YA Horror Roundup, July 2024
This latest YA horror roundup is the first since my book The YA Horror 400: an almanac of 400 teen horror reviews published between 2008-2024was published (in June). So moving forward, when new books reviewed have connections to The YA Horror 400 I will highlight them in passing. This latest roundup is a strong collection of seven YA novels, there are no Middle Grade reads this time around.
Amelinda Bérubé follows her excellent second novel Here There are Monsters (2019), which is featured in The YA Horror 400, with The Ones Who Come Back Hungry, another intense horror novel, blending the supernatural with family tragedy. Amelinda also kindly contributed a fascinating article for my book on how her second novel was influenced by a spooky childhood home. In moving from horror to intense school-set thriller, Sarah Naughton certainly knows how to press every possible anxiety button with a narrative which follows an incident during an A-Level Mathematics exam in Your Time Is Up. Sarah also featured in The YA Horror 400 with her debut The Hanger Man Rises (2013) and contributed an excellent piece on childhood fears, insomnia and anxieties and how horror helped her.
This roundup also includes two sequels to books which were also featured in The YA Horror 400. Amy McCaw concludes her excellent nineties set vampire series with Mina and the Cult and Amy Clarkin’s Who Watches This Place is a sequel to What Walks These Halls, with both stories concerning an Irish paranormal investigation team.
The final three books were all terrific reads and were authors new to the dark fiction/horror scene. Nicole M Wolverton’s A Misfortune of Lake Monsters was a highly original story in which a family fake a monster in a lake to boost tourism, until something nasty really does appear and they are caught in the middle. David Fenne’s Overemotional was a lovely LGBTQIA+ themed drama, fantasy, romance, coming-out story concerning a troubled teenager whose emotions manifest themselves in seriously odd ways. In Efua Traoré’s excellent Sister Spirit we head to a Nigerian boarding school, with an adopted Black UK teenager heading back to her genetic parent’s homeland, lured by a powerful dreamlike pull calling her back.
I hope you find something which catches your eye in this latest YA roundup. The YA Horror 400 can be bought paperback and kindle format directly from Amazon. Some recent praise for the book is at the bottom of this article.
The seven books are listed in alphabetical order.
Amelinda Bérubé – The Ones Who Come Back Hungry
Publisher : Sourcebooks Fire
A few years back I was impressed by Amelinda Bérubé horror fantasy Here There Are Monsters (2019) which is also featured in my recent almanac review book The YA Horror 400 (2024). Amelinda returns in some style with The Ones Who Come Back Hungry, similar to her earlier novel in that it also deals with grief, loss, tragedy and broken families. This is a vampire story like no other, do not expect any Twilight style swooning, this is more akin to John Ajvide Lindqvist’s Let The Right One In (2009), the lesser known Victoria Dalpe modern classic Parasite Life (2017) or Ravenous (2017) by Amy Lukavics. Interestingly the term ‘vampire’ or ‘zombie’ is rarely used in the book, but the story vaguely fits both terms, in a powerful narrative about a family attempting to recover from the sudden death of their elder teenage daughter Audrey. Shortly after her death Audrey reappears to her younger sister Jo, who narrates the story. Initially Jo thinks the death of her elder sister was a mistake and is overjoyed to see her again, until she realises Audrey is not breathing, does not feel the cold and has other unsettling habits.
By in large The Ones Who Come Back Hungry deals with how Jo copes with the return of Audrey, whilst keeping this a secret from her grieving parents. Although this is a supernatural story, little explanation is given for Audrey’s return, the book is more concerned with how Jo deals with this situation, with nagging doubts mounting. The ripple effect of the death takes Jo into the orbit of Audrey’s friends, toxic relationships, teen dynamics and problems with her own best friend, which has an LGBTQIA+ narrative. There is guilt everywhere, as Jo believed Audrey to be perfect and had previously wished she were dead as she could not live up to her incredibly high standards. As Jo mentally crumbles her grieving parents fail to notice, and Audrey begins to darken in mood and is always hungry. Personal pain drowns this powerful novel and at times was a difficult read blending love, acceptance and complex sibling relationships. The balance between supernatural, family drama and teen dynamics was nicely pitched and this intense novel had the ability to creep under the skin, even if I wished the vampire style narrative might have been fleshed out slightly more. AGE RANGE 13+
Amy Clarkin – Who Watches This Place (What Walks These Halls book 2)
Publisher : O’Brien Press Ltd
Who Watches This Place is the second book in the PSI Investigation series, Ginger Nuts of Horror gave the original What Walks These Halls a stellar review last year, so I was intrigued to see in which direction the sequel might take. The original also featured my review almanac The YA Horror 400, which was recently published. I would recommend reading book one before tackling this second part, as all the same characters return and have complex back stories, whilst the plot itself is a standalone supernatural mystery. PSI stands for Paranormal Surveyance Ireland and concerns a group of (older) young adults who run a business investigating paranormal phenomenon. In the original they investigated a haunted house, which had been connected to several deaths, and in this new adventure are hired to investigate the premise of a startup company, where things have been going bump in the night, and are drawn towards a portrait of a man, who apparently moves position in the painting and has caused some mischief.
