Young Adult and Middle Grade Horror Roundup for October and November

Young Adult and Middle Grade Horror Roundup for October and November
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Our latest Young Adult and Middle Grade roundup provides you with nine books to check out, which includes some absolute belters. JP Rose’s debut The Haunting of Tyrese Walker impressed me greatly and bridges the gap between MG and YA beautifully, with this supernatural study of grief ranking amongst the best children’s books of 2022. Elsewhere we have Andrew J. Brandt’s Picture Unavailable which also nicely crosses MG with YA in an entertaining American small-town horror story which crosses the generations. Sana Rasoul also impresses with her debut The Twig Man and we also include one of the Middle Grade releases from adult horror legend Brian Keene, School’s Out.
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The standard of the five YA novels featured is incredibly high and with Kate Dylan’s Mindwalker we take a slight detour from horror into the dark realms of science fiction and mind control. I have reviewed Rin Chupeco several times in the past and a couple of years ago we ranked their debut The Girl from the Wall number ten in our top hundred YA novels of the last decade. Since then they have mainly written fantasy, but The Sacrifice makes a welcome return to horror in a tale seeped in Philippine legends and folklore. Julia Rust and David Surface co-author the excellent Angel Falls, an atmospheric and strange tale of wishes, family problems and intense relationship, all with a bubbling supernatural undercurrent. This is certainly the month for terrific debuts and Rosie Talbot’s Sixteen Souls is an intriguing ghost story with a convincing LGBTQIA+ theme about a gay teenage boy with a challenging disability who sees ghosts. Last up is a beauty, Danielle Valentine’s How to Survive Your Murder, a gleefully far-fetched tale of a horror film loving teenage girl who finds a bizarre way of going back in time to find a way of bringing her murdered sister back to life. All these YA titles were highly recommended and are worth a closer look or worthy of a place in a school or public library. Or even for a gift for a young person in your life.

They are presented alphabetically by author and if you have something you would like to see featured on the page then do get in touch.

Andrew J. Brandt - Picture Unavailable
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Blue Handle Publishing (25 Oct. 2022)

Andrew J. Brandt’s Picture Unavailable was a fun, easy to read, Middle Grade horror mystery, I’ve seen it listed as YA, but as all the kids are in their final year of primary school I would pitch it age twelvish or slightly under, as it has little to scare older children. One quote noted “The best of R.L. Stine meets the first half of King's IT” and although that might be a little over the top, there is also some truth and the comparisons are easy to make. While looking through their sixth-grade yearbooks, Charlie Greene and his two best friends notice that the portrait of their missing classmate has been left blank except for two words: “Picture Unavailable.” After which they begin to investigate what happened to this kid and why most people seemingly forget him, with their search taking in old microfiche readers (who remembers these?) in the local library and interviewing the teacher in charge of the yearbook. In the background the boys are aware of a dark presence which seems to be stalking, or even targeting them.

The boys initially set out to uncover the mystery to jump-start their new podcast. Their first stop is the yearbook teacher, Mr Cotter, who knows much more than he claims. Interestingly, the book is also seen by a couple of adults points of view, including Cotter and Charlie’s mum. This was slightly odd and child readers might find it a tad strange. But the more they investigate, the more the boys learn that Johnny's disappearance is far from an isolated incident and like Stephen King’s IT the story flicks back to when Mr Cotter was a kid and a previous disappearance. Set in Tennessee, this was a nice little page-turner which develops a great small-town atmosphere, has some cute scenes with the local girls and ramps things up nicely for a great ending. Charlie was a terrific lead character, who was overcoming personal tragedy of his own which was sensitively managed. AGE RANGE 10+

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Rin Chupeco – The Sacrifice

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Fire (27 Sept. 2022)

​With The Sacrifice Rin Chupeco makes a welcome return to YA horror after several years writing dark fantasy. The Girl from the Well (2014) and sequel The Suffering (2015) were outstanding reads, with the former ranked ten in our top fifty YA horror novels of the last decade. Like those earlier works Chupeco makes full use of the folklore and mythology of the Philippines, setting the action entirely on a remote island which is both highly inaccessible and quite possibly cursed. The action opens with a group of loud and obnoxious American filmmakers arriving at the island of Kisapmata, after greasing the hands of the local government to visit a location which is normally out-of-bounds to tourists. The island has a history of disappearances, strange occurrences and the novel nicely delves deeply into local folklore, curses, demons, gods, sacrifices and builds an impressive body count (with several nasty kills along the way) as the mystery deepens and the film goes way off track. Of course, initially the loud Americans do not believe any of this and treat the local teen (Alon) who becomes their guide as a gullible mug. Big mistake.

