood Kiss, Sister Dearest, The Cemetery, Mirror and The Bride.

Caroline Cooney is still going strong, and since her 1979 debut has authored a massive number of thrillers, romance and horror stories. Her most famous Point Horror novels are The Cheerleader, Freeze Tag, Perfume, Return of the Vampire and Twins.

Since her 1986 debut Carol Ellis has authored over thirty novels, including several Goosebump collaborations with RL Stine and many other books aimed at younger children. Her best-known Point Horror entries are My Secret Admirer, Camp Fear, Silent Witness, The Body, The Stalker, The Doll and The Window.

After RL Stine, Diana Hoh was one of the most successful Point Horror authors and between 1989 and 2011 she published an impressive fifty books, many of which were horror. Between 1993-95 her Nightmare Hall series had an incredible 29 books in the series, which was a lesser successful Point Horror off-shoot. Her most famous Point Horror novels were Funhouse, Dedicated to the One I Love, The Accident, The Invitation, The Fever, The Train, Funhouse and Prom Date.

​SARAH PINBOROUGH

Sarah may well be the most versatile author on this list, expertly moving between YA fantasy/horror and adult horror, into very successful mainstream thrillers. Between 2010-12 she wrote the fantasy trilogy Nowhere Chronicles and in 2013 rewrote several fairy tales with her Tales From the Kingdoms trilogy. Amongst numerous adult horror novels Sarah wrote two superb (exceptionally dark) teen thrillers The Death House (2015) and 13 Minutes (2016), the former being one of my favourite dystopian thrillers of recent years. Since then, Sarah has published three very successful adult thrillers, including Behind Her Eyes (2017) which has just dropped on Netflix. So, I doubt she will be returning to YA horror anytime soon! But we can always hope.

Here is our review of The Death House which GNOH ranked as the 5th best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.

When I recommend books to teenagers, I am always on the lookout for titles which the readers can make strong emotional connections with, there are few better examples than The Death House. Over the many years I have been recommending this amazing dystopian thriller I always tell the kids to watch out for the stunning ending and if I enquire how they got on, more than a few admit to crying at the very sad end. Some readers believe the ending is unnecessarily downbeat, I am not sure though, but it is amazing that it encourages such debate amongst teenagers. One thing is for sure: there are a lot of teenagers out there who are truly passionate about this knockout of a novel.

You might argue The Death House is not strictly a horror story, but it is so good I add it to just about any book list I can. It has a haunting mix of dystopia, where everything is kept enticingly vague, and has been justifiably compared to classics such as Lord of the Flies. Children who are infected with a virus, which they have been told is deadly, are shipped to a remote orphanage on an island which they call ‘Death Houses’ because the survival rate is zero. What follows is a quite beautiful and haunting look at the teens who live there, waiting to die, whilst trying to live. The story is seen from the point of view of Toby, who has been in the Death House longer than everybody else (who are all dead) and what changes when a couple of girls arrive amongst the latest bunch of inmates. YA writing has never been better as young love begins to blossom on the island. An absolute stunner and I loved it more than you can ever imagine.

​AMY PLUM

I first came across Amy with her debut Die For Me (2011) which was an engaging blend of supernatural, romance and mythology which spawned two sequels and accompanying novellas. Amy followed this with a duology, After the End (2014) which had elements of thriller, fantasy and apocalyptic fiction. However, my favourites novels of Amy’s are undoubtedly Dream Fall (2017) and Neverwake (2018) which are highly entertaining spins of the classic horror film, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Amy has been quiet recently and I hope she returns with some new fiction soon.

Here is our review of Dream Fall which GNOH ranked as the 87th best YA horror novel of the last decade in a 2020 feature.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dream Fall and its sequel Never Wake which were both outstanding page-turners which hit the ground running and keep the pace pumped up all the way. Seven teenagers which have various types of serious sleep disorders are the test cases in a new technology called ‘Dream Fall’ in which the kids are put into a deep sleep and the technology is supposed to eradicate their nightmares and problems over the next few hours. However, something goes wrong and all seven teens, who spend virtually the whole novel asleep, start sharing each other’s nightmares. This was pretty cool, as the group then have to stick together to beat the nasty stuff which starts stalking them.

Of course, to an adult reader this concept is highly reminiscent to A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors but it worked well and is an engaging and readable spin on shared dreaming and the horrors of where nightmares might take us. The story is told from the point of view of a couple of the teens and an intern helping with the experiment. This was terrific stuff, with all sorts of monsters, nightmares and nasty stuff going on, creating a fun and engaging horror thriller.

