Heart-Shaped Box

by Joe Hill

Judas Coyne was a collector. The bizarre, the uncanny, the grotesque. A cookbook for cannibals; a used hangman’s noose; a snuff film. Many of these objects were gifts from the black-clad fans who made his metal band a legend and made him rich. But not all. When his personal assistant told him there was a ghost for sale on the Internet, Jude knew he had to have it for his private collection. Jude has spent a lifetime evading ghosts, of an abusive father, of the bandmates he betrayed, of Anna, the suicidal girl he loved and abandoned. But this spirit is different. This one means to chase him to the edge of sanity.

City of Bones

by Michael Connelly

Bosch takes the lead in the high-profile investigation of a murder committed more than 20 years in the past. The investigation begins when a family pet unearths a cache of bones buried in a shallow grave in the hills above Laurel Canyon. Forensic evidence indicates that the bones are those of an adolescent boy who endured an extensive history of physical abuse. Eventually, a phone call from a Los Angeles woman whose brother disappeared in 1980 sets Bosch on the proper path, and he identifies the dead boy as Arthur Delacroix. Locating Arthur's killer, however, turns out to be a difficult and hazardous.

Hell Phone

by William Sleator

Nick wants a cell phone so he can talk to his girlfriend, Jen, after school, and the used phone he buys seems like a bargain. That is, until the phone calls begin with demanding, disturbed strangers calling night and day. At first Nick wants to get rid of the phone, but the creepy callers and the phone's ghoulish games pull him into a web of crime, pushing him to steal, con, and kill.

Storm Thief

by Chris Wooding

Orokos is a city of chaos, lashed by probability storms that re-order the world wherever they strike. It covers every inch of the rocky island that it dominates. It has stood for so long that history has forgotten it, and its citizens no longer question what exists beyond its walls. Then three of its denizens discover a map that holds the key to the secret at the heart of Orokos. But there are others, such as the Chief of the Protectorate Secret Police who would do anything to get their hands on that power...anything at all...

Beast

by Ally Kennen

Stephen hasn't had it easy. He's now in foster care because his mom is crazy and his dad is an ex-con vagabond. He's always in trouble or on his way to trouble. But none of these problems compare to the problem of The Beast, a fierce crocodile that Stephen's been taking care of for years. The Beast is Stephen's biggest secret and also his biggest challenge. And that's when it's in a cage. When the Beast escapes, the stakes get even higher.

What Are You Afraid Of?

by Donald R. Gallo, Editor

Excessive fears that cannot be rationalized away grip teenagers' lives causing them to be the brunt of bullying, the focus of jokes, and the cause of nightmares for parents and friends who only want to help. These short stories demonstrate how the fear of string, crossing a road, cats, sharp knives, or clowns can make "normal" life impossible for teens. Most of them get help from a professional or a friend or a parent by learning that they first have to face their fears and then take one day at a time to overcome them. The last story will leave you with a taste of fear in your own mouth as the usual source of fears is reversed. Readers will laugh, shiver, and empathize with phobics.

Clay

by David Almond

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. Stephen's a gifted sculptor that can bring 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.

Doppleganger

by David Stahler, Jr.

Raised in a cabin in the middle of nowhere by a mother who despises him, the doppelganger has left home at last. He is making his way toward human society. He's coming to do what every member of his monster race must: find an unsuspecting human and make his first kill. He will then take that shape and identity for himself. Doppelgangers are not supposed to have doubts. But this one does. He's weak. Too human, maybe. But even that can't stop him from killing. He has to do it. It is only after stepping into the life of a small-town teenager that the doppelganger learns that his may not be the only cruel existence. In fact, maybe monsters aren't always who we think they are.

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son

by Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson

A brilliant re-imagining and updating of the classic Frankenstein story that only Dean Koontz could conceive, Prodigal Son is the first volume in a four-book series that opens with the "monster," Deucalion, coming to modern-day New Orleans where he will join forces with a street-smart police detective and her partner on the trail of a macabre serial killer, a serial killer spawned, Deucalion will discover, by his own creator, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, now Victor Helios. As is par for the course in many fiction sagas, readers should be prepared for a cliff-hanger of monumental proportions at the conclusion.

