Halloween Horror Recommendations!

My FAVORITE part of October is getting the chance to recommend some of my favorite horror books to you all! I mean to be honest I can recommend these whenever I want but it’s more fun to do it in October!

These are all books that fall 100% into the horror genre in my opinion whether they’re actually terrifying or just an entertaining read or whether they’re full of spirits/monsters or deal with serial killers and slashers.

***I will be doing another post here soon of Halloween Recommendations for those of you who want a book that isn’t necessarily scary or horror! So some “non-spooky” books!***

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

(Review Here)

This is about a male teen, Cas, who hunts ghosts in his spare time and now he’s on the hunt for Anna, a vengeful spirit who murders anyone who sets foot in her home. Except she spares Cas’s life.

I highly, highly recommend this for any other Supernatural fans out there as it really has the feel to the story!

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Slasher Girls & Monster Boys stories selected by April Genevieve Tucholke

(Review Here)

A YA horror anthology with some top notch stories! There were only a couple of duds in here but for the most part they were all excellent and definitely scary.

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The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

(Review Here)

This story follows a vengeful spirit who wreaks havoc on those who murder or do harm to children. She meets a strange boy the sucks her in but the boy has a dark secret that she wasn’t expecting…

Okay so with this one I know a few people didn’t enjoy it but I am absolutely terrified of any stories that are even remotely reminiscent of The Ring or The Grudge and have disjointed bodies crawling out of things. That’s all one big nope for me so naturally this story scared the shit out of me!

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The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

(Review Here)

This is a psychological thriller with a creepy twist, is it supernatural or is it something else? The story is told through video transcripts, journal entries, and newspaper clippings and the events all lead up to what ends in mysterious fire that killed three students and one, Carly Johnson, disappeared. In the ruins they find a diary that belonged to Carly’s twin sister, Kaitlyn, except Carly didn’t have a twin…..

I recommend this one for people who want more suspense than horror, it gets a little creepy but never anything super scary!

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Alice by Christina Henry

(Review Here)

Trigger Warnings: Rape and other graphic violence

This is one where people are the monsters and it’s very violent and graphic. It’s a retelling of “Alice in Wonderland” that’s very dark and gritty I definitely don’t recommend this to the faint of heart, you’ll have to steel your stomach for this one. However, I recommend it to anyone who thinks they can brave it because it is still an excellent story!

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Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

(Review Here)

You wouldn’t think that a graphic novel compiled of several short stories would be that scary but it is, it really is! These stories are open ended for the most part and that leaves more to your imagination in which case you’ll probably scare yourself thinking of it like I did! The illustrations are both terrifying and beautiful at the same time.

I highly recommend this if you’re looking for a quick horror read and you don’t mind open ended stories.

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A Drop of Night by Stefan Bachmann

(Review Here)

This is kind of a thriller/action-adventure/horror all rolled into one. It follows a group of teens who are invited to help explore a recently discovered underground palace in France. However, there’s something else waiting for them in the depths of the palace.

Kind of an odd story but I definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a very fast-paced, suspenseful read!

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The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

(Review Here)

A boy named Will Henry finds himself studying under Dr. Pellinore Warthrop who happens to be a monstrumologist, someone who studies monsters.

Pretty straight forward, this is a historical fiction and it’s a pretty dark horror story because on top of the creepy monsters there’s also just a lot of gore in general. You may get squeamish!

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Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics

(Review Here)

Honestly this is one of my favorites on the list!

It’s about a pioneer family who moves out onto the prairie with a teenage daughter who is desperately trying to hide her pregnancy. However, they arrive and find a new home that was abandoned with the walls and floors covered in blood and they’ve heard rumors of the prairie being tainted by evil.

This is a wonderful mix of terrifying, gory, and twisted. You definitely will not see the twists coming at all! I recommend this one for the horror lovers out there who want to be scared silly, this one is a treat!

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Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

(Review Here)

A group of teen contest winners all get whisked away out into the middle of nowhere to meet horror director Justin Blake. However, things start to get weird and soon they’re all trapped in a game of nightmares.

