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YOUNG ADULT AND MIDDLE GRADE HORROR ROUNDUP FOR SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER

4/10/2022

This month we return with a massive eleven Young Adult (YA) or Middle Grade (MG) titles for you to investigate further. The absolute highlight was the return of the YA horror brand Red Eye with their twelfth book The Lighthouse, by Alex Bell, which is one of my favourite teen horrors of 2022. I am also a huge fan of Kate Alice Marshall, whom I have reviewed many times, with her returning with another delicious slow burner, These Fleeting Shadows. Tori Bovalino is clearly an author to watch, following her excellent debut The Devil Makes Three with another entertaining read, Not Good for Maidens. On the YA front we also feature the debut of Ryan La Sala, which has great LGBTQIA+ representation in The Honeys, Nicole Lesperance’s dreamy The Depths and Sara Farizan’s retro Dead Flip.

Did Adam Cesare’s hugely successful Clown in a Cornfield genuinely need a sequel? I’m not convinced and found Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives slightly underwhelming. Darren Charlton also gives us a sequel to Wranglestone, with Timberdark which continues the original zombie story. As usual almost all the novels feature female narratives and those which do have boys are all gay.

Three of the books featured are Middle Grade and The Girl in White is the third Lindsay Currie novel we have covered in as many months. I have quickly become a huge fan of Lindsay and her brand of Middle Grade horror is second to none. Britain’s answer to Lindsay is undoubtedly Jennifer Killick and although Fear Ground (Dread Wood book 2) was a solid read, it lacked the freshness of the original. Finally, we have another easy Middle Grade novel, RJ McDowell’s Agatha Anxious and the Deer Island Ghost (Dead Fellow Five Book 1) which was aimed at younger pupils.

The books are presented in alphabetical order and do get in touch if you have something we might want to review.

Alex Bell – The Lighthouse

Published by Stripes Publishing (29 Sept. 2022)

I’m delighted to announce that the queen of Red Eye YA horror, Alex Bell is back, and she is on tremendous form with her fourth title in the UK’s most popular horror brand. The Lighthouse is Red Eye’s twelfth book since Bell opened the series with Frozen Charlotte (2014) and later continued with The Haunting (2016) and Charlotte Says (2017) with this new offering being their strongest release since Savage Island (2018) and Whiteout (2018). School librarians up and down the country release a collective cheer whenever a new Red Eye novel appears as kids just cannot get enough of them and they beautifully bridge the gap between Middle Grade and older YA. If you do not read much kids horror and are unsure what to recommend then the Red Eye brand is the perfect place to start. I guarantee that the incredibly well plotted The Lighthouse will have most young teens on the hook (and most adults) and make sure you hang around for a simply brilliant closing two pages which will wrong foot even the most jaded of adult horror readers.

The Lighthouse opens with fifteen-year-old Jess and twelve-year-old Rosie being shipped off to Bird Rock, a tiny island in the Outer Hebrides where they will stay with their ornithologist father, their half-brother Charlie and their stepmother. Jess narrates the story and is shocked to be stuck in such a remote location during the summer holidays, on an island dominated by gannets who shriek, stink, and poo endlessly. The family stay in the ancient lighthouse and bird hunters on the island say the lighthouse is haunted and has a very dark history. The manner in which the supernatural story was developed was perfectly pitched, expertly paced as Jess begins to feel increasingly isolated and things go bump in the night and Charlie begins to act stranger and stranger. But then things really kick off when Rosie disappears and nobody seems to remember her except for Jess. Along the way a teenage boy, with a tragic connection to the lighthouse helps out, and it was nice to see a token romance NOT thrown into the mix! This was a very cool pacey supernatural thriller. I loved it. AGE RANGE 11/12+

Tori Bovalino - Not Good for Maidens

Published by Titan Books (13 Sept. 2022)

Tori Bovalino follows her outstanding YA debut horror novel The Devil Makes Three with another deliciously captivating dark read. Not Good for Maidens is inspired by the Christina Rosetti poem Goblin Market and has some plot similarities in which two sisters are tempted by goblins. This skeleton of an idea morphs beautifully into a YA novel which is sure to appeal to fans of Holly Black and others who write dark fantasy using fairy or folk tales as inspiration. 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. However, early in the action Neela disappears and we realise this is connected to the family’s history in York. 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, which coexist in the Goblin Market. This is a dangerous place for humans (goblins eat people) but at certain times and for short periods it is (relatively) safe for humans to visit the Market as long as no rules are broken.

