Author: Tirzah Price

Tiffany D. Jackson is best known for her incredible mysteries and thrillers, but White Smoke is her first foray into the horror scene! It follows Mari, a California girl who relocates with her newly blended family (which includes a new white step-dad and very annoying little step-sister Piper) to a Midwestern town that is hoping for some rejuvenation. Her writer mom has won a residency with a free newly renovated house as part of the gig. But things are weird from the get-go: the house is the only one on the block that’s not abandoned or condemned. There is a horrible stench in the house that comes and goes. Weird noises come through the vents, and the strangest things go missing. But perhaps worst of all? Piper has an imaginary friend and she tells Mari that her friend wants Mari to get out of her house.

This book is as chilling as it sounds, and one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much was because it did a great job at building tension on multiple levels. Mari has an anxiety disorder which is connected to her past, and something that happened that she’s still very ashamed of. Not only is Mari still struggling to come to terms with her past, but it has caused her parents to lose trust in her. This puts her in a vulnerable position to be starting a new school in a new town, then add on top of that a new step-sister who is out to get her. Between the town’s new vibes and her house’s weird happenings, it’s a lot for Mari to process. When her suspicions and anxiety get the best of her, it seems the less people want to believe her when she uncovers evidence that Piper is purposefully setting her up, and there is a deeper conspiracy in her new town. Jackson understands that not being believed when you think you’re in danger is about as scary as the prospect of a haunted house, and she leverages all of these fears and anxieties to tell a really compelling story about a town with a tragic fall from prosperity and a dark past. And where there are poor, marginalized people trying to make a living, there’s always the predatory rich ready to seize control.

This is a YA novel, but one that I think will definitely appeal to adult and YA readers alike because of its sophisticated take on horror and the dark mysteries in this fictional community. It’s hard to come up with readalikes in the YA field, but I think the closest I can think of is if you want a horror YA version of Alyssa Cole’s When No One is Watching or a (less gory) horror read in the vein of the new Candyman, this book is for you!

Becca is new to Piedmont, and being the new girl is never easy. But when she has a chance encounter with a popular girl named Marley in the bathroom, it leads to friendship with the Squad—Marley, Arianna, and Amanda, three popular and beautiful girls who inspire equal amounts of terror and awe in their school. Becca likes the attention of the Squad but doesn’t truly feel like she’s one of them…until one night at a party it’s revealed that the Squad is actually a pack of werewolves, and once a month they must kill in order to sate their hunger. They turn Becca and things are going fine for a few months, only preying on guys who don’t understand the concept of consent, until they take things just a bit too far.

First off, I love the premise of this book a lot, and the art is very striking. It’s a perfect balance of dark and sometimes a bit pulpy, with vibrant and contemporary colors. Becca is a very relatable protagonist, wanting to be a part of a group and worrying about whether or not she’s normal, and it’s really easy to see how she can be sucked into the Squad. I also really enjoyed how on the surface, the Squad is a group we might want to cheer on. They’re using their powers to take out moral reprehensible guys who literally prey on girls…but when vigilante justice is involved there are some morally gray areas and lots of big questions about what is actually right. The girls don’t question this too much, until suddenly they’re forced to confront it head on. I loved what this graphic novel had to say about power, rape culture, and group dynamics. It’s definitely an upper YA graphic novel because of the blood and gore and nudity (although it’s strategically drawn so no worries about too much exposure), but this is one that balances a lot of complex topics really well.

Bonus: Squad has already been optioned to become a film, so grab a copy sooner rather than later!

Each year, Cara’s family experiences what they call the accident season—during the month of October, they’re plagued with accidents. They start out small, and usually consist of stubbing a toe, ripping a favorite shirt, or knocking over a glass. But as the month persists, the accidents get bigger and bigger. Lost items, broken bones, car accidents…and sometimes, the accidents are fatal. This year, Cara, her best friend Bea, and her ex-stepbrother Sam are seventeen, and they can already tell by the accidents that it will be a bad year. But it’s also the year that Cara will uncover the secret behind what causes the accident year, and find unexpected love.