This reads exactly like a classic slasher horror movie so if you’re a fan of those you’re probably going to love this one! It’s entertaining but don’t expect a lot of depth.

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And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

(Review Here)

One of my other favorites plus I love the cover!

Two girls, Silla and Nori,  arrive at their aunt’s manor in the forest and soon learn that everything is not right and the manor may be cursed. They aren’t allowed to enter the woods, the trees feel like they’re closing in around the house, and there’s a strange man with no eyes who Nori plays with in the basement at night…..

So creepy and so good! The Creeper Man will definitely be haunting your dreams after reading this one….

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The Merciless by Danielle Vega

(Review Here)

Four girls gang up on an outcast tying her up and attempting to perform an exorcism on her. However, it’s more torture than anything else and Sofia, the new girl, wants out but if she goes against the others she may be next…

This one isn’t too creepy or scary but it definitely is full of twisted mean girls, gore galore, and some demonic possession!

If any of those things interest you I’d recommend checking this one out!

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The Women in the Walls by Amy Lukavics

(Review Here)

Lucy and Margaret are cousins who live with their respective parents in a mansion in the middle of the woods, one day Margaret’s mother goes missing and she slowly starts to believe she can hear her dead mother’s voice in the walls. Lucy watches as Margaret slowly goes insane and she soon starts hearing voices as well and must confront the legacy that has marked the women in her family for generations.

Not as good as “Daughters Unto Devils” but still very twisted and creepy! Most of the book is a bit slow but the ending makes it all worth it!

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Dreamfall by Amy Plum

(Review Here)

A group of teenagers enter an experiment that is supposed to help cure their insomnia but instead find themselves all trapped within a dreamworld made up of their worst nightmares.

I thought this was going to be more sci-fi than anything but was surprised by how scary it actually got! There are definitely some very creepy nightmares the kids have to make it through.

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Night Film by Marisha Pessl

This one can be both scary horror and suspenseful thriller, there are some supernatural elements to the story and the situations themselves can get pretty terrifying.

A journalist, Scott McGrath, investigates the death of Ashley Cordova, the daughter of the mysterious horror film director Stanislas Cordova. He believes there’s more to her death than anyone knows and as he digs deeper he discovers more and more disturbing things about the family and wonders if he may be next.

If you want a very dark, gritty, and terrifying thriller this one is for you. It’s extremely compelling and fast paced.

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The Hollow Girl by Hillary Monahan

(Review Here)

Trigger Warning: Rape, violence, and gore

A Romani girl studying herbcraft under her Gran’s teaching befriends an outsider but on her way home one day they are both jumped and brutally assaulted leaving her friend on the brink of death. She must now utilize her dark witchcraft to extract body parts from the boys who wronged her in order to save her friend.

If revenge stories are up your alley this one is very satisfying and I loved the addition of the witchcraft. However, if you can’t handle gore or graphic violence maybe leave this one alone.

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

Are you going to give any of these horror books a try?

What are some of your favorite scary horror books?

Let me know in the comments!

Book Review: The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Title: The Monstrumologist

Author: Rick Yancey

Series: The Monstrumologist #1

Pages: 454

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publish Date: September 22nd, 2009

 

Description From Goodreads

These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me.

So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a man with a most unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. In his time with the doctor, Will has met many a mysterious late-night visitor, and seen things he never imagined were real. But when a grave robber comes calling in the middle of the night with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet.

A gothic tour de force that explores the darkest heart of man and monster and asks the question: When does man become the very thing he hunts?

Review

I honestly don’t know why it took me so long to find out about this series! I love horror and I don’t think there are enough great YA horror books out there, “The Monstrumologist” is one of the good ones.

I mean the study of monsters? What about that doesn’t sound awesome? Although there is so much more to the story than just the monsters….

Let’s Talk About The Plot:

I’m going to go ahead and warn you right away, this book is not for the faint of heart or the squeamish of stomach. While not an overly terrifying story, “The Monstrumologist” is most definitely a gory and bloody one.

