Horror Books

I am a reading coach and used this book for summer study for dyslexic middle school students. It was recommended by Sally Shawitz in her book Overcoming Dyslexia. It proved to be quite effective. The students thoroughly enjoyed the book. Several parents came to me saying that this was the first book they actually witnessed their young adults enjoying. The students asked to read more by this author. How wonderful!
Carolyn

Something Upstairs by Avi is a frightening, suspenseful, and heart-pounding story about a boy that moves from California to Providence, Rhode Island, changing his life forever.

Kenny spends most of his days at the Library, interested in finding more about his new house, which dates back to the 1800s. When Kenny asks the librarian which way to the history section, he takes a wrong turn and enters a room with a very pale man by the name of Pardon Willinghast sitting in his office chair. Kenny soon finds out that Pardon Willinghast is not just a historian, as they meet again in another place and time.

Meanwhile, at home sleeping one night, Kenny hears a noise coming from the room next door. He slowly creeps into the miniature room and peers inside. Kenny sees a ghost-like figure rise from the blood stain on the floor. The ghost needs Kenny's help to set him free. The quest to help save the ghost from being murdered one night, by going back in time to the 1800s, is just one of Kenny's problems. Kenny also doesn't know that the enemy is closer than he thinks.

Lucas R., Ryan I., and Helena C.
Grade 6
Ms. Kawatachi

I really enjoyed reading this book. I think it was very good and a lot of people will like it. I think the book made your mind boggle and made you wonder what's going to happen next.
-Lucas R.

Avi's writing made me feel like I was Kenny, in a time not my own trying to help some ghost that just appears in my room one night. This book just sucks you in and you will find yourself turning page by page to find out what happens next!
-Ryan I.

I enjoyed the book very much. It was a very detailed and clear page turner, and every chapter left you wanting to read more. It is one of my favorite books, and I will definitely recommend this book to anyone.
-Helena C.

i read the book called something upstairs.this book is about a yong boy named kenny who just moves into a new house.the house is hounted and the goast needs help.kenny gose back into calebs time so find calebs merder.my favorit time in the book was when kenny gose back into calebs tome.i like this part because it describs how everything was back then.also that thats when the misteries start to happen.out of all of the books that i have read something upstairs is one of my faverits because its not boreing.In this book u never no really what is going to happen and u are always wondering how the book is goin to end.

Moving to a nice peaceful house, maybe not. Kenny was a 13 year old boy who had just moved from a big city to a small historical town. When Kenny was exploring his room he saw two small rooms. In one of the rooms there was a stain on the floor and what kenny didn't know was at night a ghost (Caylob) comes out of the stain and haunts the the small room. That very night Kenny heard a noise in one of the rooms Kenny checked the bigger room... nothing then he checked the small room, to his surprise there was a boy about the same age crawling out of the glowing stain it was Caylob. As Caylob look's for a way out of the room Kenny talks about finding Caylob's killer and Caylob wants Kenny to help. Will Kenny regret ever trying to help Caylob or will Kenny succeed on his journey? The theme of Something Upstairs is ghost,horror or adventure. The author of my book is Avi, Avi may have written this book to tell about when he moved into a a big haunted house and there was a ghost upstairs. Many people claim they have seen the ghost! "Thes's something Upstairs." This quote is significant because it starts out the hole book and say's the title. I recommend this book to someone who likes adventure and ghost stories and maybe someone who likes to learn about black history and slaves. Something Upstairs is a great book!

I think that this was a good book although there was some scenes that I didn't get and wern't very exciting either but I did like the parts that had a choice to make or a part where something happened to a character.One of the choices was kill a friend or become a ghost and I really liked those of course you could always guess what would happen but it is how they turn out like it is always solved but in a complex way and so I enjoyed this book.

i liked the book the ending was a little bit of a let down. itfelt like he left some of the characters hanging, but overall it was a good book as all dean koontz books are. i love his work

I have only been reading DK for about three year now. So I am more familiar with his newer work. I have been trying to read the old stuff and this was pretty good. I thought the twists and turns were almost hard to keep track of, but for the most part "classic" Koontz.

Joanna and Alex are a great couple of characters. They spring to life! The backdrop of Japan, with Joanna being a club owner makes for a very dark, mysterious, but not quite seedy existence. The story is suspenseful and the resolution is not one you're going to see coming.

Edge of your seat suspense with a very interesting mystery. I've been known to skip a page or two here and there. I don't recall skipping any part of this book. I remember quite vividly hanging on every word!

Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, Dean Koontz was a struggling writer of paperback novels. In order to make a living, he wrote under a variety of names that was not his own. Koontz's most successful pseudonym was "Leigh Nichols" -- under this name, he wrote five bestselling romantic suspense novels. THE KEY TO MIDNIGHT is the first of these books, and was re-released in the 1990s under Koontz' own name.

THE KEY TO MIDNIGHT is a highly enjoyable romantic thriller. It mainly takes place in Japan, and Koontz does a great job of describing Japanese culture, which he obviously has a lot of respect for. The two main characters are likable and complex, and the plot is fast-paced and interesting.

This is not a horror novel at all, although there are a few graphic violent and sexual scenes. Still, there is very little in this book that is truly gross or disturbing.

THE KEY TO MIDNIGHT isn't a masterpiece, but it's a fine entertainment by one the best genre writers working today. This book is easy to read and is a nice way to spend an afternoon. If you're looking for classic Koontz, though, my advice is to try one of his later novels, such as WATCHERS, LIGHTNING, INTENSITY or ODD THOMAS.

This is an interesting book becouse it shows Koontz going off in a different direction. As he states in the books Afterword, this is his only novel in the Acion/suspence/romance genre. Actually I thought it was trying to be in the same genre of most of James Patterson books. The probem I found with the book was that it developed too slowly. We have the same unanswered questions on page 360 as we had in the beginning. It's not until the book has as few as 50 pages left does it really get going. Descriptions of mundane activities is fine. It ads color and depth to the charactors but I thought it was excessive here. They got out of the cab, went to the museaum, checked into a hotel, made a phone call, blah blah blah. Thankfully the whole story gets turned around and it reallly has a stunning conclusion, but it was hard for me to get there. Interesting read, but I found books like Intensity, and Sole Survivor much more interesting.

I enjoyed reading it, it's very good written and not any worse than some other fantasy books.

This book really sets some pace into the story line, although dont bother reading if you have not read the first.

I could rabbit on all day but if you enjoyed the first book you must read this as the character development continues and the war begins! And when you finish this book you will be scratching at the wood-work to find out WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!


Jack.

I found out that the sin war series could have been finished in two books. The 2nd book is nothing more than an extention of the first. The plot just continues, there are no new surprises along the way. Essentially the heroes do more of their stuff in the 2nd one like destroying temples etc.
I would say this book is a lot weaker than the first one. Lets hope the pace picks up in the 3rd book though.
Frankly I really liked Knaak's other Diablo books especially Moon of the Spider and the Kingdom of Shadow. The sin war series seems less than a equal to the previous titles.
Get it if you like me love Diablo.

This book was awesome, I waited so long to find out what happened to my dear friend Uldyssian....now I have to wait again for the third book xD

Niterise is a book full of twists and murder. Written by anthony horowitz. It's suspenseful and is full of mysteries, action and adventure. Thats deserves 4 out of 5 stars. theres one part in the book that i didn't understand until I read through that part. thats why i gave it 4 out of 5 stars. so if anybody who likes a good mystery or adventure would enjoy this phenomenal book.

Mindreaders Jamie and Scott find themselves in Reno, stalked by a profiteering company based in L.A. Jamie learns that he and his twin brother are two of five gatekeepers, sent to protect the world from the Old Ones.

A must-read for fans of the Gatekeepers series (Raven's Gate, Evil Star). A good read for anyone else, as well.

While reading the first two books, Raven's Gate and Evil Star, I was drawn in by the story line, but was constantly turned off by the poor character archetypes (i.e. every character having 'strong eyes' and Matt's mental ability to comprehend certain events and remain calm in any situation and his unnatural physical fitness). I continued to read them anyway, giving the author the benefit of the doubt.

However, when I picked up Nightrise, I was immediately appalled by the same problems the first books had and more. I had to stop reading the book because I couldn't take the outright terrible writing. The dialogue was very unrealistic, some paragraphs gave unnecessary information, some paragraphs lacked the necessary information, and some of the actions made by each character were so through the roof I thought I was reading a parody. I actually read a section where a man had to strangle his own *armed* partner because Horowitz thought it would would be funny to give the superior a strong sense of comic seniority. Of course, the strangled man didn't reach for his gun because he thought a strangling would be quick and painless.

The plot of the story desperately needs to be improved. The nightrise corporation is hoping to bring back a group of magically inclined people called the Old Ones, and they wish to bring about the end of the world. Of course, five *chosen* ones have the power to stop them so naturally they must keep them apart. This topic is the oldest cliche in all of fiction writing. I have nothing wrong with *chosen* books; however, to get more readers to actually read the book and not want to throw it in the garbage disposal (like I did) Horowitz should have improved the plot so that it varies greatly from the general cliche of chosen books. That keeps the reader interested and not wishing that they had bought another book.