When I reviewed What Walks These Halls I noted that the ghost, albeit a fine creation, did not have enough page time. Who Watches This Place suffers from the same problem and the direction the haunted painting takes was easily telegraphed and there was just nothing remotely scary about a ghost escaping a painting and going for a drink. I did not find this mystery particularly involving and a haunted painting was derivative of The Picture of Dorian Gray. I am not going to go into the details, but the interactions between the various members of the PSI team felt a bit like a soap opera and younger readers might find this dull as over the 350-pages it completely outweighed the supernatural narrative. Audrey, an investigative journalist, was also thrown into the mix, given access to the team and dead set on proving ghosts do not exist, it was incredibly obvious where this story was heading, and took up too many pages in getting there. This was a solid enough sequel and if you have the original in your school library it is still worth buying, but it lacked bang, threat and scares. Should PSI be returning for a third outing I want to be gripped, and Who Watches This Place failed to do that. AGE RANGE 12/13+
David Fenne – Overemotional
Publisher : Ink Road
Overemotional, the highly engaging debut from David Fenne, has an outstanding opening, seventeen-year-old Steven kisses a boy for the first time at a party and the head of the other kid immediately explodes. If you think Eleven from Stranger Things has powers, she has nothing on the confused (in more ways than one) Steven. On one level this was an engaging fantasy story but it was also a fantastic LGBTQIA+ celebration of finding yourself, accepting who you are and trusting your friends. Bizarrely, Steven tells his friends he has special powers before actually coming out as gay, which he has a complex mental block about. The narrative jumps from character to character, including his best friend Freya, who suspects Steven is gay, but is a brilliant friend who lets him come around in his own way. The action is set in the rundown seaside town of Grunsby-on-Sea, where nothing ever happens, until Steven’s special powers catch the eye of a secret (but rather inept) government organisation called DEMA. None of this is particularly original but plays out with such an engagingly light touch it was extremely easy to be carried along into a murky conspiracy (but you always know things will work out in the end).
Overemotional’s real strength was the manner in which the characters bounced off each other and provided support, even Marcus (the boyfriend of Freya) who Steven does not like adds to the fun. The story is also populated with classified DEMA reports, which provide background on where Steven’s powers might originate. The powers were very cool and are connected to emotions, but effect those around Steven in other ways, for example, when Steven feels anger everybody else feels scared. Early in the novel he finds another boy (who he also thinks is cute) with the same gift who helps him control his powers, explaining he is an EMT, which is an Emotionally Manifesting Target. What follows is a smart mashup of science fiction, fantastical situations, dodgy conspiracy, disappearances, teen emotions and a wild ride. I loved how Steven dubbed himself an ‘Emomancer’ which had a certain ring to it and this was a magical, queer, coming-of-age story which is guaranteed to get you smiling. The sequel Overthinking has already been released and I will review it in due course. AGE RANGE 13+
Amy McCaw – Mina and the Cult
Publisher : UCLan Publishing
Mina and the Cult is the third book in the highly engaging Mina series, which began with Mina and the Undead (2021) and continued with Mina and the Slayers (2022). Both were previously reviewed by Ginger Nuts of Horror and Mina is also featured in my recently published review almanac The YA Horror 400.If you follow YA horror you will surely know that author Amy McCaw is a huge fan of the eighties and nineties horror, particularly Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and this nostalgia shines through in this tip-top New Orleans set trilogy. If you fancy a time warp back to 1995 with Mina then I would suggest reading the books in sequence, as by the time the third part begins Mina has a boyfriend and is beginning to hone her vampire fighting skills, and the two earlier books cover how she arrived here. Mina’s dysfunctional family have a significantly larger part in this novel and, again, knowing the backstory from the previous books, help provide a richer reading experience.
