Tag Archives: Horror

Crater Lake (Book of the Week: Lockdown edition)

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Crater Lake by Jennifer Killick

Book of the Week: 28 June 2020

Cover design by anneglenndesign

Lance’s year group are looking forward to their trip to the new and innovative activity centre, Crater Lake. If it wasn’t for bullying Head Boy, Trent, and Assistant Head, Miss Hoche, who Lance thinks has it in for him, everything would be perfect. He has the company of his best friend, Chets, along with the angelic-looking Katja, and week of activities to look forward to.

Things start to go pear-shaped when the coach they are travelling on lurches to avoid an injured man with red, swollen eyes and clothes ‘that look like they’ve been lawn-mowered’. The driver waits for medical attention to arrive whilst everyone walks the rest of the way to the activity centre. When they get there they see a black lake set in an enormous crater, a building that looks like a prison and find everywhere strangely under-staffed. Lance thinks it looks like ‘the perfect location for a Goosebumps book’. Once they have been served only soup for dinner and watched a film about the life cycle of the wasp, Crater Lake doesn’t feel so inviting.

If you like your horror with plenty of humour, and enjoyed Undead by Kirsty McKay, then try Crater Lake.

Wranglestone

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Wranglestone by Darren Charlton

Book of the Week: 8 March 2020

Illustration by Jana Heidersdorf

Wranglestone weaves together a tense, and sometimes gory, plot about zombies in a future of isolated communities, with a tender love story, all vividly and lyrically described.

In a dark future of no internet, electricity or modern conveniences, Peter and his dad live on Skipping Mouse Island in a house on stilts where they dread the coming of winter. With the first fall of snow, their friends and neighbours gather together for a final social before digging in for winter. The freezing of the lake means the Restless Ones can drag themselves across the ice and prove more than just a threat. Some of Peter’s neighbours decide he is a hazard to the community after he fails to stop a dangerous stranger from trying to join them. He has to be saved from disaster by his dad and Cooper, a boy he has long admired from afar, who lives on a neighbouring island. It is decided that Peter needs a trip to the mainland in order to toughen up and it is here that he and Cooper discover that the adults around them have been economical with the truth and that true danger comes in forms other than those of the Restless Ones.

Amongst the tension and terror runs a thread about how we create enemies through a tendency to ‘other’ those who are unlike ourselves and the importance of empathy and understanding in counteracting this.

If you would like to find out more, the author’s website is here. I was amazed that he wasn’t actually born and brought up in the American wilderness after reading such wonderful descriptions of the scenery.

Slade House

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Slade House by David Mitchell

Book of the Week: 6 October 2019

Illustrations by Neal Murren

October is a month when temperatures drop and the clocks go back and our thoughts might turn to reading something chilling whilst sat by a warm radiator. This month’s book is an adult book for older readers – the disturbingly creepy Slade House by David Mitchell.

It’s 1979 and thirteen year old Nathan Bishop and his mother are headed to Slade House to attend Lady Norah Grayer’s musical soirée. Whilst his mother plays music with the adults, Nathan meets Jonah, Lady Grayer’s son, and they play a chasing game around the outside of the house. Nathan sometimes notices a shimmering effect in the air around him and sees that the small, black door through which they entered the garden of the house, is looking faint and dim. Jonah invites him upstairs where they pass several portraits and an old, grandfather clock. He draws level with the final portrait and sees it is a painting of himself but with black holes where his eyes should be. What is going on in Slade House? We and Nathan very shortly discover to our horror.

The story then skips ahead to 1988 where a police officer is investigating the cold case of the disappearance of Nathan and Rita Bishop in 1979. This sets the pattern for a regular change of narrators, but without losing any of nail-biting tension or sympathy with the characters, even when some of them are less than likeable.

The book manages to be unsettling, cleverly-constructed and funny all at the same time. If you enjoy it, try The Bone Clocks by the same author.

Note that Slade House is a book with adult content, strong language and disturbing scenes.

If you enjoy the feeling of the hairs standing up on the back of your neck, there are two current displays you could choose from in the Library.

