Recommended Horror Fiction

Almond, David.  Clay.

Fourteen-year-old Davie and his best friend, Geordie, are altar boys at their local Catholic Church. They’re full of mischief, but that all changes when Stephen Rose comes to town. Father O’Mahoney thinks it would be a good idea for Davie and Geordie to befriend him—maybe some of their good nature will rub off on this unhappy soul. But it’s Stephen who sees something special in Davie.
Stephen’s a gifted sculptor. One day as Davie looks on, Stephen brings a tiny figure to life. It’s a talent he has, the gift of creation—and he knows that Davie has this talent, too. Davie allows Stephen to convince him to help bring a life-size figure to life—and Clay is born. Clay is innocent, but Stephen has special plans for him.
What has Davie helped to unleash on the world?

 ---. Skellig.

Michael was looking forward to moving into a new house. But now his baby sister is ill, his parents are frantic, and Doctor Death has come to call. Michael feels helpless. Then he steps into the crumbling garage and encounters a strange being who changes his world forever.

Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia.  Midnight Predator.

Assigned to assassinate the evil vampire Jeshikah, Turquoise Draka must go undercover as a slave in the mythical city of Midnight and the experience makes her relive her past spent in servitude. In an ironic twist of fate, Turquoise's master may hold the key to releasing her demons.

Facebook Groups: Anyone Else Love Ameila Atwater-Rhodes? and

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes is Better Than Stephenie Meyer

---. In the Forests of the Night.

By day, Risika sleeps in a shaded room in Concord, Massachusetts. By night, she hunts the streets of New York City. She is used to being alone.  But now someone is following Risika. Someone has left her a black rose, the same sort of rose that sealed her fate three hundred years ago.  Three hundred years ago Risika had a family -- a brother and a sister who loved her. Three hundred years ago she was human.  Now she is a vampire, a powerful one. And her past has come back to torment her.

---. Persistence of Memory.  Watch the book trailer on Amazon.

Sixteen-year-old Erin Misrahe just wants to be like everyone else in her new school. But Erin has more to worry about than passing AP Chemistry or making friends. In times of stress, she has always been overcome by her alter ego, Shevaun, whose violent behavior wreaks havoc on those around her. Erin can never remember anything about these episodes, and she’s grateful to have been spared them for a while.  But when a protective friend comes back into Erin’s life, he insists that Shevaun is a vampire who actually exists apart from Erin. Shevaun has dangerous allies, like the handsome witch Adjila—and they’re determined to sever Shevaun’s connection to Erin once and for all.

Bennett, Veronica.  AngelMonster.

In 1814, poet Percy Shelley enters the life of young Mary Godwin like an angel of deliverance. Seduced by his radical and romantic ideas, she flees with him to Europe, where they mingle with other free-spirited artists and poets. Frowned on by family and society, Mary becomes haunted by hideous visions — and as tragedy strikes, she realizes her dreams have become nightmares, and her angel . . . a monster. Has the time come for Mary Shelley to set her monster free?

Caine, Rachel.  The Glass House.  (The Morganville Vampires Book 1)

Welcome to Morganville, Texas. Just don't stay out after dark.

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero.

When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.

Cast, P. C.  Marked. (House of Night Book 1) Watch the trailer

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed.  In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire--that is, if she makes it through the Change.  Not all of those who are chosen do.  It’s tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling.  She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx.  But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers.  When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny--with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

Carter, Timothy.  Epoch.

In his fourteen years, Vincent Drear has been sure of a few of things. First, the world is going to end. And until it does, he has two jobs: saving souls and protesting movies about boy wizards. But Vincent wonders if there’s more to life than this. His suspicions are confirmed when he finds an elf at his school science fair. Vincent’s excitement fades, though, as the elf informs him that his family’s religion is right about one thing: the end of the world is coming—in forty-eight hours!

