This is Halloween (well, almost)

I love Halloween. I love it so much. I love the candy and the costumes and the scary stories (though don't even think about showing me a scary movie). Besides the fact that it takes place during my favorite month, there's just something about this unofficial holiday that really makes me happy. I'm going to say it has something to do with all the creativity and imagination that happens on Halloween- people get into character, and you all know there's nothing I love more than fictional characters.

I also love the story telling tradition that has become a part of the Halloween culture. We love to sit around and tell ghost stories while we eat our candy. Ghost stories are the bomb. Give me some Edgar Allan Poe to send shivers down my spine and make me sleep with one eye open. Remind me of the classic stories like Bram Stoker's Dracula or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein that still give me the creeps every once in a while. Now, I haven't read any Stephen King yet, but I promise that's going to happen someday soon.

So for this post, I was going to make a list of my favorite scary YA books, but then I realized they mostly all came from the same author: Laurie Faria Stolarz. That's the story of how this blog post turned into a huge spotlight showcase of one of my favorite thriller writers, and why you should read her books. Let's look at my favorites from Stolarz:

-Blue is for Nightmares series-

The title of the first book says it all: nightmares. Stacey has nightmares that people are going to die, and she's usually right. And then she starts having nightmares about her roommate, Drea, dying. So there's nightmares, death, and did I mention the psycho stalkers? Oh yeah, and then there's the creepy rhymes and messages in the bathroom and things that are just straight up scary. It's a beautifully written series that will tug at your heart strings, but scare you to death. So there's that.

-The Touch series-

Again with the titles, Deadly Little Secret, Deadly Little Lies, etc. This is a big stalker series, like someone is always being stalked by a crazy person. So that makes it scary, and Stolarz is really good at writing psychopaths. Add in the fact that there's some weird paranormal stuff going on and you've got yourself a proper thriller/horror series. Some chapters begin with a diary entry or a letter or something from the stalker's perspective and that is probably the stuff that left me scared to the bone because it just seemed so real.

-Project 17-

A group of high schoolers spend the night in an abandoned mental institution (which is rumored to be the birthplace of the lobotomy) so obviously nothing is going to go wrong. If only. I think this book kept me from sleeping for too many nights than I'd care to admit. This is especially scary because the hospital the story was based on actually exists in Massachusetts so that's cool... But Stolarz sticks to her great writing style, which includes dark situations, terrifying nursery rhymes, and paranormal activity (before that movie was a thing). Definitely a perfect Halloween read.

I'd like to include an honorable mention in this post, because this was a book that I found to be a bit scary (or more than a bit) but it's written by the always amazing Maureen Johnson. Yes, kiddos, I'm talking about the Shades of London series. Ghosts and Jack the Ripper. Ghosts and Jack the Ripper. Double whammy. Also, this is kinda my favorite book series right now so I'm going to talk about it every chance I get.

Those are my favorite scary stories, and they're really perfect to read now that Halloween is once again upon us. So check them out and get excited for Halloween! Find an awesome costume, read an awesome book, eat a lot of candy! As for me, I'm still trying to decide on my costume (it changes on a daily basis- Agnes from Despicable Me, Sailor Moon, and Fire Nation Katara are the top three options right now). I'm also searching for that perfect Stephen King book to read this season, so bring on the suggestions.

Here's what I'm reading for next week's review:
Unspoken, by Sarah Rees Brennan (synopsis from Amazon)

A modern, magical twist on the Gothic Romance and Girl Detective genres, this book will appeal to fans of both Beautiful Creatures and the Mortal Instrumentsseries. Reviewers have praised the take-charge heroine and the spellbinding romance.

Bound together. Worlds apart.

Kami Glass is in love with someone she's never met—a boy she's talked to in her head since she was born. This has made her an outsider in the sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale, but she has learned ways to turn that to her advantage. Her life seems to be in order, until disturbing events begin to occur. There has been screaming in the woods and the manor overlooking the town has lit up for the first time in 10 years. . . . The Lynburn family, who ruled the town a generation ago and who all left without warning, have returned. Now Kami can see that the town she has known and loved all her life is hiding a multitude of secrets—and a murderer. The key to it all just might be the boy in her head. The boy she thought was imaginary is real, and definitely and deliciously dangerous.

Until next time, dear readers,
-Annie