Most of the Americans were deserving of their fate, but the novel revolves around the native Alon. This character was presented predominately as gender-neutral and it was hard to decide whether the teen was male or female, although some of the reasoning for this was revealed much later in the plot. Because of the nature of this character the first-person narrative was very vague (I found it slightly bland) and they are presented almost as an observer who warns the Americans of what lies ahead, but in actual fact does not do much to truly put them off. On the day of their arrival a huge sink hole appears in the camp, which uncovers ancient looking trees which look like wizened dried out old people and from there on the book begins to motor. This was a good fast read, even though the characters were relatively shallow the location was terrific and the use of the supernatural was very convincing. I saw the ending coming and will be interested to find out whether genuine teen readers do the same. It’s great to have Rin Chupeco writing horror again. AGE RANGE 13+       ​

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Kate Dylan – Mindwalker
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hodder & Stoughton (1 Sept. 2022)

Kate Dylan’s debut Mindwalker was a straight science fiction thriller aimed at older teens, in actual fact adults could read it and barely notice it was a YA novel as the main character had recently turned eighteen. There was no sex, violence was restrained and there was little swearing, so anybody who enjoys stories with advanced technology, cyberpunk overtones might find something to get their teeth into. Make sure you read the first fifty pages very closely so you get your head around how ‘Mindwalkers’ operate which is the core technology of the book in which Syntex employees commandeer or highjack/piggyback into the minds of secret operatives and help them out of sticky situations. The novel is seen from the point of view of Sil Sarrah, who has a 100% success rate in guiding spies (or whatever you want to call them) to safety. She was recruited when she was eight and ten years later has been rebuilt with all the latest technology, this is until an operation goes wrong and the all-powerful corporation Syntex turns against her. Is she a scapegoat or is there a deeper conspiracy going on?

Although the characters were sketchy and lacked emotional depth it did not hold the story back too much as from early in the tale we find out that Mindwalkers have an expiration date and few are still in operation beyond the age of nineteen and Sarrah’s technology is beginning to malfunction when the book opens. The idea of jumping into the minds of others is nothing new and had me thinking of another YA duology Lissa Price’s Starters where the rich could rent the use of other people’s bodies and run wild with the opportunity and even murder, which was not so different with what happens here. Once Sil goes on the run from Syntex we see the story from the other side, the Analog Army (the equivalent of the Anonymous hacker group) and she is caught in the middle, whilst both trying to clear her name and survive. There is a lot to enjoy here from vividly drawn and scary technology, espionage nice action sequences, funny banter and convincing worldbuilding which was a not-too distant dystopian version of where we are today. A terrific book to distract teens who are addicted to their devices! AGE RANGE 13/14 TO ADULT

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Brian Keene – School’s Out

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (17 Oct. 2017)

School’s Out by horror legend Brian Keene, a sixty-nine-page novella, was first published back in 2017, but as it was recently part of his excellent 0.99$ weekly deals I thought I would investigate his kids’ stuff for the first time. Amazon lists the book at ages 9-18, which is too wide a range and not particularly helpful and I would peg it at the lower end of that age bracket. However, the major issue I had with School’s Out is that not enough happens to engage young readers, with a plot which contains very little action, character interaction or much else to hook young readers. This is a very reflective story and character study of a child which might be enjoyed more by adults.