The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs

by Jack Gantos

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 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 extraordinary, something that in its own twisted way bridges the gap between the living and the dead.

Beating Heart

by A. M. Jenkins

This original and captivating novel combines poetry and prose to bring out the voices of a murdered sixteen year-old girl from the late nineteenth century and a contemporary seventeen year-old boy who moves into the house where the girl once lived and died. The ghost of Cora Royce tells the story of her childhood, her love affair, and her murder in words and lines which float across the pages in seemingly random but always intriguing patterns. Evan Calhoun's story is told in close-up third person prose as he, his mother, and his five-year-old sister Libby move into the house after his parents divorce.

The Demonata Series #2: Demon Thief

by Darren Shan

Kernel is a teenager with an odd talent-he sees pieces of colored light floating in the air, and if he concentrates he can put them together like a jigsaw puzzle into a window shape. But everything goes horribly wrong when a demonic face jumps out of one of the windows and draws the boy into another dimension.

Witch Dreams

by Vivian Vande Velde

For six long years Nyssa has been seeking justice for her parents who were murdered when she was 10 years old. She had suspected Elsdon, a youngest son of Lord Haraford, but his parents had provided his alibi, and Nyssa was powerless to prove otherwise. Now, Elsdon returns to their medieval village, and Nyssa has a chance to discover what really happened on the day her parents died, for she has the ability to share other people's dreams.

Vampire Kisses 2: Kissing Coffins

by Ellen Schreiber

This sequel to Vampire Kisses continues the love story between Goth-girl Raven and her vampire boyfriend, Alexander, who has a secret she must quietly guard. When he mysteriously disappears, Raven finds herself on a dangerous chase to find him. What she encounters is more terrifying than she could have imagined, including a life-transforming decision she may not be ready to sink her teeth into.

Siberia

by Ann Halam

When Sloe was tiny, her Papa disappeared and she and her mama went to live in a prison camp in the snowy north, in a time and place when there are no more wild animals. Mama's crime was teaching science, and her dedication to the hope that the lost animal species can be reborn. Years later, Sloe is sent to a prison school, and Mama disappears. At 13, Sloe escapes, pursued by a mysterious man. With only hope to keep her going, Sloe sets out on a solitary 1000-mile journey. But she is not truly alone for Mama left Sloe a gift: the seeds of five missing species and the knowledge to bring them to life.

Creepers

by David Morrell

On a cold October night, five people begin preparations to break into the Paragon Hotel. Built in the glory days of Asbury Park by a reclusive millionaire, the magnificent structure is now boarded up and marked for demolition. The five people are "creepers," the slang term for urban explorers. On this evening, they are joined by a reporter with a decided air of mystery about him. Creepers features a serial killer, a treasure hunt, a fringe subculture, sociological commentary and sheer physical adventure. It is a gripping joyride of a thriller that will haunt readers for many nights to come.

Now You See It

by Vivian Vande Velde

Wendy isn't as blind as a bat. There are bats that can see better than her which is why, when her new glasses break, she's all too happy to wear the dorky pair of sunglasses she finds on her lawn. They seem to match her prescription, and that's all that matters if she's going to be able to make it through her school day. But the glasses correct her vision too much and she begins to see things that no one else can see: cheerful corpses, frightening crones disguised as teenyboppers, and portals to other worlds. All the places where people are very much aware of the magical properties of her new shades and will do anything to get them.

The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray

by Chris Wooding

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 the cause and defend humanity at all costs.

The Demonata: Lord Loss

by Darren Shan

The author of the popular Cirque du Freak books launches another no less gruesome series with this first installment in the Demonata books. Readers meet teen narrator Grubitsch Grady ("Grubbs") in a bad spot but things are about to get far worse. Grubbs seeks revenge against the informant, his sister, Gretelda, by smearing her bath towels with rat guts. He feels guilty about this when, just a few pages later, Gretelda, Mom and Dad are killed in appalling fashion by Lord Loss, a "demon master," and his grotesque familiars, Vein and Artery. Grubbs is sole witness to his family's execution and his narrow escape, by means he doesn't quite understand himself, nearly drives him mad.