I unfortunately had to check to see if Anthony Horowitz was actually an adult instead of the child I assumed him to be. Horowitz made the mistake of hoping the readers would go along with his inconsistancies and redudancies, and he assumed that his readers would not analyze the story. By the way, most enthusiastic readers will.

In conclusion, any avid reader that picks up this book will immediately feel disgusted by the quality of fiction. That is why I gave this book two stars out of five. Awarding this book two stars is very generous.

"You and your brother are one of the five" This statement is made on page 302, and it was directed to Jamie. Everything revolves around that statement. For example on page 41 when they were attacked. Jamie's and Scott's lives change for ever after they learn the fact that they are 2 out of the 5 gatekeepers.

NIGHTRISE, by Anthony Horowitz, tells the story of how Scott gets taken away in Reno, Nevada. His twin brother, Jamie has to rescue him. Jamie and Scott posses super natural powers. Not only that they can read each others minds but they can read the mind of others. Jamie also travels 10000 years back from the present time to help fight the Old Ones. The book unlocks many questions from the two previous novels.

NIGHTRISE, an action adventure novel, Is a spectacular book. I would reccomend this book to any Anthony Horowitz readers. I wouldn't reccomned this book to anyone below grade 7, because there are many twist and turns.This novel is one of the best of Anthony Horowitz. Will Jamie save his brother, read this book to find out.

Raven's Gate started off with a spooky and thrilling mindwarp, but Evil Star (after a fantastic start) lapsed into a rather mundane adventure. Night Rise is better than the second instalment but still never captured that sense of terror and eeriness that made the first book so incredible. Please Horowitz... don't abandon the emotional tension of Raven's Gate! It was the best!

I don't know how many people are reading Kirk Scroggs's WILEY AND GRAMPA'S CREATURE FEATURE series. I'm telling everyone about them and no one else seems to have heard of them. But more people need to be reading these books. Or at least corrupting the minds of elementary kids with them!

With the publication of the latest, CURSE OF THE KITTY LITTER, the series is now nine books long. Each tale is chockfull of humor, twists on the supernatural or weird science, short chapters (ideal for reluctant readers), and art (ideal for emerging young artists).

I love these books. My son and I discovered them a few years ago. Though we're both too old for them according to the targeted market, we howl with glee as the author ropes us into another twisted adventure with Wiley, Grampa, Gramma, and loveable pet cat Merle.

In addition to the graphic whackiness throughout, the author also busts zingers and provides additional laughs for the adults indulging in pre-adolescence with their kids. Scroggs has a growing cast of characters and manages to showcase each of them in every adventure.

CURSE OF THE KITTY LITTER starts off with inane hilarity and proceeds to lambast the hoariest of pulp plot shticks, the character's inheritance of wealth from an unknown and distant relative. There's also the "you must stay in the haunted house all night to get the inheritance" clause guaranteed to deliver bloodshed in slasher films and goofiness in comedies like Wiley and Grampa.

I think I would have enjoyed a book solely about the efforts our heroes made to spend the night in Badtable Manor. Scroggs is good enough to pull that off, in my opinion. But I think he's tapped into the pulse of his reading public because he moves the story along so that part - as hilarious and weird as it is - passes in a few short pages. Barry Dunderdirt the ghostly gravedigger and the possessed clowns were great. And the mayonnaise ghost was totally unexpected. I loved the way Merle was lured from the mansion because it was so simple.

The story of Mr. Spittles, the prize family cat that passed on years ago, was interesting and I knew from reading Scroggs's past work that he wasn't through using that particular angle. One of the things I like best about this series is that the author knows how to set up things he keeps returning to for bigger and bigger laughs. Mr. Spittles's story doesn't emerge all at once, and the tale is even better for that. Scroggs has great timing for dropping the other shoe. Or, in the case of the CURSE OF THE KITTY LITTER, dropping the next LOAD of bad news!

The deliberate linking of the cat show judge Simon Yowl to AMERICAN IDOL's Simon Cowl is a hoot. It might be something the younger readers won't get, but it's one of those things Scroggs sticks in for his adult fans that pick the books up and read them when no one's looking.

This book just hit the shelves so you should be able to find it. You don't need to have read the others. Simply pick it up, leaf through it, and see if something catches your eye. I'm betting something will. Then you'll go back and try to get the other books in the series and eagerly look forward to the new ones. Just like my son and I do.