EE RICHARDSON
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​Is EE Richardson the most enigmatic author on this list? Most definitely. Even though I first read her back in 2005 I still don’t know what ‘EE’ stands for… Over the years, EEs debut The Devil’s Footsteps (2005) has consistently been one of my top recommendation, which was followed by the equally terrific Intruders (2006) and The Summoning (2007). At this stage I thought EE was on her way to super-stardom, instead she wrote several books for the publisher Barringstoke Stoke, which specialises in books for kids which have dyslexia and an adult urban fantasy crime trilogy Ritual Crime Unit (2013-16).  Somewhere after her third novel her momentum in the world of YA stalled slightly and although other novels followed, they never had the impact of her those published between 2005-07. Later titles to check out include The Soul Trade (2009), Black Bones (2010) and The Curse Box (2012). EE has not published in a few years, please get in touch and reveal what those elusive initials stand for and we can do an interview for Ginger Nuts of Horror.

Here is a short review we published back in 2016 of The Devil’s Footsteps:
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A few years ago, this author really intrigued me, in her early twenties wrote three terrific horrors on the bounce, which started with this terrific bogeyman story, inspired by horror films similar to like A Nightmare on Elm Street and when she had the YA horror world at her feet failed to capitalise. I love horror novels which have creepy rhymes and there are none better to “13 steps to the Dark Man’s door” which are on the first page of The Devil’s Footsteps. A dare goes horribly wrong after Bryan’s younger brother it taken by the creature called the Dark Man after the skipping rhyme brings the creature. The story is picked up five years later and Brian will go to any lengths to find his brother. Most believe the Dark Man as a dumb old legend, but he knows better. What a fantastic horror novel. EE, wherever you are, take great pride in the fact that I have recommended this novel to hundreds of kids in the years since I first read it and have bought countless copies for my school library.

​DANIELLE ROLLINS A.K.A. DANIELLE VEGA

Danielle Rollins also writes YA as Danielle Vega and I enjoy both incarnations.  As Rollins my favourite novel is the excellent Burning (2016) a cool teen spin on the Stephen King Firestarter story which has a loose sequel Breaking (2017). Under this name Danielle has also written the time-travel trilogy Dark Stars (2019). The fiction published under the name of Vega is equally impressive, with The Haunted (2019) reviewed below, which had a sequel The Unleashed in 2020. Other fiction includes The Merciless Quartet (2014) and the entertaining monster novel Survive the Night (2015).

Here is our review of The Haunted:

The Haunted follows the story of a girl called Hendricks Becker-O’Malley whose family moves into a new town because of an unsettling incident lurking in her past. She settles quickly and makes new friends, but soon she finds out that the house she lives in is where a young girl was brutally murdered. To make things worse, the brother of the dead girl now lives next door. It doesn’t take long before strange, creepy things begin to occur to Hendricks with her past also coming home to roost.

I very much enjoyed this book because it was a perfect blend of Mean Girls, Heathers and The Exorcist. It captures the realistic (American) teenage slice of life, meaning it creates stereotypes but then added convincing extra depth to the characters. The book contains numerous scary, gory and disturbing scenes, for example when you learn about Hendricks past, the spiritual ritual she and Eddie the boy next door performs together. Interestingly, and this worked well, nobody else seems to see the ghosts and a scene in the bathroom was another effectively shocking moment. But my favourite was when a kid had his mouth stapled shut by a ghost. That really made me wince. Ouch.

CAT WINTERS
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Between 2013-19 Cat has written seven novels which cleverly blend horror, the supernatural, thriller with predominately historical settings, the period between the World Wars features in several novels. Her most horror-based stories are In the Shadow of Blackbirds (2013), The Cure for Dreaming (2014), The Uninvited (2015) and Odd and True (2017) which is reviewed below.

Here is our review of Odd and True:

I was a huge fan of the very cool Odd and True, which was a refreshing mix of historical fiction, family drama, folklore and the supernatural set in Oregon around 1910. I’m not sure if the cover does the book too much justice, it seems to imply the two teenagers are ass-kicking predecessors of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but it’s much more thoughtful and character driven than a crash bang wallop story. The story alternates between the two sisters and the reader gets to see the past through Od's eyes and the present through Tru's, although the two sequences are only a few years apart.
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When Trudchen was a little girl her sister Odette used to tell her stories of monster slayings and ferocious creatures, perhaps to disguise the humdrum nature of their lives on a remote Oregon farm, living with their aunt and uncle, but harbouring dreams of their real mother and their exotic family heritage in Europe. The chapters by Tru happen in the present take us on an adventure across America where well face dangers, hunt monsters, and uncover family secrets. Od's chapters tell us about the past; how the two sisters grew up, the truth about their family history and what happened to Od when she was sent away from home and her sister. I really liked both sisters, their different struggles, and the simple fact that the supernatural element did not dominate what I found to be a very charming novel. And I was blown away by what was a totally terrific final chapter.