Gap Year in Ghost Town
This is the cover for the new Michael Pryor book. I know very little about it except to say this looks incredibly cool.
Posts tagged ‘Horror’
Bugs From Beyond
I received this from the publisher
By: Shane Crawford and Adrian Beck
A Kick it to Nick book
The Crocs haven’t done too well this season, in fact they are yet to win a game. Nick is sure they can win this next one. That is until mutant bugs start appearing. No one will listen to him though and his attempt to keep everyone safe means he is no longer team captain. How will Nick do what needs to be done?
This is a fun little story that has football as its backdrop. For those interested in the sport there are a few specific things, like a particular thing to practice to improve your hand balling. Nick is a focussed team player, he wants what is best for his team. I also like the fact that there is a girl who plays, yay! That probably wouldn’t have happened all that long ago, so it is particularly nice to see. The two parts of the story blend well together making it something that both football fans and horrorish fans might read.
Publisher: Puffin
Published: 28 May 2014
Format: Paperback 96 pages
Categories: Horror, Sports
ISBN 13: 9780143307877
Purchase: here or use Booktopia link on the side of the page
Dr Maniac Will See You Now
This was sent to me by the publisher
By: RL Stine
Goosebumps Most Wanted bk 5
Richard Dreezer doesn’t really fit in at school, but he does love reading comic books and spends a lot of his time at the Comic Book Museum. For him the ultimate would be to be a superhero with amazing powers. Then he gets a school assignment where they have to write about a museum and Richard thinks this will be great because he knows so much about the Comic Book Museum. Things don’t go according to plan though when the insane and devious Dr Maniac appears in the real world. Then following him come other heroes and villains. If Richard doesn’t come up with a solution soon things will never be the same.
Creepy and twisted are great words to describe this series. The horror in them is age appropriate even if it is gross and silly. The story is well paced and visually descriptive. It is easy to see why these books are popular with those who like to be freaked out a bit.
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 01 November 2013
Format: Paperback 136 pages
Categories: Horror, Superheroes and Villains
ISBN 13: 9780545418027
Purchase: here or use Booktopia link on side of page
Blood Eagle Tortures
By: Andrew Hammond
CRYPT bk 4
Some parts of the coast of England are full of exciting things for divers. Dan Summers is one of those divers, he loves the sport, the thrill of the hunt and right now he he excited for the biggest find of his life. In disturbing what he has found he may have caused greater unrest than he could ever imagine. Dunwich used to be a Viking colony long before it was the modern town that marks the location now. When a body turns up with some of it’s insides on the outside it looks as though someone may have to go to Denmark. Luc and Grace are happy to take that part of the assignment whilst Jud and Bex are in Dunwich. These missions always have an element of danger but none of them could guess at how this mission could change things for them forever.
Jud is in a dark place in this story. His past, which he has so carefully kept hidden is struggling to push to the surface more than it has before and it’s not only Professor Bonati who has noticed. Bex won’t allow Jud to keep her out of what it going on in his mind when it is so obviously starting to affect his work. As if it wasn’t bad enough someone from Jud’s buried past surfaces unexpectedly and looks as though he might try to mess things up for all of CRYPT.
As always the historical aspects of these stories are fascinating. The Vikings were a powerful and gory race and as such their history is custom made for Hammond’s series. The details are gruesome as ever and bound to appeal to those who like the grosser and darker side of things. Hammond creates a detailed setting, full of bleak details that really draw you in, you want to find out what happened, both what stirred the paranormal up but also the darker parts of history that give the story its grounding.
The characters have gone from strength to strength as they have developed throughout the previous three books. It’s been interesting to see their flaws and strengths work in them all to give more detailed and complex relationships. The ending hit me from kind of nowhere and I am really looking forward to see where Hammond takes things.
Publisher: Headline Publishing
Published: 13 Sept 2013
Format: Paperback 336 pages
Categories: Adventure, Crime, Vikings, Horror, Ghost
ISBN 13: 9780755378241
Purchase: here or use Booktopia link on the side of the page.
Mask of Death
By: Andrew Hammond
CRYPT series Book 3
It seems to start in a hospital with a masked figure moving determinedly towards a quarantined patient. A nurse dies and she is just the beginning. And just what does a new and very exclusive jewellery shop have to do with any of this. CRYPT are busy as it is but with this new outbreak of paranormal activities they are stretched thin. Jud and Bex start in London but the trail eventually leads them to Venice, and the horrible secrets it still keeps about it’s history. The Black Plague is back and these mysterious figures are doing what they have always been tasked to do – deal with it. It is up to Jud and Bex to find the source and figure out a way to give these ghosts rest.
The Black Plague was a dark time in history and some of the things about that time are even more unsavoury than might be expected. Jud is proving to be not just a good agent but also a very instinctive investigator, with Bex to balance him out they make a good team. Jud has his own issues as always to do with his past and he is still managing to keep them close to his chest, though Bex is beginning to notice things. The history of these events is fascinating and Hammond does a credible job of packaging them into a modern context. The story is gruesome in it’s detail and quiet graphic in some of its horror, but that is why we read stories like these. Bex is more level headed than Jud but it is often Jud’s gung-ho nature that pushes things along. The creepy imagery encapsulates the darkness of these moments in time and if you like horror books then I definitely think you should give these a go.
(But shhh don’t tell anyone who reads it that they may learn something.)
