In screenwriter Greg Taylor’s first novel, Killer Pizza, 14 year old Toby just landed a great job for a guy who dreams of being a celebrity chef – in the kitchen of a cool new franchise, Killer Pizza.  Along with his teen co-workers, Strobe and Annabel, Toby soon discovers the pizza shop is actually a front for a nationwide network of monster hunters – wait?! Monster Hunters? Yep, monsters!  They quickly accept the reality that fearsome monsters exist in their midst, and undergo weeks of combat, technical, and weapons training in order to discover and defeat them. The main ingredient in this recipe is action, action, and more action.  It’s like aRead More →

Darkwood, the first novel by M.E.Breen, is a fairy tale adventure where the young orphan heroine, Annie, must unravel the mysteries of her past and her future while running both from and headlong into a dark, menacing danger. Annie’s grim life in a world hemmed by a frightening forest is about to change forever when her uncle sells her to a scary man who will take her to “The Drop.” Afraid of the certain death that awaits her, Annie and her trusty feline companions, Prue and Izzy, escape into the dark wood.  The wood is the most fear place of all because it is prowledRead More →

“Vampires are meant to be glamorous and powerful, but I’m here to inform you that being a vampire is nothing like that. Not one bit. On the contrary, it’s like being stuck indoors with the flu watching daytime television, forever and ever.  If being a vampire were easy, there wouldn’t be a Reformed Vampire Support Group.  …God I’m sick of it.” And so we meet Nina; a fifty-one year old vampire who’s had a chip on her shoulder since she was infected at the age of 15.  Tired of a listless, sickly  life stuck in her mother’s house, Nina writes a vampire adventure series with aRead More →

Zara suspects there’s a guy stalking her. She’s obsessed with phobias and saving the world.   She hasn’t been herself since her stepfather died and her mother has exiled her to frozen Maine to live with her grandmother in the hopes a change of scenery will help her recover. But is that really the reason Zara’s been sent north?  Once in Maine and starting a new school she discovers it’s not a sleepy, backwoods town at all – there are some scary secrets here, some of which are not human and are definately after her blood. Carrie Jones’ Need features suspense, romance and supernatural themes and fans of the Twilight saga willRead More →

I hate cliff-hangers!! Grrr!!  But I am getting ahead of myself… in Skeleton Creek, Patrick Carman’s latest book, we meet best friends Ryan and Sarah right after a terrible accident that has left Ryan house-bound and forbidden from having any contact with Sarah.  They came too close to discovering something scary and sinister that’s happened (or maybe happening) in their small Oregon town, Skeleton Creek.  Separated and alone, Ryan works through his fear & trauma by journaling about what happened that lead to the accident and he communicates secretly with Sarah via emails and online videos.  They know whatever caused the accident is still outRead More →

When I was in junior high I loved horror and scary stories. I remember reading all kinds of things and not being able to put down the gruesome tales of ghosts, haunted houses, murders, supernatural phenomenon and demons even though I’d be afraid to fall asleep later.  Reading Simon Holt’s The Devouring reminded me of that freakish pleasure I used to take in scary stories.  It was a great read, quick, thrilling and scary! When we meet high school freshmen Reggie, she is reading about the Vours in a mysterious old journal, and she assumes they are just the musings of an anonymous lunatic. She’s fascinatedRead More →

The Graveyard Book is very satisfying! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was intrigued by the unique idea of a boy being raised in a graveyard. How would one write a book about that? Neil Gaiman did an amazing job. I think that kids will really enjoy it. The book begins with a sad murder that leaves the main character an orphan. The toddler is protected and raised by the inhabitants of a graveyard. It has ghosts, ghouls, a vampire, a werewolf, bad guys, action, and a kind and brave main character. Recommended for ages ten and up, but not for sensitive readers. Posted by MichelleRead More →

Ninth Grade Slays by Heather Brewer is an excellent follow up to her first novel, Eighth Grade Bites. Vladimir Tod is a vampire, but he’s also half human, the first of his kind. He lives on blood bags his aunt brings home from the hospital. He doesn’t feed off the source, humans. Vlad has just come out of an extremely eventful eighth grade year. Apparently, there is an entire community of vampires outside his little town of Bathory. But as for his start of high school, strange things are about to happen. Not only does Vlad have to deal with bullies and talking to theRead More →

Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer’s much-anticipated follow up to her highly successful novels Twilight and New Moon, continues the saga rich with vampires, werewolves, and Bella Swan, the girl who loves them both. Picking up right where New Moon left off, Eclipse is filled with danger, intrigue, fighting and plenty of suspense. While the plot is riveting and the book is a page-turner that is almost impossible to set down, Eclipse differs from the first two books in the amount of background and character development Meyer provides. Not only does Meyer delve more deeply into the mythology of the werewolves and vampires, she also picks out individualRead More →