I don’t know about you, but I love gore. Something about it makes books more enjoyable for me, I know I’m weird. This is one of the goriest book I’ve ever read though I mean it gets down right nasty. There were parts of the book where I was legitimately gagging it was so gross, but I loved it. I have one scene in mind (if you read this book you’ll know which one).

Plus the monsters themselves are so well done, not only are they absolutely vicious but they’re very intelligent as well. Nothing is scarier than a monster with brains let me tell you. Which reminds me they aren’t the only monsters in this book, we also have them in human form and to be honest I don’t know which were scarier. The acts committed by some of the people in this book were more horrendous than anything the monsters could have done.

I know what you might be thinking: monsters aren’t that scary. Trust me when I say these ones are. Yancey writes them in a way that is truly terrifying. He doesn’t just rely on the physical appearance of the monsters to be scary but their nature as well, which of course is eating people. Now to me, being hunted and getting eaten is scary.

While I found the entire story to be extremely interesting and hard to put down, I can definitely see some people getting bored with it. The writing gets a little tedious and slow at times but it’s worth it to keep reading, trust me!

There’s also TONS of suspense, which of course is required in any good horror book. Not that it’s a scary book in a jumpy sort of way, but more of a quiet horror. Still quite the terrifying book and I got chills more than a couple of times.

Also the sheer CONTENT in “The Monstrumologist” is amazing. Even though this isn’t a fantasy book I would say that it’s on par with fantasy-like world building. If monstrumology were a real science, Rick Yancey would have done his research excellently. Everything he wrote describing the practice of it and the monsters themselves is very believable. Which is part of why I thought the whole book was so fascinating.

Now The Characters:

Excuse me a minute as a completely fangirl over our dark, broody, mad scientist Pellinore Warthrop.

Yes, I think it’s hard to imagine anyone reading this book and NOT loving Pellinore. Although he is kind of an ass…..but we forgive him because he’s so……um I’m not really sure but he’s definitely unique. Not your typical swoon-worthy character but there’s just something about him. He’s insanely smart and very dedicated to is work, he also doesn’t shy away from anything. Being unafraid, of course is mandatory if you’re going to study monsters. There was one thing that bothered me about Pellinore though: the way he treated Will Henry at times. That poor child needs LOVE not orders!

Will Henry, the main character, is adorable. He’s a 12 year old kid and I have a hard time not thinking he’s adorable, he does everything Dr. Warthrop asks of him and all Will wants in return is acceptance and maybe a little love. My heart ached for him, I wanted Warthrop to LOVE him as his own child! I wanted it SO BAD.

Will Henry is also very flawed, what 12 year old orphaned kid under the care of a monstrumologist wouldn’t be? Will gives into weakness and he’s not without his fears making him a very believable and realistic protagonist.

The only other real character of note would be Jack Kearns, remember when I said there are human monsters contained within this book? That’s all I’ll say about Mr. Kearns.

There was a lot of emphasis on Will and Pellinore’s relationship, Yancey goes pretty in depth about why Pellinore treats Will the way he does. Which stems from how Pellinore’s father treated him, it really helped develop both characters in the story.

Which is another thing I’d like to point out, character development. The characters were very well developed and complex, we get to know them very well in this book. Rick Yancey did an excellent job making his characters feel REAL.

In Conclusion:

There was nothing not to love about “The Monstrumologist”, it had everything I like in a good horror book. It was an excellently written and I’ll be more than glad to continue the series.

Recommend?

Yes, yes, yes. If you’re a fan of horror and want a gory read then definitely look no further than this book! Even if you’re not a big horror fan this book is still worth a look, although if you’re squeamish maybe skip it altogether.

Rating:

Rating: 4.5

Friday Finds: September 4th, 2015

Friday Finds is hosted by A Daily Rhythm

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming…

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me.

So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthorpe, a man with a most unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. In his time with the doctor, Will has met many a mysterious late-night visitor, and seen things he never imagined were real. But when a grave robber comes calling in the middle of the night with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet.