BLURRING THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN WORLDS, HORROR AUTHORS WHO WRITE YA AND ADULT HORROR: PART 3

There are some terrific authors in this section, but my personal favourite is the great Scott Sigler who has written some vicious science fiction-tinged horror and more recently made a successful jump to YA with a trilogy which effortlessly blends science fiction and horror.

This is the final of three article which takes a broad sweep at authors who started their careers as adult horror writers, but at some stage turned to YA fiction or visa-versa, those who began with YA and then jumped to adult. Interestingly, considering the huge number of horror writers there are, it is not an especially long list. If you missed part one and two follow the links below to catch up:


 PART 1

https://gingernutsofhorror.com/young-blood/adult-horror-writers-who-also-write-ya-fiction-and-visa-versa-part-1-a-h


 PART 2 

https://gingernutsofhorror.com/young-blood/blurring-the-boundaries-between-worlds-horror-authors-who-write-ya-and-adult-horror-part-2-i-r


There are some terrific authors in this section, but my personal favourite is the great Scott Sigler who has written some vicious science fiction-tinged horror and more recently made a successful jump to YA with a trilogy which effortlessly blends science fiction and horror. It is tricky writing for both age groups and if you do not know many of these authors, they are well worth dipping into. Interestingly, many of them are much better known for one age group and would be seen as ‘dabblers’ in the others, for example, how many of you knew the great Jeff Strand has written many YA novels or that the multi-million selling YA legend Darren Shan writes adult fiction as Darren Dash?  


It is not an authoritative list, and it has been compiled mainly from going through my old Ginger Nuts of Horror reviews, which date back to 2015. I would also like to thank the Twitter horror-sphere and the Books of Horror Facebook group who helped with many of the suggestions. I am sure there are many other great examples, so get in touch if there are any glaring omissions and they may feature in a follow-up article.


The short accompanying reviews notes: if it is a novel I have previously reviewed on Ginger Nuts of Horror it is introduced with “Here’s what we said about….” Others might have reviews of books I have read but have never previously reviewed online. The late additions, books I have not read, have blurbs which I have taken from either Fantastic Fiction or Amazon. Many of these are future reads!  The dates I have used have also originated on Amazon or Fantastic Fiction. Note, they do not aim to be complete, and I have featured what I have found to be the most relevant to this project. 


The authors are listed alphabetically.   ​

 VE SCHWAB AKA VICTORIA SCHWAB

Between 2013-2021 VE Schwab has written ten or eleven novels, which are a blend of dark fantasy, although technically they are adult reads, most have very strong YA vibes to them and are popular with teens. For example, my fifteen-year-old daughter loved The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020) and has read many of her other ‘adult’ novels, the best known are Vicious (2013), A Darker Side of Magic (2015) and The Steel Prince (2018). Her most recent novel is Extraordinary (2021), which kicks off her new series. When writing as Victoria Schwab her fiction is a mixture of dark fantasy and the supernatural, aimed at both YA and younger Middle Grade age groups. Her series include The Near Witch (2011), Archived (2013-14), Everyday Angel (2014), Monsters of Verity (2016-17) and Cassidy Blake (2018-21) which begins with City of Ghosts.  


HERE’S WHAT WE SAID ABOUT CITY OF GHOSTS (2018)

The multi-talented Victoria Schwab who writes for both adults and teens returns with a new fantasy ghost story for slightly younger children. When Cass was younger, she had a near-death-experience which resulted in her having the ability to see ghosts. Her best friend, Jacob, is a ghost, whom her parents believe is just an invisible friend she will grow out of. After her parents get a new job presenting a TV programme about true supernatural hauntings her family relocate from America to Edinburgh in Scotland. Once in Edinburgh the ‘City of Ghosts’ Cass begins to see even more ghosts and even meets another little girl who has the same gift as her who teaches her to use it properly. This was a very easy read, quite gently written, with no real level of threat and would be a pleasant introduction for children beginning to develop an interest in ghost stories. AGE RANGE 8-11

