YA and Middle Grade Horror Roundup, September 2024
In our latest roundup I am trying to stay positive, but many of these books were not for me, and I am dubious whether they will find audiences amongst genuine teen readers. So read the reviews carefully, look elsewhere online for further opinions, before deciding whether they are worth investing in.
The three mentioned first are all absolute bangers, and if you are a fan of nineties nostalgia and heavy metal music then Brady J Sadler’s Relic Meyers and the Rhythms of Ruin is unmissable, adult readers would love this one too. I also particularly enjoyed Melissa Welliver’s The Undying Tower, a dystopian thriller where 5% of the population stop aging around the age of 25. Scarlett Dunmore skilfully blends horror, thriller, horror film obsessions and comedy in How to Survive a Horror Movie, set on a remote island boarding school.
We also feature the latest instalments in two Middle grade series, both of which were featured in my YA Horror 400 almanac plugged at the end of this article. First up we have Gabriel Dylan’s Shiver Point 3: Under the Howling Moon, followed by Justin Weinberger’s Zombie Season 2: Dead in the Water. Both series have further instalments in the pipeline and are well worth adding to any library collection.
I had mixed feelings about the four remaining novels, Adam Cesare takes a break from his Clown in a Cornfield series with Influencer, which takes social media into very dark places. Both Codie Crowley’s Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch and Mary E. Roach’s Better Left Buried are different types of murder mysteries. Finally, Angela Sylvaine’s Chopping Spree concerns strange goings on in a mall in a smalltown plagued by a spate of vanishing teenagers.
The books are reviewed in alphabetical order.
Adam Cesare – Influencer
Publisher : Hodder Children’s Books
After striking it big with the wild slasher Clown in a Cornfield (2020-24) trilogy Adam Cesare sticks with YA in Influencer. Although this book has its moments, rarely have I come across a book featuring such gullible characters, who follow an ‘influencer’ who presents little or no charisma. Horror novels, which lean heavily upon thriller elements, need to be developed around a certain level of reality, which is totally absent in Influencer.
To put it into context, I found Clown in a Cornfield more realistic than this.
The story has a split first person narrative Aaron (the influencer) who is new to the school where the action is principally set, and Crystal, an introvert who struggles to make her voice heard within a tight-knit group of friends. The novel concerns how the arrival of Aaron changes the dynamics of the friendship group, which was believable enough, as was how he instigates Crystal being cut-off and shunned from the group via a truly horrendous episode of cyber-bullying.
It was easy to route for Crystal, as Aaron was so deeply unpleasant and is obsessed with the number of followers he has via an anonymous Instagram account, he is known as ‘The Speaker’, where he reads (rubbish) poetry and spouts junk philosophy to his gullible followers.
However, very early in the story the observant Crystal outs him as ‘The Speaker’ which causes his to change his plan for the group. Aaron also has a particularly dark history, connected to his true intentions with what he wants to do with his ‘Speaker’ platform, whilst Crystal watches from a distance. If you can forgive how silly these characters were then this is a very readable thriller and does not dwell on a patronising ‘social media is bad’ message. Influencer was originally released as an Audible Original and for a YA novel is violent, bleak and is aimed at older teens. AGE RANGE 14+
Codie Crowley – Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch
Publisher : Disney Publishing Group [Hyperion]
Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch opens shortly after the murder of Annie Lane whose body is dumped on a mountain with magical powers, those buried there come back from the dead as some type of ghost. I struggled with this book, and I feel teenagers will fail to connect with it, as for the most part the dead were too similar to the living and there were just too many unanswered questions, which were repeatedly skated over. I was continually having “what about…..” moments, most of which went unanswered.
Annie is unaware she is a ghost for way too long, and when she realises sets out to solve her own murder and I thought this a very limited story strand as she quickly (without much evidence) jumps to the wrong conclusion and spends too much time pursuing an obviously innocent character. The story is framed as a hunt for justice, with a feminist twang, as we find out more about the spiky Annie Lane.
The story makes a big deal out of Annie coming from the wrong side of the tracks and being disliked in her small town.
The author is clearly portraying a ‘be yourself’ message and not fit into the stereotypes of what society expects you to be.
