35 Going on 13: Ghosts, Witches & Monsters, Oh My!

Just in time for Halloween, here are eight recent titles to celebrate the season. Featuring ghosts, witches, monsters, and the occasional zombie, they carry enough thrills and chills to satisfy even the most jaded adult reader. Curl up with a bowl of bite-sized candy bars or caramel corn and enjoy. For more chilling reads, don't miss Neal Wyatt's "No Tricks, Just Treats: Halloween Fiction."

Bragg, Georgia (text) & Kevin O'Malley (illus.) How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous. Walker. 2011. 184p. ISBN 9780802798183. $18.89.
"If you should see a hearse go by, then you will know you're the next to die." So begins "The Worm Song," a childhood favorite with the catchy refrain, "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out." Nothing so easy for the 19 famous souls whose ugly ends are chronicled here. We learn that Cleopatra did not die, as rumored, by the bite of an asp but instead took poison using a smuggled hairpin. Pity George Washington, who was bled to death by his physicians, or Queen Elizabeth I, who died from a nasty strep throat; today their lives would have been saved with antibiotics. Not so Marie Curie, who "to this day...continues to be a glowing beacon for girls pursuing a life in science-along with her work desk, which will glow for fifteen hundred years to come." O'Malley's cheeky pen-and-ink drawings and Bragg's delight for gross-out detail make this thematic nonfiction offering the campfire book for the Halloween season.

Brosgol, Vera. Anya's Ghost. First Second. 2011. 221p. ISBN 9781596437135. $19.99.
Anya Borzakovskaya wants nothing more than to blend in at her second-string prep school in this graphic novel, described on its cover by Neil Gaiman as a "masterpiece." Angsty Anya spends her days obsessing about her weight, cutting PE, and sneaking smokes; then a spill down an abandoned well introduces her to Emily, dead for some 90 years. Having a ghostly friend is fun at first; Emily helps Anya cheat on tests and get the attention of her crush, Sean. When it becomes clear to Anya that Emily's interest in her life has taken an unhealthy turn, she seeks the aid of Dima, a "fobby" ("fresh off the boat") classmate whose friendship she once rejected. Brosgol's straightforward graphic style perfectly communicates the nuances of this creepy mystery, which also serves as a cautionary tale for girls afraid to be themselves. Teens and adult readers alike will cheer for Anya as she takes back her life from a spirit run amok.

Clement-Moore, Rosemary. Texas Gothic. Delacorte. 2011. 406p. ISBN 9780385736930. $17.99.
Amy Goodnight is the one self-described "normal" member of her do-gooder witch family; hers is the ability to communicate with spirits. Confined to running her Aunt Hyacinth's Texas ranch with her sister Phin, Amy thinks the only ghost she will be seeing is that of her aunt's late husband, Burt. Her talents get an unexpected workout when long-dead remains are uncovered in a research dig nearby, and a ghostly presence implores Amy to be put to rest. Fans of Nancy Drew and Scooby Doo will delight at this supernatural mystery's earnest tone and the romantic tension between Amy and her next door neighbor, Ben. When she first meets the gruff rancher dressed in nothing but her underwear and a pair of work boots, you know that there is a wild ride ahead. Terrific fun for romance and mystery readers of any age.

Maberry, Jonathan. Dust & Decay. S. & S. 2011. 519p. ISBN 9781442402355. $17.99.
At the end of last year's Rot and Ruin (see Seven Dystopian Novels), Benny and older brother Tom witnessed a jet flying across the sky. While this event would be unremarkable in our time, it is a revelation in this setting, 15 years after "First Night," the zombie apocalypse that separated the dead from the living. On seeing the plane, Benny and Tom, a "closure expert" (read: zombie bounty hunter committed to the idea of death with dignity), make plans to set out into the "Rot and Ruin" beyond their safe enclosure of Mountainside to find what must remain, somewhere, of civilization. Nothing could prepare them and their ragtag group of friends for the new dangers beyond the fence. This second title in Maberry's oft-times humorous series ramps up the action yet still nurtures the tension that while zoms appear to be evolving, the survivors grow less and less humane as the years wear on.

McEntire, Myra. Hourglass. Egmont. 2011. 390p. ISBN 9781606841440. $17.99.
Like Amy in Clement-Moore's Texas Gothic, Emerson sees ghosts. But unlike her witchy contemporary, Emerson sometimes does not know that they are ghosts until she walks right through them. Case in point: she causes a scene at her brother's restaurant opening when she sets her glass on a piano that only she can hear...or so she thinks. Enter Michael, a fellow party guest with similar talents. A few years older than Emerson, he is a consultant for Hourglass, a mysterious organization that promises to help her manage her abilities. Following Michael home one night, she meets the rest of the firm, including the charming Kaleb, who establishes himself as a rival to Michael for her affections. Their love triangle plays out against a supernatural backdrop of time travel and murder, making this debut novel one of the sexiest books of the season.

Ness, Patrick (text) & Jim Kay (illus.). A Monster Calls: Inspired by an Idea from Siobhan Dowd. Candlewick. 2011. 224p. ISBN 9780763655594. $16.99.
One dark night, the yew tree outside 13-year-old Conor's window comes to life and makes a house call. The monster tells Conor three inscrutable stories and then demands from him the scariest thing of all...the truth. In his waking hours, Conor is plagued by the attention of the school bully and by the failing health of his mum. She is in the final days of her battle with cancer and prays that a new drug made, not coincidentally from yew bark, will offer a cure. It is not to be: the tree is not there to save Conor's mother but to save him from himself. This heartfelt examination of grief and anger is fitting tribute to a literary star whose light extinguished too soon; longtime human rights campaigner Siobhan Dowd published her first novel, A Swift Pure Cry, in 2006 and won the Carnegie Medal posthumously in 2009.

Sedgwick, Marcus. White Crow. Roaring Brook. 2011. 240p. ISBN 9781596435940. $16.99.
The Printz Honor winner (for 2010's Revolver) follows with an equally suspenseful story of a friendship gone very wrong. Rebecca is the new girl in the coastal town of Winterfold. Ferelith, the only other girl her age, is a moody goth who seems to know absolutely everything about the crumbling village. The diary entries of a priest from over 200 years earlier interject their story, hinting at a local manor's murderous history. Past and present collide when the girls' escalating dares end with Rebecca locked in the manor's basement. Sedgwick layers on the atmosphere in one of the scariest books of the year.

Suma, Nova Ren. Imaginary Girls. Dutton. 2011. 348p. ISBN 9780525423386. $17.99.
One fateful night after too much partying, Chloe's older half-sister Ruby dares her to swim across the reservoir that borders their small upstate town. Midway, Chloe discovers the corpse of London, a classmate dead of a drug overdose. This event leads her to question her sister's guardianship and move away to live with her father. Two years later, Chloe returns home to find her sister and her friends once more partying at the reservoir, only this time London is among them, and nobody seems to think anything is amiss. Ruby wanted Chloe to come home and was willing to do anything to bring her there, even resurrect her classmate from the dead. This chilling YA debut tests the bonds of life, death, and sisterhood, as Chloe comes to understand fully her sibling's power over their community. This reader will think twice about swimming in a lake again.