Today we are delighted to welcome the fantastic Erica Waters on the site, Erica is one of the most exciting new voices on the YA horror scene and we have given both her novels terrific reviews. Her debut Ghost Wood Song (2020) deservedly also reached the final ballot of the YA Bram Stoker Award and was one of the outstanding releases of 2020. If you are a fan of blue grass music, this is a rare opportunity to see (and hear!) it feature in a horror novel. This is part of our review:

The debut novel from Erica Waters, Ghost Wood Song, has a unique position in YA horror; the first I have ever read which features bluegrass music as a major theme. Shady Grove is named after a famous bluegrass tune and longs to follow in her late father’s footsteps by playing old school bluegrass music and 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. For older teens looking for a slow-burning drama with a strong musical theme and supernatural overtones there is much escapism to be had in these pages.


In late July/August 2021 Erica returns with an impressive and very striking second novel The River Has Teeth, which if anything, we loved even more than her first. We were very excited to have an early read of this absolute cracker and were so impressed we tracked Erica down for this interview. This is an extract from our review:

The River Has Teeth is a superb second novel and considering that Ghost Wood Song (2020) was a highly accomplished debut, this is an author to watch very closely and if she continues writing dark/horror YA fiction is destined to become a major new voice in the genre. Although the plots of her two novels are completely different, they have some similarities when it comes to themes, music (bluegrass to be precise) dominated Erica’s debut and although it does not do so in her second novel, it does play a role of some significance. Also, both novels feature bi-sexual female teenage characters who financially struggle and might be described as coming from the wrong side of the tracks. Erica convincingly gives these marginalised teens a voice. If you read and enjoyed Ghost Wood Song, you will absolutely adore The River Has Teeth. It hums with its own type of magic, which is so vibrant, believable, and beautifully described you will probably end up totally emersed in it.

If you are on the hunt for YA fiction which gives LGBTQ+ characters a convincing voice and explores settings miles away from traditional middle-class American high school, then Erica Waters needs to be sampled. This author gives the unrepresented and forgotten teenagers of trailer-parks a voice. If you’re a school or public librarian reading this, or parent of a thoughtful teen who likes their fiction dark DARK, then these two horror novels are pure poetry. We were delighted to welcome Erica to Ginger Nuts of Horror…..

GNOH: Family dynamics and parental issues/troubles are strong themes in both your novels. Do you find the supernatural an effective way of exploring what goes on behind the household curtains? There are some YA authors writing at the moment, such as Amy Lukavics and Dawn Kurtagich, who are superb at this….

ERICA: I think the supernatural is such a good way to get at things buried under the surface, all the things we want to hide that are waiting and festering in the dark. Ghosts and monsters and magic are a way to bring those issues into the light where we can face them and hopefully deal with them.

GNOH: Boys are very much in the background of both ‘Ghost Wood Song’ and ‘The River has Teeth’ with both novels led by female characters, is there much of yourself in Sarah, Shady, Della or Natasha? Or perhaps a little bit of all of them?

ERICA: I put a little of myself into all of my characters, I think, even the ones I don’t particularly like! It’s a way of exploring different sides of myself. The characters most like me are probably Sarah from Ghost Wood Song and Della from The River Has Teeth. Neither girl likes to be in touch with her emotions and both are blunt to a fault, which are two traits I have always had to work on in myself. Some of the boy characters have bits of me too, though, like Orlando’s love of insects in Ghost Wood Song!

GNOH: Both books feature convincing gay relationships or friendships with heavy overtones, we have Sarah and Shady in ‘Ghost Wood Song’ and in ‘The River Has Teeth’ the developing relationship between Della and Natasha. Do you feel the representation of gay and bi-sexual characters have improved in recent years in general YA fiction? Do you feel horror YA has a fair representation?

ERICA: LGBTQ+ representation in YA, including YA horror, is absolutely improving, though of course I would always like to see more of it. Two upcoming books readers should watch for are The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass and The Dead and The Dark by Courtney Gould.

GNOH: Over the last couple of years, I’ve noticed a number of YA horror novels with main characters who come from poorer backgrounds, such as trailer parks and rural locations, with a move from the standard richer suburban settings. Both your novels feature characters like this, are you consciously trying to give a group who might normally be overlooked a voice in YA fiction?

ERICA: I grew up low-income in the rural American South, and I don’t remember ever encountering a character like me in a novel for young people, except occasionally as an object of pity. I very purposely write characters from low-income homes because young people from all backgrounds need to see themselves as the heroes of stories, people with autonomy and purpose, and to see families like theirs portrayed with nuance and affection.

GNOH: Do you read much adult horror fiction and how widely to you read in general? Recommend us something amazing you read recently.

ERICA: I try to read pretty widely, a mix of fiction and nonfiction and poetry, from adult to middle grade. I do read adult horror, though gothic and dark fantasy are more my speed than the really scary stuff most horror buffs love. I recently read and loved Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (deliciously atmospheric and creepy) and Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss (a compact, dread-filled novel that made my heart race from the first page).