DARREN SHAN AKA DARREN DASH

Darren Shan is arguably the most important British YA horror writer of the 21st Century and his twelve-book series The Saga of Darren Shan (2000-2005) and ten book Demonata (2005-2009) series were instrumental in creating a new generation of teen horror readers, selling millions of copies along the way. We regularly bang on about the importance of RL Stine and Christopher Pike, but in the UK Shan is as important as those other guys. Between 2010-12 he returned to his most famous debut series with a quartet of prequels The Saga of Larten Crepsley. By this stage, his popularity had begun to dip, and the twelve book ZOM-B series (2012-16) did not have the impact of his earlier work and one could argue the twelve books were published too closely together. Darren had originally started out as an adult writer, using his real name Darren O'Shaughnessy with the City Duology (1999-2000) which was later republished under Darren Shan, expanding into a trilogy. Other experiments with adult writing continued in 2012 with Lady of the Shades and other dark thrillers followed, including Molly Likes It Hot (2019), The Evil and the Pure (2014), Sunburn (2015) and An Other Place (2016) under the pseudonym Darren Dash. He has recently returned to YA with the multibook fantasy series Archibald Lox (2020-21). YA horror is sending out an SOS to the true king: we need you back, Darren! 


HERE’S WHAT WE SAID ABOUT THE SAGA OF LARTEN CREPSLEY QUARTET (2010)

‘Origin’ stories are dime a dozen these days, however, back in 2010 Darren Shan was way ahead of the curve when he returned to the world of his most memorable creations, the twelve-book series Cirque Du Freak which is one of my personal favourites and essential reading for any young teen. You could easily read this quartet without reading Cirque Du Freak, but much of it has been written for those ‘in the know’ and stars Larten Crepsley one of the main supernatural characters from Cirque Du Freak who is several hundred-years-old. This origins story takes us back to when Larten was still a human boy and gets into trouble after killing a man who murdered his brother. Once on the run he meets a vampire, Seba, and his life changes forever. The four books beautifully humanise Larten who at various times falls out of love with being a vampire and immortality, taking the reader on a highly entertaining and swashbuckling series of adventures and escapades. I wish Darren Shan would start writing horror for teens again, few have done more for engaging boys into reading horror than this outstanding author in the last twenty years.  AGE RANGE 11+


SCOTT SIGLER

If I’m ever asked who my favourite author is, Scott Sigler is always in my all-time top three and sometimes occupies the top spot. I have read every word this wonderful author has written and if anybody blends bloody horror, science fiction and wild crazy technology together better, I have yet to discover them. I even met him when he visited London a few years back. He has too many amazing adult novels to list, but my favourites are Infected (2008), its sequel Contagious (2008), Earthcore (2001), Ancestor (2007) and Nocturnal (2012). At the time of writing my tongue is hanging out waiting for Mount Fitz Roy, the sequel to Earthcore, to drop at the end of 2021. Between 2015-17 Sigler tried his hand at YA with the impressive Generations Trilogy, which was a blend of dystopian science fiction and horror. However, you could argue that Sigler first dabbled with YA way back in 2009 with The Rookie (2009), which was the first book in his Galactic Football League series (2009-21), which now numbers six books. I have them in my school library and over the years many kids have read their way through the series. 


HERE’S WHAT WE SAID ABOUT THE GENERATIONS TRILOGY (2015-17)

Sigler ranks amongst my favourite ever authors and has written many terrific adult novels, but Alive is his first full dip into YA which expertly blends science fiction, dystopia and horror with a group of kids waking up in coffins, not knowing who or where they are; all suffering from amnesia and feeling rather weird in the bodies they now inhabit. It’s an outstanding move into YA from the author of the horrific Infected trilogy and the inter-connected trilogy has many outstanding twists along the way. AGE RANGE 13+


RL STINE

RL Stine has written, quite literally, hundreds of books since first appearing in the mid-1980s and remains most famous for his Goosebumps (1992-2021), Fear Street (1989-98) and Point Horror novels, which are a mixture of Middle Grade and YA. Some of these series are truly massive, with the original Fear Street a huge 53 books and the first Goosebumps series, well over a hundred books. The impact Stine has had on young readers, horror fans, and budding authors, as a gateway to the world of the supernatural is truly beyond measure. At various times, with limited success, Stine has experimented with adult horror, but they seem to lack an edge. His first attempt was Superstitious (1995), others include Eye Candy (2003) and Red Rain (2012). There is always nostalgia for the Point Horror series, but in reality they are rather dated and YA has moved on considerably in the following decades. 


