"Monster Match" Library Display

Teens love 'em some scary movies!! As a tie-in to Halloween and this year's Teen Read Week theme, "It Came From the Library...", I created a "Monster Match" library display featuring some of our students' favorite monsters from the movies. I made sure to get a mix of old school and new school ghouls for students to identify - half the fun was slying getting suggestions from kids who are horror movie fanatics. They tended to steer clear of the more obvious choices (Freddy, Michael, Jason) and suggest the likes of Alex DeLarge from "A Clockwork Orange" and the twins from "The Shining." In fact, Alex seems to be the one stumping students the most, but what a great way to introduce teens to the Anthony Burgess classic!

As I was putting up the display in the hallway outside the library, which also happens to be across from the top of the stairs to our second story, students immediately gravitated towards the display to name off who they knew and ask questions about how the contest works. The students who identify all or the most monsters correctly will get their names put in for a candy prize drawing - thankfully, my students are easy and cheap to please. ;-) The best part of the display by far has been all the discussions it's generated between me and my students. We've spent lots of time Wikipedia-ing summaries and YouTube-ing previews for some of the films they're less familiar with or characters they think I should have included. Based on the success of this year's display, I'm definitely going to make this an annual thing and include some of their suggestions in next year's contest.

Movies I included this year were...
"Scream"
"The Grudge"
"The Orphan"
"It"
"Silence of the Lambs/Hannibal"
"Texas Chainsaw Massacre"
"Hellraiser"
"Drag Me to Hell"
"Friday the 13th"
"Frankenstein"
"The Ring"
"The Shining"
"Jaws"
"The Exorcist"
"A Clockwork Orange"
"Saw"
"Halloween"
"The Omen"
"Misery"
"The Nightmare on Elm Street"
"The Strangers"

It Came From the Library – TRW Young Adult Horror Picks

Who doesn’t love a good scary story? One that makes you get up and double-check the locks on the doors, spooks you when a tree branch scratches against the window, or fools you into seeing shadows of creatures and ghouls on the walls around you. This year’s Teen Read Week theme is “It Came From the Library - Dare to Read…For the Fun of It!” so I decided to run with it and emphasize books that make your spine tingle and your heart race - even made my own Teen Read Week poster for my school (snatch for yourself if you'd like!). Since the release of Twilight and Hunger Games, the Y.A. horror trend has veered more towards the paranormal or dystopian variety of 'boo!', but traditional horror that centers around more realistic killings and murder mysteries is making a comeback (ie. Ten, Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, I Hunt Killers). For teen fans of horror, what’s out there to recommend beyond long-standing favorite Stephen King and the already popular vampire and werewolf series? Here are a few of the more popular titles amongst the horror fans at my school –  and I would love to hear some suggestions from you!

I Hunt Killers – Barry Lyga
This is Not a Test – Courtney Summers
Dead Time (The Murder Notebooks) – Anne Cassidy
The Body Finder series – Kim Derting
Rotters – Daniel Kraus
The Butterfly Clues – Kate Ellison
The Furnace series  - Alexander Gordon Smith
Demonata series – Darren Shan
Anna Dressed in Blood series – Kendare Blake
Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone – Kat Rosenfeld
World War Z: an Oral History of the Zombie War – Max Brooks
Something Strange and Deadly – Susan Dennard
The Hunt – Andrew Fukuda
Rot & Ruin series – Jonathan Mayberry
Living Dead Girl – Elizabeth Scott
Blood Wounds – Susan Pfeiffer
Ashes – Ilsa Bick
The Loners – Lex Thomas
The Angel of Death – Alane Ferguson
The Body of Christopher Creed – Carol Plum-Ucci
The Truth Seeker – Dee Henderson
The Name of the Star – Maureen Johnson
Ripper – Stefan Petrucha
Ripper – Amy Carol Reeves
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Death Cloud – Andrew Lane
Miss Perengrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs


 

I Hunt Killers – Barry Lyga

People matter. People are real.