SHIVER! classics and modern literary fiction

HANUTED! Creepy stories in the fiction section

The Twisted Tree

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The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge

Book of the Week: 3 February 2019

Cover illustration by Rohan Eason

Martha is on her way to visit her grandmother (her Mormor) on a remote Norwegian island where she used to spend her summers. She is troubled by her relationship with her mother, the aftermath of an accident that left her blinded in one eye and the strange power she has to sense people’s emotions and aspects of their past through contact with their clothing. She is given a lift to Mormor’s cabin by a neighbour, only to find that the sole inhabitant is a squatter called Stig. He tells her that her grandmother died and the funeral was a couple of weeks ago. Martha realises that no-one knows where she is, the mobile phone signal is out, the nearest neighbours are miles away and Stig could be a mad, axe-murderer. Added to this, there appears to be something on the loose in the nearby woods and odd movements that can’t be explained coming from inside the cabin.

Rachel Burge uses Norse mythology and the isolated setting to create a creepy tale with a dash of romance.

Other books with frightening happenings in remote places:

Fir by Sharon Gosling

Savage Island by Bryony Pearce

Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

Savage Island

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Savage Island by Bryony Pearce

Book of the Week: 1 July 2018

Cover by Stripes Publishing

A book to put you off geocaching for life.

A reclusive multibillionaire called Marcus Gold is holding an ‘iron teen’ competition on a remote Scottish island. Teams of young people have to solve clues to win one million pounds each. Gold’s reason for the huge prize-money is to give bright teenagers a helping hand in life. All five teenagers in Ben’s team have different motivations for entering and very different skills. Will, Ben’s brother, is a maths genius and a keen participant in the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, although he has a mysterious ‘condition’ that requires Ben to look out for him at all times. The outgoing Carmen wants to save enough money to study veterinary science, Lizzie thinks it would be a fun group activity after the stress of A-Levels, Ben himself wants to be close to Lizzie and look after Will, and Grady, their newest friend, is into electronic gadgets and just wants to come along for the ride. They are all energetic and bright and think they stand a good chance of winning.

The competition is based on finding boxes and solving clues and competing against other teams. Survival on the remote and rugged island adds a further complicating aspect.

At first, it is fun and they navigate sinking sands and rising tides to get to the island, but then everything turns sinister when grisly items appear in the clues boxes and the other teams turn out to be ruthless and predatory.

This is a fast-moving horror for older readers of at least Year 9 and above. There are grisly descriptions and violent struggles but if you are a horror fan, the story won’t disappoint.

Fir

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Fir by Sharon Gosling

Book of the Week: 26 November 2017

Our move to a fantastic, new purpose-built library has meant no Book of the Week for a while, but now it returns with a snowy tale for winter by Sharon Gosling. An un-named, teenaged narrator tells this story of the Stromberg family and their move from Stockholm to the north to run a timber plantation. The family arrive at a huge, isolated mansion to find a malevolent housekeeper, in the Mrs Danvers mould (Read Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier or ask your parents or teachers if you want to know more about Mrs Danvers), along with a group of children and their tutor, Tomas, who are studying conservation and the ancient forests that surround the house. Gradually, the weather worsens and everyone is marooned by a heavy snowfall that seems to bring inexplicable events: blood-stains in the snow and sightings of strange children in the winter wastes.

This is one of the Red Eye series of books, so if you like stories such as Frozen Charlotte (see Book of the Week 5th March) and prefer your horror to be short on gore, but long on feelings of dread, then Fir is for you.

The Evolution of a Library

A reminder of the different locations occupied by our School Library.

 

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Nightfall

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Nightfall by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski

Book of the Week: 11 June 2017

Thanks to Jyan, who is a Student Library Assistant, for choosing this week’s book. He recommends Nightfall for its unique take on a dystopian story and thinks it would be enjoyed by readers in Years 7, 8 or 9. Here is his review:

Marin and Kana find their island’s rituals confusing; locks must be taken off doors and tables must be set as if they are going to eat a final meal. They do not know the reason for all this and nobody will tell them the truth. When looking for their friend Line, Marin, Kana, and Line are left alone to survive the bleak, twenty-eight years of darkness. They have missed the boats which will carry them to safety, and now they must survive. But can they really do it? They have secrets, yet they might not be willing to sacrifice their friendship for the truth. They rely on Kana as he is able to see in the dark, but Line and Marin have to rely completely on their other senses and dim candles. The candles are running out. Their friendship is very tense. The island is turning to ice. How long will they last? Will their friendship and trust die before they do?