What sold me on this book was the concept, which I don’t think I will ever get over. It’s so subtle, so brilliant, and just appropriately eerie—to me, it screams to be made into a Netflix limited series. The characters, of course, are what pull it off and I found myself really fascinated by the family dynamics. Cara’s family is (justifiably) emotionally and physically scarred by this experience, and the way they deal with it was really indicative of their characters and how they cope with trauma, and how they bury the secrets they don’t want to face.

The setting is also really great. I love a good creepy October and fall-set read, but this book also takes place in Ireland. The writing was so evocative that I felt as though I could just feel the physical setting through the pages. Both the romance and the mystery didn’t go in the direction that I anticipated, and I so appreciated that about this book. It’s like an unexpected dark puzzle that will make you want to brew a pot of strong tea so you can sit under a blanket while the wind blows cold outside and just immerse yourself in the telling of the story.

Bonus: I love Fowley-Doyle’s other two books, Spellbook of Lost and Found and All the Bad Apples, which are similarly eerie but have the bonus of also being queer!

Michael is an aspiring journalist living in a sleepy Minnesota town when a serial killer sweeps across the Midwest. Someone is murdering people, seemingly at random, and their bodies are found completely drained of blood. The crime scenes inspire rumors and put everyone on edge, especially Michael’s dad, the Sheriff. Then, the unthinkable happens and the murderer strikes Michael’s town. But this time, it’s different. A teen girl named Marie is left behind, covered in blood. She’s taken into custody, but she refuses to speak about what happened, who is responsible, or even where she comes from. The only person she will talk to is Michael, but even he isn’t sure if he’s prepared to hear her full confession.

This is a chilling and eerie book that takes the staples of In Cold Blood and throws in a speculative twist that will leave the reader guessing. Michael is a grounded character who loves his family, wants to follow his dreams, and discover a life outside of Minnesota. He’s curious about Marie, wants to understand her, and even feels sorry for her…but his motivations for taking Marie’s confession are not altogether altruistic—he’s thinking about the story he might be able to write and how it could help him get into journalism school. But his plans are turned on their heads when Marie tells him something he can’t quite believe, and he must confront the slippery nature of truth. Along the way, he is forced to see his town and community in a different light, and learns the hard way that scared people aren’t always rational people. I thought that Blake did a great job capturing the vibe of the 1950’s Midwest, and this is a good book that reminds readers that darkness is always lurking, no matter how wholesome your town might appear.

The premise of this anthology is simple: Ellen Datlow asked a variety of writers to come up with a short story that’s inspired by Shirley Jackson’s work. No retellings or twists on her original stories, but just each writer’s own spin on some of the themes, elements, and motifs that make up a classic Shirley Jackson story. Which, to be frank, is quite a recognizable vibe. The writers include Josh Malerman, Carmen Maria Machado, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, Kelly Link, Cassandra Khaw, Benjamin Percy, Seanan McGuire, and more.

The result is an anthology that is readable and varied. Anthologies can be hit or miss for me, but I thought this one was pretty consistently solid, with some stand-out stories that I know will haunt me for a long time, and some that I will want to revisit each spooky season. The various ways that the authors chose to interpret Shirley Jackson’s sensibilities is really fun. Some have a delightful mid-century nostalgia to them. Some are just eerie enough that you know something uncanny is going on, but it’s hard to put your finger on exactly what. Some have that dreamy, slightly philosophical air to them that both intrigues and unsettles. My favorites include “For Sale by Owner” by Elizabeth Hand, which is an unconventional haunted house story. “Hag” by Benjamin Percy had me convinced that it’s never wise to visit an island in the off-season. “Refinery Road” by Stephen Graham Jones had a twist that made me re-read the story as soon as I’d finished. “Special Meal” by Josh Malerman reminded me of “The Lottery” in a way no story ever has, while also being its own delightful, dark thing. And I am forever and always going to read anything Kelly Link writes, so her closing story, “Skinder’s Veil” was everything I hoped it’d be and more, with beautiful language and a beautiful full circle plot.

I highly recommend picking up this book if you’d like to wade into some unsettling, creepy, but not necessarily hardcore horror stories for the month! I imagine these will be perfect stories to read right before bed on a cold, dark October night!