Home » Posts tagged "horror fiction" (Page 99)

6 YA Horror Series You Could Be Reading

I was over at Dread Central and they had posted a list of 5 horror series you should be reading, and it’s an interesting list. Inspirational, even. So I’m going to thank them for the idea and offer you a list myself of YA series you should read, if you haven’t already. There are so many more, it’s hard to limit it to just a few. Enjoy! If you have other ideas, I’d love to know them!

 

Product Details

Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender (Book 1: Bad Girls Don’t Die, Book 2: From Bad to Cursed, Book 3: As Dead As It).

Creepy ghostly possession is now apparently a “thing” in the horror genre, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, but Katie Alender was way ahead of the trend in this series about a girl whose younger sister is possessed by a malignant ghost.

 

 

The Enemy by Charlie Higson (Book 1: The Enemy, Book 2: The Dead, Book 3: The Fear, Book 4: The Sacrifice, Book 5: The Fallen, Book 6: The Hunted)
A plague hits London, transforming nearly all adults into zombies. Children and teens are on their own, fighting for survival in post-apocalyptic world. Higson, somewhat controversially, claimed to be writing for boys, but he has strong female characters as well. The books in this series are fast paced and action packed, and there’s plenty of gore, but not at the expense of character development.

 

 

Product Details

Zom-B by Darren Shan (13 book series).

Darren Shan gets hardcore in Zom–B. B, the protagonist, is not a nice person. B comes from an abusive environment that reeks of racist attitudes, and has not problem passing that on to weaker victims. The first half of the first book sets up B’s background, character, and moral dilemmas, but the second half has all the graphic gore and zombie action fans of zombie novels could desire. There is a surprising twist at the end of the first book that will change your perception of B, and Shan handles it well.
Product Details

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie and Alyssa Sheinmel. (Book 2: The Awakening of Sunshine Girl)

This series is based on a YouTube webisode series, Sunshine Girl, created by Paige McKenzie. After Sunshine Griffith moves from sunny Texas to gloomy Washington, she discovers she is living in a haunted house, inhabited by a malicious spirit. Fast paced, intense, and incredibly creepy.

 

 

 Asylum by Madeleine Roux. (Book 2: Catacomb, Book 3: Sanctum).

 

This is a creepy, photo-illustrated series with a design similar to that of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It begins by introducing students in a summer college prep program that just happend to take place in a renovated mental asylum. Nothing could go wrong there, right? The photos give the story a disturbing sort of realism. As a digression, Ms. Roux also is an alumna of my own alma mater, although I’ve never met her personally.

 

 

Lockdown: Escape From Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith. (Book 2: Solitary, Book 3: Death Sentence, Book 4: Fugitives, Book 5: Execution)

 

In a dystopian future where there has been a massive backlash against teen crime, 14-year old Alex, caught committing a burglary, is sentenced to time in the underground prison Furnace. Violent, rife with gang activities, and patrolled by monstrous creatures, Furnace is a terrifying place to try to survive, and Alex decides to make the attempt to escape. Gripping and fast-paced, Smith takes you on a breathless tour of the next thing to hell.

 

Posted on December 13, 2015 by , Reply

Book Review: Voices of the Damned by Barbie Wilde

Voices of the Damned by Barbie Wilde
Short,Scary Tales Publications, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1909640351
Available: Hardcover (new and used), Kindle edition
Inside these covers are eleven slices of hell from the mind of a new visionary of horror. Barbie Wilde appears to have vacationed in Dante’s creation and taken terror a couple of steps further.

Voices of the Damned, Wilde’s first collection of short stories, picks up where The Venus Complex, the author’s excellent debut crime novel, left off.   First off, this is a gorgeous book. The cover art, by none other than Clive Barker, sets the tone for a book written by a Cenobite herself.  Introducing each story is an exquisitely disturbing full-size image by artists including Barker, Nick Percival, Steve McGinnis, Danele Serra, Eric Gross, Tara Bush, Vincent Sammy, and Ben Baldwin.

The collection kicks off with “Sister Cilice,” the tale of how a nun falls from grace, first seen in Hellbound Hearts, the tribute anthology based on Barker’s “Hellraiser” world. Wilde continues the story with “The Cicilium Pandoric” and “The Cicilium Rebellion”, creating a full trilogy that explores the existence of the Cenobite she portrayed in Hellraiser II. Other highlights in this collection include “Zulu Zombies” and “American Mutant”. These epitomize Wilde’s style and vision.

A Barbie Wilde story can be filled with as much eroticism as it is with horror, and this collection shows her skill at interweaving them. Her writing exhibits unbridled brutality and fresh honesty in characterizations, never shying away from the grotesque or weird.  Inhibitions are nowhere to be found here, which is a very good thing. This writer becomes darker and bolder by the story. One can only wonder where her imagination will head next. It will likely be a nightmare many will embrace for years to come. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Dave Simms
Posted on November 30, 2015 by , Reply

Book Review: Rotter Nation (Rotter World Saga Book 2) by Scott M. Baker

Rotter Nation (Rotter World Saga Book 2) by Scott M. Baker

Schattensette Books, 2015

ISBN: 978-0996312103

Available: New Paperback, ebook

 

It’s nine months into an apocalypse  that was caused by a zombie virus, unleashed by vampires. Mike Robson and his team have successfully retrieved the vaccine from Site R, though they have suffered many losses. Upon returning to their camp, they find it completely destroyed and most of the residents dead—victims of a vicious rape gang that Robson’s team had a previous run-in with on the way to Site R. Now, they must pick up the pieces and find someplace new to start over. They must also get the vaccine safely to the government-in-exile in Omaha and try to rescue a survivor from the slaughter.

Baker has continued his post-apocalyptic world in a seamless fashion, introducing new characters while giving even more depth to returning ones. Robson is a real person, struggling with the conflict of choosing between doing the right thing for the world and risking losing his love, Natalie by sending her and the Angels to Omaha with the vaccine. Robson, Natalie, and other characters are all well-rounded, three-dimensional people (and vampires) and it is easy to relate to them through their emotions and how they deal with the situations they find themselves in. They will draw real and visceral reactions from readers.

The world has gone to hell and it is highly apparent in the vivid descriptions of the areas traveled through by the now separate groups headed by Robson and Natalie, and the very bad people that have survived. Away from the relative safety of the camp, the now divided group find themselves facing increasingly worse scenarios and dangers. Baker’s story is compelling and suspenseful, holding the reader’s attention from beginning to end, and the climax will leave the reader wanting more. Recommended.

Contains: violence, gore, adult language, adult situations

Reviewed by Colleen Wanglund

Posted on July 15, 2015 by , Reply
First « 979899100101 » Last