GNOH: Could you please walk us through your education background and literary path towards having your debut ‘Ghost Wood Song’ published? Do you have a stack of unpublished manuscripts hidden in your sock drawer at home?

ERICA: I am one of those stereotypical English majors turned author. I have a B.A. and M.A. in English, which I don’t think every writer needs but were great assets for me. I actually got serious about writing fiction after taking a creative writing course during my M.A., which made me realize that I loved writing fiction and seemed to be fairly good at it.

I wrote two novels before Ghost Wood Song, neither of which I ever expect to see the light of day. They were both high fantasy, one Middle Grade and one YA. They were really fun to write, but my style and interests have since gone in a different—and darker—direction. I don’t regret writing them at all because they taught me how to write and finish a book (and how to deal with the inevitable rejections that abound in publishing).

GNOH: What sort of stuff did you read as a teenager and which authors have had the greatest influence on you, horror or otherwise? Do you have any ‘gateway’ novels which flicked the switch for you?

ERICA: As a kid, I loved spooky books, especially R.L. Stine. When I was ten or so, I got my hands on a copy of Shadows by John Saul, which is an adult horror novel about these genius kids at an elite boarding school for the gifted. I got weirdly obsessed with it and read it probably a dozen times.

But as a teen I mostly remember being really into classics. I always gobbled up my required books for class and summer reading. I liked challenging myself with difficult texts, trying to work through books like Hamlet and Great Expectations on my own. I think I probably had more literary patience back then than I do now!
The greatest influences on my writing have been Virginia Woolf (though of course she would think my books were trash), Charlotte Brontë, Sarah Waters, Shirley Jackson, and Daphne du Maurier. I am such a sucker for atmosphere and beautiful sentences.

The book that first made me want to write YA was Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor, and the book that made me realize I should write about kids who grew up like me was The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner. Maggie Stiefvater’s and Anna-Marie McLemore’s books were also big YA influences.

GNOH: Could you tell us a little bit about novel three, hopefully you’re sticking with YA horror?

I’m glad you asked about this because I am very excited about it! My upcoming book, The Restless Dark, is a queer supernatural YA about two girls who team up in a macabre true crime contest to find the bones of a serial killer in a spooky, fog-filled canyon in Georgia. It will be out in fall 2022 from HarperTeen.

GNOH: Which author, alive or dead, would you most like to walk past on a bus reading one of your novels?

ERICA: Ursula K. Le Guin. She was such a literary badass, and the thought of her simply holding a book of mine in her hands gives me heart palpitations.

GNOH: We are most certainly not going to argue with Ursula Le Guin, Jeff Zentner or the many terrific authors you have name checked. John Saul was also an adult ‘gateway’ favourite for myself. Thank you very much for finding the time to feature on Ginger Nuts of Horror, we love both your novels and wish you all the best for the release of ‘The River Has Teeth’.
It goes without saying we are already looking forward to ‘The Restless Dark’.

Tony Jones

Lush and chilling, with razor-sharp edges and an iron core of hope, this bewitching, powerhouse novel of two girls fighting back against the violence the world visits on them will stun and enchant readers.
Girls have been going missing in the woods…

When Natasha’s sister disappears, Natasha desperately turns to Della, a local girl rumored to be a witch, in the hopes that magic will bring her sister home.

But Della has her own secrets to hide. She thinks the beast who’s responsible for the disappearances is her own mother—who was turned into a terrible monster by magic gone wrong.

Natasha is angry. Della has little to lose. Both are each other’s only hope.

From the author of Ghost Wood Song, this eerie contemporary fantasy is perfect for fans of Wilder Girls and Bone Gap. 

Praise for Ghost Wood Song:
“A gorgeous, creepy gem of a book.” —Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn and Sawkill Girls

"It will make your heart dance." —Jeff Zentner, Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days

"Strikes the perfect balance of atmospheric chills, dark familial secrets, and a yearning for the warm comforts of home.” —Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows
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“Waters' debut features a bisexual lead with both male and female love interests, an atmospheric southern gothic setting, and, for the musically inclined, lots of folk and bluegrass references.” --Booklist
“Haunting and alluring.” --Kirkus