I enjoyed both narratives, which both have great LGBTQIA+ representation with Lou being asexual, however, I would have liked to have seen this explored further in the Goblin Market story as seduction was a big part of how the market ticked and this plotline seemed to lead to a dead end, unless acceptance was enough. The goblins are portrayed as horned creatures, which can use glamours to appear human and I struggled to shake off the Tolkien version of goblins from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Bearing in mind goblins eat humans, there was a fair bit of gore thrown into the mix, clearly showing what happens to those who are too dumb to survive in the Goblin Market. 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. There is even the hint of a sequel. Overall, this was great stuff. AGE RANGE 13+

Adam Cesare – Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives

Published by HarperTeen (1 Sept. 2022)

Adam Cesare’s Clown in a Cornfield was one of the strongest YA horror novels of the last few years and deservedly won the Bram Stoker Award Winner for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel back in 2020. It was also widely enjoyed by an adult readership, some of which did not realise they were reading what was technically a teen novel. Even though the original did not end on a cliff-hanger or particularly need a sequel, success has perhaps demanded a book which was not necessary. Interestingly, even though this sequel is much less violent that the original in other ways it is more mature with the main characters now at college with a storyline which will attract older/adult readers more so than genuine teen readers. The concept behind the story, that legends morph and never die, was also quite mature which younger readers might struggle with. Also, I would not read Frendo Lives without having read the original as it is strongly connected to the original and will not make a lot of sense.

Without going into spoiler territory Frendo Lives picks up the story a year after the events in book one where a group of crazed clowns massacred a bunch of teenagers. The story is built around Final Girl survivor Quinn who is now at college, with the story also flipping back to Kettle Springs, where her father still lives, and was the location of the original massacre. College life has been difficult for Quinn as most people see her as “that girl” from the massacre and her life is far from normal as she becomes the focus of online conspiracies. This was a fascinating part of the story: the idea that many believed the massacre never truly happened. But when a clown attacks Quinn at a frat party and then clowns start popping up back in Kettle Springs things start to kick off again, with her heading back home with two of the other survivors (who have become great friends) and circumstances start to motor. There was limited character development from book one and I found the whole thing incredibly far-fetched but it was a solid if unspectacular read which was nowhere near good enough to merit a third outing.

AGE RANGE 13/14+

Darren Charlton – Timberdark (Wranglestone 2)

Published by Stripes Publishing (1 Sept. 2022)

Ginger Nuts of Horror tipped zombie apocalypse horror Wranglestone for the top back in 2020 and it has since featured in several of our ‘best of’ lists, including our Top Ten YA Novels of 2020. It then went onto win the Waterstones Prize (for YA readers) and was nominated for the Children’s Costa Book Prize and other leading prizes. All these accolades were well deserved, as it was a unique take on the zombie apocalypse, with two gay teenage boys as the central characters, set in a North American island location where in the winter the lake froze over and the dead (the ‘zombie’ word was rarely used) were able to get across to the Wranglestone community. What followed was a love story drama between Peter and Cooper (who were two vastly different boys) and the enfolding crisis when the zombies approach and there are also threats and dangerous secrets from within their own community. Timberdark picks up the Peter and Cooper story shortly after the events of its predecessor, taking the story in unpredictable directions. 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.

Peter and Cooper head out looking for other survivors and end up staying in another community in which civilisation has begun to return and there is talk of a returning government and new laws etc. The novel concerns how Peter (gets a job in a cinema) and Cooper (loading boxes) 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, and I found it rather repetitive, yes, we know the boys loved each other, but it went on and on. I am unsure how regular teen readers will react to this as it took up an unnecessarily large chunk of the book. The other principal element of the book was 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, but I am not sure how convincing I found it, but it was certainly another fresh take on the zombie story.

AGE RANGE 13/14+

Lindsay Currie - The Girl in White

Published by Sourcebooks Young Readers (6 Sept. 2022)

We are delighted to provide you with the third Lindsay Currie novel in successive Young Blood roundups with The Girl in White being her brand-new Middle Grade novel. As with Scritch Scratch (2020) and What Lives in the Woods (2021) Currie has the ability to produce pitch-perfect Middle Grade chillers aimed at kids from ten to thirteen. They have thrills, wonderfully believable characters, clever plots and superb pacing which quickly turn her tales into great page-turners. In The Girl in White twelve-year-old Mallory has not quite adapted to life in the small coastal town of Eastport (Massachusetts) which has turned an old ghost story (more of a local legend) into a cottage industry as tourists flock to the town to find out more about ‘Sweet Molly.’ Like all of Currie’s novels friendships play a key role, with Bri, Emmie and eventually Joshua being pulled into a mystery which has Mallory on edge of which she is certain is connected to the Sweet Molly legend.