Uncannily like a super vicious version of Covid-19, a virus spreads and Alan’s dad dies when the story opens. His mother is travelling, initially contacts him, then disappears, presumed dead. The rest of the novella then concerns how the boy survives on his own with a couple of gross bits along the way and a run-in with starving wild dogs. In the afterward Keene gives some ideas where the story came from and the relation to his own kids, ultimately I do not think youngish children want to read stories which are too realistic featuring characters like themselves stranded home alone, slowly starving and dreaming of happier times at school. Sure, it was realistic, but this age-group requires more escapism and plot in their fiction. It was also too short, but definitely had the potential to be turned into a longer work if the story was developed beyond the single character narrative. Sadly, however, there is zero interest in novellas in the children’s book market and I’m sure Keene saw School’s Out as an interesting literary diversion in between his adult projects. AGE RANGE 10-13

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Sana Rasoul – The Twig Man

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hashtag Press (6 Oct. 2022)

The list of great Middle Grade horror fiction just got one book longer with Sana Rasoul’s highly entertaining debut The Twig Man, which is set in the creepy town of Hanging Hill and has a reputation for unexplained disappearances. Situated just off a motorway, with a big encroaching forest the author does an excellent job of creating a location where people disappear and the local legend ‘The Twig Man’ is quietly whispered about. Main character, twelve-year-old Ari, believes in The Twig Man and is certain the creature is responsible for kidnapped his sister Lana a year earlier. When the book opens the anniversary of her disappearance is approaching, with their parents believing that she ran away due to the fact that a plane ticket was found in her room. Lana was of Sixth Form age and although there was a big age gap the siblings were incredibly close and Ari refuses to give up hope of her safe return and begins to investigate The Twig Man legend. He misses her every day and his grief seeps through the pages of the novel.

Although The Twig Man had some creepy bits it is perfect for kids in Year Six and Seven, who do not want to read anything too scary. Ari is a very brave boy and will sacrifice everything to get his sister back, even if this means going against the wishes of his Kurdish parents who are wracked with a combination of grief and guilt. We find out Ari has no friends (but the story provides little detail why) but early in the novel he meets a home-schooled boy called Timmie who also believes in the monster and together they enter the haunted woods to look for Lana. Meanwhile, The Twig Man has his own eye on the two boys and a battle of cat and mouse begins as the monster also targets them. On one level The Twig Man was a great supernatural yarn about a boy who refused to give up, it was also a very gentle book about friendship, family, loneliness and standing up for yourself. AGE RANGE 9-12

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JP Rose – The Haunting of Tyrese Walker

Andersen Press (6 Oct. 2022)

I was greatly impressed by JP Rose’s The Haunting of Tyrese Walker which uses grief, loss and mental health as a convincing basis to build an excellent horror story which could be read by both Middle Grade and YA age groups. It was creepy and unsettling rather than outright scary and because it was not particularly gory, violent or sweary it could pick up a wide audience. This was a compelling read which I sped through it in a few sittings, I also adored the use of the Jamaican folklore, which had me reaching for Google to find out what the supernatural references of ‘Duppy’ and ‘Soucouyant’ meant. The story was also beautifully paced, had a clever way of eliminating adults from the adventure and had three terrific main characters. It was also refreshing to read a novel with a boy as the main character, as these days most books of this type are dominated by female narratives. Equally so, I enjoyed the fact that the author did not feel the need to throw in a developing romance, as the story really did not require it and the importance was how Tyrese Walker overcame his own personal, painful and complex inner demons which were portrayed incredibly sensitively.

The story opens with Tyrese arriving in Jamaica with his mother to stay with his grandmother and cousin Marvin for the summer. The boy has struggled to recover from the death of his father some months earlier and is overcome with grief with his mother hoping the change of scenery will do some good. However, from the first night, strange things start happening: impossible visions, blackouts, swarms of insects, and the discovery of a grave hidden deep in the forest… Tyrese can’t explain what’s going on and he’s scared that he’s losing his grip on reality. However, friendship develops with his cousin and a girl called Ellie who is visiting the island with her developer father. This leads to a mystery which takes in Jamaican folklore and the possibility that a boogieman type character is hunting him called the ‘Shadow Man’ and together they uncover a rash of unexplained disappearances and uncover the Shadow Man’s sinister history. The supernatural mystery element, which included some great possession scenes and freaky scenes of people with hooves were great, but the portrayal of Tyrese and how he deals with his grief stole the show. The book carefully shows the reader how loss can change you, but that the power of friendship can trump than. This was a terrific read and is highly recommended. AGE RANGE 11-14

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Julia Rust & David Surface – Angel Falls
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Publisher ‏ : ​ Haverhill House Publishing LLC (26 Sept. 2022)

I was a huge fan Angel Falls co-written by Julia Rust and David Surface which was one of those books which deserves to find an audience, but I am unsure whether it will. Hopefully, there are enough thoughtful teenagers hanging out there willing to take a chance on this very subtle supernatural drama. Even though it was slow moving and did not include any over-the-top big finish I found this powerful character study of two lonely teenagers, who connect, strangely moving. Rarely have I seen supernatural happenings kept so far on the backburner as in Angel Falls, but it did not spoil my enjoyment of the book as the two sixteen-year-old main characters were so well drawn, along with the family dramas they are involved in, I barely noticed. However, I am unsure whether genuine teen readers will share my patience!