Vincent can’t save the world. His only hope is to get his family off Earth before demons wipe out everything, paving the way for a new epoch.  Timothy Carter combines humor, fantasy, sci/fi, and satire into a novel that is the missing link between The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Left Behind.

The end has come. But the fun has just begun.

Cary, Kate.  Bloodline.

Thirty-five years have passed since the death of the Master. But now a new evil walks among the living. . . .

When nineteen-year-old John Shaw returns from the trenches of World War I, he is haunted by nightmares—not only of the battlefield, but of the strange, cruel and impossible feats of his regiment’s commander, Quincey Harker. Harker’s ferocity knows no limits, and his strength is superhuman.

At first John blames his bloody nightmares on trench fever. But when Harker appears in England and begins wooing John’s sister, John must confront the truth—and stop Harker from continuing Dracula’s bloodline.

De la Cruz, Melissa.  Blue Bloods.  Watch the trailer.

Schuyler Van Alen is confused about what is happening to her. Her veins are starting to turn blue, and she's starting to crave raw meat. Soon, her world is thrust into an intricate maze of secret societies and bitter intrigue. Schuyler has never been a part of the trendy crowd at her prestigious New York private school. Now, all of a sudden, Jack Force, the most popular guy in school, is showing an interest in her. And when one of the popular girls is found dead, Schuyler and Jack are determined to get to the bottom of it.

Enthoven, Sam.   The Black Tattoo.

Jack’s best friend, Charlie, is in serious trouble, possessed by an ancient demon called the Scourge who plans to use Charlie to bring about its evil ends—which, unfortunately, involve the destruction of the entire universe.

Now Jack and the butt-kicking, sword-wielding Esme must contend with floating sharks, intelligent jelly, oversized centipedes, gladiator pits, and vomiting bats, all for the sake of saving Charlie from the Scourge.

And, hopefully, saving the universe from total and utter annihilation.

Gaiman, Neil.  The Graveyard Book.  Watch the trailer on Amazon.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family. . . .

Gantos, Jack.  The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs.

On an unseasonably warm Easter Sunday, a young girl named Ivy discovers a chilling secret in the basement of the Rumbaugh pharmacy across the street from the hotel where she lives with her mother. The discovery reveals a disturbing side to the eccentric lives of family friends Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh, known throughout their small western Pennsylvania town simply as the Twins. It seems that Ab and Dolph have been compelled by a powerful mutual love for their deceased mother to do something outrageous, something that in its own twisted way bridges the gap between the living and the dead. Immediately, Ivy’s discovery provokes the revelation of a Rumbaugh family curse, a curse that, as Ivy will learn over the coming years, holds a strange power over herself and her own mother.

Hurley, Tonya.  ghostgirl.

Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she's dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn't stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal.
If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is. In this satirical, yet heartfelt novel, Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at some times and the lengths we'll go to be seen.

Jenkins, A. M.  Night Road.

For a heme like Cole, life is a tightrope existence in which sunlight is his deadly enemy and one mistake could trap him underground, staring at the inside of a coffin lid, for eternity. After a century of wandering he may still look like a teenager, but he's known in the heme community for being observant, meticulous, and controlled—a master of life on the road.

When Cole is asked to take a newly created heme out for training, however, his usual caution may not be enough. If Gordon, the rookie who really is in his teens, can't cut ties with his old life and accept his new limitations, Cole will have to discreetly dispose of the kid—the same way a mad dog would be put down for the safety of society.

Cole thinks he can handle it. But no matter how carefully he plans, or how much he thinks he's in control, accidents still happen. . . .

Klause, Annette Curtis.  The Silver Kiss.

Zoe is wary when, in the dead of night, the beautiful yet frightening Simon comes to her house. Simon seems to understand the pain of loneliness and death and Zoe's brooding thoughts of her dying mother.

Simon is one of the undead, a vampire, seeking revenge for the gruesome death of his mother three hundred years before. Does Simon dare ask Zoe to help free him from this lifeless chase and its insufferable loneliness?

---. Blood and Chocolate. Watch the Trailer (for the book, not the movie!)

