Top Ten Horror Novels

Micol Ostow | The Children’s Book Review | August 20, 2014

1. The Shining, Stephen King

A recovering alcoholic and his family move into a haunted hotel for a long, lonely winter. Cabin fever (and other ghostly fallout) ensues.

2. Carrie, Stephen King

Could this be the original YA horror novel? A shy misfit discovers a tantalizing power and takes revenge on her bullying classmates…. Prom night will never be the same.

3. Rosemary’s Baby, Ira Levin

A captivating marriage (no pun intended) of the explorations of society’s expectations of motherhood, and the pervasive threat of demonic evil within our every day. Feminist and fearful.

4. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson

Before Grey Gardens, there was Merricat and Constance. But what did happen to their parents? (Be careful not to help yourself to too much sugar.)

5. Psycho, Robert Bloch

Norman Bates has a very special relationship with his mother. A chilling portrait of a psychopath.

6. The Amityville Horror, Jay Anson

Whether you believe the Lutzs’ claims or not, this is the ultimate tale of a very haunted house.

7. Tenderness, Robert Cormier

A YA psychological thriller focused on a romantic relationship gone horribly wrong.

8. Coraline, Neil Gaiman

Haven’t we all harbored fantasies of another, “other” reality where our parents understood us? And yet, there’s always a price.

9. I Hunt Killers, Barry Lyga

The first in a “Dexter”-like series following a young sociopath who curbs his own destructive tendencies by – you guessed it – hunting killers….

10. The Ruins, Scott Smith

If you think a story about killer vines sounds hokey, read this book. Then reconsider that bucolic hike through the countryside.

About the Author

Micol Ostow

Micol Ostow has written dozens of books for children, tweens, and teens, but Amity is her first foray into horror. I turns out, writing a ghost story is almost more terrifying than reading one. (In a good way.) Her novel family was called a “Favorite Book of 2011” by Liz Burns at School Library Journal, and her illustrated novel, So Punk Rock (and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother), was a

Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teens. In her spare time, Ostow blogs with the National Book Award-winning literacy initiative readergirlz.com. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, her (utterly fearless) daughter, and a finicky French bulldog named Bridget Jones. Visit her online at www.micolostow.com or follow her on Twitter @micolz.

About Amity

For fans of Stephen King and American Horror Story, a gruesome thriller suggested by the events of the Amityville Horror.

Connor’s family moves to Amity to escape shady business deals. Ten years later, Gwen’s family moves to Amity for a fresh start after she’s recovered from a psychotic break.

But something is not right about this secluded house. Connor’s nights are plagued with gore-filled dreams of demons and destruction. Dreams he kind of likes. Gwen has lurid visions of corpses that aren’t there and bleeding blisters that disappear in the blink of an eye. She knows Amity is evil and she must get her family out, but who would ever believe her?

Amity isn’t just a house. She is a living force, bent on manipulating her inhabitants to her twisted will. She will use Connor and Gwen to bring about a bloody end as she’s done before. As she’ll do again.

Alternating between parallel narratives, Amity is a tense and terrifying tale suggested by true-crime events that will satisfy even the most demanding horror fan..

Ages 15+ | Publisher: EgmontUSA | Aug. 26, 2014 | ISBN-13: 978-1606841563

For all of you horror novel fans, check out the next stop on Micol Ostow’s blog tour: Tales of a Ravenous Reader.