By Tony Jones 
May/June YA and Middle Grade horror roundup
Our latest YA and Middle Grade roundup has a mixed bag of bangers and duds. My absolute favourite here was Mar Romasco-Moore’s Deadstream which is a terrific YA tale which will put you off livestreaming for life. My top pick from the Middle Grade reads is Bite Risk 3: Cold Blood, which concludes S.J. Wills’s werewolf trilogy in style.
It was also great to see Rory Power on fine form with Kill Creatures, a smart blend of horror and thriller with an outstanding unreliable narrator. On the Middle Grade front I also thoroughly enjoyed Kevin Moran’s The Doomsday Club, a smart Irish horror fantasy novel.
Elsewhere we have the latest Jennifer Killick Middle Grade novel, Serial Chillers: The Witch in the Wood, with the other three all being YA; Carlyn Greenwald’s Murder Land, Jenni Howell’s Boys with Sharp Teeth and Lili Wilkinson’s Unhallowed Halls. None of these four made a huge impression, with the final two being Dark Academia.
Carlyn Greenwald – Murder Land
Horror thrillers set in themed fun parks promise high stakes entertainment, but Murder Land fails to deliver and ultimately was a trudge to finish. By the time I reached the end I was not too bothered who the killer was and, realistically, many teens who might pick this book up will be putting it down just as quickly and grabbing their mobile device instead.
The story opens with Seventeen-year-old Billie getting a cool summer job at Murder Land, but things go south incredibly quickly when on opening night an elderly co-worker dies whilst assessing a ride. Billie is on the same ride, what initially looks like an accident develops into something else and Billie is slap bang in the middle of it and is maybe even a suspect.
What follows happens over a very short space of time, with Billie and a few others conducting their own investigation, until there is another death which is much closer to home. The story is interspersed with snippets from official reports regarding Murder Land, which were incredibly boring and came across as unnecessarily padding. Along the way we drop into Billie’s love life, dreams and whether she can trust her friends in what might be a deeper conspiracy. Much of this book fails to click, I struggled to maintain interest in the characters, got confused and did not find it realistic with so many characters being queer in some way. Not one I would recommend. AGE RANGE 13+
Jenni Howell – Boys with Sharp Teeth
Over the last couple of years there has been a glut of Dark Academia inspired style fiction, some of which are supernatural whilst others play it straight. I found Boys with Sharp Teeth frustrating as for large patches I could not make my mind which this book was, in some cases ambiguity is a plus point, but this simply tested my patience.
For long periods little happened and the book could have been significantly shorter as it was particularly boring, and the fact that the main characters were dull, self-serving and one-dimensional did not help. The story is built around an incredibly dumb and unbelievable premise – a teenage girl ‘fakes’ her way into an exclusive boarding school with dodgy transcripts and a wonky cheque. This is 2025, how would that be at all possible? For fiction to be believable (and that includes horror and fantasy) it needs to be grounded in reality and Boys with Sharp Teeth fail at this first hurdle.
The story revolves around seventeen-year-old Marin after she arrives at Huntsworth Academy seeking revenge against three pupils she believes were involved in the murder of her cousin. However, things get complex when she meets the two boys she is out to get and quickly falls into their orbit, realising she strongly connects with them. Things just moved too slowly, granted I am not the targeted audience, but I felt I had been here before and am already muddling the plot with another too similar book. As the action develops, there are subtle nods to the supernatural, secrets are uncovered and Marin finds herself questioning her own judgment in her quest for the truth. AGE RANGE 13+
Jennifer Killick Serial Chillers: The Witch in the Wood
I have read numerous Jennifer Killick Middle Grade horror novels and have noted with interest her impressive growth in popularity, in 2024 one of her stories was featured in the World Book Day free promotion (Dread Wood: Creepy Creations). Her horror career started with a bang, with the excellent Crater Lake duology (2020-21) and was quickly followed by the six book Dread Wood series, which was around three books too long and hampered by tedious recurring villains.
Straight away, Killick’s latest The Witch in the Woods is too reminiscent of Dread Wood, with a group of kids (and former friends) coming up against an incredibly boring witch, a supernatural being which lacked any sort of originality and it was easy to see where it was lifted from. The main characters are supposed to be at secondary school but act as if they are still in primary.
This is a very easy and undemanding read, so parents can be sure that their young ones aren’t going to get nightmares. The story is set in yet another town, Hazard, where weird things are known to happen. A group of kids are thrown together for a school project and choose to research the story of a local witch and along the way encounter the real thing. In the first half the kids do their research and in the second face the witch.
The story also follows the dynamics of the kids and the reasons for their earlier fallouts. Serial Chillers is clearly the start of a new series set in Hazard, but Killick will need to raise her game to stop this getting stale fast as it is rather one dimensional. Considering the depth and clever nuances of the titles nominated on the recent Preliminary Ballot for the Middle Grade Horror Award this UK offering comes across as decidedly second rate in comparison. AGE RANGE 8+
Kevin Moran – The Doomsday Club
The Bram Stoker Preliminary Ballot made it clear that there is plenty of terrific Middle Grade horror coming out of the USA; but Kevin Moran’s entertaining debut The Doomsday Club gives a big shout out to Ireland. I loved the fact that it was very Irish, uses Irish school system terminology and even throws in some Irish language, along with a believable mythology. The gold standard of this sort of thing is Peadar O’Guilin’s YA duology The Call, whilst The Doomsday Club never reaches the height of that masterpiece it was a fun read, perfect for kids at the top end of primary or early secondary.