Vivian Gandillon relishes the change, the sweet, fierce ache that carries her from girl to wolf. At sixteen, she is beautiful and strong, and all the young wolves are on her tail. But Vivian still grieves for her dead father; her pack remains leaderless and in disarray, and she feels lost in the suburbs of Maryland. She longs for a normal life. But what is normal for a werewolf?
Then Vivian falls in love with a human, a meat-boy. Aiden is kind and gentle, a welcome relief from the squabbling pack. He's fascinated by magic, and Vivian longs to reveal herself to him. Surely he would understand her and delight in the wonder of her dual nature, not fear her as an ordinary human would.
Vivian's divided loyalties are strained further when a brutal murder threatens to expose the pack. Moving between two worlds, she does not seem to belong in either. What is she really--human or beast? Which tastes sweeter--blood or chocolate?

Marrone, Amanda.  Uninvited.

Jordan's life sucks. Her boyfriend, Michael, dumped her, slept his way through half the student body, and then killed himself. But now, somehow, he appears at her window every night, begging her to let him in.

Jordan can't understand why he wants her, but she feels her resistance wearing down. After all, her life -- once a broken record of boring parties, meaningless hookups, and friends she couldn't relate to -- now consists of her drinking alone in her room as she waits for the sun to go down.

Michael needs to be invited in before he can enter. All Jordan has to do is say the words....

Meehl, Brian.  Suck It Up.

ARE YOU UP to your neck in bloodsucking vampire stories?  Tired of those tales about dentally enhanced dark lords?
Before I wrote this book I thought all vampires were night-stalking, fangpopping, bloodsucking fiends. Then I met Morning McCobb. He’s a vegan vampire who drinks a soy-blood substitute called Blood Lite. He believes staking should be a hate crime. And someday he hopes to march in a Vampire Pride Parade. He was also the first vampire to out himself and try to show people of mortality, like you and me, that vampires are just another minority with special needs. Trust me—this is like no other vampire book you’ll ever feed on.
So, as my buddy Morning says, “Pop the lid, and suck it up.”

Meyer, Stephenie.  Twilight.

Bella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella, the person Edward holds most dear.

Read the other books in the series: New Moon ; Eclipse.; Breaking Dawn.

Facebook: Stephenie Meyer Fan Club; Other Steph Meyer Groups

Additional Recommended Sites: The Twilight Lexicon

Check out the UHigh Library del.icio.us page for more Stephanie Meyer Links

Petrucha, Stefan and Thomas Pendleton.  Wicked Dead: Lurker.

Four ghost girls. A nightly ritual. When their precious bones are rolled, the ghosts tell of deaths so horrifying even the rats in the orphanage walls cringe. Tonight's tale . . . Seventeen-year-old Mandy has everything: popular friends; a hot boyfriend; plans for college, travel, the future. But after classmate Nicki is gruesomely murdered, Mandy is shaken to her core. Soon she's jumping at shadows and having nightmares of Nicki's killer--the Witchman. Mandy tells herself she's just imagining things--but nothing in her imagination prepares her for the terror that's about to attack.

Pierce, Meredith Ann.  The Dark Angel.

The servant girl Aeriel must choose between destroying her vampire master for his evil deeds or saving him for the sake of his beauty and the spark of goodness she has seen in him.

---. A Gathering of Gargoyles.

---. The Pearl of the Soul of the World.

Schreiber, Ellen.  Vampire Kisses (Book 1 in the Vampire Kisses series)

In her small town, dubbed "Dullsville," sixteen-year-old Raven -- a vampire-crazed goth-girl -- is an outcast. But not for long...

The intriguing and rumored-to-be haunted mansion on top of Benson Hill has stood vacant and boarded-up for years. That is, until its mysteriously strange new occupants move in. Who are these creepy people -- especially the handsome, dark, and elusive Alexander Sterling? Or rather, what are they? Could the town prattle actually ring true? Are they vampires? Raven, who secretly covets a vampire kiss, both at the risk of her own mortality and Alexander's loving trust, is dying to uncover the truth.