This is the mantra Jasper “Jazz” Francis Dent runs through his head whenever his darker urges get the best of him. A sentiment that completely goes  against what he’s been raised to believe by his dad, Billy Dent, who just-so-happens to be the notorious serial killer known as “The Artist,” “Green Jack,” “Gentle Killer,” and “Hand-in-Glove.” Daddy Dent has so many nicknames because he spent years switching up his M.O. to avoid getting caught by the police as he murdered no less than 123 people…possibly more. As soon as Jazz was old enough to talk, Dent began sharing his killings in great detail with his son – the who’s, the how’s and, with special delight, the why’s - the power of watching a human take his last breath before the light goes out in his eyes. This is all Jazz hears and knows until, at the age of 14, his father is finally caught and subsequently sentenced to life in prison. His arrest leaves Jazz in the custody of his ailing grandmother and alone to face the accusing stares of the people in his small town. Like father, like son…right?

Fast forward two years later when the body of a woman shows up in a field near town – three of her fingers cut off with only the middle finger left behind. Jazz can’t help but feel the mutilated hand is the work of a serial killer, and warns the police chief as much. After he’s politely but firmly told to ‘mind his own business,’ Jazz enlists his best and only friend, Howie, to help do some investigating of their own. After all, who better to profile a potential serial killer than someone like Jazz who studied for years under one of the best? When within days another body shows up and then another – all with missing fingers – the police are forced to acknowledge Jazz might be right. Worse, the pattern of the killings are quite familiar since they appear to be mimicking those of his father’s murders…in their order and style. As the bodies continue to pile up, can Jazz do what it takes to stop this new Impressionist killer…or will he be enticed to join him? A Hannibal Lecter-style visit to dear old dad in prison only heightens the suspense.

If you’re familiar with the book and Showtime series, Dexter, then you know Dexter Morgan is a serial killer who acts on his sociopathic impulses by sticking to a code where he only kills people who actually deserve it – murderers, rapists, and other hardened criminals. Like Dexter, Jazz struggles with the urge to act on what his father has taught him – the urge to kill. With the exception his girlfriend, Connie, and Howie, Jazz doesn’t feel emotionally attached to any humans, and sometimes when people make him angry – like, say, the social worker who believes his grandmother needs full-time medical care which would mean foster care for Jazz – he even imagines killing them…as in taking his fingers, wrapping them around the person’s neck, and watching as the life is slowly squeezed out of them.

This book is dark stuff, y’all. Lyga doesn’t spare the reader the cruelty of Dent’s killings, mostly women and even the family pet(!), and keeps you guessing as to which way Jazz might go. In fact, Jazz has a recurring nightmare about taking a knife and cutting through skin and bone with it himself, which he believes may be his brain’s way of burying a murder he’s already committed...possibly that of his own mother. In other words, put this in the hands of Stephen King, Dexter and/or murder mystery fans with strong stomachs and a taste for truly terrifying horror. I’m one of those freaks, so I dug it.

Like Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter series, I Hunt Killers has been snapped up by Warner Brothers to be made into a tv series. I can certainly see lots of plot possibilities. The book itself ends with a HUGE cliffhanger, and its sequel is projected to come out April 2013. To learn more about Lyga and his other books (Fanboy and Goth Girl, the Archvillian series) visit his website at http://barrylyga.com/ .

This Is Not A Test – Courtney Summers

“This is not a test. Listen closely. This is not a test. Do not draw attention to yourself. Once you have found a secure location, stay where you are and help will come soon.”

Sloane Price’s mother is dead, her dad regularly beats her, and her older sister/best friend Lily has just run away without so much as a note or word of ‘goodbye.’ The only possible black icing that could top that Cake of Sad would be a zombie apocalypse, right? Welcome to the world of author Courtney Summers, reader!  Not one to shy away from tough subjects, Summers earlier books Cracked Up to Be, Some Girls Are, and Fall for Anything tackled such issues as bullying, alcoholism, suicide and date rape. Here, she takes on child abuse and abandonment, throws in some zombies, and asks, “Would you fight to survive in a world you’ve given up on?”