The problem is that Annie Lane is not at all interesting or easy to root for, is constantly angry and beyond seeking vengeance I found her to be rather one dimensional. Her death means she discovers other ghosts who are in the same situation and as long as they do not leave the mountain area exist forever; however, this is a problem if the murderer (she realises other girls have also been killed) has left the area is becomes impossible to follow.
Teenagers who find themselves alienated, or railing against the system might connect with Annie Lane, but overall Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch, had too many unanswered questions, plot holes and largely unappealing characters. The novel is littered with f-bombs, sexual and drug references. AGE RANGE 14+
Scarlett Dunmore – How to Survive a Horror Movie
Publisher : Little Tiger
YA horror novels which pay homage to slasher films from the eighties and nineties continue to hit the shelves at speed. In How to Survive a Horror Movie the two main characters spend their weekends watching horror films, sticking to DVDs rather than streaming, whilst struggling to fit in at their remote island boarding school. Set somewhere between the UK and Ireland, there is also a boarding school for boys close by, otherwise it is a lonely, isolated location in which supplies are shipped in weekly.
After the first murder is played down as an unfortunate accident, the police remain strangely absent, with the headmistress huffing and puffing about an increasing number of ‘accidents’, with one pupil falling and being impaled on a fence.
There was some sassy humour in How to Survive a Horror Movie
and it was not to be taken too seriously, otherwise you would start picking holes in the silly plot, which is loaded with fun chapter headings akin to rules on how to survive a horror film, such as rule seven; don’t be the last one in gym or rule fourteen, interview witnesses – even if they’re dead.
When the novel kicks off Charley is determined to keep a low profile and is no longer quite the ‘new girl’ after enrolling late in the previous term. With her new best friend and roommate they discover the body of a fellow pupil, with events escalating when they are in the area for the second murder. The story then staggers between thriller, horror, teen drama with an LGBTQIA+ vibe as Charley has a crush on another girl. There are the usual mean girls, hormones, a good dose of mystery, countless horror film referencing, with the action upping the ante when Charley starts seeing the ghosts of the dead classmates. This was fast-paced tongue-in-cheek stuff and good luck trying to figure out who the killer is. AGE RANGE 13+
Gabriel Dylan – Shiver Point 3: Under the Howling Moon
Publisher : Piccadilly Press
I have been a fan of Gabriel Dylan since reading his YA monster horror survival epic Whiteout a few years back and was intrigued by his switch to Middle Grade with the Shiver Point series. I enjoyed both It Came from the Woods and its A Tap at the Window, with Under the Howling Moon continuing the series.
In the first two books a group of kids formed their own version of the Scooby Gang (the Shiver Squad), vow to protect their town from anything dodgy by, firstly, fight off alien slugs before tackling freaky scarecrows. The books are written as standalone reads and there are few references to earlier events, so kids could happily read this without having read its predecessors. Book three has the same level of scares, but I felt there could have been slightly more child character development.
Otherwise returning readers might begin to feel the stories are getting a bit samey, as little new about the children is introduced.
Under the Howling Moon opens with Oli and his friends going on a camping trip, with his mechanic dad, to Howlmoor Forest for a birthday treat. But soon his dad goes missing, the moon is full, and campers abandon the site in their droves. The first half of the story sets the scene and the second involves the mystery, with a werewolf being suspected. Soon the Shiver Squad are hitting the library (very cool), researching werewolves, and trying to figure out what has happened to Oli’s dad. This was a very easy short read and is a perfect gateway horror novel for younger children, or less confident readers just getting into the genre. The characters are engaging and realistic, with the story being confidently paced with short chapters and many smart horror film references. Shiver Point 4: Beneath the Ghostly Graves will be with us in 2025. AGE RANGE 8-11
Mary E Roach – Better Left Buried
Publisher : Disney Publishing Group [Hyperion]
Better Left Buried is a thriller, with horror elements, which is billed as “Knives Out meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” and whilst I have never watched the former, it has little in common with the latter smash hit beyond being about a teenager trying to solve a murder. Although it has two engaging lead characters, with split narratives, the murder itself failed to grab my attention and as the book sped towards the end I was not particularly engaged in finding out who the culprit was. The idea of having the murder take place in an abandoned and dilapidated amusement park was a nice idea, in a small town Appalachian setting where everybody has secrets. It is worth following the action closely, as lots of characters are introduced, which have connections (and secrets) to each other, or are related in some way.
