Erin's Spooky Reads

I was lucky enough to have Erin from The Penguin Group help out with Spellbound Halloween Spookfest with her Suggested Spooky Reads.  Here they are:

The Enemy by Charlie Hidgson
(The Enemy Book 1)

Synopsis

They'll chase you. They'll rip you open. They'll feed on you . . .

When the sickness came, every parent, police officer, politician – every adult – fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry.

Only children under fourteen remain, and they're fighting to survive.

Now there are rumours of a safe place to hide. And so a gang of children begin their quest across London, where all through the city – down alleyways, in deserted houses, underground – the grown-ups lie in wait.

But can they make it there – alive?

The Dead by Charlie Higson

The Enemy Book 2)

Synopsis

A TERRIBLE DISEASE IS STRIKING EVERYONE OVER THE AGE OF FOURTEEN. DEATH WALKS THE STREETS. NOWHERE IS SAFE.

Maxie, Blue and the rest of the Holloway crew aren't the only kids trying to escape the ferocious adults who prey on them.

Jack and Ed are best friends, but their battle to stay alive tests their friendship to the limit as they go on the run with a mismatched group of other kids – nerds, fighters, misfits. And one adult. Greg, a butcher, who claims he's immune to the disease.

They must work together if they want to make it in this terrifying new world. But as a fresh disaster threatens to overwhelm London, they realize they won't all survive.

The Devouring by Simon Holt

(The Devouring Book 1)

Synopsis

When Reggie reads about the Vours in a mysterious old journal, she assumes they are just the musings of an anonymous lunatic. But when her little brother, Henry, begins to act strangely, it's clear that these creatures exist beyond a madwoman's imagination, and Reggie finds out what happens when fears come to life.

To save the people she loves, Reggie must learn to survive in a world of nightmares. Can she devour her own fears before they devour her?

The Devouring is an engrossing tale of terror that will have you wondering: what if your worst fears became your living nightmare?

Soulstice by Simon Holt

(The Devouring Book 2)

Synopsis

Beware the darkness and the light.

They will steal your soul in day or night.

In summer's warmth or winter's cold

Your life will end when the Vours take hold.

In the fearscape no one can hear you cry,

And in its depth your soul will die.

Reggie Halloway thought she was finished with the Vours – the demons who had possessed her brother, Henry – forever. She'd once faced them in a deathly battle for Henry's soul and now she wants to forget them. But Quinn, the Vour she left at the bottom of a lake, is back.

And he is not alone.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Synopsis
Beware the deadly Count Dracula

Jonathan Harker is travelling to Castle Dracula to see the Transylvanian noble, Count Dracula. He is begged by locals not to go there, because on the eve of St George's Day, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will come full sway. But business must be done, so Jonathan makes his way to the Castle - and then his nightmare begins. His beloved wife Meena and other lost souls have fallen under the Count's horrifying spell. Dracula must be destroyed . . .

 

The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories

 

Synopsis

'The ghost is the most enduring figure in supernatural fiction. He is absolutely indestructible... He changes with the styles in fiction but he never goes out of fashion. He is the really permanent citizen of the earth, for mortals, at best, are but transients' - Dorothy Scarborough

This new selection of ghost stories, by Michael Newton, brings together the best of the genre. From Elizabeth Gaskell's 'The Old Nurse's Story' through to Edith Wharton's 'Afterword', this collection covers all of the most terrifying tales of the genre. With a thoughtful introduction, and helpful notes, Newton places the stories contextually within the genre and elucidates the changing nature of the ghost story and how we interpret it.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant

 

Synopsis

On the day Katharina Linden disappears, Pia is the last person to see her alive. Terror is spreading through the town. How could a ten-year-old girl vanish in a place where everybody knows everybody else?

Pia is determined to find out what happened to Katharina.

But then the next girl disappears . . .

 

Enjoy!