As every parent knows introducing your child to reading is one one of the most important things a parent can do.  Igniting a passion for reading in your child will set them up for life.  However, in the early stages of this task finding a book that doesn't make this task unbearable for he parent is a tough call.  Too many of these books are just too twee, and far too often are filled with wimpy fairies, soft toys and precocious princesses.  

Thankfully M.T. Weber's I want to be a Monster When I Grow Up bridges the gap between engaging the young reader and the parent looking for a fun filled read that doesn't want to make them sigh with boredom.  

Hudson wants to be a monster when he grows up, and as nearly ever character in early reading books decides to explore this desire in rhyme.  Fascinated with the spooky side of life Hudson loves his mommy's bedtime tales especially the ones with skeletons and snails.  

This is a fun read written and illustrated by M.T. Weber, he touches upon such important issues as why monsters need to keep their teeth clean, why monsters and their brothers need to work together, and the importance of a good diet.  This little story will raise a smile on both your face and your child's face.  It brilliantly introduces  your child to monsters galore without ever running the risk of scaring your child.  

Aided by some great artwork, this book will become a firm favourite with with both you and your child.  

A few months back GNoH enjoyed Amy Lukavics YA debut “Daughters Unto Devils” a gripping and hypnotic horror thriller set in frontier America which threw into the mix everything from cabin fever, religious fundamentalism, madness and murder, not to mention a large dose of the supernatural. In light of a terrific debut I was very interested to see what Amy was going to come up with next, and that often ‘difficult’ second novel…..

 
‘The Last Days of Jack Sparks’ is the very enjoyable debut novel from a journalist with a pretty colourful career, writing for magazines as cool as ‘The Word’, ‘Kerrang’ (beyond cool!) and ‘Q’. Jason Arnopp has also penned comedy for Radio 4 and official tie-in fiction for both ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘The Friday the Thirteenth’ franchises. He’s a really versatile writer whose varied output shows this dude really knows how to bust a twisted sentence or two. I reckon the debut novel was always an inevitability, and is certainly a welcome one. With this back-catalogue there’s also no surprise his first splash into fiction is pretty crazy, off the wall, and at times just a little bit scary. I would expect no less from an ex-‘Kerrang’ journalist….

Jeff is a  Toronto-based writer (and grade 2 teacher), with new middle-grade comedic horror coming out from Star Crossed Press this fall (October 15, 2016)  Sheldon Unger Vs. The Dentures of Doom
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“Dentures” is the story of 8th grade student Sheldon Unger, who unwittingly unleashes hellish forces locked up in his cranky grandmother's wooden trunk. He begrudgingly takes up the mantle as a demon-hunting tooth fairy, while simultaneously trying to win the heart of his school crush and keep himself from getting pummeled by the grade 8 alpha male. Of course, he must also keep from getting pummeled by the Tenebrion, a shadow demon from another realm intent on destroying our own.

Jeff has been  published extensively with Maple Tree Press and Owlkids in Canada, including nonfiction m/g titles such as Fear This Book  (finalist, 2008 Ontario Library Association Silver Birch Award), and Gross Universe  (2005, IPPY Finalist, Juvenile category and a pick for YALSA's Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults). HE also dabbles in educational writing (Nelson Publishing), and am a regular contributor for Rue Morgue Magazine. Recent books include the Kirkus-reviewed humorous horror novel Evil Eye (Star Crossed Press, 2012 , and X Marks The Spot (Orca, 2015).

“Callie looks back just in time to see the lid slide off the urn, dropping with a noisy thump onto the carpeted floor. From inside, a jumble of hair rises out of the opening, inch by slow, protruding inch. As she watches, horrified, a drooping eye emerges from underneath that matted hair, and then next, a gaping mouth. It is Yoko Halloway’s head.”

The Girl From The Well was a very entertaining YA horror novel which, at first glance, seemed like it could be one that was pretty easy to stick your nose up at.  In thanks to  the fact that the cover is such a rip-off of the Japanese horror film classic “Ringu”.  I am amazed the publisher hasn’t faced a lawsuit it’s so similar. However, from the back sleeve this novel is pegged at “Ages 14 and up” so I’m guessing that age group of 2016 may not be as familiar with slow walking young women, with very long black hair, climbing out of wells as us adults who became jaded with J-Horror once it ran out of ideas a good few years ago and started repeating itself. Age certificates on books do make me smile though…. 

And so we come to the final part of Tony Jones' fascinating look at his top fifty young adult horror books.  I hope you have had as much fun reading this as we have.  If you have any comments about the books featured here, or any books that we have missed off the list, please leave a comment below.  And if you enjoyed this rundown please share the article tagging your favourite author. 

Tony Jones' excellent rundown of his top fifty young adult and kids horror books reaches its thrilling penultimate entry.  Tony has carefully selected horror novels that will be ideal for any parent looking to introduce their younglings to the wonderful world of horror fiction.  We have even added a handy purchase link at the bottom of the article if any of these books take your fancy.  

Stay tuned for the final part of this countdown tomorrow.  

Tony Jones continues his run down of his top fifty YA and kids horror novels.  Read on to find what other books have made a lasting impression on Tony.  

My obsession with horror has lasted roughly four decades, beginning when I was a child, my rights of passages took me through Goosebumps, Point Horror and when I was 12 or 13 discovered Stephen King, James Herbert, Guy N Smith, John Saul and Shaun Hutson. When I was a teen in the 1980s I had no idea whether “teen” horror even existed, I didn’t need it, I had the big boys of King and Herbert to keep me company. These days the cool kids are those with the latest iphones or gadgets, for my generation of friends the top dogs (as we saw ourselves anyway) were those who had read “Rats” by Herbert, “Spawn” by Hudson or “Salem’s Lot” by The King. Flip forward thirty years and there is a whole new breed of Young Adult (commonly known as YA) literature and horror has expanded tremendously in recent years and may yet thrive. So the teens who don’t think they can cope with King or Herbert yet have a huge range of YA or younger horror titles to choose from, of which I am presenting fifty below. I doubt most adult horror readers pay much attention to YA horror, but as I have worked in education for over twenty years I have never stopped reading kids or YA horror, or enjoying it either. The list below are fifty of my favourites. It is simply a list of books I have really enjoyed for all sorts of personal reasons. It includes books mainly  written in the last ten years and through the Ginger Nuts of Horror I will revisit YA horror with further selections later in the year, after all, fifty books merely scratches the surface of twenty years of reading teen and kids horror. Any juniors aged between 10-15 would manage many of the books here, but obviously some are more challenging than others. There are more children’s and YA books being published at any time in history and this small selection tick the horror box for me. I haven’t read some of these books for ages, so apologies to anyone if I have misremembered any plotlines. Try reading, or buy something from the list for a niece, nephew or yourself! Or try to get a kid who doesn’t read very much to try one of these great novels.