The two main characters Lucy Preston and Audrey Nelson meet the night Lucy arrives in town with her detective mother, who is meeting an old friend.
The old friend is found dead in the amusement park and soon the two girls are trying to solve the murder.
There are secrets and suspects everywhere, but I found the friendship and developing relationship to be more interesting than the murder mystery, but it happens much too fast.
They were totally different and it quicks develops into a cute LGBTQIA+ romance, even if they are thrown into some farfetched situations. Meanwhile the murder mystery shifts into town old money, goes down the generations and involves Lucy’s mothers complex history with the town. Ultimately there were not enough suspects, and those which were in the mix were not particularly interesting. Better Left Buried was a solid sapphic themed thriller, even if it was also frustrating. It was fairly harmless but was top-heavy with unnecessary f-bombs. AGE RANGE 13+
Brady J Sadler – Relic Meyers and the Rhythms of Ruin
I might be several decades older than the intended audience of Relic Meyers and the Rhythms of Ruin, but young at heart (and loving nineties nostalgia) had an absolute blast with this highly amusing novel. Author Brady J Sadler has commented “imagine Harry Potter was dating Buffy the Vampire Slayer while drumming in a high school metal band in 1997” which is an incredibly cool sales pitch, it’s also accurate as when the action opens two of the main characters are watching the weekly aired episodes (remember weekly TV shows?) of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Actually, the main character fourteen-year-old Relic Meyers is no Harry Potter, instead he dreams of following in the footsteps of his semi-legendary father, who drummed in a heavy metal band before strangely disappearing and breaking contact with the distraught Relic, who feels abandoned. He lives with his mother, who is reluctant to see her son follow his musical dream. There are a lot of interesting reveals about Relic’s father, the cult of his music and the slow-burning supernatural story, which is strongly connected to the music, strengthening when Relic plays anything connected to his father’s back catalogue. This part of the story could well have been lifted straight from Buffy, but nevertheless was good fun, ramping up the old idea than heavy metal music has a dark or satanic side.
I loved the nineties references, the cool times browsing covers of metal albums, and the spot on musical references.
The supernatural story was ridiculous but ultimately what made Relic Meyers and the Rhythms of Ruin a complete triumph were the characters and the manner in which they bounced off each other. This was not a traditional YA novel and could be enjoyed by adults as well as teens, it was also a very horny book, but I never felt it got too crude or had too much bad taste.
When the action starts, Relic is seeing his best friend Bree for the first time in ages after she returns from summer band camp. He also realises (maybe for the first time) that she is a beautiful girl and that he has very complicated feelings for her, as he has seen her as a sister, with his mother treating her like a daughter. Bree might be gorgeous, but Relic feels less than, as he is short and pudgy, dreaming of having a growth spurt and becoming more like his legendary father.
I loved Bree and Relic, the adults were great also, as were the support characters who were all very authentic (including a kind-of sultry girlfriend for Relic). I thought the ending was absolutely pitch perfect, where heavy metal is abandoned in favour of Madonna, but it totally worked. Take me back to 1997 right now! I hope the early whispers of a sequel are true, as I will be the first one to raise my devil horns in the air! Rock on dudes. Totally awesome. AGE RANGE 14+
Angela Sylvaine – Chopping Spree
Publisher : Dark Matter INK
Chopping Spree is set entirely in a Minnesota shopping mall, which has an eighties theme to it, which permeates throughout the novella. In the background there is a missing-persons epidemic that has plagued the town’s teenagers and confounded police. Right from the start it is very obvious the disappearances are connected to the mall and as the story is relatively short holds little in the way of twists, but is also off and running very quick, jumping into fast-paced slasher inspired action. The entire narrative takes place over a single night when high school junior Penny starts her first job working in one of the fancy stores and is invited to an after-party which quickly turns sour. There is a killer is on the loose, and the murky history of Eden Hills, and the mall, is explored with Penny’s attempts to escape with her life.
