16. Jeremy de Quidt – The Wrong Train (2016)

Everyone likes a good ghost story, right? If you do, then look no further than this, a scary series of inter-connected supernatural stories lynch-pinned by a little boy stuck with a creepy old man at a deserted train station. Apparently, the author De Quidt does not read horror, making this achievement even cooler. This is a great collection for kids which expertly blends the old-fashioned MR James style with the modern, with the story of the old man menacing the poor little boy possibly the most unsettling of all.

Never judge a book by its cover and behind a rather drab looking train time-table book-jacket lurks a truly delicious collection of eight short stories aimed at the teen/YA market, or anybody who enjoys a bloody good old-fashioned scare…. And to be frank, if any adult horror writers (published or unpublished) out there want an A-Z lesson on how to construct supernatural stories for children, then look no further than this masterful collection. Many of the tales sneakily play on the insecurities of everyday life, especially those irrational fears that put children on edge, from the outdoor light which randomly flashes on and off, to the smelly old photo album, not forgetting the strangeness of a new house or even the invisible friend who is just a tad too real. Jeremy De Quidt presses all the right buttons in building an overwhelming atmosphere of darkness which permeates throughout all unique eight stories. AGE 11+

15. Lindsey Barraclough - Long Lankin (2011)

Long Lankin is a terrifying tale of a house cursed by an ancient evil, set in the 1950s, inspired by a haunting folk song about murder, witchcraft, and revenge. Two unlucky children, Cora and her little sister Mimi (aged fourteen and ten), are sent to live with their elderly aunt in the isolated village of Bryers Guerdon and receive a less than warm welcome and are desperate to return to London. Instead, their arrival has reawakened an evil that has lain waiting for years and they find themselves next on this bogeyman’s hit list. Along with Roger and Peter, two young village boys, Cora must uncover the horrifying truth that has held Bryers Guerdon in its dark grip for centuries - before it is too late for Mimi. You will rarely see a better use of a rural setting than Long Lankin, especially for city children, which also effortlessly moves into the areas of folk horror, giving this tale an exceptionally convincing backstory. Here’s part of the creepy old song:
 
Says milord to milady, as he mounted his horse:
“Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss.”
Says milord to milady, as he went on his way:
“Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the hay.”
 
It is roughly based around a real ghostly character from local English folklore and this horrible creation is as nasty as anything you will find in adult horror fiction. Worse even. In the past I have met Lindsay at book events and it’s amazing such a charming lady can create such an evil monster, sadly she has not published anything since the 2012 sequel Mark of Cain, but I hope she returns at some point. If Adam Nevill wrote a kid’s book it might be a bit like this, coincidentally he also found it equally scary and noted on his website “I’ll read it to my nipper when she’s twenty!” which says it all, as it is genuinely scary. Nevill is absolutely right, you’ll quickly forget you are reading a book, aimed at kids, which will creep you out more that most adult horror.  AGE 12+
 
14. Liana Gardner – Speak No Evil (2019)

Liana Gardner’s brilliant Speak No Evil revolves around a sixteen-year-old girl who is in the American care-home system and has not spoken for almost two years. The doctor treating her realises music is very important to her and uses lyrics as a way of breaking down the communication barriers. The reasons for this are revealed very slowly and is told over multiple time periods, going back to when Melody Fisher was five-years-old, with the novel repeatedly jumping across the years, but as it progresses the backstory slowly closes in on the Melody who is sixteen. Ultimately this it is a novel about real life horror; abuse, overcoming it, and the resilience of Melody Fisher as she slowly, with a lot of help, turns her life around. I am not ashamed to say I had a tear in my eye on more than one occasion.
 
It is the backdrop of the story which edges it into dark fiction, whilst also working as a compelling family drama, as this is very dark stuff. Melody’s parents both attend a church where snake-handling is part of the normal Sunday service, however, Melody’s mother is also scared of the snakes, but Melody is gifted with animals and has a beautiful voice which almost has a hypnotic quality. Soon something goes horribly wrong with the snakes which rips their family apart. Teenage novels which touch on subjects as dark as this need to applaud, and although it also features a very unpleasant rape scene, it is handled sensitively. Everybody needs hope and even though Melody does not talk she does have others fighting in her corner for her, including the reader, I loved this girl. Perhaps in real life she would slip through the cracks of society? But this if fiction and we all need hope. A quite beautiful book and one in which I am very happy to champion and have two copies in my library. AGE 14+  
 
13. E Lockhart – We Were Liars (2014)

This was one of the books my daughter absolutely adored and like most readers, once she got to the mind-boggling finish went right back to the start and reread the first thirty pages. The ending gives the beginning new meaning and We Were Liars has one of the best twists in modern YA fiction, or for that matter any novel. Ultimately, the twist makes the book which also qualifies it for this list and due to avoiding potential spoilers I am going to keep this review exceptionally vague. If you check this book out online, be careful, as it is very easy to have it spoilt, or by a friend who might let the cat out of the bag, even unintentionally. Once you have finished We Were Liars you will definitely want to talk it out with friends.
 
This suspense mystery is set on a private family owned by a rich family who holiday there every summer and centres around teenager Cadence Sinclair, her cousins and extended family. Cadence has problems with her memory due to an accident which happened prior to the book starting the previous summer, but is revisited in flashbacks,  considering what is going on in Cadence’s life she is also a classic unreliable narrator who is disconnected from the rest of her family, and with good reason. Overall, the author paints an evocative picture of a family portrait being ripped by tragedy alongside a tale of suspense which reveals its secrets deliciously slowly, building towards the killer ending. AGE 13+

12. Amy Lukavics - Daughters unto Devils (2015)

It is rare to see a ghost or horror story set on the plains of the pioneer era American outback, so Daughters unto Devils was a unique experience. This wickedly well-crafted chiller had more creeps in it than many adult horror novels and has an edginess you rarely find in fiction aimed at teens. I am also pleased to report that it creeped out (my normally unshakable) daughter so much she had a nightmare!  Written in the first person, with a very authentic 16-year-old female narrator, who lives with her parents and four younger siblings in a remote cabin near the bottom of a mountain. She is secretly having an affair with a post delivery boy and early in the novel realises she is pregnant. There is a second narrative which flicks back to the previous year when there was a severe snowstorm, stranding the family in their home, while their mother became ill while heavily pregnant. In the middle of all this stress, Amanda flips out, claiming to see the Devil after which she struggles to grasp reality. Whether her visions are merely cabin fever or something else is not revealed, but this ‘episode’ is something which the family do not talk about and is the elephant in the room.
 
