Friday, October 14, 2016

Horrors: the Long and the Short


Unearthly creatures and mysterious creepy phenomena; here are a few shivery tales to tingle your spine.


Horror Fiction in the Teen Collection
See also: A Wide-Eyed Bump in the Night: Ghost Stories 

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall, by Katie Alender, 2015. Murdered by a spirit in her house, which was previously an insane asylum, 16-year-old Cordelia wanders the house, meeting other trapped ghosts and learning the houses dark secrets, searching for a way to save her family, and perhaps herself.


Teen Frankenstein, by Chandler Baker, 2016. When science prodigy Tori Frankenstein accidentally kills a teen boy in a midnight car accident, there's only one thing for her to do--use her science project to bring him back to life. Classics inspired.


Little Dead Man, by Jake Bible, 2014. Decades after the zombie apocalypse, 17 year old Garret Weir just wants to be a normal teenager. As if dealing with the zombies isn't hard enough, his annoying twin brother refuses to leave him in peace. And it's not like Garret can just go to his room and shut the door to get away. His brother Garth is a zombie and conjoined to the top of Garret's spine. Good times.

Lucid, by Jay R. Bonansinga, 2015. At the urging of her psychologist, high schooler Lori Blaine faces her fear by going through the door that's been haunting her dreams and finds herself in a terrifying world that serves as the channel between nightmares and reality.
Wax, by Gina Damico, 2016. Seventeen-year-old Poppy stumbles into a secret workshop at the infamous Grosholtz Candle Factory and soon, a wax boy called Dud is helping her uncover an evil plot that threatens her hometown of Paraffin, Vermont. Funny.



The Girl From the Well, by Rin Chupeco, 2014. Okiku has wandered the world for centuries, freeing the innocent ghosts of the murdered-dead and taking the lives of killers with the vengeance they are due, but when she meets Tark she knows the moody teen with the series of intricate tattoos is not a monster and needs to be freed from the demonic malevolence that clings to him.
The Accident Season, Moira Fowley-Doyle, 2015. Every October Cara and her family become mysteriously and dangerously accident-prone, but this year, the year Cara, her ex-stepbrother, and her best friend are 17, is when Cara will begin to unravel the accident season's dark origins.
The Fall, by Bethany Griffin, 2014. A retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher' in which Madeline and her twin brother, Roderick, suffer from the Usher family illness but she hears the House talking to her, filling her dreams, controlling her actions, and ensuring she never leaves the property. Classics inspired.


13 Days of Midnight, by Leo Hunt, 2015. When his estranged father dies, 16-year-old Luke inherits eight spirits who want revenge for their enslavement, and with Halloween fast approaching, he has only thirteen days to give them their eternal rest or he may join their ghostly ranks. Humorous.
The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch: At the Edge of Empire, Daniel Kraus, 2015. The story follows Zebulon Finch, a teenager murdered in 1896 Chicago who inexplicably returns from the dead and searches for redemption through the ages.

And the Trees Crept In, by Dawn Kurtagich, 2016. Sisters Silla, seventeen, and Nori, four, are trapped in their aunt's cursed manor and can only escape with the help of a mysterious boy.

Quicksand House, by Carlton Mellick III, 2013. Tick and Polly have never met their parents. Living in a dark corner of their parents' vast crumbling mansion they worry their parents have forgotten them. When the machines that provide them with food and water stop functioning they are forced to venture out of the nursery. But the rest of the house is much larger and stranger than they ever imagined.
The Madman's Daughter, by Megan Shepherd, 2013. Dr. Moreau's daughter, Juliet, travels to her estranged father's island, only to encounter murder, medical horrors, and a love triangle. Gothic horror. Classics inspired.
The Walls Around Us, by Nova Ren Suma, 2015. Orianna and Violet are ballet dancers and best friends, but when the ballerinas who have been harassing Violet are murdered, Orianna is accused of the crime and sent to a juvenile detention center where she meets Amber and they experience supernatural events linking the girls together.
In the Shadow of Blackbirds, by Cat Winters, 2013. In San Diego in 1918, as deadly influenza and World War I take their toll, 16-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches desperate mourners flock to seances and spirit photographers for comfort and, despite her scientific leanings, must consider if ghosts are real when her first love, killed in battle, returns.



Short Horror Stories 

The Living Dead, edited by John Joseph Adams, 2008. A collection of short stories about zombies includes contributions by Sherman Alexie, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Stephen King, and George R.R. Martin.



Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales, edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, 2014. An anthology of stories explores the intersection of fear and romance, ambition and sacrifice, loneliness and rage, love requited and avenged, and the boundless potential for connection, even across extreme borders.
Great Tales of Horror, by H. P. Lovecraft, 2012. Includes classic stories such as: "The Rats in the Walls," "Pickman's Model," "The Colour out of Space," "The Call of Cthulhu," "The Dunwich Horror," "The Shadow over Innsmouth," "At the Mountains of Madness," "The Shadow out of Time," and "The Haunter of the Dark."
Scary Out There, edited by Jonathan Maberry, 2016.  Multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry compiles more than twenty stories and poems--written by members of the Horror Writers Association--in this collection about worst fears.
Gothic!: Ten Original Dark Tales, edited by Deborah Noyes, 2004. Drawing on dark fantasy and the fairy tale as well as horror and wild humor, ten authors pay homage to the gothic tale. Authors include: M.T. Anderson; Neil Gaiman; Gregory Maguire; Garth Nix; and Celia Rees.

Steampunk Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe, 2011. Presents a collection of Poe's short stories and poems, including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," and "The Raven," accompanied by steampunk-inspired illustrations.



Slasher Girls & Monster Boys, stories selected by April Genevieve Tucholke, 2015. An anthology of stories inspired by classic horror tales.