The action opens after a group of best friends (boys – that’s another plus as fiction it totally dominated by girls at the moment) having a punch up and getting in trouble at school with their teacher. Presented as a split narrative between Jack and Conan, a detention with Yash and Jerry follows, until they see a creature appear close to the school perimeter, also in the vicinity of a creepy old man, Mr Kilroe, who everybody is suspicious off.
Before long, the kids have formed their own version of the Scooby Doo Gang and begin to investigate. There is a lot of entertaining loud banter between the boys, trying to solve the mystery, whilst examining their own friendships. The Irish folklore angle was nicely pitched, with loads of humour, and this is the ideal read for reluctant readers as the horror was smartly blended with action and sympathetic characters. AGE RANGE 10-12
Mar Romasco-Moore – Deadstream
Deadstream by Mar Romasco-Moore, a pseudonym used by Maria Romasco-Moore who has another couple of YA novels, was an unexpected treat which I would highly recommend. The story has a clever balance of trauma lurking in the background, with a sympathetic lead character with a lot of personal problems who lives online and rarely ventures into the real world.
I loved how Deadstream balances its chapters between what is going on with main character Teresa, with what is occurring in the online world where she has a completely different personality. The teenager live streams gaming content, whilst wishing she were more successful, with a bigger online following. Although this is principally a horror novel it taps into a lot of real teen insecurities where what goes on online becomes more important than the real world.
The plot of Deadstream is neat, one night, Teresa is watching her favourite streamer and after a shadowy figure appears in the background his behaviour mysteriously changes over the next few days before he dies in front of thousands of viewers.
As none of the viewers know each other in ‘real’ life, not even the name of the dead streamer, not much happens until others who watched the feed begin to show similar behaviour. As the plot moves on Teresa is pulled right out of her comfort zone with a plot which seamlessly blends technology with the supernatural, which keeping its feet firmly on the ground with terrific characters. Highly recommended. Mostly harmless, except for frequent f-bombs. AGE RANGE 13+
Rory Power – Kill Creatures
Rory Power has written some great YA horror fiction, including Wilder Girls (2019), which was featured in my YA Horror 400 almanac and Burn Our Bodies Down (2020) before a stylish sidestep into fantasy. In Kill Creatures Rory is on fine form, blending horror with strong elements of thriller and mystery.
If you are after a book to keep you guessing, whilst doubling up as a cool page turner, then Kill Creatures hits every note. It is populated with great hooks and has terrific sense of ambiguity regarding the supernatural and is blessed with a highly engaging unreliable narrator, who comes across as very believable, but without going into spoilers, be careful what you believe. There are also some great twists, double twists even, and even if the police chief was dumb I had great fun with this book.
This is mentioned in the blurb, so don’t see it as a spoiler, Kill Creatures opens a year after Nan kills her three best friends and with the first year anniversary church service just about to begin. The story slowly circles back to when the four teenagers were out swimming in a remote area, meanwhile, one of the supposedly dead girls returns claiming to suffer from amnesia. What really happened? Who is telling the truth? All I’ll say is that there are secrets everywhere and do not trust anybody! The novel features LGBTQIA+ representation and a lot of f-bombs, otherwise most teens could read it. AGE RANGE 13-14+
Lili Wilkinson – Unhallowed Halls
If you are after a dark slice of teen Dark Academia then Lili Wilkinson’s Unhallowed Halls is an entertaining read, set in an isolated part of Scotland, in a boarding school with its own peculiar rules and customs. These days, it’s pretty difficult for Dark Academia themed novels to do anything original, with Unhallowed Halls being no different, with a curriculum fixated on Ancient Greece and Philosophy.
All the students seem to be brilliant, secret societies are rife and the teachers are just as weird as the posh and spoilt pupils. From this description do you feel like you have been here before? I certainly did, but then again, I’m not the target audience. Although I enjoyed this moody and atmospheric yarn it dropped its big reveals too early and a lot of it was too similar, including the supernatural elements, to Erica Water’s All That Consumes Us.
Page Whittaker arrives at the odd school after an ‘incident’ at her previous school, which is slowly revealed, and the reason she has been offered a scholarship at Agathion College. She makes new friends in Cyrus, Ren, Gideon, Lacey and Oak, with the teen element of the story being very readable as Page tries to negotiate this bizarre place.
