October means it's time for my annual list of horror stories. Who doesn't love a good scare in October? It's almost required to prepare for Halloween by scaring yourself silly. Here are six horror books published in the last six months.
Six new horror stories:
If you've ever wanted to read some Buddhist stories, this might be the book for you. It's framed as a kid dealing with racism and anger issues then presented with meditation and reflection. The stories take these concepts from a frustration and difficult endeavor to something is attainable and worth attempting. There isn't much plot but that isn't really the point. It's a way of making philosophy accessible to a young audience and helps a kids see the way of peace.
Author: Angela Cervantes
Genre: horror
Similar books: The Ojja-Wojja by Magdalene Visaggio
The Clackity by Lora Senf
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Summary (provided by publisher): One two, the Caretaker’s coming for you. Three-four, you’ll breathe no more. Five-six, you’ll float like sticks. Seven, eight, you’ll meet your fate.
Rafael Fuentes isn’t easily scared. He loves writing ghost stories, reading scary books, and entertaining his friends with terrifying tales he creates on the spot. Rafa has come up against enough real-life scary situations that fictional hauntings seem like no big deal. Rafa’s incarcerated mom is being released from jail soon, and will be coming to live with him, his sister, and their grandparents. For the first time in a while, Rafa feels a pit of fear growing in his stomach.
To take his mind off his mom’s return, Rafa spends an evening crafting the scariest ghost story he’s ever told. As an eerie blood moon hangs in the sky, Rafa tells a group of friends about The Caretaker. The Caretaker is an evil ghost who lures unsuspecting kids into the neighborhood pond. . . and they don’t ever come out. Rafa is really proud of his latest creation, until strange things start to happen around him. With a sinking feeling, Rafa realizes the Caretaker is real. Rafa has brought the ghost to life—and only he can stop him.
My opinion: Cervantes does a clever thing here by routing the haunting through Rafa's story-telling. Since we learn what happened to the affected kids through the story he tells, we don't experience it in the moment. This creates emotional distance that keeps the narrative from becoming too scary for a young reader. With the addition of Rafa's personal, familial conflict the plot is well fleshed out and the characters are believable. For an adult reader this won't be an edge-of-your-seat read but it should go over well with horror enthusiast youngsters.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
I am not easily frightened by books. I will read a horror story any time without difficulty. So when I started listening to audio books I did not change my habits in any way. Typically, this has not been a problem. I can recall two cases where I found an audio book genuinely creepy and in both cases it's more about production than content.
The Diviners is a wonderfully atmospheric, dark story. It deals with ancient evils and struggles for power. Even just read traditionally it's a spooky story. But the audio-book is downright unsettling. There are tones, discordance, sound effects that had me uneasy. Since the tone of the narrative is already unsettling the careful use of background sound can make for a nervous listen, especially if you're awake in the wee hours in a dark house like I was. This is one best heard in the bright light of day.
Unlike Bray's book, this audio has rather sparse production. It's just Annalee Scott reading in a rather even tone. It is almost entirely calm. Until the whispers. I mostly listen to audio-books when I run so I'm typically wearing earbuds. Having that raspy whisper "You found me" hissing in my ear was creepily intimate. The first time it happened I was a bit unsettled. The second time the sun was setting and I was in shadow and it had me flinching at every movement. I had to turn the book off and finish my run in silence. That is production used to remarkable effect, for something so simple to have such a strong impact.
So remember, if you want a truly frightening audio experience it takes more than just a scary story. It needs to use the audio medium to it's best effect.
Author: Ciera Burch
Genre: mild horror
Similar books: This Appearing House by Ally Malinenko
Mine by Delilah S Dawson
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Summary (provided by publisher): Eleven-year-old Micah has no interest in moving out of her grandfather’s house. She loves living with Poppop and their shared hobby of driving around rich neighborhoods to find treasures in others’ trash. To avoid packing, Micah goes for a bike ride and ends up at Finch House, the decrepit Victorian that Poppop says is Off Limits. Except when she gets there, it’s all fixed up and there’s a boy named Theo in the front yard. Surely that means Finch House isn’t Off Limits anymore? But when Poppop finds her there, Micah is only met with his disappointment.
By the next day, Poppop is nowhere to be found. After searching everywhere, Micah’s instincts lead her back to Finch House. But once Theo invites her inside, Micah realizes she can’t leave. And that, with its strange whispers and deep-dark shadows, Finch House isn’t just a house…it’s alive.
Can Micah find a way to convince the house to let her go? Or will she be forced to stay in Finch House forever?
My opinion: Let's start spooky season a little early with this middle grade story of haunting and mysterious happenings. We are presented with the standard neighborhood weird house, the place where kids dare each other and children are said to disappear. The plot is solidly tense and built upon a complex twisting supernatural structure. It isn't without flaws. If you think about the details too hard it doesn't follow much logic. Still, the atmosphere is strong and it might be a nice lead into more frightening reads as we head towards Halloween.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
Author: Greg Van Eekhout
Genre: fantasy
Similar books: Grave Mistakes by Kitty Curran
What Stays Buried by Suzanne Young
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Summary (provided by publisher): Zenith and her friends may be dead—but lucky for them, even getting ghosted wasn’t enough to tear them apart.
The four of them were thick as thieves long before an unfortunate lab accident sent them careening into the afterlife. So when they hear about a machine that could return them to the land of the living, they are determined to steal it.
Unfortunately, the magical device belongs to a dangerous necromancer who’s out for their ectoplasm.
Fortunately, they’re great at heists. Because pulling off the score of their deathtimes is no job for an amateur.
My opinion: Take a standard heist story and add some supernatural elements and you have this book. Our primary cast is a group of ghosts facing off against a man described as a necromancer but also accurately called an arch-capitalist. So yes, they are planning a theft but the victim is a "bad dude" so the theft is justified. The characters are reasonably complex for readers of this age group and the pacing is solid.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
This is one of those books that you can appreciate on two levels. The primary text is narrated by the volcano itself. These are simple, declarative statements. "I am a volcano" "Something is stirring", that sort of thing. Each page also has commentary by a small bird. This bird provides more detailed, scientific explanations. Read the volcano's narration to very young children. It's an explanation of volcanoes that even small children can understand. The bird's text is the level of detail older kids are looking for when they look for a book about volcanoes. With cartoon style illustrations it's visually appealing too.
Advanced Reader Copy provided b NetGalley
