Need to destress from school papers, projects, and presentations? Need something new to read? NEED SOME SPOOK? Take a gander at these awesome reads:
Gothic!and The Restless Dead – edited by Deborah Noyes
Want to read something short and sweet with a satisfying amount of gore and suspense? Both of these books are anthologies of short stories from some of the best dark writers of our time, including Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, and M.T. Anderson. Ghosts, monsters, and mysteries abound in these books, perfect for the hour between classes or the shuttle ride.
Fear – edited by R.L. Stine
This is another anthology, but it’s less gothic and dark and more spine-tingling horrifying. With excellently terrifying short stories by 13 authors you may already know and love, this book is sure to be scary. I recommend starting off with The Perfects by Jennifer Allison, She’s Different Tonight by Heather Graham, or Welcome to the Club by R.L. Stine.
Poison– Chris Wooding
Poison’s sister has been stolen from her village by the tricksey fae! Now she must embark on a journey across time and dimensions to save her. On the way, she and her friends must solve the riddles of the murderous Lamprey, steal a blood-drinking dagger from the Lady of Cobwebs, escape the Bone Witch, and solve a conspiracy without being killed. Poison is brimming with Wooding’s beautiful and intricate plot; you won’t be able to put this one down as you follow Poison and learn of her true identity in a world where humans can do nothing and everything.
Jo-Jo and the Fiendish Lot – Andrew Ausen
Jo-Jo Dyas wants to be dead. When he meets a naked dead girl in the middle of his suicide attempt, his life-or death- changes. She’s Max, who’s come up from the Afterlife to raise her undead punk band and play a gig or two in the city. Jo-Jo tags along, and in the process, determines if life is really worth living or if he should follow Max and the gang back to the Afterlife. Filled with humor, crazy characters, and raw themes about life and death, Jo-Jo and the Fiendish Lot is a wild ride from start to finish.
Coraline – Neil Gaiman
Although this novel is short (only 162 pages in my copy), it doesn’t disappoint. Coraline is one of the creepiest, most original novels I have ever read. Coraline Jones has moved to a new house with her mother and father against her will. She is bored; she hates the new house and its other occupants; she doesn’t want to go to a new school. When she discovers a secret door that leads to another world, another mother, another life, Coraline thinks she’s found a paradise. However, the Other Mother is not what she seems. She want to keep Coraline in the Other World forever by sewing buttons on her eyes! Coraline must fight the Other Mother ad her tricks if she is ever to return home to her real family.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown – Holly Black
This novel is relatively new – it was first published in 2013. Holly Black has created a world where vampires are kept in quarantined areas called “Coldtowns.” Once someone enters a Coldtown, whether they be human or vampire, they can never leave. The novel begins with the main character, Tana, waking up in a bathroom after a party. She discovers that almost everybody else in the house is dead- sucked dry by rogue vampires. Everybody, that is, except her infected ex-boyfriend, Adrian, and a stranger. She must try to save both herself and her ex before it’s too late and Adrian succumbs to bloodlust. She must try to do the one thing she never wanted: go into a Coldtown.
Holly Black has managed to write a fresh new take on a topic that seemed exhausted. Who wants to read another vampire novel after all that Twilight? I’m telling you, if you like witty writing, original characters, and the supernatural, you have got to read The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.