Amanda feels guilty over everything, particularly praying for the death of her unborn child and her youngest sibling who screams and screams all the time, while the reader is not sure how sick the child is. Imagine The Little House on the Prairie with demons and you are heading in the direction this outstanding novel moves into. As the plot develops the family uproot themselves, once again based on superstition, and relocate to a prairie close to a forest. Moving into an abandoned cabin the supernatural element of the novel kicks in and you feel the helplessness of the young children who are easy prey without their parents. Thrown into the mix are demons, madness, guilt, nutty neighbours, young love, and teenagers struggling to hold their family in the face of real nastiness, real and very probably supernatural. There is also a meat pie you really would not want to eat, and do not even mention the ant scene! At 200 pages it is the perfect length for teenagers who enjoy intelligent horror with genuine scares. It has a strong, spunky, female lead, who although she is tough on herself, is both engaging and a great girl to root for. AGE 13+
 
11. Joshua Gaylord – When We Were Animals (2015)

When We Were Animals is a strange novel about a small town where when teenagers reach a certain age, they ‘breach’. Although the concept of breaching is never fully explained, it is best described as a strong mental and physical pull where most teens lose control of their inhibitions, running wild in the streets, sometimes naked, abandoning all normal boundaries. Their parents do not do anything about this because they did it themselves years earlier and it is seen as a peculiar right-of-passage into adulthood. Is When We Were Animals an adult or a teen novel? It was incredibly different to tell, however, it completely knocked out my fourteen-year-old daughter who found a lot of magic in the novel, particularly in relation to the ‘bad boy’ Blackhat Roy. He was not a main character, but his shadow dominated the book and my daughter felt herself being pulled to his dark, irresistible, side. Blackhat Roy was nasty, interesting, layered, violent and very human character. He was the ultimate outsider.
 
Lumen, however, swears she will never breach because of what happened to her mother. Soon everyone around her is breaching, including her only friend Polly. When the sound of the teens howling echoes the streets, she hears her classmates calling her name and the pull becomes almost irresistible. The novel also flashes forward to see Lumen as a married adult with a son, as she reflects on her past and begins to feel the urge again, it is a coming-of-age tale like no other. Technically an adult novel, but very accessible to teens, I have used When We Were Animals for my school book club and it has been hugely popular.
 
In 2019 Ginger Nuts of Horror interviewed Joshua Gaylord and asked him to provide more information on the phenomenon of ‘breaching’ which is at the core of When We Were Animals.
 
“The story is definitely my version of werewolf mythology. But it also comes from the fact that when I was younger, I always romanticized werewolves because of their freedom. I was like Lumen—a good student who was always overly concerned with what people thought about me. When I thought about what it would be like to be a werewolf, I imagined not caring about all the mundane daily concerns of image or moral consequence. I loved the idea of just running through the streets, not caring what people thought about me. For me, the werewolf mythology was always about fulfilling the fantasy of being selfish, of dropping the choirboy façade I was so intent on maintaining.” AGE 14+
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26. Brenna Yovanoff - The Replacement (2010)
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Brenna Yovanoff’s debut The Replacement is an entertaining teen riff on the folklore changeling story popular in which a fairy child is left in place of a human child stolen by the fairies. The setting for the story is the very superstitious small town of Gentry which has a very old connection to the fairy world and because of that strange things happening is accepted as normal. I could not help nostalgically thinking of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s town of Summertale when I was reading this! Another thing I really liked about this story was the fact that main character, sixteen-year-old Mackie, is fully aware he is a changeling from the start of the story. He also bucks the stereotypes of teenage boys and is neither strong, a sports star or popular with the girls, he would rather fade into the background and has complex health issues due to his true nature. 

Gentry is subject to the subtle rule of the fairy world who demand a blood tithe every seven years in exchange for the town's prosperity. Blended into Mackie's story is that of his friend and potential love interest Tate which helps develop a convincing balance of supernatural story with a teenager who has obvious identity issues. Eventually the story takes us to the underworld of Gentry and the home of the fey, where Mackie must decide if he belongs. This was a great tale of Celtic mythology shipped into a modern-day American setting. AGE 12+

25. Laura Bates – The Burning (2019)

If you’re on the hunt for a YA novel which effortlessly blends the horrors of teenage social media with the tale of a 400-year-old witch trial, then look no further. This was a superb read which carries a powerful message about the dangers of posting the wrong stuff online and peer pressure, delivering it in a naturalistic style, which never becomes heavy handed or preachy. In no time at all you will be rooting for the teenage protagonist Anna who is dragged through a horrific emotional wringer. The Burning is horror with a light touch, the pain and long-term repercussions of one naive decision becomes scarier than any supernatural bogeyman. The fallout was severe, and The Burning opens with Anna and her mother leaving their old life in Birmingham behind to live in a small coastal village near Saint Andrews on the east side of Scotland.
 
Starting any new school is difficult and Laura Bates completely nails the awkwardness of this transition, but before long she becomes friends with local girls, but bullying is never far away and soon her past catches up with her. The Burning has a second main story which nudges it into the horror genre, beyond that of everyday teenage life. As part of a school history project everyone researches a topic of local interest and after Anna discovers an obscure reference to someone who was suspected of being a witch centuries earlier. As she uncovers the story, the plight of Maggie, she realises the ‘witch’ has many startling similarities to her own plight and starts to feel a strong connection to the long-dead young woman, part of which whose narrative is told in flashback. In my experience in YA fiction kids generally avoid books which obviously have a heavy-handed message, The Burning works because its warning are very subtle with a top-notch story, believable story and a convincing dose of history. AGE 13+

24. Dawn Kurtagich – The Dead House (2015)

I backtracked to read Dawn Kurtagich’s debut, The Dead House, after being blown away by her second novel The Creeper Man. The latter is more horror than this debut, which although it has horror elements is also a convoluted psychological thriller which is top heavy with atmosphere, threat and sneaky twists. The unsettling and deliberately disjointed narrative are made up of diary entries, interview transcripts, film footage recordings and notes from medical files. Twenty-five years before the action kicks off, Elmbridge High was destroyed in a terrible five which killed five people and one pupil, Carly Johnson, disappeared. Now a diary has retrieved from the ruins of the school, which belongs to Kaitlyn Johnson, Carly’s identical twin sister, a fact which is not possible as she did not have a twin.