There has been a fair bit of interest in What Big Teeth since its release in America earlier in the year and it is easy to see why. Billed as “Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children meets The Addams Family”, thus was a very strange, beguiling and very difficult to categorise dark fantasy. The American Amazon site lists it for ages 14-18, which I would agree with, however, adults could read this without ever catching on it technically was a teen novel. This is very mature YA which bleeds very closely with adult fiction, the fact that many existing reviews do not even mention it is YA would back that assumption up. It is most definitely aimed at older and capable readers, as it is very slow, atmospheric and lacks many of the traditional features of a YA teen novel, such as friendship, romance or a particularly big finish which resolves all. Alternatively, we are presented with one girl’s attempt to reconnect with her monstrous family after years in the wilderness. Part of the fun of the novel way trying to figure out what type of creatures Eleanor Zarrin’s family are? Hints and slights are dropped here and there, but it is never truly clarified, and the novel admirably refuses to tread any of the tropes connected to Paranormal Romance or popular authors such as Sarah J Maas or Leigh Bardugo. Also, the word ‘werewolf’ is never used and there is nothing in the family history to say this is what they are, but they are ‘wolfish’ in some way, vividly drawn and altogether unpleasant.
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The story is bizarre and takes its time setting its stall out in a dark gothic setting and will undoubtedly be too slow for younger readers. However, it is not particularly violent, and I would not recommend restricting any reader from trying it, although a certain level of emotional maturity will be required. Eleanor has been at boarding school for years, abandoned by her family, What Big Teeth begins when she returns to the remote New England family home, and it becomes quickly clear her family members can turn into monsters. It is initially vague whether Eleanor is the same as the rest of the family, an incident from years earlier is referred to, as is a confrontation at school where she bit another girl. Thinking of the potential teen readership again, not a huge amount happens in the first half of the novel, but things begin to move in the second half after a death and the arrival of her grandmother who begins to shake the family up in all sorts of ways. Eleanor is more like her Grandmere than she realises, and a strange relationship is formed between the pair. As the novel develops, we realise everybody is even less human than we thought. I loved the vagueness of the setting, the time period and Eleanor’s search into what and who she exactly she is. Some of the imagery in the final third was really wild and blew me away. In some ways What Big Teeth a very dark coming of age with Eleanor an outcast in her tight-knit family searching for answers to which nobody is prepared to give and, in the end realises there are more than one type of monster, and some are more powerful than others. AGE RANGE 14+

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YA Category
Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson [Razorbill, 2018]
The Diviners by Libba Bray [Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2012]
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline [Dancing Cat Books, 2017]
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Middle Grade
Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods by Hal Johnson [Workman, 2015]
Ollie’s Odyssey by William Joyce [Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 2015]
Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi [Dutton Books for Young Readers, 2017]

The Diviners was first published back in 2012 and attracted considerable hype and although it went relatively unnoticed in the UK was a big hit in the USA which spawned three sequels. This was a very challenging and meaty read which is aimed at older teens, adult readers might pick it up and not realise it is actually a 600+ page YA novel. Set in Prohibition era 1920s America The Diviners has an impressive eye for detail and vividly brings to life New York of the period, including the wild parties, jazz music, gin drinking at speak-easies and the dangers of the period before the depression arrives. Although the story centres upon eighteen-year-old Evie O'Neill, who is rich and new to the Big Apple, it has a large ensemble of characters who slowly knit together. I found Evie rather annoying in the early stages, however, the many jumps to the other characters gave ample rest-bite from her and she slowly grew on me. The author also pushes the boat out by including dialogue appropriate of the period and younger kids might get a bit tired of this.

Evie is delighted to have escaped Ohio and is staying with her eccentric uncle, who manages an occult museum and is unaware that she has her own supernatural gift which plays a big part in the story as it develops. Before long there are seances, murders and a terrific villain which the police have no chance of catching without help. The Diviners has a slow start, but it is worth sticking with and if it finds the correct readers is a book which will be enjoyed by strong readers who will hunt out the sequels. You are unlikely to find any more thorough blends of historical fiction and the supernatural than this meaty teen tome. AGE RANGE 14+
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Whichwood is a companion novel to Furthermore, the latter was published first, but you can read them in either order, which is supplemented by very clever cross referencing through a highly engaging narrator. In fact, it is so intelligently done, after I finished Whichwood I then ordered Furthermore, which stars two of the main support characters (Oliver and Alice) to Laylee, the ‘Mordeshoor’ who is the lead in Whichwood. The engaging style of narration plays a big part in the success of the story and the reader can almost hear the whispering voice beckoning them in closer, revealing another part of the tale which begins on a cold frosty night. Laylee is struggling to cope without her recently deceased mother and father who has gone mad, as she has some very peculiar responsibilities. She has inherited the family business as a ‘Moreshoor’, destined to spend her days scrubbing the skins and souls of the dead in preparation for their journey into the afterlife, without her mother and father to help or guide her. This is a very tough responsibility, and she alone cleans the dead of the village of Whichwood and this is not the job for a thirteen-year-old girl, but she carries it out without complaint. The story revolves around what happens when Layee is stretched beyond her means and can no longer cope, doing her best to ignore her ever-increasing loneliness, but also the way her overworked hands are stiffening and turning silver, just like her hair. All of which are tell-tale signs that things are not as they should be.

I found this to be a rather beautiful book and it should be read as a dark fantasy novel, which has elements of horror, with the power of friendship beating at its charming heart. Set in a world reminiscent of ancient Persia (but with trains) and built around a very convincing Middle Eastern mysticism, the supernatural is real, and ghosts are part of everyday life. Whilst Laylee continues to wash the dead two other children turn up, Oliver and Alice, from the village of Furthermore (which you can only get to by submarine) with the task of helping Laylee. The problem is they are not quite sure what they need to help her with. What follows is a beautiful blend of fantasy, magic, teenage longing and the power of friendship. It was written in such a lyrical and beautiful manner it is guaranteed to charm readers of all ages and could just as easily have been selected for the YA category of Summer Scares. Mafi is an outstanding author and I also highly recommend her Shattered series. AGE RANGE 10-14
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Tony Jones