I loved the fact that Mallory found the commercial element of the Molly myth annoying, which was worsened by the fact that her parents owned a restaurant which really went over the top about the legend. I also thought her parents were great, not all kids have to come from a broken home to create a convincing Middle Grade story. Early in the tale Mallory wakes up with sand on her feet and realises she has been sleepwalking, coupled with weird visions and her seeing a strange old woman she is on edge. And the fact that it is almost Halloween every day in Eastport does not make things easy, however, she soon realises that her neighbour Joshua has been having a similar unsettling experience. What have they got in common? Neither kids are natives of Eastport. What follows is an entertaining supernatural thriller which plays around with the idea of myths, their commercialisation and reconnecting with the past. This was another winner from Lindsay Currie who is fast becoming one of my favourite Middle Grade authors. Now, which other books have I not read from her back catalogue?

AGE RANGE 10+

Sara Farizan – Dead Flip

Published by ‎ Algonquin Young Readers (30 Aug. 2022)

Dead Flip was a quirky teen drama with a supernatural vibe which via Stranger Things tries 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 LGBTQIA+ 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. The teen and friendship drama was nicely managed, whilst the supernatural angle was downplayed and at the end seemed undercooked, even if things did finish open ended.

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 buddy 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+

Jennifer Killick – Fear Ground (Dread Wood book 2)

Published by Farshore (1 Sept. 2022)

I am a huge fan of Jennifer Killick, who is one of the best Middle Grade horror writers around and have previously reviewed Crater Lake (book one and two) and the original Dread Wood, all of which I highly recommend. Fear Ground features the same characters who met during Saturday detention in the original Dread Wood and picks up the same story some months later whilst the kids are still in Year Seven (first year of secondary school). Dread Wood is the forest which surrounds their remotely located school and in the first book the children are stalked by the nasty school caretakers who are up to no good. Although it is not apparent at the start, Fear Ground is more connected to Dread Wood than you might originally think and it might have worked better as a standalone mystery rather all the references to the previous book. If anything, it might have been a better read if the ‘baddie’ in this book had nothing to do with its predecessor, but that was not the case.

The initial idea of the book was great, there’s a new craze at Dead Wood High concerning a computer app called ‘Flinch.’ The game is connected to fear and making other kids also playing the game jump. At first it’s fun, but soon fun is replaced by something more sinister. Shortly after the main characters notice that everyone is behaving a little bit more strangely every day, almost as if something is possessing them. Adult readers might start thinking of The Demon Headmaster, but what happens is much nastier than hypnotism. Although the visiting fair features prominently on the cover and title, it does not actually play that big a part in the story which was slightly disappointing. Soon Flinch gets very real and excitement turns to scares. I liked the idea of Flinch but thought it might have worked better if disconnected from book one, but ultimately the strongest element of the book was the characters, their banter and the acceptance of Collette to the group. There is lots to enjoy here for young horror fans.

AGE RANGE 9/10+

Nicole Lesperance – The Depths

Published by Razorbill (13 Sept. 2022)

Nicole Lesperance’s fascinating and atmospheric The Depths is undoubtedly aimed at strong confident YA readers as it is probably too slow moving for those readers looking for a thriller or easy scare. This literary gothic horror is targeting more thoughtful readers attracted to strong characterisation, beautiful but threatening landscapes and slow burning romance. Although anybody could read The Depths, I would imagine teenage girls to be its main audience. One of the main strengths of the novel is its main character seventeen-year-old Addie, who narrates the action, until a serious accident she was one of the world’s best free-divers, being able to sink to the depth of a 19-story-building without an oxygen tank. When the novel opens Addie is still convalescing from the accident where she drowned and was clinically dead for eight and a half minutes. Her recovery is slow, and an important part of the novel as she has restricted mobility and coughs up blood and remains in touch with her two best friends who are also free divers.

The setting and location were also key to the success of the story. Addie arrives on the remote Eulalie Island with her mother and new husband preparing to play gooseberry and regain her strength. The island is almost presented as a character in itself and is vividly described from the trees to the winds, the sand and the shades of the water. Some readers might well lose patience with this dreamy style as the plot is rather slow moving with only a handful of characters in the book. Soon Addie meets Billy, the son of the island keepers, and slowly the supernatural element of the story is introduced with local legends and ghosts which live on the island, which have their own agenda for Addie. As the story moved on there were some great underwater scenes and Addie realises Eulalie Island might not want her to leave. It was relatively easy to see which direction The Depths was heading, but it was an engaging and thoughtful read for those who enjoy immersive fiction.