Of course, there are secrets everywhere, which leads to the developing supernatural story which is dropped into the plot without much notice. Along the way there were countless references to Greek literature and other classics, so many in fact younger readers might grow bored of them. Considering the big reveals came about halfway along, this book could have been significantly shorter than 440 pages, with it taking much too long to end. Fans of dreamy Dark Academia, romance and high school intrigue will find plenty to enjoy, with the characters and locations being more convincing than the supernatural story. AGE RANGE 13+
S.J. Wills – Bite Risk 3 – Cold Blood
Bite Risk: Cold Blood concludes in some style S.J. Wills’s terrific werewolf trilogy which began back in 2023 with Bite Risk and continued the following year with Caught Dead. Set in the terrifically weird and deliberately isolated town of Tremorglade this trilogy has no weak points and even though there are lots of useful plot catchups I would strongly recommend reading the sequence in order.
The opening book introduces us to a community where everybody over the age of fifteen (or thereabouts) turns into a ‘ripper’ (werewolf) and the sinister organisation which controls the town, with book two throwing more creatures into the mix. Both Sel and Ingrid, from previous novels, return with their own narratives, with Sel in particular fighting his own demons as he explores his acceptance, embraces even, what it means to be a werewolf. This was a neat way of ending the series, which has been loaded with thoughtful conflicts, and is much more than an action driven horror novel.
It is tricky to go into the plot without providing spoilers for what went on in the previous two books, with events picking up after Rippocalypse, where the community is divided on how to deal with rippers in the long term and with the part Sel played. The friendship between Sel and Agatha continued to develop, but what I enjoyed most was Sel exploring the limitations of being a werewolf and whether he could change at will, even when there is not a full moon.
New threats are integrated into the plot and the dangers from the earlier books are never far away. Events conclude with a neat ending, offering closure, but with potential other areas to be explored should the author decide to return at some point. The Bite Risk series is an outstanding blend of horror, thriller, action, a touch of comedy, set in a highly original location with a touch of dystopia or Stranger Things. Highly recommended. AGE RANGE 11/12+
Tony Jones
Praise for the YA Horror 400 almanac, published in 2024:
“The YA Horror 400 is such a good and constructive push for YA horror.” JEREMY DE QUIDT (YA author of The Wrong Train & The Toymaker)
“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 author of What We Harvest & A Place for Vanishing)
“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 author of the Aveline Jones and Shadowhall Academy series)
“So excited that my books have been featured here. Teachers and librarians – this is the PERFECT resource for you!” LORIEN LAWRENCE (Middle Grade author of The Stitchers series)
“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 author of Daughters Unto Devils & The Ravenous)
“I want to alert English teachers and librarians to the most definitive resource I’ve ever seen highlighting the best YA horror novels since 2008. 400 of the best dark fiction for readers 9-15+ . Where do you go for advice yourself to know what to purchase? It’s all here. What do you give a middle-grade reader or teen with a taste for the darker side? This … and let them pick and choose their own! CLIFF McNish (YA author of Breathe & The Hunting Ground)
“Librarians! Bloggers! Readers! Educators! I am wildly pleased to see The Call on, and between, the covers of THE YA HORROR 400 by Tony Jones. Reviews of brilliant books, author interviews. Scares aplenty.” PEADAR Ó GUILÍN (YA horror/fantasy author of The Call duology)”
“Great news for teen horror fans! The YA Horror 400 is out! A massive horror almanac w/ fab features including fear factor ratings, articles, notes from authors and much more. Absolutely perfect for librarians, teachers and anyone who reads YA horror.” BRYONY PEARCE (YA author of Savage Island & Raising Hell)
“The YA Horror 400 is a fabulous resource for librarians, parents, and fans of horror kidlit.” Lora Senf (Bram Stoker Award winning author of The Blight Harbor series)
“I highly recommend the YA Horror 400: an almanac of 400 teen horror novel reviews published between 2008-2024 by Tony Jones, featuring reviews of the best YA and middle grade horror (including my own novel Channel Fear”. LISA RICHARDSON (YA author of Channel Fear)
“Teachers, librarians, readers… This brand new almanac from horror guru Tony Jones is all you need to navigate your way through YA spookiness, gore and thrills. SJ Wills (YA author of the Bite Risk series)
Further Reading
For fans of Young Adult (YA) Horror and Middle Grade (MG) Horror, the Young Blood section of book reviews on the Ginger Nuts of Horror website is a treasure trove worth exploring. This curated segment delves into the darker side of youthful literature, offering insights into the chilling narratives that have captivated young readers.
The beauty of YA and MG horror lies in its ability to tackle complex themes such as fear, identity, and resilience, all while maintaining an accessibility that appeals to younger audiences. Readers can expect reviews that highlight not only the spine-tingling plots but also the emotional depth and character development that are essential to these genres.
The Ginger Nuts of Horror Review Website showcases a diverse array of titles, from debut authors to established names, making it easy for fans to discover hidden gems and upcoming releases. The reviews are penned by passionate contributors who share a deep love for horror, ensuring that each piece is both informative and engaging.
By checking out this section, readers can stay ahead of the curve on the latest trends in YA and MG horror, enriching their reading experience and connecting with a community that shares their enthusiasm for all things eerie and unsettling. Whether you seek thrills or thoughtful narratives, Young Blood has something for everyone.
Jim Mcleod