I don't know if I would recommend this all of my friends but I enjoyed the read.

Some folks have complained about how absurd the premise of the book it (capturing ICE bergs for the desert) and maybe it is.. but hey, who cares if it is a little far fetched.. It was a "good" time in the frozen north. The Russian sub was a good addition... although I got caught thinking about how they could have tried to rescue them more easily :-)

Anyhow, it you enjoy a little drama and a slight amount of sci-fi, you will like this book.

I was dissapointed in Icebound. This may have been a fair book for many writers, but I expect more from Dean Koontz. This was a mild and boring attempt. Not what readers have come to expect from Dean Koontz.

This book was excellent. I found it a refreshing change from traditional Koontz books. The imagery he promotes through his words literally left me chilled...in a good way, however. I placed myself in the situation of being stuck in bitter cold on an iceberg in the North Pole, and it creeps me out. I just imagine the bone-chilling weather, and it brings the story alive. A great story recommended to all of the avid Dean Koontz readers out there...be sure to include this oldie in your reading!

I've been a major Dean Koontz bent for a few years now... and must say-- of the several I've read so far-- this is the weakest.

The characters are not as complex or deep as most Koontz characters... and Koontz spends a lot of time detailing the setting that I think the characters seem to get lost all the more. I just never quite felt a connection to the characters.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this is less of a wild, highly creative book by Koontz and more of a good, old-fashioned novel.

In the note to readers at the end of the book, Koontz does tell readers that this is not his usual style.

I haven't read any Koontz novels before. I bought this CD because it sounded like a good adventure story and I enjoy survival tales in winter scenes. It was a fun listen while I drove.

The addition of the Russian submarine captain and crew provided a good parallel storyline with a very unusual rescue. The characters were well drawn, and the actic scenes were believable. Brrrr!

This was by far my favorite in the Demonata series, i couldn't put it down.

This book helped add to the gruesome tails of the Demonta series. The book Bec By Darren Shan is a great add on to the action series. This book the took place back in later times in a small village had a lot of kick to it. When bec gets taken into the village and learns the ways of magic, then she must fight off demonta to save her life and the dwindiling village. It must be hard for Bec because her mother died shortly after giving birth. Though she meets new people and learns to become their friend.

I feel this book was a well written book and it was fun to read, but it was off the story line of Grubbs ,his uncle, and Bill-E. Just becuase I was expecting to read about them I got myself excited for the book, but once I found out it was not about Grubbs it really got me down. It is still a great story and fun to read, but don't expect to see Grubbs. It has great detail though like on page thirteen when it is describing the old king, It goes far into detail. Aybody who liked Cirque Du Freak will love this book. It was a great and well written book but didn't follow the plot of the other 3 books.

Since I wanted to know what happened to Grubbs I was like "I dont care about this BEC girl" but as i read it i got so caught into it that I completely forgot..hahahha its a good book. Not so strong in the first few pages but it gets better.-MAGALY

Bec has never led a normal life, or was never given the chance to. Born only remembering her mother and how she passed away, Bec was saved by a village's priestess who urged the village leaders to let her live. Making her the priestess's apprentice, Bec was able to learn the magic and potions that would be used in aid of those who fought in battles.

Unfortunately for Bec, she didn't know how many battles her village would be facing.

Never a quiet night, Bec's village is continuously invaded by demons, the Fomorii, who come to tear the village apart. And every night Bec must use what she has learned, which isn't much since the priestess was killed way before she was able to pass on everything she knew.

Used to having other villagers come through, Bec's village is visited by Run Fast, a boy who says that his village is in trouble. Unsure of his story or of what side he is on, the warriors feel an obligation to help and so set off to end their fight. Usually the priestess does not go along with the warriors, but this time Bec sees fit to travel with them, hoping that this journey will help her figure out what troubles her and hopefully to become one with her surroundings and her magic.

Fighting off the demons is not an easy feat, especially since both worlds have just been connected, making it easier for the demons to enter, multiplying their numbers every time one is killed. Magic is what destroys them -- and the lives of the villagers and the warriors are in the hands of Bec.

Thrilling and different from the other novels in the series, BEC is a courageous novel that leaps off the pages and plays with our imagination. The descriptions are vivid and the story is unique. With an ending that will leave you breathless, BEC is a great addition to the already popular series, THE DEMONATA.

Reviewed by: Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen

Good book, takes a little to get going. Somewhat slower than the first three. All is revealed by mid book then you can't seem to put it down. Great Celtic legends and info provided in back of book.