It is easy to forget that The Dead House is a work of fiction as so much documentary evidence is presented it is easy to think you are reading some sort of true crime report, but there are plenty of clues along the way for the clever ending. There is also an interconnecting novella called Naida which is related to one of the other characters. On one level is the tale of one girl’s descent into madness which takes in mental health issues, but part of its strength is the ambiguity is retains in not answering every question and really sucks you into the disturbing world of the girl(s). Should that be plural or singular? You’ll have to read to find out yourself. AGE 13+
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23. Amy Lukavics – The Woman in the Walls (2016)

The Women in The Walls is a complex, character driven, and highly enjoyable supernatural tale which reveals its secrets gleefully slowly through an excellently paced story to its crazy ending. Seventeen-year-old Lucy lives in a huge house in the countryside with her cousin Margaret, they rarely see anyone except for her distant and distracted father and Margaret’s mother, her aunt, who acts like a surrogate mother.  Much of the early action focusses on the two teenagers, who are very close, and how they deal with the suicide of a servant in the opening few pages. Although they are cousins they are as close as sisters and are inseparable.  I loved the vagueness of the setting, time period and location, and although the odd hint thrown in here and there it was hard to pin-point. Considering they are two seventeen-year-old girls, there are no mobile phones, internet, boys, sex, very little mention of TV, school or other pop culture references. Neither do they go to school as we are told Margaret got into too much trouble. They seem to live in their own bubble in this big empty house.
 
Lucy is very close to her aunt, in many ways closer than Margaret which leads to some friction, especially after Aunt Penelope disappears. No police come to look for the missing aunt and both Lucy and Margaret become suspicious. As do we the readers.  As the plot picks up the pace, Margaret becomes withdrawn and believes she hears the voice of her missing mother in the walls, particularly the attic. Lucy, of course, doesn’t believe her. The novel has several very clever twists, a couple of which I didn’t see coming. And you really cannot beat the cracker with the replacement cook! If you ever read it, you’ll know what I mean.  The biggest compliment I can give a YA novel is when I read it with the same intensity as an adult novel, which I do with this and everything written by this outstanding author. I don’t call her the Queen of American YA for nothing and expect to see Lukavics reappear higher up the list.  AGE 13+

22. Lou Morgan – Sleepless (2014)

Kids… if you’re ever offered study drugs… JUST SAY NO!!! Sleepless remains one of my favourite Red Eye novels and was a terrific marker early in the series a few years back showing they meant business. It has an unsettling quality, and my teenage daughter was also really sucked into this very well drawn story with believable sympathetic characters set in a busy London school. One of its major strengths is a plot which was edgy enough to be convincing to a teen readership who will identify with the kids under pressure 100%. If you were offered a pill which was supposed to improve your concentration levels and ultimately your exam grades surely there would be no harm in giving yourself an extra edge? It’s a big question.

The stress of exams leads Izzy and her friends to stupidly take this new study drug they find advertised secretly online and soon, one by one, they succumb to hallucinations, nightmares and psychosis. Then things take an even darker turn. The only way to survive is to stay awake, which is very tough with big exams around the corner, balanced with the paranoia of what might happen when sleep comes. Throw a killer into the mix, a mounting body count and you have an engrossing horror thriller which nicely keeps the reader guessing whether there is anything supernatural going on.  Sleepless is slightly more challenging than some of the other Red Eye titles and the suggestion that a pill that allows you to study better has nasty side effects was a clever one. The central London location of the school also added atmosphere and threat of something nasty lurking around the corner and just out of vision was startingly effective.  AGE 12+
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21. Graham McNamee – Beyond (2012)

Jane is not really your typical teenage girl as she has a nail lodged inside her brain which some believe was caused by a self-inflicted suicide attempt. However, the story is narrated by Jane and we quickly realise she is being stalked by a powerful dark force which wants her dead at any cost. The scared teenager suspects it may even be her own shadow, so she and her best friend Lexi are on guard 24/7 in case her ‘shadow’ makes another attack on her life. The downbeat, matter of fact, but also hopeful voice of Jane was a real standout feature of a novel which deserves to be much better known by an author who has written several other great horror YA novels including Bonechiller and Acceleration. This was also a very easy to read and accessible horror novel, which could be great for reluctant readers.
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Beyond really nails the ‘near death experience’ idea, building an exceptionally clever supernatural tale around a sympathetic lead character who was born without a heartbeat and has a much closer relationship with the supernatural realms than most normal folks. She is also prone to sleepwalking and waking up in odd places which she believes is connected to the shadow. Jane is not looking for our sympathy, but the reader will be with her all the way as her sleuthing uncovers both a killer and dark secrets which are much closer to home. The narrative escalates into a succession of harrowing, scary incidents involving Jane and her best friend, building up suspense to an exciting and well thought out climax. The final punchy chapters reveal some clever developments which I never saw coming. AGE 12+

Adults reviewing YA novels must attempt to put themselves into the heads of their fourteen-year-old self and in that respect Good Girls Die First has a lot to offer. It was edgy, pacey, and written with convincing dialogue, it was also refreshing to read a thriller set in the UK that does not particularly play to the stereotypes you might find in an American equivalent. Also, the YA market desperately needs more page-turners, there are more than enough books dealing with real life ‘issues’ kicking around, and Good Girls Die First delivers old-fashioned entertainment in spades and it was very easy to get lost in for a few hours. Lots of young teenagers are going to enjoy this novel and even though I have donated my review copy to my school library I have already reserved a second copy as this should be a very easy book to sell to kids.     
 
Review by Tony Jones

32. KAITLIN WARD – BLEEDING EARTH (2015)

Bleeding Earth was a unique read which was a clever mix of apocalyptic, dystopia and an end of the world scenario cleverly played out through the eyes of a very spunky and likable teenage girl, Lea. Near the opening of the novel blood begins to seep from the earth, initially it is thought to be an isolated incident, but it quickly worsens and soon nobody can go outside without welly-boots on. Before long, the water supply is contaminated and the shops are empty of food, this is all very convincingly described, and kept deliberately low key as things go from bad to worse. There is blood everywhere and it is vividly described with many believing it is a Biblical end of the world prophecy.