BLURB FOR ‘THE SNOWMAN’ (1991)

Heather is so unhappy. Her evil guardian hates her and treats her like dirt, she has few friends, and she feels cold and alone. Then she meets a great guy who calls himself the Snowman. Heather feels safe, but is the Snowman all that he seems?

 SAM STONE AKA SAMANTHA LEE HOWE

Sam Stone is known for the six book adult Vampire Gene series (2008-16), the Jinx Chronicles (2015-18), Posing for Picasso (2018) and other novellas, collections and short stories. She has also written mysteries, The Stranger in our Bed (2020) and the House of Killers series (2021) under the name Samantha Lee Howe. Between 2012-18 she also moved into urban YA fantasy with a strong Steampunk twang, with the Kat Lightfoot Mysteries, which begins with Zombies at Tiffany’s. 


BLURB FOR ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY’S (2012)

Kat Lightfoot thought that getting a job at the famed Tiffany's store in New York would be the end to her problems ... she has money, new friends, and there's even an inventor working there who develops new weapons from clockwork, and who cuts diamonds with a strange, powered light. This is 1862, after all, and such things are the wonder of the age.


But then events take a turn for the worse: men and women wander the streets talking of 'the darkness'; bodies vanish from morgues across town; and random, bloody attacks on innocent people take place in broad daylight. Soon Kat and her friends are fighting for their lives against a horde of infected people, with only their wits and ingenuity to help them.


JEFF STRAND

Jeff Strand is so prolific I have given up trying to keep up with him and although I’ve read a good few of his books, there are plenty more to go. Many of his recent books have been self-published, but that does not signify any dip in quality and Strand keeps on doing his prolific crazy and rather unique thing. He has too many books to list, so here are a few of my favourites Blister (2011), the utterly wild Cyclops Road is my personal favourite (2016), My Pretties (2019), Clowns Vs Spiders (2019) and Allison (2020). Much of his work has a distinctive brand of comic horror and often branches into other genres, his YA titles include Elrod McBugle On The Loose (2007), A Bad Day for Voodoo (2008), I Have a Bad Feeling About This (2014), The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever (2016), Stranger Things Have Happened (2017) and How You Ruined My Life (2018). Strand if one of the few authors to be both nominated for a YA Stoker (A Bad Day For Voodoo) and in the adult best novel category, for Pressure (2006). If you have never tried Jeff, you are in for an absolute blast. A deeper exploration of his YA is on my ‘to-do’ list and he is one of those authors I am always delighted to dip into his outstanding back catalogue. 


BLURB FOR ‘A BAD DAY FOR VOODOO’ (2008)

When your best friend is just a tiny bit psychotic, you should never actually believe him when he says, "Trust me. This is gonna be awesome." Of course, you probably wouldn't believe a voodoo doll could work either. Or that it could cause someone's leg to blow clean off with one quick prick. But I've seen it. It can happen.


And when there's suddenly a doll of YOU floating around out there - a doll that could be snatched by a Rottweiler and torn to shreds, or a gang of thugs ready to torch it, or any random family of cannibals (really, do you need the danger here spelled out for you?) - well, you know that's just gonna be a really bad day ...


STEVE STRED

Canadian literary whirlwind is another author who is way too prolific for me to keep up with. Over the last few years Steve has released an impressive range of fiction, mainly at novella length. I’ve read a range of these and my favourite is the awesome The Window in the Ground (2020) which can count itself unlucky in not making the final ballot for the Novella Bram Stoker Award. The One That Knows No Fear (2019) was also a great read and The Girl Who Hid in the Trees (2019) and Ritual (2019) were also enjoyable. In 2020 Stred released his first junior fiction title, The Boy Whose Room Was Outside, which showed promise and I’ll be interested whether he returns to the younger age groups or attempts to write for the older YA audience.