Jessie Reed (a girl) moves to the seaport village of Beauport for the summer (from New York) after her father inherits an old house. Separated from her friends, and with her parents having marriage problems, whilst out exploring Jessie meets Jared Younger. The pair initially fight after meeting in the remote area of Angel Falls, which Jared claims is dangerous, but after a false start they become friends. Jared has his own problems, his father a well-known local artist, suffers from crippling depression and they are struggling to make ends meet. Together they explore Angel Falls, which is beautifully and vividly described, they soon realise there might be some weird power in the local area and the ability to grant wishes. However, the plot is significantly more complex and there are various flip backs in time, a side-story with Jared’s teacher and a missing teenage girl all connected to the complex ripple-effect of wish-making. Fans of thoughtful, character driven stories which balance the pain of early teen romances with very subtle supernatural stories are in for a real treat. AGE RANGE 13+

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Rosie Talbot – Sixteen Souls

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic; 1st edition (13 Oct. 2022)

Sixteen Souls is the engaging debut of Rosie Talbot and although there is nothing particularly fresh about the plot (a teenager sees ghosts) it has considerable heart and a central character who had a lot of problems, including a serious disability, but did not necessarily want our sympathy. Other reviewers have namechecked other books we have previously reviewed on Ginger Nuts including Cemetery Boys, The Taking of Jake Livingstone and The Lockwood and Co series, which are all good points of reference. The first two of these books also have convincing LGBTQIA+ storylines which continues with another gay teenage boy in Sixteen Souls, who has not yet come out 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.

The story is built around the fact that Charlie realises ghosts are disappearing. In York he is used to seeing ghosts gravitating and wandering around the same places (like they are stuck in a loop repeating their last moments) who do not know they are dead. 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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Danielle Valentine – How to Survive Your Murder

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Razorbill (30 Aug. 2022)

Danielle Valentine is the pseudonym for Danielle Vega, who we have reviewed in the past, and is best known for the Merciless quartet and the Haunted duology. She also writes under the name Danielle Rollins and we have covered the terrific Burning duology, with the Dark Star trilogy also being published under this name. Whichever name she is writing under, How to Survive Your Murder is undoubtedly one of the strongest of her novels I have read and is a wacky blend of thriller, stalker/slasher horror with an oddball warped take on the classic James Stewart film It’s a Wonderful Life. Although it is aimed at older teens, adults readers could have fun with it as it top-loaded with horror film references, way more than any genuine teenager is likely to know. If you have no idea who the fictional horror film character Sidney Prescott is, then you might not get very far with this book as the main character Alice Lawrence is a horror film obsessive and much prefers them to real life, that is until her elder sister Claire is murdered in an early flashback whilst she waits in court to give evidence against the accused.

To call How to Survive Your Murder far-fetched would be an understatement, but do not let that put you off, that is part of the fun, with the eventual killer (like in a horror film) being the least (and I mean LEAST!) likely candidate. I am not going to go into details about how this happens, but Alice flips back in time to before her sister is murdered and is given the opportunity to ‘bring her back’ but only is she identifies the genuine murderer before midnight. What follows is an entertaining horror thriller, where Alice has to come out of her horror film shell, flirt with a gorgeous college boy, and do her best to keep her sister alive in this past-alternative reality (or whatever it is!) The book has a major Final Girl vibe as Alice uncovers secrets, some close to home, whilst other characters come to a sticky end, whilst the clock ticks down to zero. Horror film fanatics in particular will love this book as will thriller readers who love a cool twist (and double twist even). All the characters are aged sixteen plus, so it’s aimed at older readers with numerous f-bombs and sporadic violence. Great gruesome fun! AGE RANGE 14+
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Tony Jones

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