We barely meet poor Sloane and get her family history and current mental state before fast-forwarding seven days later to Sloane boarded up in her high school with five of her not-so-closest high school friends. No mention is made of exactly how the town of Cortege got overrun with zombies. We just know that once the outbreak of 'infecteds' occurred, family and friends fell victim quickly and within a few days, this rag-tag group randomly met up during flight from their various homes. With a nod to John Hughes’ “The Breakfast Club,” each character represents a stereotypical high school student type: there are twins Trace (the tough athlete) and Grace (the pretty popular girl); Harrison (the wimpy freshman geek); Cary (the outspoken leader); Rhys (the bad boy); and of course Sloane (the quiet realist).

Turns out if you’ve got to be trapped somewhere during a zombie outbreak, a school is a good place to take refuge. It’s got access to water and showers (the bathrooms and gym), food (cafeteria), clothes (lockers and the drama costume department), comfy furniture (teacher’s lounge), and outside communication (radios and computers). As the message, ‘This is not a test…’ plays endlessly on loop over the radio, the group work to barricade every door, window and access point into the school until they are left to deal with perhaps the scariest creatures of all – themselves.

Trace and Grace already hate Cary, since they blame him for the death of their parents. Seems during their initial escape to a safe haven, Cary sent Ma and Pa Casper down an alleyway first, claiming it was all clear, only to have the couple swarmed and eaten by infecteds as their children and the others watch on in horror before running. Harrison can’t stop crying and wringing his hands wondering how long until they’re miraculously rescued, while Rhys can tell Sloane is battling demons of her own and works to break down the barricade she’s put up to protect her personal pain. Throw in a zombie teacher break-in, an explosion, too many alpha males in close quarters, some hormonal hook-ups, and a shooting, and you’ve got a story you won’t be able to put down.

Summers is a master at building slow dread and doesn’t hesitate to hit you with a punch to the gut when you least expect it. During a few confrontations, I had to remind myself to breathe, and towards the very end, my husband had to leave and watch “Storage Wars” in another room because he said I was gasping and saying, ‘Oh no,’ too much – pfft, like he doesn’t gasp and say ‘Oh no’ at some of the bum deals those peeps end up with on “Storage Wars.”

While I liked Summers’ other books well enough, This Is Not A Test cements my fangirldom. Her next book, All the Rage, is set for a 2013 release and is a mystery involving something sinister that happens to a girl who tries to blackmail her rich classmates. To learn more about Courtney Summers, her novels and follow her on her blog, go to http://www.courtneysummers.ca/ .

Ripper – Stefan Petrucha

Put away your fangs, vamps. Retract your claws, werewolves. Stop flapping your wings, angels. See a dietician about your bad eating habits, zombies. The original big bad bogeyman is back and ready for a smackdown in your overcrowded Y.A. market – that would be Ripper. Jack the Ripper.  In the past year alone, no less than three Y.A. books have revisited the Ripper murders – first, as a modern update (Maureen Johnson’s excellent, The Name of the Star, which is set to be a series), then as a historical retelling (Amy Carol Reeves’ Ripper), and now as a steampunk reimagining of Ripper loose in 1890s New York City in Stefan Petrucha’s Ripper.