REVIEW OF ‘THE BOY WHOSE ROOM WAS OUTSIDE’ (2020)

The Boy Whose Room Was Outside was quite a gentle and non-threatening fantasy novel aimed at a younger age group. The story revolves around a young boy who when he falls asleep wakes up in a fantasy and magical world where he meets lots of different animals who can talk. Whilst he is in this other world, he is also being watched by a dark presence which draws closer to him as the story progresses. This dark force does not want him in the forest, but we do not know why.


This was a very easy read which might fire the imagination of younger children but considering the depth of excellent fantasy novels on the market a story needs more strings to its bow than talking animals to genuinely hold the attention. There were many nice touches, including his relationship with his parents, his dad attempting to get to the other world, Peter’s understanding mother and the fact that his parents couldn’t figure out where he learned to swim! The giant was a lovely character, but in the end of the day the ‘dark’ character did not do much apart from lurk in the background. Having said that, not all stories have to be truly dark, and Peter’s journey was a nice, gentle, and easy to read coming-of-age story aimed at younger children. AGE RANGE 8-10


CL TAYLOR

CL Taylor is best known for her bestselling adult psychological thrillers, which include The Accident (2014), The Lie (2015), The Escape (2017), The Fear (2018), Strangers (2020) and most recently Her Last Holiday (2021). However, she has also written two YA novels, The Treatment (2017) and The Island (2021) neither of which are traditional horror novels, mor a blend of dark thriller with supernatural overtones. 


HERE’S WHAT WE SAID ABOUT ‘THE TREATMENT’ (2017)

The Treatment by CL Taylor has had some hype in YA land recently, being the teen debut for a bestselling adult thriller writer. I haven’t read any of her adult offerings, but this was a tad underwhelming and although it was well written with an engaging free flowing style the plot was telegraphed and predictable to an adult reader. Drew is having a tough time at school and is being bullied after her troublemaker brother is sent to a reform school. This is a new type of school, called Residential Reform Academy (RRA), Drew finds out that the RRA may have some dodgy ‘treatment’ which reconditions and cures these troublesome teens. Of course, before long Drew also ends up in the RRA and it all becomes very predictable. It’s more thriller than horror and teens looking for an easy read will get some entertainment from it. AGE RANGE 12+

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STEVE RASNIC TEM

Steve Rasnic Tem published his first novel Excavation back in 1987, however he has been writing short stories since the 1970s with over 200 published, and either winning or being nominated for top awards such as the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Awards. His short story output is so prolific he regularly has his own collections published, including his debut Decoded Mirrors in 1978, the many others which followed include Ugly Behaviour (2012) and Onion Songs (2013). Other adult horror novels are Blood Kin (2014) which won the Bram Stoker Award for best novel and Ubo (2017). However, in 2018 Tem changed direction and published his first novel for children, The Mask Shop of Doctor Blaack. 


BLURB FOR THE ‘MASK SHOP OF DOCTOR BLAACK’ (2018)

Fall is Laura's favorite time of year, but this autumn, things are different. She's a teenager now, and the season brings new changes and challenges. Laura's decided she's too old for trick-or-treating and wants a more grown-up Halloween experience with her friends. Unfortunately for Laura, her parents tell her she has to take her little brother, Trevor, out trick-or-treating first. When they go shopping for Halloween costumes, they stumble upon a very strange shop and its even stranger proprietor. When Trevor tries on the wrong mask, the consequences are exciting...and dangerous. AGE RANGE 10+


GABY TRIANA

Gaby Triana has written a blend of YA horror, fantasy and teen romance, most recently the excellent Moon Child (2021) which is reviewed below. Other titles include Back Stage Pass (2004), Summer of Yesterday (2014) and Cakespell (2018). Her adult fiction includes The Haunted Florida Trilogy (2018). Gaby has also ghost written many other books. 