All the main characters return from the previous two books, clearly reflecting a developing trilogy, even though the mystery in Mina and the Cult can be taken as a standalone story. By the time book three arrives the reader is fully aware of the fact that vampires are real, Mina is even dating one, but there are other dangers out there also. The plot revolves around two threats, a cult which goes much closer to home than Mina would like, and a potential vampire serial killer who wants to cause disruption to the fragile coexistence between humans and the undead. If you enjoyed book one and two then this is more of the same and is a fitting conclusion to a highly enjoyable series. Even though Mina and the Cult was never built for scares, the cult came across as authentic and I thought it was a nice move having Mina’s mother and father appear fully formed in this concluding part. The story jogged along at a decent pace and had a nice balance between thriller, (extended) family drama, a touch of romance, without ever truly getting dark. At the start of book one Mina was a quiet mousy girl hoping for a fun summer in the USA and over the course of three books she grew into an engaging, self-reliant and strong young woman. She was great company! AGE RANGE 12+
Sarah Naughton – Your Time Is Up
Publisher : Scholastic; 1st edition
Sarah Naughton started out writing YA around a decade ago with the excellent The Hanged Man Rises (2013) which was nominated for the Children’s Costa Award and The Blood List (2014) before switching to adult thrillers. I also featured The Hanged Man Rises in my recently published review anthology The YA Horror 400. Numerous thrillers later Sarah returned to YA, not to write straight horror, but You Better Watch Out, an engaging YA version of her adult thrillers which we reviewed favourably last year. The return to the world of YA must have been a cathartic experience as Your Time Is Up is another exceptionally addictive thriller. This novel is mainly set, in real time, during an A-Level Mathematics exam, and as my eighteen-year-old daughter was doing these exams I asked her whether she fancied reading it, “NO WAY” was her response! It was her loss, as this novel gripped from beginning to end, was loaded with twists, mystery, toxic friendships, relationship bust-ups and realistic exam anxiety.
For much of the novel the reader is aware a crime has been committed, but its exact nature is kept beautifully shrouded, and good luck guessing who the perpetrator is! In the prologue Zaina Abbour is being interviewed by the police a few days after the exam, and her testimony forms the bulk of the book with various flashbacks to parties and other incidents which help create suspicion and suspects. When one of her best friends, Chanelle, fails to show up for this important exam Zaina’s stress levels go through the roof and when another friend tries to contact her during the exam and there is the likelihood somebody is cheating everything spins out of control. All the characters have secrets, particularly Nero and Ysla, with the story playing out beautifully on the morning of this crucial exam. For teens looking for a diverting thriller, with an authentic teen edge, this is an enjoyable book to turn to. It contains a lot of swearing, mature themes and older teen issues. You will read in fast but wait until exam season is over. AGE RANGE 13/14+
Efua Traoré – Sister Spirit
Publisher : Zephyr
Since arriving on the UK children’s fiction scene with Children of the Quicksands (2021), Efua Traoré has published The House of Shells (2022) and One Chance Dance (2023). In 2019 she won The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition and was shortlisted for the prestigious Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. Her fiction often has an African (particularly Nigerian) slant which takes in folklore, superstition and other culture aspects of the continent’s rich history. Her fourth novel, the excellent Sister Spirit, is the closest this fascinating Nigerian/German author has come to writing a standard horror novel and is probably aimed at slightly older readers than her other books but remains suitable for both Middle Grade and YA readers. I really enjoyed this captivating supernatural thriller, which beautifully blended African myth, family curses, friendship, a touch of romance and self-discovery in a Nigerian boarding school, set to the imposing backdrop of Olumo Rock.
Black sixteen-year-old Tara was adopted by a white British couple when she was young and as she enters young adulthood is struggling with her own personal identity. She is also plagued by powerful nightmares which connect her to Nigeria, where both her birth parents came from. Feeling that the only way to get on top of the vivid nightmares is to visit her ancestral home, she heads to Nigeria with her father to Olumo Rock, seeking answers and perhaps find something out about her birth father. Upon arrival her father allows her to enrol in a boarding school at the foot of Olumo where the majority of the novel is set, Tara then begins a journey to seek the truth of her roots and the spirits that pursue her whilst trying to survive in a school where she is seen as a posh British outsider, mocked for her accent and worse. Sister Spirit really takes off when Tara arrives in the school and is bullied, struggles to fit in, whilst trying to find out who she truly is. The supernatural element is kept relatively low key and often on dream level and although the book never heads into full blown horror it was a gentle and thought provoking read. AGE RANGE 12+
Nicole M Wolverton – A Misfortune of Lake Monsters
Publisher : CamCat Publishing
I thoroughly enjoyed Nicole Wolverton’s YA debut A Misfortune of Lake Monsters which has great fun playing around with monster tropes. First up, the original monster (‘Old Lucy’) does not appear in the novel very often, as it is revealed early on to the reader that it is a fake. The family of main character Lemon Ziegler have for years kept the myth of Old Lucy alive by staging sightings of the creature and even swim around the lake in a huge rubber costume and help spread gossip. In turn, this local legend keeps the small Pennsylvanian town of Devil’s Elbow a popular tourist attraction, with cryptid hunters and those wishing to use the lake ferry, owned by the Ziegler family visiting in healthy numbers. When the novel opens seventeen-year-old Lemon, who wants to study to become a vet at university, is told that she is now responsible for ensuring the myth of Old Lucy continues and must wear the monster suit and engineer ‘sightings’ of the creature. She sees her dream of becoming a vet disappearing into the sunset. Lemon also has the burden of keeping this huge family secret from her two best friends Troy Ramirez (who has his own narrative) and Darrin. The three do everything together and this is not a secret Lemon can keep from them and this all plays into what becomes an entertaining family and teen drama.