There are some particularly yucky scenes and soon hair and bones start growing out of the earth and the hair really does have a life of its own and can trap those dumb enough to venture far from home in the rivers of blood. Lea is a great lead character who is gay and is just embarking upon her first serious relationship when things all kick off and you’ll root for her all the way as she struggles to survive and hold onto her sanity and those close to her. Since this sparkling debut Ward’s two other novels have effectively mixed strong thriller elements into her fiction, and I am looking forward to reading her fourth novel Lie to Me soon. She is undoubtedly an author which deserves to be more widely known.  AGE 13+

31. JOHN HORNOR JACOBS – THE TWELVE FINGERED BOY (2013)

John Hornor Jacobs is an incredibly versatile author who effortlessly moves around the genres, and from YA to adult. He is equally skilled in writing about cosmic horror and zombies, as he is with fantasy, deserving to be much more widely read than he probably is. I first came across him after loving his beguiling adult horror debut about the blues, Southern Gods and followed that with an entertaining zombie novel This Dark Earth and his fantasy series The Incorruptibles which moved more into fantasy and also has a YA feel to it. I reckon this author could turn his hand to just about anything and proves it with The Twelve Fingered Boy series, a superb coming of age tale set in a juvie prison.  
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Fifteen-year-old Shreve Cannon does not mind being locked up as he sells contraband sweets and treats, and for him anything is better than living with his drunk mother. Soon a new kid, Jack, who freakishly has twelve fingers arrives on the wing, and when he gets angry or triggered develops telekinesis powers which he struggles to control. Soon others, including a sinister doctor, begin to show interest in Jack and it is not because they want to help him. Shreve quickly takes the vulnerable Jack under his wing in this commanding fusion of fantasy, horror and teen coming-of-age drama which kicks off an outstanding trilogy in which Jack’s superpowers really come out to play. An engaging series which has been criminally ignored by the YA world. AGE 12+

46. GRETCHEN McNEIL: TEN (2013)

If you’re after a perfect blend of thriller and trashy horror thriller, top heavy with loud and scared teens then Ten is most definitely a book to check out and one in which my daughter had 150% tunnel vision for. She loved it. With shades of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why ten teenagers are invited to an exclusive island for a three-day party, which they have been told to keep hush hush. This is a very cinematic book, and although there have been rumours of a film, nothing has materialised, but it might be a lot of fun, dancing with slasher horror film territory as the body-count mounts and help is faraway. 

The story is told in the third person from Meg’s point of view, whose best friend Minnie is also excited to be invited, but after they discover a DVD with the sinister message “vengeance is mine” they realise the party might not be what it is cracked up to be. When one of the other party goers is found hanged, they realise they are in a fight for their lives. From then on in Ten is a beautifully crafted whodunnit rollercoaster of a novel and you’ll struggle to figure out who the murderer is, with numerous clever red herrings. Sometimes YA novels do not have to be deep or emotional and instead there is nothing better than immersing yourself in an old-fashioned page-turner. McNeil seems to be an unknown quantity in the UK, I’ve no idea why, as MurderTrending and MurderFunding are further examples of excellent thrillers, both with convincing horror elements. Check this very cool author out today.  AGE 13+

45. WILL HILL: DEPARTMENT 19 (2011)
 
Department 19 is a government secret agency which has been involved in a never-ending battle against the supernatural, including the spread of vampirism. The novel opens when Jamie Carpenter's mother is kidnapped by strange creatures and as a result, he finds himself dragged into the shadowy agency for protection. Fortunately for Jamie, Department 19 can provide the tools he needs to find his mother, and to kill the vampires who appear to have a personal vendetta against him. But unfortunately for everyone, something much older is stirring, the king of vampires, Dracula himself. The ancient Transylvanian count becomes a recurring these in the five-book series and he really has it in for Jamie when he is recruited fully into the agency.
 
Although these are seriously chunky books, this is high-octane fun top heavy with incredible weapons, outstanding action sequences and a crazy amount of over-the-top gore. Lots of other monsters from folklore are thrown into the mash-up, with even the legendary Frankenstein’s monster joining in the fun. These are very easy to read and great for kids who want action, horror and adventure, without everything getting too serious. Will Hill later made an outstanding change of direction with a novel about a girl escaping a cult, After the Fire, a book I also loved. AGE 11+
 
44. MICHAEL THOMAS FORD: LILY (2016)

Lily by Michael Thomas Ford was shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Award and longlisted for the YA Bram Stoker Award and was most likely written as an adult novel, but it is also an engaging experience for fans of strange, bizarre and rather warped fairy-tales. When Lily turns thirteen, she develops a strange ability which she sees as a curse; the ability to tell when someone is going to die, merely by touching them. Upon realising this, and the imminent death of her father, but unable to prevent it, Lily becomes depressed and feels that this curse is another being living within her.

Along the way Lily attracts the attention of an ancient witch, Baba Yaga, every fairy-tale requires a witch and Baba Yaga is a terrific character as she stalks Lily, feeling her immense power but is unsure of its meaning. Magic seems to exist in this world (is it ours?) but much remains fuzzy and vague, this is one of the great strengths of the novel, fairy-tales do not need to provide all the answers and spell everything out. As the reader accompanies Lily on her strange odyssey, she stumbles upon a travelling evangelical revival tent where the Preacher Reverend Silas Everyman discovers her gift and wants to exploit it. Lily is a truly off-beat and beguiling story which is perfect for kids who want to read something genuinely different and embark upon the sort of journey Neil Gaiman might lead them on. AGE 13+

43. RICK YANCEY: THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST: THE TERROR BENEATH (2010)
 
This atmospheric gothic series has it all: monsters, corpses, spooky catacombs, atmosphere and loads of great scares, not to mention three bloody sequels which are top heavy with formidable creatures. Will Henry is an apprentice to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop and starts telling his story, in diary format, the darkest secrets of the world’s most famous Monstrumologist and the dodgy experiments and dealings he gets up to in the name of science. The ‘mad scientist’ may well remind you of a crazy version of Sherlock Holmes and although Will does not really like Warthrop, he is loyal and loves the excitement and unpredictability of working with the scientist.
 
Set in the Victorian era, the atmosphere is outstanding, and for a children’s book it really is incredibly gory. Each of the novels in the series are presented as different quests and if monster mashups are your thing, these are hard to beat. In The Terror Beneath (the first book) a group of monsters from any person's worst nightmare begin to wreak havoc on the sleepy New England town of New Jerusalem and Will has to swing into action to save the day. After the conclusion of this series Yancey turned his hand to science fiction with the excellent Fifth Wave trilogy. If I had read this as an eleven-year-old I would have been knocked out, don’t be a prude, let the blood flow red, buy it for a kid today. AGE 11+

42. COURTNEY ALAMEDA: SHUTTER (2015)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
After firstly reading the brilliant science fiction horror Pitch Black I found Courtney Alameda’s earlier novel Shutter equally impressed and I am looking forward to her third release, due in 2020. As with her other work, the level of intricate supernatural world-building is first rate and there are numerous ghosts built into a first-rate story. Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat, a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum, as in this world supernatural occurrences, ghosts, and much nastier beings are common as mud. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens of the camera. Hence why the book is called Shutter, the analogue SLR camera is her best weapon, with the help of her team Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film.