HERE’S OUR REVIEW OF ‘MOON CHILD’ (2021)

Gaby Triana has a number of novels, across different genres, but Moon Child was the first time I had tried her fiction and I look forward to dipping into her back catalogue. This was another novel with a great catch phrase which I thought would be very difficult to live up to, however, Moon Child makes a rock-solid attempt of truly being “The Craft meets The Shining in this slow-burn Florida gothic horror.” Religious conflict lies at the heart of this engaging story as eighteen-year-old Cuban American Valentina Callejas has been brought up very close to the Catholic Church, with both a dominating mother and grandmother in a very close-knit Latin community in which tradition comes first. However, Valentina has a secret interest in tarot cards and the occult which guiltily clashes with her strict Catholic upbringing. After a bust up with her family, and a refusal to stay on a church retreat, she heads to visit her half-sister (whom she has never met) and finds her welcoming, warm, and completely different from her immediate family. There was a lot going on in Valentina’s life, even before we get to the horror.


Whilst out exploring, close to where her sister lives, Valentina discovers an abandoned hotel which sits beside a lake and inside the building meets a group of teenagers, who claim to have been waiting for her to complete their magic circle. After getting over her suspicions, Valentina realises the group all have slightly different magical gifts and are trying to open a supernatural entryway to the spirit world. However, although Valentine is delighted to make new friends, she senses a much darker presence in the hotel, connected to its sinister past as a mental hospital. Things quickly hot up and the supernatural element develops in the second half of the story, nicely tying into Valentina’s complex family history. This was a very convincing blend of supernatural and family drama, made even more so by the flashbacks to an unpleasant sexual experience Valentina had with a boy at the church camp the previous year. Readers are going to have a lot of fun with this spunky teenage girl as she goes on her own voyage of discovery and tries to leave her Catholic guilt in the past and be accepted for who she is.  AGE RANGE 13+

LISA TUTTLE

In a career spanning five details Lisa Tuttle effortlessly moves through the genres, including science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, historical mystery and horror. She is also an absolute master of the short story and has featured in countless anthologies, edited others and has a new collection of the best of her short work, The Dead Hours of Night published in 2021.  Some of her adult novels include Windhaven (1981) with George RR Martin, Familiar Spirit (1983), Gabriel (1987), Lost Futures (1992), The Mysteries (2005) and The Silver Bough (2006). Some of her YA fiction includes Catwitch (1983), Panther in Argyll (1996) and Love-On-Line (1998). Tuttle also contributed to the YA series Horrorscopes (1995) where various authors all used the penname Maria Palmer. 


BLURB FOR ‘PANTHER IN ARGYLL’ (1996)

When Danni chooses to spend the school holidays with her godmother, Claire, she thinks she will find a kindred spirit. She doesn't bank on meeting the mysterious Finlay Black, or Claire being on the lookout for the Panther of Argyll - the beast that supposedly roams the woods around her cottage. And she doesn't bank on discovering that she has the 'animal spirit' - a rare and unique ability that not only provides an empathy with animals, but the ability to become them. But there is a price for letting the animal within loose. Panthers are wild, primal, strong . . . and most of all free: why remain human when all of this is within your grasp?


STEVEN E WEDEL

Over the last decade Steven Wendall has regularly moved between adult and YA fiction, co-authoring After Obsession (2011) and In the Woods (2019) with popular YA writer Carrie Jones. Further YA titles include Love Curse (2016), Afterlife (2020) and for much younger children Songbird (2017). Wedel began his four-book adult Werewolf Saga back in 2014 and his other work includes The God of Discord (2015), Seven Days in Benevolence (2015), Amara's Prayer (2015), A Light Beyond (2017) and the western Orphan (2017). 