---. Kissing Coffins.

---. Vampireville.

---. Dance With a Vampire.

---. The Coffin Club.

Shusterman, Neal.  Everlost.

Nick and Allie don't survive the crash, and now their souls are stuck halfway between life and death in a sort of limbo called Everlost. It's a magical yet dangerous place, where bands of lost souls run wild andanyone who stands in the same spot too long sinks to the center of the Earth.

Frightened and determined, Nick and Allie aren't ready to rest in peace just yet. They want their lives back, and their search for a way homewill take them deep into the uncharted areas of Everlost. But the longer they stay, the more they forget about their pasts. And if all memory of home is lost, they may never escape this strange, terrible world.

Smith, Tara Bray.  Betwixt.

For three teenagers, dark mystery has always lurked at the corner of the eyes and the edge of sleep. Beautiful Morgan D'Amici wakes in her trailerpark home with dirt and blood under her fingernails. Paintings come alive under Ondine Mason's violet-eyed gaze. Haunted runaway Nix Saint-Michael sees halos of light around people about to die.
At a secret summer rave in the woods, the three teenagers learn of their true, changeling nature and their uncertain, intertwined destinies. Riveting, unflinching, beautiful, Betwixt shows a magic as complex and challenging as any ordinary reality.

Vande Velde, Vivian.  Companions of the Night.

Kerry's got a tough night ahead of her.
What begins as a simple lost-and-found trip to the Laundromat turns into a nightmarish odyssey of murder, vampires, and--quite possibly--true love. Vivian Vande Velde puts a terrifying spin on what should be a typical night in a small town.

Westerfeld, Scott.  Peeps.  Watch the trailer

One year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying in New York City than in attending his biology classes. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal’s life.
Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he’s infected the girlfriends he’s had since Morgan—and all have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires. And it’s Cal’s job to hunt them down before they can create even more of their kind. . . .

Check out the UHigh Library del.icio.us page for more Scott Westerfeld links.

---.The Last Days. View a video tribute

A mysterious epidemic holds the city in its thrall and the chaos is contagious—black oil spews from fire hydrants, rats have taken over brooklyn, and every day, more people disappear. but all that matters to pearl, Moz, and Zahler is their new band. they ignore the madness around them and join forces with a vampire lead singer and a drummer whose fractured mind can glimpse the coming darkness. will their music stave off the end of the world . . . or summon it?

Whitcomb, Laura.  A Certain Slant of Light.

In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen—terrified, but intrigued—is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.

Windsor, Patricia.  Nightwood.

Casey, Gena, and Maryann can think of a way better use of a week than a senior trip to Washington, D.C. Casey's plan is simple. Ditch the trip to D.C., camp out at her parents' amazing cabin in Delonga, and accidentally "run into" Lane and his friends on their fishing trip. She knows the boys will be across the lake--her friends will thank her once they're up there.
Three girls for three boys will be the perfect party. After all, what could be more fun than five days in the woods? No curfews, no rules, and no parents. No one will even know they're up there.
And no one will hear them when they scream for help.
When the first body shows up, it's shocking. When the knock comes on the back door, it's horrifying. And when they realize there's nowhere to hide, they'll wish they were already dead.
Surviving a week in the woods is a going to be a whole lot harder than these girls could ever imagine.

Wooding, Chris.  The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray.

Thaniel, just seventeen, is a wych-hunter. Together, he and Cathaline--his friend and mentor--track down the fearful creatures that lurk in the Old Quarter of London. It is on one of these hunts that he first encounters Alaizabel Cray. Alaizabel is half-crazed, lovely, and possessed.Whatever dreadful entity has entered her soul has turned her into a strange and unearthly magnet--attracting evil and drawing horrors from every dark corner. Cathaline and Thaniel must discover its cause--and defend humanity at all costs.