Early in the novel a job goes wrong and one of Michelle’s friends is infected with a curse which will lead to death in seven days unless the team figure out how to break it. As a YA horror novel Shutter really delivered in spades, it was fast paced, powerfully drawn characters, loaded with creatively drawn monsters, and Micheline’s team of sidekicks had more than enough whack to kick ensure both the Ghostbusters and Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchises remain in retirement with their pipes and slippers. AGE 12+

41. MARCUS SEDGWICK: WHITE CROW (2010)

Marcus Sedgwick is one of the finest YA writers in the business who effortlessly glides around the genres and is impossible to pigeonhole. If I had compiled a ‘Top 50’ of the previous decade I would have undoubtedly included his stunning vampire novel My Swordhand is Singing. However, White Crow, an eerie modern gothic thriller, is probably the closest he has come to writing an out-an-out horror novel over the last decade, but like most of his fiction it is not easy to categorise. I love books like that. The theme of what awaits after death, nudges this complicated novel with a split triple narrative into the realms of suggestive and supernatural horror with the setting an isolated village where the local graveyard teeters on a cliff-edge which is slowly eroding and being reclaimed by the sea, with bones being found on the underlying beaches.

Sixteen-year-old Rebecca, whose story is told in the third person, is visiting Winterfold for the summer whilst her stressed policeman father faces disciplinary action and hates everything about it. She is a troubled city girl with nothing to do, detached from her city friends. But soon she meets Ferelith, whose voice is presented in the first person, and they become unlikely friends. However, Ferelith is an odd character and together they explore the village, including the ancient graveyard, but she also has her own agenda. The third narrative takes us back to 1798 and bizarre and bloody experiments into the afterlife which took place in the village after the arrival of a French doctor. The character studies of the contrasting teenagers are great, but the 1798 story takes longer getting going, but intertwines with the modern stories nicely towards the end. This is an outstanding and challenging dark thriller for teenagers who might not normally read horror which is packaged more as a thriller.  AGE 12+
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Although Daniel Kraus’s forthcoming collaboration with zombie godfather George A Romero The Living Dead will undoubtedly pick up the headlines in the horror world, I would suggest also checking out the excellent Bent Heavens. Kraus has a superb back-catalogue of dark/horror YA fiction, including the highly recommended Rotters, and this latest release maintains his high standard. Surprisingly, in the UK he remains a relatively unknown quantity and Bent Heavens merits a proper release on this side of the pond.
 
Eighteen-year-old Liv Fleming leads this genre-bending thriller which dances around horror, science fiction in a very convincing, Ohio, small-town setting. Teenage readers will easily tap into the troubled psyche and angst of a girl whose world was turned upside down when her father disappeared two years earlier. Her pain and grief from the lack of closure radiates from the page. She believes him to be dead, but a tiny part of her suspects he is still alive somewhere and has never given up hope, taking solace by competing for the school’s track team and remaining emotionally distant and detached from her friends.
 
It is the circumstances of the disappearance of her father which makes this story fascinating with the occasional flashback thrown in. Lee Fleming was a very popular English teacher at the school Liv attended and before he disappeared indefinitely, vanished for a much shorter period before reappearing, naked, on the school campus. He was not the same man and was deeply psychologically traumatised claiming to have been abducted by aliens, or at least having vague memories of being experimented upon. Officially, it was presumed he suffered some sort of breakdown and the family struggled to cope with the emotional fallout.
 
After his initial naked reappearance Lee Fleming directed, as he did every year, the school’s annual musical and reimagines “Oliver!” in a way which hints at aliens, abductions and other crazy stuff which lead to the show being halted in embarrassment. Early in the story Liv finds out the school will be staging a new version of “Oliver!” and is deeply upset by the insensitivity as the wounds are still very raw. This kicks off a chain of events which lead to her getting into trouble at school, which are not helped by the fact her mother is failing to cope at home.
 
The relationship between Liv and her absent father and the sense of loss she feels lie at the heart of Bent Heavens and plays a major part in this convincing emotional drama. She is conflicted, confused, and struggling to cope within a realistic high school setting. Daniel Kraus does not ram usual high school tropes down our throats and the changes are subtle as Liv begins to pull away from her track group friends. She was an engaging central character and some of the scenes, such as when she loses control with the drama teacher were superb and any teen reader will surely connect with her pain.
 
I do not know whether Daniel Kraus has come across the Iain Banks Scottish cult classic The Wasp Factory as Bent Heavens shares some of its vibe. Once Lee Fleming returns after his first disappearance, he becomes obsessed with aliens and constructs a series of six very dangerous traps in the woodland surrounding his house and names them; Amputator, Hangman’s Noose, Crusher, Neckbreaker, Abyss and Hard Passage. If you have ever read The Wasp Factory the traps might ring some bells and soon the creations catch something significantly larger than a squirrel.
 
In other articles Ginger Nuts commentaries, I have lamented the lack of male lead characters in current YA fiction and Bent Heavens is yet another example of the boys being kicked into touch. I found this very disappointing at Doug Monk was a fascinating, tragic, and ultimately underused character. This troubled teenager was the same age as Liv and was taken under the wing of Lee, who Doug hero worshipped. Touchingly, even two years after the disappearance Doug still maintained and checked the dangerous alien catching traps created by Lee. The dynamics between the two teenagers was great, but I would have liked to have seen more of the boy who suffered the loss of Lee as much as Liv. It was also touching that Liv also continued to watch out for Doug at school and, ultimately, he was a very sad and broken character and their relationship could have been explored further.     
 

I found Bent Heavens to be a great read and it has enough strings in its bow to attract differing types of teen readers with its convincing blend of horror, drama, and thriller. In the end the story did not go where many readers might expect it to and is backed up a killer twist (although I saw it coming) which was also rather heart-breaking. I will be interested in finding out whether genuine teen readers figure it out. Reading it from an adult’s point of view, Liv probably solved the ‘mystery’ too easily, but YA audience should be happy with how things conclude.
 
Ultimately, even though Liv might not have been the most sympathetic of characters, her pain and grief were convincingly portrayed in a powerful novel about the lengths people will go to know the truth. Even if the answers are going to provide more pain, there is at least closure. I have this book in my school library and look forward to recommending it to kids aged around thirteen or older.
 