HERE’S WHAT WE SAID ABOUT IN THE WOODS (2019)

Although it offers nothing new In the Woods was a very enjoyable and engaging collaboration between Carrie Jones and Steven Wedel, set in a small Oklahoma town in the Ozrak mountains. The book was split into two very distinct first-person narratives ‘Chrystal’ and ‘Logan’ perhaps the authors each created a ‘voice’ and if so it worked a treat. The action opens in Logan’s farm where he hears something attacking one of their calves, although he does not get a clear view of the assailant, he is certain it is not human. Meantime, Chrystal who is on holiday in New York, is dismayed to be pulled away from her fun to head to Oklahoma with her cryptozoologist father who is obsessed with finding evidence of everything from Big Foot to aliens. The story ends up in the National Enquirer and before long Chrystal and her father are knocking on Logan’s farm door not for the scoop, but to investigate further.


From then on In the Woods hits the ground running and is a fine horror Scoobie Doo style monster-mash-up mystery with a tasty dose of awkward romance. Both lead characters are very likable and really carry the novel and develop a friendship, or something more, when it seems like the creature is targeting locals after the disappearance of a teenage girl. The support cast were terrific also, I especially loved the way Chrystal tolerated her very quirky father, who when he wasn’t creature hunting was a kinder garden teacher!  It was a well-paced novel when built suspense nicely before its big reveal. If you’re a fan of big hairy monsters stalking spunky teenagers jump right in, there is a lot of fun to be had here. Aimed at kids aged thirteen or older.

DAN WELLS

Dan Wells is one of the few authors who smoothly moves between adult and YA without breaking sweat and is equally comfortable writing in both areas. Back in 2009 Wells published the superb I Am Not A Serial Killer (2009-17), which remains his best-known novel. Interestingly, in the USA this was marketed as an adult book, but was seen as YA in the UK, many sequels followed and also a successful and well received indie film. Also known as the John Cleaver series, the final book six was published in 2017 and over those years Wells also wrote the excellent Partials (2012-14) YA series, as well as the Mirador (2016-18) sequence. Over the years he occasionally returns to adult horror, including The Hollow City (2012) and Extreme Makeover (2016), which was a real hoot and a pleasure to review for Ginger Nuts of Horror. 


HERE’S WHAT WE SAID ABOUT THE JOHN CLEAVER SERIES (2009-17)

This gleefully nasty thriller series which begins with I Am Not a Serial Killer about a teenage mortician who helps the family business, with serious, serious issues, who believes he may have serial killer tendencies or is a type of sociopath. He’s the sort of kid who would write a school ‘heroes’ essay on serial killer John Wayne Gacy.  This sort of attitude gets him serious trouble with his teachers who would much rather an essay on Martin Luther King. Interestingly, this was always packaged as a YA novel in the UK but was aimed at the adult market in the USA. There is also an excellent indie-film of the same name. AGE RANGE 13+


F PAUL WILSON 

Francis Paul Wilson has been prolifically releasing horror, thrillers, mystery and science fiction since 1976 and is best known for his very long-running Repairman Jack (1984-2019) series, which started back in 1984, and the international smash The Keep (1981) which kicks off the seven book Adversary Cycle (1981-2020). Wilson is not known as a YA writer, nevertheless between 2008-10 wrote Repairman Jack: The Teen Trilogy and later the Nocturnia Trilogy (with Thomas F Monteleone) which was first published in 2015. I have been meaning to investigate the Repairman Jack series for a while and will get to it soon. 


BLURB OF SECRET HISTORIES (FIRST BOOK IN THE REPAIRMAN JACK TEEN TRILOGY) 2015
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Ever come across a situation that simply wasn't right—where someone was getting the dirty end of the stick and you wished you could make things right but didn't know how? Fourteen-year-old Jack knows how. Or rather he's learning how. He's discovering that he has a knack for fixing things. Not bikes or toys or appliances—situations….


It all starts when Jack and his best friends, Weezy and Eddie, discover a rotting corpse—the victim of ritual murder—in the fabled New Jersey Pine Barrens. Beside the body is an ancient artifact carved with strange designs. What is its secret? What is the secret of the corpse? What other mysteries hide in the dark, timeless Pine Barrens? And who doesn't want them revealed? Jack's town, the surrounding Barrens, his friends, even Jack himself…they all have…Secret Histories.


Stay tuned for the final part of this massive feature soon, S-Z.


Tony Jones

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