Publisher: Headline Book Publishing
Published: 11 December 2012
Format: Paperback 336 pages
Categories: Adventure, Horror, Ghost
ISBN 13: 9780755378234
Purchase: here or use Booktopia link on the side of the page
The Great Blood Bank Robbery
I received my copy from the publisher
By: Andrew Cranna
Under the Earth’s crust live the monsters. In a place called Skull River City something terrible has happened – the city’s entire supply of blood has been stolen from the blood bank. This could mean the end of everything unless it can be tracked down and returned. For Rocky and Vince it’s a little more immediate as their friend has an illness where she needs to have blood every couple of hours, without it she will die. The clock is ticking and Rocky and Vince decided to investigate. This takes them into the most dangerous place they know – Mosquito Mountain and they will go up against the fearsome Mosquito King. There is more at stake than either of them realise.
This is a fun graphic novel especially for those who like the gorier things of life, like brain burgers and blood shakes. Rocky is a werewolf whose dad is head of security at the blood bank, Vince is a vampire whose scientist dad is missing. The story is tight, the illustrations fun, all in black and white and I can’t decide if the story would be better if it was in colour. There is just enough gore for those who like that stuff and the story is fun and entertaining with a few surprises along the way. At it’s heart is adventure and friendship.
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Published: 01 October 2013
Format: Paperback 96 pages
Categories: Graphic Novels
ISBN 13: 9781922179302
Purchase: here or use Booktopia link on the side of the page
Planet of the Lawn Gnomes
I received my copy from the publisher
By: RL Stine
Goosebumps Most Wanted bk 1
Jay Gardener has a troubled past, he has been in trouble a lot and his parents have moved the family in the hope that a change will help Jay behave better. Jay tries but strange things start to happen around him and no matter how much he wants to stay out of it he can’t. One of the weirdest questions Jay has is why are there so many lawn gnomes in everyones yard? Then he starts to find out about some of the strange rules of their new town and he can’t bring himself to just obey them.
A kind of creepy story with a science fictiony kind of twist. Jay may say he wants to stay out of trouble but his behaviour says otherwise. As always the tension created by Stine is good, you know bad stuff is going to happen even though you don’t always know what it will be. These books are not that predictable and when the series is as big as the Goosebumps one is that is a good thing, it helps keep things fresh enough to keep readers interested. If you are looking for something a bit scary then this is a good place to look.
Published: 01 January 2013
Format: Paperback 125 pages
Categories: Horror
ISBN 13: 9780545417983
Purchase: here or use Booktopia link on side of page
Son of Slappy
By: RL Stine
Goosebumps Most Wanted Series
Jackson Stander is the sort of boy who doesn’t get into trouble, it simply doesn’t interest him. He is the boy in the class who always does his work, never lies and even does volunteer work. His sister can’t stand him, she is always getting into trouble and doesn’t see why everyone loves Jackson. Things start to change after Jackson and his sister visit their grandfather, and Jackson comes back with a cursed ventriloquist dummy. At first he doesn’t understand what is going on but then the whole evil plan becomes clear to him. How is Jackson going to cope with Slappy causing so much havoc with both his friends and family.
Creepy, is always a very good word to describe these books. This story drags you along, you want Jackson to figure out a way to defeat Slappy. The tension is great, and the concept eerie. The thing is you can understand why someone might think it is only fair that something like this happens to such a goody two shoes. If you love the creepy or know someone who loves the scarier side of things then this is a good series.
Published: 01 April 2013
Format: Paperback 134 pages
ISBN 13: 9780545417990
Purchase: here or use Booktopia link on the side of the page.
Zom-B Angels
I received my copy from the publisher
By: Darren Shan
B Smith is looking for something and she is drawn to the Z symbol and the weird path it seems to highlight. It leads her to a man, a man who knows her name. This man knows a lot more than that and he has a proposition for her. Being a brain eating zombie is one thing but entering into a war for more than her own survival is new. B needs to decide if she is ready for whatever it is that the Dr is offering.
A cool and creepy installment in Shan’s zombie series. These zombies are what you expect and more, the descriptions of them, well I’ll leave you to read them. B is strong she has to be to survive to become what she has become, there is more to it all than that though and the story with it’s layers is intriguing. It draws you in, and the more snippets of information that come out the more you want to know. Darren Shan is very good at writing creepy. If you like your books with horror themes then you should definitely pick up a Shan.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Books
Published: 20 June 2013
Format: Paperback 240 pages
ISBN 13: 9780857077653
Purchase: here or use Booktopia link on the side of the page
Phantom of the Auditorium
By: R.L.Stine
Part of the Goosebumps series
Brooke and Zeke love all things horror and are thrilled to have been cast in the school play The Phantom. Zeke is really getting into character, dressing up and scaring other members of the cast. Then really scary things start to happen, things that could really hurt others. The story behind the play brings another dimension of terror. Is someone trying to make sure the play never gets seen? Or is it possible there really is a phantom.
A short creepy story with likeable characters. Both Zeke and Brooke have a charm and cheekiness that pitches them perfectly in their place. They seem just like any other school kid, though more interested in horror than many. The story is engaging and the tension holds well right until the end. It is easy to see why these books have become such a long lived series and warranted a repackaging.
Published: 01 September 2011
Format: Paperback 126 pages
Categories: Horror, Ghost Stories
ISBN 13: 9780545298360
Purchase: here or use Booktopia link on the side of the page
TheKylieVerse 