4.5/5
 
Tony Jones 
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YA Round Up March/April 2020 Ten dark fiction titles worth a closer look
 

It’s time for a whistle-stop tour of the latest YA and kid’s dark fiction titles to darken my door since the new year. We have a fine mixture of zombies, witches, dystopias and some very cool dark fantasy. Sadly, as with previous roundups, which I have highlighted in other articles, there is a continued lack of boys as lead characters. Thanks to Tim Major and Darren Charlton for giving us some great teenage boys to get behind! I am not surprised statistics show boys are abandoning YA horror fiction when 90% of the books only feature female voices. Boys make up 50% of the population and it is a great shame there are so few male characters for them to connect with.
Most of these books have been published in the last few months and are presented alphabetically. If you have something you would like to see featured on the site, contact GNOH. ​

Sara Holland follows the top-notch fantasy duology Everless with another very cleverly drawn fantasy novel, HavenFall, which is a strong entry in what promises to be another successful new series. The action takes place in a remote hotel (HavenFall) in the Rocky Mountains which is a magical gateway between three (often feuding) worlds. The hotel is the only place where there is a permanent truce, effectively safe grounds for parley and trade, between Byrn, Fiordenkill and Solaria. When HavenFall begins there are delegates from the different worlds for a big yearly event, however, there is also long-standing bad blood between various different factions and in particular, the shape-shifting, Solarians who have been cut out of recent negotiations because of a previous war. This was an intriguing set-up for the novel but unfortunately, we never visit any of the other worlds, which is probably being saved for a later novel.

The story is seen from the point of view of sixteen-year-old Maddie who is the niece of the InnKeeper, Marcus, which is a very important position. To the public at large he appears as a hotel manager, but to the magical world of HavenFall he is the peacemaker and go-between those who visit from the other worlds. Maddie arrives for the summer just as the big parley is beginning and is sucked into a web of political intrigue after something happens to her uncle. With him indisposed the running of HavenFall falls on her, which brings a whole load of pressures, stresses and dodgy dealings as others try to gain control of this magical gateway between the worlds. As with Everless Sara Holland develops a very believable fantasy land lurking within the shadows of our own world. Maddie is a very likable heroine as she discovers her own destiny, a smattering of romance is thrown in and although I saw all the twists coming this is a very engaging read for teenagers who enjoy fantasy. More please. AGE 12+

I was a huge fan of Suzanne Young’s Program series and was interested in seeing what she was going to produce next and Girls with Sharp Sticks, which promises to be the start of a new sequence, does not disappoint. Reading this as an adult the plot is telegraphed and fairly predictable from the numerous clues dropped, however, if you put yourself into the shoes of a 12-15 year-old-girl, it is an entertaining tale of friendship, identity in the oppressive atmosphere of the Girls of Innovations Academy. In the opening sequences we’re introduced to main-character Mena and it looks like she attends some sort of old-fashioned finishing school where girls are taught manners, obedience and other society rules. However, lots of hints are dropped very slowly and you’ll have fun figuring out the big picture about the true motives of the school. When Mena is out on a day trip, she meets a boy, who the girls are not allowed to fraternise with, and things develop further.   
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These beautiful (all are perfect) girls are taught not to ask questions, but when one of Mena’s classmates disappears the cracks begin to show. This novel has many similarities to Louise O’Neill’s Only Ever Yours, which asks the same ethical questions as this thoughtful novel, albeit in a more dystopian setting.  AGE 12+

 
The Horror Writer’s Association (HWA) recently voted for a particularly weak novel as their winner of the prestigious Bram Stoker Award, Young Adult (YA) section. The Ginger Nuts of Horror, who review more YA titles than most websites, does not recommend this book and suggest avoiding it. We also believe that on this occasion the HWA has shot itself in the foot; the last couple of years has featured some excellent titles on the final ballot, and if the organisation had any intentions of making inroads into the wider YA literature world they can forget it, Oware Mosaic is not the book to do it.
 
In the build up to the award Ginger Nuts traditionally reviews all those featured on the preliminary list, which was subsequently cut to six for the final ballot, and were dismayed when Oware Mosaic made it through to the final ballot as it was clearly the weak link of the original ten titles. How we rated them is directly below and ultimately, we would have been happy to see any of the top eight books pick up the gong. ​

Our review of Oware Mosaic was published after it appeared on the preliminary ballot:
 
“I really struggled with Oware Mosaic and found large sections made little sense, making it a novel I would not recommend to YA readers. Teenagers get frustrated easily and even though it features some creative ideas, much of it is lost in stilted prose with a voice which is both dull and repetitive. Set in Ghana, some years after a massive war, scientists have developed a technology that stores consciousness on data-orbs called retcons. Through a combination of human characters and a future type of (almost) vampire they end up in a virtual reality via a very advanced computer game. I’m not explaining this very well, mainly because I understood little of it and much of what it presented was hard to visualise and I found myself reading the same piece of text several times to pick up the flow. It’s nice to see the story set almost entirely in Africa, but I failed to connect with it and think teen readers would also struggle.”
 
The highly respected blogger, ‘Monster Librarian’, who also reviews a lot of YA also raised concerns below. This is one of very few reviews of the book to appear anywhere. It said:
 
“Despite my really wanting to love this, there is a serious flaw in this book that made suspension of disbelief for this book impossible for me [...] There is the germ of a good story in here but it needs much more work for that to emerge. Based on what I read, though, I don’t think I can recommend this as YA horror. Is this science fiction? Post-apocalyptic fiction? Crime fiction? A combination? If Nzondi decides to reshape the story, I will be interested to see how he does it.”
 
As a school librarian of nearly thirty years I practice what I preach, I love nothing more than promoting horror to kids and teenagers, but ultimately awards are only as good as their winners. I have all eight of the top books in my library, two copies of my favourites and really enjoy chatting to kids about horror and the Stoker award to those who show that level of interest. I hasten to add this is not about particular ‘taste’ but having the ability to read a book and then being able to decide which teen reader might be attracted to any title. This is the reason I struggled with this winner: I cannot fathom which group of teenagers whom I regularly interact with might want to read it.
 
You might ask how can such a mediocre novel win such a prestigious international gong? In mainstream YA literature such a feat would be impossible with awards such as the Newbery (USA) and Carnegie (UK) Medals and every other mainstream literary prize. What makes the Stoker different is that the voting members of the HWA decide who win, the majority of which know zero about YA fiction.  None of this has anything to do with the quality of Oware Mosaic. The Carnegie and the Newbery Medal winners are discussed and debated by YA professionals and literary experts. This is a big difference. The panel of judges are unlikely to agree on the winner, but there is healthy debate.
 
I feel sorry for the YA Stoker panel as they put together a very strong preliminary list, based upon a lot of reading. But what makes the YA Stoker category slightly different is that in addition to the panel selections, if any other books receive more than five votes from the members it automatically goes on the ballot (quality does not come into it). This is a big mistake. I would be stunned if Oware Mosaic were a panel selection, those guys are certain to be specialists of some kind, so this book is almost certainly been pushed onto the ballot by the voting members. No YA experts worth their salt would vote for this book.
 