This was also an extremely cute book, as Troy is also in love with Lemon. Everybody is aware of this apart from her and much of the story sees the two characters edging closer together and you might even cheer when the first kiss actually happens. However, things get complex when there is an earthquake which awakens something in the lake, which is definitely not the fake Old Lucy. New girl Amelia muscles into the lifelong three-way friendship and was a terrific support character as the family struggle to figure out what to do about the ‘real’ monster in the lake, especially when a shadowy government organisation arrive after the new monster claims a couple of victims, as well as one of Lemon’s dogs. A Misfortune of Lake Monsters develops into a highly entertaining high school and family drama, with superb characters, blended with action thriller, which heads into wild places in the final quarter. Overall the concept was very clever and it was easy to understand why the Ziegler family wanted to keep the Old Lucy legend alive and well. And hats off to author Nicole Wolverton for doing 100% thorough research (and I say this as a Scotsman) she even visited Loch Ness, but I don’t think saw Old Nessie! AGE RANGE 13+
Tony Jones
Praise for the recently published YA Horror 400 almanac:
“The YA Horror 400 is a spectacular resource for lovers of horror and YA fiction. It’s a comprehensive guide to the past 15+ years of YA horror with reviews and author insights on over 400 YA horror novels and books, including my ‘We Mostly Come Out at Night’. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to YA horror readers. 10/10!” ROB COSTELLO (YA horror author and editor)
“If you’ve ever wished there were an easily accessible almanac of YA horror, I’ve got great news, Tony Jones, who has been reviewing and supporting my work since I first started and is one of my biggest professional cheerleaders has released his YA Horror 400 almanac! I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to contribute to it, too. What a cool project! Go Tony!” AMY LUKAVICS (YA and Middle Grade horror author)
“Tony Jones is a rare expert on YA horror, an influential reviewer who’s been a school librarian for 30 years. This A-Z almanac is a must own for horror fans and writers.” CAROLINE FLARITY (YA horror author)
“If you’re looking for a curator for your reading journey, Tony Jones is about as excellent as you could ask for. And if you wanted that curation available in a one-stop shopping destination, he has just published an extensive almanac of young adult horror over the years. It’s available for the kindle and in print as well. I was truly honoured to see one of my books gracing its pages and there is a short piece I wrote for this project as well. Do yourself a favour – if you’ve been looking for a great reference book to grace your home, check this out!” CHAD CLARK (YA and adult horror author)
“An amazing teen horror guide, with fabulous features like fear factor ratings and ‘If You Like This Try” recs. Perfect for librarians, teachers, and anyone who wants to live their best YA horror life” ANN FRAISTAT (YA horror author)
“So excited that my books have been featured here. Teachers and librarians – this is the PERFECT resource for you!” LORIEN LAWRENCE (Middle Grade horror author)
“A must have for anyone looking to help connect younger readers to the best genre in the world. Expertly compiled by Tony Jones” PHIL HICKES (Middle Grade horror author)
“Humbled to feature in ‘The YA Horror 400’ almanac, out now from top genre librarian and reviewer Tony Jones” DAVE JEFFREY (YA and adult horror author)
“My first novel ‘Parasite Life’ gets a mention in this fabulous mega resource for all things YA. Check it out!” VICTORIA DALPE (YA and adult horror author)
“Massive congrats to Tony Jones, his colossal almanac of teen horror is out! With a whopping 400 reviews, it’s a corker!” RL BOYLE (YA horror author)
“Thanks so much to Tony Jones for featuring FOUND in his awesome ‘YA Horror 400’ almanac and for the opportunity to talk about my love of found footage horror.” ANDY CULL (Adult horror author, editor and filmmaker)
“This almanac is massive! Huge congratulations to Tony Jones on his new book on YA Horror! Very grateful to contribute a wee bit to it.” Tim McGregor (Adult horror author)