Jake Halpern’s website is here and here is a link to his co-author, Peter Kujawinski, on the Penguin website.

Frozen Charlotte

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Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell

Book of the Week: 5 March 2017

A sure-fire way to add creepiness to a scary film is to include a shot of a dimly-lit room with some ancient china dolls staring blankly ahead. Alex Bell has used this device to good effect in Frozen Charlotte by having old fashioned dolls as a major plot component.

Sophie is staying on the Isle of Skye with cousins she has not seen for years. Uncle James is a painter and a rather careless parent, Cameron is a brooding and talented pianist, six-year old Lilias has a morbid fear of bones, and perhaps an over-active imagination, and Piper seems friendly enough but has an unexplained dislike of her brother. Their remote house used to be a girls’ school many years ago, until a series of unpleasant accidents ensured it was closed down. The girls back then used to play with a collection of small china dolls called Frozen Charlottes, which are now in a collection case in one of the bedrooms. Do these dolls exert a malignant influence over everyone who comes into contact with them or is the isolation and tense family relationships that make everyone doubt their own sanity?

A fast-moving and sometimes gory plot to be read with the lights on.

The Call

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The Call by Peadar O’Guilin

Book of the Week: 30 October 2016

the-call

I hope you have all had a good half-term and are ready for a suitably frightening Book of the Week in time for Halloween. The Call depicts an Ireland that is now united against the Sidhe (pronounced ‘shee’), the fairy folk of Irish mythology.

The story opens on Nessa’s tenth birthday when she learns that most young people in the country have been taken by the Sidhe. Sometime during her teenage years, without warning, she will get ‘the call’ when she will be transported to the monstrous land of the Sidhe, the Grey Land. There the Sidhe will hunt her down. If she does not outrun them she will die. In our world this will last three minutes, in the Grey Land victims will need to run and hide for the entire day.

Four years later and Nessa is with her friend Megan on the way to survival camp where she will be trained in order to give her the best chance of coming back alive. She will need every bit of grit she can muster to withstand the horrors and to find alternative ways of coping – Nessa has been disabled by polio and runs using crutches.

The Call is grim and gripping and, although the teenagers-fighting-for-survival element is similar to books such as The Hunger Games, Insurgent and The Maze Runner, the writing and the folklore, as well as the truly disturbing experiences of those hunted in the the Grey Land, make it a fresh and exciting read. However, it is not for the faint-hearted and frank language and violent scenes make it more suitable for older readers.

There is a detailed interview with Peadar O’Guilin here.

Black Arts

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Black Arts (Book 1: The Books of Pandemonium) by Andrew Prentice and Jonathan Weil

Book of the Week: 5 June 2016

'Black Arts' and its sequel 'Devil's Blood' are both in stock in the School Library.

‘Black Arts’ and its sequel ‘Devil’s Blood’ are both in stock in the School Library.

Black Arts is a mixture of adventure, fantasy and horror set in London in 1592.

The story opens with Jack setting off from his home in Southwark with words of advice from his ‘Ma’. He has come to the notice of the local crime lord, Sharkwell, a Fagin-like character who runs a criminal network and who puts young thieves to work as ‘nippers’ (youngsters who cut purses from the belts of unsuspecting people or ‘coneys’ as the thieves call their victims). The book is packed with this kind of colourful and archaic language and it adds to the picture of a rough and ready London brimming with life, crime and filth. Whether all the words used are genuine doesn’t really matter, as they sound convincing and would be great to read aloud.

Jack is put to work with other members of Sharkwell’s gang, including his grand-daughter Beth, an accomplished con-artist, who takes against Jack for reasons best known to herself. When Jack clears a blockage from a pipe found in a stolen purse, a puff of powder damages his eye and hand and gives him the ability to see things that are invisible to other mortals. The owner of the pipe is waiting for Jack on his return home and has already murdered his mother in his search for the stolen purse. He is prepared to kill Jack to get it back but Jack has already given the purse to Sharkwell.

The rest of the story unfolds in swashbuckling style as Jack seeks revenge for the killing of his Ma and learns to come to terms with his special gift of sight in a city teeming with horror and devilry.

There is praise from Charlie Higson on the cover – a good match, because if you enjoyed the horror, humour and action of his ‘Enemy’ series, you may well like this alternative version of a gruesome London.

There is an interview with the authors here and a link to the cover-illustrator’s work here.