The YA category is different from the other categories in that it is very specialist and I would suggest leaving it to the YA experts and not HWA members who want to vote for their friends or who campaigns the loudest. If this had been the case, then one of the eight top books would surely have won and then the HWA would have a worthy winner to promote around schools and libraries rather than a winner which will fail to connect with a teenage audience.
 
For the last few years, I have sat on a committee for a book prize which involves around thirty schools and I appreciate how much work goes into organising these events. Our prize has a different theme every year and the shortlist is chosen entirely by a panel of school librarians, after which our job is done, and the winner is then selected by a vote by hundreds of children who have read them. There will always be a strong winner as the initial shortlist was chosen by the experts and there are no turkeys being stream-rolled onto the shortlist, which is obviously the case with the YA Stoker. 
 
If I were a librarian who bought Oware Mosaic after it won this ‘prestigious’ horror award, after reading it, I would question the validity of the award and would likely swerve it in future. Books which win big awards should expect to be raised up for extra scrutiny. I chat online with school librarians all the time and relatively few know much about horror, so they look to sites such as Ginger Nuts of Horror and others for recommendations. The HWA and the YA Stoker should be one of the first sites librarians should be checking for quality horror titles, however, with such disappointing winners there will be serious trust issues.
 
Thankfully, the last couple of short-lists have been strong, but if parents are looking to buy books for teenage kids they often look to the overall winner and sadly this book will do zero to advance a love for reading. Also, these days libraries are strapped for cash and need to be selective in what they buy, and it would be a shame to hear of money being wasted on this novel. These are all reasons why we need a winner everybody can support 100% and confidently shout from the rooftops about, but this will only happen if the HWA abandons the ineffective voting procedure for the YA category.
 
On a positive note, it has been encouraging to see the HWA trying to make some inroads into libraries with its ‘Summer Scares’ programme. This year the YA section features the excellent Daughters unto Devils by the fantastic Amy Lukavics, an author Ginger Nuts has championed for years. It is high time the HWA start recognising the talents of this stunning writer, who four novels into an incredibly varied career, has only made the final ballot on one occasion. Let us see if the HWA put Oware Mosaic forward for the Summer Scares programme next year! I doubt it.
 
I am sure the members of the HWA would like to see the YA category flourish beyond the niche horror world, however, for this to happen they need to step back and let the experts decide the winners. Wouldn’t it be amazing if genuine teenagers got excited about the Stoker, or we heard of displays in school libraries or kids attempting to read all the titles on an annual shortlist? This will only happen if they have strong fiction which will connect and resonate with readers. We need the best books to win, plain and simple. Writers like Amy Lukavics and the best YA horror has to offer.
 
In early summer Ginger Nuts of Horror will be presenting our top 100 horror novels of the last decade, of which the top fifty will have full reviews. Not one of the YA Stoker winners from the period 2010-2019 even makes the top 100 and that is, quite frankly, embarrassing for an award which is supposed to showcase the best in teenage horror from around the world, not just America.
 
Tony Jones

Hot Key Press have regularly impressed me with consistently strong releases which straddle many different genres and Rachel Burge adds another fine example with The Twisted Tree which mixes horror, fantasy and Norse mythology. Since seventeen-year-old Martha fell out of a tree whilst visiting her Norwegian grandmother she experiences weird feelings when she touches the clothes of other people, effectively the touch reveals how the other person is feeling and she has a glimpse into their lives. This is not something she wants as it has a draining effect on her and is tough to shake off. Also, the accident damaged her sight, leaving her blind in one eye, and in her own opinion stunningly ugly as she cannot control the movement of the eye. The story opens with Martha returning to the small Norwegian village only to find her grandmother dead and a strange boy, Stig, squatting in her house. Odds things are going on in the local village and Martha is soon to find out that her gift is much more complex than she thought.

Most of the novel is set in Norway and only features a few characters, but I enjoyed the company of Stig and Martha. Although it was slow, and took its time introducing the supernatural elements, it was a very thoughtful character driven book which children who are interested in mythology might like. Bestselling author Rick Riordan has certainly made mythology attractive to a lot of children, Rachel Burge explores more local Norse myths and avoids the bombastic approach Riordan uses in his fiction and The Twisted Tree is all the better for it. Even though monstrous creatures do appear I found it quite a gentle book and would happily recommend it to younger kids. AGE 10+ ​

​I am a huge fan of Paula Rawsthorne and although she does not write horror fiction her thrillers always have a very dark edge to them and her back-catalogue of The Truth about Celia Frost, Blood Tracks and Shell are well worth investigating. Her latest offering, The New Boy, is another very solid thriller convincingly set in the hustle and bustle of a Sixth Form College. Zoe starts college and her best friends from her previous school, Jodie, Sonja and Ethan are also there, soon they meet Jack who becomes incredibly popular, very quickly. Although this novel has a lot to hold the attention, adult readers will find it a tad predictable, teen readers should get more out of it though.

There was much to admire in Zoe, one of the few students to shun social media and The New Boy made many clever observations on this. Jack is amazing at everything and soon unites the college across the varied friendship groups and gangs and because he is attracted to Zoe friction begins to appear in her network, especially with her oldest friend Ethan. As the story moves on there are more clues and suspicions as it flitted from drama to thriller. An easy, but hopefully not too predictable read, for kids starting secondary school.   AGE 11+

We featured Mary Watson’s The Wren Hunt a while back on Ginger Nuts and Wickerlight is set in the same dark version of Ireland. Like its predecessor it is more fantasy than horror, but fans of the latter will happily cross genres with a highly impressive novel which cleverly integrates Irish mythology into a skewered version of the country. It is top heavy with magic, superstition and very weird goings on and I would highly recommend reading The Wren Hunt before Wickerlight, even though this follow on is not strictly a sequel. It is partly written from the point of view of David, who was one of the characters from the previous novel and both stories are connected by the ancient supernatural feud which is the backbone of the action.

