 Recap: If you missed part 1 and 2 featuring numbers 31 to 50, click the links below Part 1: 50-41 Part 2: 40-31 This is our third batch of ten, so stay tuned for the next selections. All are outstanding reads and great recommendations to buy for any teens in your life. The final part will also include numbers 51-50, but with no reviews. Here are some pointers to bear in mind for this list: a. I need to have read the book for it to be considered. Nobody can read everything. b. I do not care whether a book has 30,000 stars on Goodreads or none. c. My fourteen-year-old daughter reads a lot of YA horror and has read many of these also. d. YA, does not mean books for children, these are ‘teen’ reads not books for younger children. e. Many of my other YA charts featured on Ginger Nuts blend into other genre fiction, this one concentrates more on straight horror, with a few exceptions. f. I am quite liberal with my age ‘rating’, other librarians might raise them by a year or two, especially in America. If you would like to purchase any of these books just click on the titles to be taken to you regional Amazon store  30. Ransom Riggs - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2011) Bestsellers do not impress me in the slightest, but this is probably one of the biggest sellers featured on the list which has recently had its fifth book in nine years, with a couple of graphic novels also thrown in for good measure. A family tragedy leads a young man to an abandoned orphanage on a remote Welsh island which holds, mystery, dark secrets, and a weird connection to another time period where the strange and dangerous child inhabitants of the orphanage remain alive. This highly original series mixes atmospheric B/W photography into the mystery whilst retaining a high level of creepiness as the complex story unfolds and the children reveal themselves and things which make them ‘peculiar’. The Tim Burton film of the same name managed to recreate a certain amount of atmosphere present in the novel but does differ from the plot in some significant ways, such as the gifts the children have, and is also lighter in tone. The series also has a collection of short stories Tales of the Peculiar and from the way it has been borrowed from my library Riggs should have called it a day after book three as this is a series which seems to have gone on too long. AGE 12+ 29 Courtney Summers - This Is Not a Test (2012) A teenage girl who has a violent and abusive father and treats her like crap wakes up to a zombie holocaust just as he is having a go at her over breakfast. In this great teen read as she and five school mates battle for survival as the zombie hordes surround the school building in the initial mass killing aftermath. However, Sloane is not like the other five teenagers who are desperate to live, since she was abandoned by her sister, she has struggled to want to continue in a theme constantly revisited in this thought-provoking teen novel which abandons action for a more measured and thoughtful approach to an end of the world holocaust. For large sections of the story you might forget there were zombies lurking outside. This was very much a character driven novel that was very moving and raw with emotion as the struggle for survival and the paranoia involved in keeping the school secure and the zombies outside. This is Not a Test refused to sensationalise anything and it took a while before I realized I was reading a horror novel, never mind a zombie novel, which was very clever. Ultimately it is a story about people and how they react to the situation and is backed up by an outstanding lead character which goes full circle. Courtney Summers should write more YA horror novels as this story was an unconventional breath of fresh air. AGE 13+ 28. Jeyn Roberts – When They Fade (2016) When they Fade is a complex and gripping supernatural thriller story told through two convincing and distinct voices, firstly, Tatum, who is having serious problems at school. Her ex-best friend Claudette was having an affair with a teacher and having concerns for her friend reports it to their Guidance Councillor. When confronted Claudette and her boyfriend teacher turn the tables on Tatum and nobody believes her. Her life becomes a misery as she is outed as a tattletale and much of this back story is told via flashback. The second character the narrative follows is Molly, who is a ghost, originally murdered in 1970 by a serial killer not long after the Woodstock Music Festival and she repeatedly reappears as a hitchhiker on the stretch of road close to where she originally disappeared. One evening Tatum is out driving and she picks up Molly and when their hands touch the ghost foresees a horrible death for the other girl and their stories begin to connect. When they Fade is a superb fusion of painful and realistic high school bullying, ghost story, thriller and even a believable romance as Tatum tries to confront her demons. The author does an excellent job of creating a gripping ghost story with convincing characters, both alive and dead. Sadly, this book was not been picked up by a UK publisher and the American hardback is let down by a very bland cover. AGE 13+ 27. Emma Berquist – Devils unto Dust (2018) Emma Berquist’s startling debut Devils unto Devils is in the same ballpark as Dread Nation which was featured in the previous section, but without the elements as race, similar to that other story we have an outstanding teenage girl character leading the action. Devils unto Dust probably has more in common with Alden Bell’s Reapers are the Angels than Dread Nation, as both novels are effectively dangerous road trips which involves a hunt across largely empty landscapes. Rather than making big statements about race, it is much more interested in the nuclear family and what the main character Daily Wilcox (known as ‘Willie’) will do to protect hers. But along the way savour the empty, but beautifully described, landscapes as Willie and her friends battle for survival. I almost forgot to mention there were zombies….. Like most novels of this type the ‘Z’ word is never used and they are known as ‘shakers’ with Texas being quarantined from the rest of the country as the undiagnosed virus spreads. In fact, the plot could have been lifted straight out an old b-western novel from the 1950s, but the horror twist Emma Berquist brings to the table is perfectly pitched. Willie’s drunk father steals money from a local moneylender who threatens to hurt Willie and her siblings if he is not reimbursed. The young woman then takes it upon herself to hire two ‘shake’ hunters with what little money they have left and sets out away from their home of Glory, Texas to find her father and retrieve the cash. There are some outstanding action sequences, like Reapers are the Angels the zombies never dominate the story and all the characters are incredibly well drawn. Emma Berquist is an author to watch out for, her second novel, a supernatural thriller, Missing, Presumed Dead was also a great read. AGE 13+  26. Brenna Yovanoff - The Replacement (2010) 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+ 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+ 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. 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+    the heart and soul of ya horror fiction |
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