Chopping Spree did not have enough going on to hold my attention and for a YA story it lacked character development and I cared little for who lived or died.
There are so many stories tapping into eighties ‘nostalgia’ this particular story brought little new to proceedings and I found the origins of the mall and the wider conspiracy to be rather dull.
There were little or no scares, cardboard villains, and even if the advance blurbs mention Fear Street and there is a whiff of Point Horror, in reality, in the world of modern YA those books are fairly dated and to impress modern teenagers a story is going to need more than a clunky and tired message about the dangers of consumerism. Considering the complex and layered YA horror on the market I seriously doubt teenagers will engage with Chopping Spree unless they are after a brief easy read. AGE RANGE 13/14+
Justin Weinberger – Zombie Season 2: Dead in the Water
Publisher : Scholastic Press
I was a huge fan of Zombie Season and had high hopes for Zombie Season 2: Dead in the Water, however, I found this to be slightly disappointing. It suffered from ‘middle book syndrome ‘, where not enough happened, and I hope things pick up for book three, Rise of the Ancients later this year. The original had an outstanding blend of pace, adventure, friendship, sympathetic characters and a highly original zombie plot. The creatures can pop up anywhere, so towns have the equivalent of tornado warnings and shelters should there be an uprising, and kids are taught sports skills at school to aid endurance and participate in creating survival routes.
For a Middle Grade novel, the level of worldbuilding was extraordinarily impressive and to some extent this continues in Zombie Season 2 but not enough new stuff is brought to the party.
Without going into too many details the kids Jules, Oliver and Regina all return for this sequel and are dealing with the consequences of the huge zombie outbreak which destroyed their hometown of Redwood in the original. The story heads slightly into Silent Hill or Resident Evil or even Day of the Dead (intelligent zombies) territory with a dodgy corporation, HumaniTeam, experimenting on zombies who are supposed to be working on a superweapon (Project Cloudburst) the kids are suspicious of.
This story really needed more zombie action and I did not find the child characters developed that much in this sequel. There is some sort of video game attached to this online via Scholastic and perhaps that it why much of it came across as too cartoony. This was an easy undemanding read and it is important to read book one first, where the majority of the good ideas are dropped. AGE RANGE 10/11+
Melissa Welliver – The Undying Tower
Publisher : UCLan Publishing
I was a huge fan of both Melissa Welliver’s previous novels, My Love Life and the Apocalypse (2023) and Soulmates and Other Ways to Die (2024), however, her latest is a clever of direction. Whereas her first two stories blended science fiction, comedy, romance and a touch of an apocalypse, The Undying Tower is a straight-forward dystopian novel, kicking off a projected trilogy. There is most definitely unfinished business (and a huge reveal in the final line) which hooked me enough to return for the next instalment. Teen dystopian fiction is a very crowded marketplace, but even if The Undying Tower lacks action (much of it is set in a type of prison), it has more than enough originality to suck young teen readers in.
The hook is a very clever one: 5% of the population have stopped dying and no longer age after the age of 25.
This has led to overcrowding problems and the ‘Undying’ are persecuted and given all the worst and dangerous job. Welliver slowly drip-feeds what is going on in the background, the UK does not exist anymore (now the Avalonia Zone), there have been nuclear wars and huge walls restrict population movement. The novel opens with main character sixteen-year-old Sadie watching the hanging execution of an Undying man, an explosion occurs, she is blamed and is sent to prison.
This is all a setup and she is expected to spy on other teens who may be members of a terrorist group called The Alchemists. There are secrets everywhere and Sadie is taken well out of her comfort zone in this intriguing dystopian thriller which blends ideas from Never Let Me Go and Neal Shusterman’s Unwind series. The Undying Tower was previously published in 2021 and this is a rerelease with a new publisher. I believe this will be an easy sell to dystopian fans, there is limited swearing and violence so most kids could read it no problem. AGE RANGE 12+
Praise for the recently published YA Horror 400 almanac:
“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 author of The Book of the Baku)
“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 A. CLARK (YA and adult author of The Curse of Worthwood Castle, Tracing the Trails & Winward)