If you’ve read The Wren Hunt locations will be familiar and characters pop-up from the other book. But the core of the story is fresh and features new girl Zara, whose family have moved to Kilshamble, however, the mysterious death of her sister knocks the family for six. The chapters alternate between David and Zara who begins to investigate into the death of Laila, soon realising nothing in Kilshamble is what it seems, and the place is top-heavy with unspoken secrets and is not particularly welcome to newcomers. This was another complex read, which strong teen readers will appreciate, and I would not recommend it to kids who struggle to concentrate on books. It’s quite slow, atmospheric and challenging YA fiction, but once you figure out how this alternative version of Ireland works is well worth investing the time into. AGE 14+ 

MICHAEL GRANT: GONE (9 BOOK SERIES 2008-19)

I was a huge fan of Gone which is an outstanding science fiction series with strong elements of horror, however, it went on too long and I do not know that many kids who made it to the end of book six Light in 2013 when the series looked done and dusted. However, Grant revived it in 2017 with the very tame Monster which is both billed as ‘book seven’ or ‘book one’ of a new second series. Either way, I found it disappointing, but don’t let that put you off Gone, which has an outstanding opening three books and has been a massive hit with young teenagers. In the blink of an eye all adults disappear into thin air. For a couple of days this is exciting; no school, no rules and everybody goes crazy. However, soon gangs start forming, everybody is raiding shops, and nobody is looking after the babies, little kids or working in McDonalds. The way this immediate collapse is portrayed is incredibly convincing, and in the background, there is a 400-hour count-down, but to what? As the oldest kids continue to disappear at an alarming rate… An outstanding series which begins like a lion but goes out like a lamb. AGE 12+
 
CHARLIE HIGSON: THE ENEMY (7 BOOK SERIES 2009-15)

In this huge selling teen series everyone over the age of fourteen succumbs to a deadly ‘sickness’ virus and now the kids must keep themselves alive by hiding in empty shops in central London, adopting a gang lifestyle whilst they are stalked by the zombie-like and very hungry adults and parents. Bring on ‘The Waitrose Gang’, ‘The Morrison Gang’ who are hiding near Baker Street and the battle across London looking for sanctuary with the resistance which is rumoured to be grouping at Buckingham Palace. But to get there, the kids need to watch out for what lurks in London Zoo and other dangers as they battle across the very dangerous capital city. A top-quality series, which just went on a bit too long as it starts much better than it finishes, with many kids I know struggling around book five or six, but a few do make it to the end.  AGE 11+
 
JULIE KAGAWA: IRON FEY (7 BOOK SERIES 7 BOOK SERIES 2010-15)

If you fancy a dark fantasy with a nice dose of romance then the Iron Fey series, which combines old legends, is worth closer inspection. Megan Chase is bullied at school and if not for her best friend Robbie then life would be unbearable. By chance Megan discovers she is part fey (faery) and ventures into the land of NeverNever only to find she is the daughter of Oberon, the Summer King which makes her a target for many of his enemies. Megan attracts the attention of Ash, the Winter Prince, and friction soon develops. Winter and Summer have always been foes, but Ash may be the one person who can help her in the dangerous adventures which follow. Kagawa has created a vivid world which combines old legends with a wide range of characters to keep the story going. The romance was tender and bittersweet, the humour dark and twisted. AGE 12+
 
SHERRILYN KENYON: CHRONICLES OF NICK (8 BOOK SERIES 2010-17)

The Chronicles of Nick series begins with Infinity, which is itself a prequel to the Dark-Hunter series, a long-running sequence I have not read which includes the first appearance of main character Nick Gauntier. Nick is fourteen when Infinity opens and after getting into a fight and being saved by a weird superhero style character is sucked into the world of the Dark Hunters, immortal vampire slayers who are waging an endless fight to save humanity. Although this is probably categorised at Urban Fantasy, it does have a lot of horror and supernatural creatures from zombies, to werewolves and an endless supply of demons. The plot is reminiscent of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instrument series where the human world is a veil for a much larger and more dangerous battleground in which she becomes one of the Hunters, whilst trying to negotiate high school at the same time. It’s good fun, easy to read and moves at an entertaining lick.  AGE 13+
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ALEX SCARROW: TIMERIDERS (9 BOOK SERIES 2010-14)

I was a massive fan of Alex Scarrow’s Timeriders series but nine books in less than five years was a lot of reading and no matter how good the writer it is hard to keep the plot fresh. The story is built around a classic time-traveling idea; moments before their natural death, such as on the Titanic or in deadly fires, selected teenagers are pulled out of real time at the moment of their death and recruited by an organisation which only has one purpose: to fix broken history. Their job is to go backwards and forwards in time to change the past and ultimately to stop time travel from destroying the world. Each of the novels reads like a standalone adventure but I would recommend reading them in order and the opening trilogy is top-notch. AGE 11+
 
DARREN SHAN: ZOM-B (12 BOOK SERIES 2012-16)

Darren Shan set the YA world alight with both The Saga of Darren Shan (12 books) and The Demonata (10 books) but although it had its moments, ZOM-B failed to have the same impact. The whole series was published over a brief four years and perhaps should have been spread over a longer period or the stories merged in some way, as most children lost interest in the series very quickly and they just never took off in my school library. Ultimately, the zombie fiction craze did not have the same impact in YA fiction that it did with adult horror and ZOM-B is presented as an apocalyptic survival story which begins in Ireland and then spreads out. Initially everyone thinks the outbreak in Ireland is some type of hoax, but it is already too late. As well as zombies the story does deal with more serious themes of racism, bullying and abuse, but lacks the magic the previous Shan series had. As the series develops the apocalypse worsens and there are episodic adventures and other characters thrown into the mix. AGE 11+
 
LEMONY SNICKET: A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (13 BOOK SERIES 1999-06)

This beautifully constructed series has been turned both into a cinematic vehicle for the talents of Jim Carey and three successful Netflix series built around the thirteen-book series. Although the books were a huge hit, I’ve wondered whether they would have been even more successful if they had been released at a slower pace, thirteen books in a mere seven years was some rate! After the sudden death of their parents, the three Baudelaire children must depend on each other and their wits when it turns out that the distant relative who is appointed their guardian is determined to use any means necessary to snatch their fortune. Enter the dreaded uncle, Count Olaf, who is the real star of the show in this wonderful comic series which has an incredibly dark heart beating throughout its paces. Few series can keep the intensity going for thirteen books and even though there is a dip between books nine and eleven it is a stunningly well-crafted series and is one of the very best children’s series in modern fiction and has all the beauty of the most cynical of fairy tales. Even adults who read this should marvel as the quality of writing and sly hidden jokes. AGE 9+ 
 
RACHEL VINCENT: SOUL SCREAMERS (7 BOOKS 2009-13)

This smooth and silky supernatural thriller opens with My Soul to Take, enticingly built about a girl who senses when someone near her is going to die, and when it happens involuntarily unleashes a deafening banshee like scream. This is a very enjoyable horror thriller series to try from a highly prolific author who likes to mix romance with her urban fantasy/horror. Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of the Paranormal Romance sub-genre of horror, but this series was a cut above many of the others and I know lots of kids who gulped down the whole series. AGE 11+