Looking for something creepy to read? This is a rock solid YA horror anthology where the whole is greater than its parts. The individual short stories are very strong, and stacked together, they make something scary amazing. (See what I did there?) Reading this book over a series of weeks, I found it to be the perfect prolonged horror experience for the October season. Replete with ghosts, murderers, monsters, undead, perverts, and predators, the anthology provides a wide array of thrills and chills to get your skin crawling.
The Birds of Azalea Street | Nova Ren Suma | 2.5 stars
This opening story got raves from my favorite reviewers, but left me a little cold. It was perhaps a little too subtle and mysterious for my tastes.
In the Forest Dark and Deep | Carrie Ryan | 5 stars
Probably the creepiest story in the anthology, Carrie Ryan intertwines the past and present to slowly make strange, horrific sense.
Emmeline | Cat Winters | 4 stars
Cat Winters is the go-to girl for historic ghost stories and she doesn't disappoint withEmmeline. No one does ghost psychology like Winters.
Verse, Chorus, Verse | Leigh Bardugo | 3 stars
A bit of a disappointment from one of my favorite authors, Verse, Chorus, Verse took a long time to get to the good stuff. It was a while coming, but once I got to a scene featuring an asylum bathroom and a predatory photographer, I was hooked.
Hide and Seek | Megan Shepherd | 3 stars
Shepherd delivers a creepy beginning, a slump of a middle, and a decent ending.
The Dark, Scary Parts and All | Danielle Page | 3.5 stars
Page plays with a lot of tiresome high school stereotypes here, and fails to make that subject matter original, but she redeemed herself with the last few sentences, which spun off the imagination wickedly.
The Flicker, the Fingers, the Beat, the Sigh | Genevieve Tucholke | 4 stars
Tucholke, our editor, translates from her movie inspiration a bit literally, but nonetheless delivers a strong story with cinematic elements and a steamy high school affair.
Fat Girl With a Knife | Jonathan Maberry | 4 stars
Dahlia is a character well-rounded both literally and figuratively. And she can dish it back.
Sleepless | Jay Kristoff | 4 stars
Can I just say I hate, hate ,hate IM netspeak? Great portions of the beginning and middle of Sleepless featured IM conversations and it was terrible for me. All was forgiven though, when I came to one crazy, crazy sentence. I actually exclaimed, out loud, "OHHHH!!!" Definitely the best plot twist(s) of the anthology.
M | Stefan Bachmann | 3 stars
I found M to be a little boring, but the well-crafted children's rhymes lands M 3 stars.
The Girl Without a Face | Marie Lu | 3 stars
A solid installment, but it engaged issues that I'm passionate about, and left me feeling argumentative.
A Girl Who Dreamed of Snow | McCormick Templeman | 2.5 stars
This story's main virtue was in its brevity. I found it difficult to connect with the characters..
Stiches | A. G. Howard | 3.5 stars
A creepy little story with a decidedly Winter's Bone-esque setting.
On the I-5 | Kendare Blake | 2.5 stars
A story very similar to Kristoff's, but not as creepy and shocking.
Huh. I didn't even know this was an anthology. Good to know!
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed! I have to say, it got me on a bit of an anthology kick. I'm going through Steampunk!, My True Love Gave to Me, and Geektastic right now. One story before bed each night. :D
ReplyDelete[…] Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, an anthology edited by April Genevieve Tucholke. I don’t typically read anthologies, but reading a story from this book every night in October was so much scary fun! […]
ReplyDelete