AGE RANGE 13+

Kate Alice Marshall – These Fleeting Shadows

Published by Viking Books for Young Readers (9 Aug. 2022)

Over the last couple of years Kate Alice Marshall has become one of the most dependable authors of Young Adult and Middle Grade horror, she writes for both age groups equally well and there is little of her fiction I would not recommend. On the MG front her Thirteens trilogy is superb, with book two Brackenbeast (2022) top notch, with the third instalment Glassheart following imminently. Some of her YA novels are quite exceptional and beautifully blend other genres with horror, found footage, fantasy and thriller and I would particularly recommend Rules for Vanishing (2019) and Our Last Echoes (2022). Her latest, These Fleeting Shadows is another complex read which blends the supernatural, dark family drama, LGBTQIA+ love story and twister of a thriller. As with all of Marshall’s YA fiction nothing is quite what is seems and you will have to read this one closely to enjoy the impressive revelations which are dropped in the final quarter of the book.

Helen Vaughan’s grandfather (who she does not know) dies and she returns with her mother to the expansive ancestral home of Harrowstone Hall for the funeral where she finds out she is the major beneficiary in the will. However, there is a massive BUT. 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 fact that a supernatural presence called ‘The Other’ lives in the house and that Helen also has visions connected to a troubled past childhood. 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 complex 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 will 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 and drama.

AGE RANGE 14+

RJ McDowell - Agatha Anxious & the Deer Island Ghost (Dead Fellow Five Book 1)

Published by Crumblebee Books (20 Sept. 2022)

Agatha Anxious and the Deer Island Ghost is the first book in the Deadfellow Five series (set in Biloxi, Mississippi) and features a girl who turns thirteen over the course of the novel and has the ability to see ghosts after inheriting a supernatural gift from her aunt. Although Agatha is a nice and engaging character she comes across as much less than thirteen and I would pitch the story at kids aged eight to eleven. However, the plot is fairly slow moving and kids that young might get bored by the sluggish pace and lack of action in the initial stages. It was also disappointing to see the boy character (Leopold) given a very bland and one-dimensional support role. There is a never-ending supply of books full of girls like Agatha Anxious, but sadly boys seem to have been completely written out of the equation. Many of the characters also have really twee sounding juvenile names, such as Dorian Doom or Leopold Panic, which sound like they belong in a cartoon or in a book for even younger kids.

In the initial stages of the story Agatha realises she can see ghosts and hangs out more with her aunt than other kids at school, preferring to visit the local graveyard. Around the time her aunt Hattie disappears Agatha and Leopold embark upon solving the mystery of what happened to her aunt, whilst connecting it to another classmate finding an ancient coin which might have a connection to a local myth. Agatha realises she has to help the ghost which has been reaching out to her and this connects not only to a wider local mystery, but also a book report for school. The supernatural story was slow moving, a skeleton hand and then communication via a scrabble board, but was nicely supplemented by school classroom scenes, the relationship with her aunt and a good lead into the second book in the series. Although Agatha Anxious gives us nothing new it was a nice, non-threatening and not too scary read for lower Middle Grade readers.

AGE RANGE 8-11.

RYAN LA SALA – THE HONEYS

Published by Scholastic Fiction (18 Aug. 2022)

Ryan La Sala’s The Honeys has a terrific opening twenty pages which, although enjoyable enough, the rest of the book does not quite live up to, but there is underlying tension in the manner in which the plot will circle back to it. 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. He was an engaging lead character and does not go looking for the reader’s sympathy and if far from a shrinking violet and happy to stand up for himself when required.

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. At this point events got familiar, as there are so many books set in rich American camps and the girls themselves were also dull caricatures of exactly who you might expect to find in such camps. Because of his sexuality, and the fact that he is the twin of their former friend, he is soon accepted into the group. It then blends into a rather slow-moving teen drama, coupled with Mars having both visions and flashbacks which might shed light upon what happened to his sister. Things open up in the final third and the pace quickens, and the ending will undoubtedly hold more surprises for genuine teen readers than I. There were a lot of f-bombs in the text, otherwise teens of most ages might enjoy it.

AGE RANGE 13/14+

Tony Jones