Ripper opens with Saucy Jack seemingly picking up where he left off seven years earlier in Whitechapel (a suburb of London) where he notoriously stabbed and mutilated the bodies of five women (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_ripper).  The killings abruptly stopped and the notorious serial killer was never caught, though to this day, numerous theories abound as to his identity. But what if they stopped overseas because Jack packed his knives and moved across the Atlantic? Hmm…

When two socialites end up dead Ripper-style in 1895 New York City, young NYC Police Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt seeks to assure the public that the killer will be caught – and squash the rumor that it’s Jack the Ripper, as letters written in the original Ripper’s handwriting to the newspapers and police would have them to believe. Enter undercover agent Albert Hawking and his 14-year-old orphaned protégé, Carver Young. Hawking has just recently taken Carver under his wing to train the boy to be a part of the New Pinkertons, a secret detective agency bent on using new gadgetry to help solve difficult crimes. The New Pinkertons have studied the original Ripper murders and letters and believe ol’ Jack is indeed alive and well and recreating his murders to impress someone very important to the killer – his son. His son, y’say? What son?! Why it seems none other than young Carver Young is Ripper Jr. - dun dun DUN!!

Before leaving the orphanage with Hawking, Carver manages to sneak into his file and steal a letter his father had sent to him there. Carver can tell from the letter that is father is shady, but little does he know daddy’s the most infamous serial killer on the planet! As the murders continue and tension in the city mounts, Hawking allows the boy to slowly figure things out for himself, so Carver can best decide how to handle the disturbing revelation and help stop his dad.

Told in brief but high action chapters (85 to be exact!), Ripper rips along at a good pace with a fun cast of characters - some real, such as Jack the Ripper, Teddy Roosevelt and his outspoken daughter, Alice, and Sarah Edwards, the crazy cat lady cat killer. Cool gadgets like rudimentary stun guns, one-man elevators, speaking tubes, office periscopes, and electric carriages all make appearances, and Petrucha knows how to keep those plot twists coming – so much so, that I didn’t see the big reveal at the end coming at all…and I’m not completely sure I buy it. That said, it’s a fun enough read and leaves the door open for more adventures for Carver and the New Pinkertons.

You can learn more about the author, book and view the Ripper book trailer at  http://www.petrucha.com/Books/Ripper.htm .

The Masque of the Red Death – Bethany Griffin

First off, fist pound to Edgar Allan Poe who is the ONLY old school author students universally love. Nathaniel Hawthorne? Nothing but haterade. Mark Twain? Sadly underappreciated. F. Scott Fitzgerald? One big 'meh.' Harper Lee? Love or hate. But Poe? In my 20 years of school librarianhood, I’ve never met a tween or teen who didn’t think Poe was THE MAN. It is a fact that any edition of The Complete Works of Poe will get the most 800s check-out love. God bless you and your dark musings, Mr. Poe.

Bethany Griffin’s The Masque of the Red Death, the first in a series, isn’t so much a rewrite of the Poe short story as a steampunk re-imagining of the back story behind Poe’s tale. In a world decimated by a deadly plague, how do the remaining survivors carry on? Do they live as if nothing is happening outside their windows or weep and wait in a dark corner for sure death? In Griffin’s world as in Poe’s, one’s social status has a little to do with that answer…

Araby Worth is the daughter of the scientist who created special porcelain masks that, if worn, keep away the contagion. Of course, only the rich can actually afford these masks so only the rich are afforded the luxury of stepping over the poor dead bodies in the street on the way to their nightly visits to the Debauchery Club – which is just that, a club with drugs, sex and 1800s-style rock ‘n’ roll. Araby lives locked away with her father and mother in the Akkadian Towers, apartments which rise high above the city further protecting them from the death and disease below, except when Araby goes out with bestie April to The Debauchery Club. Decked out in their expensive, corseted gowns, with their vivid-hued hair and glittery make-up,  April and Araby take full advantage of their time partying with the privileged at the DC as a way to forget the death and chaos lurking outside its club walls.

Things change for Araby one night after a bad drug hit. Will, a maskless but oh-so-hot and tattooed club security guard, takes Araby back to his place to help her recover. There she meets Will’s younger brother and sister and sees first-hand how the other half live. Will’s young sister, Elise, is able to wear a mask since Will saved up money to buy one for her – his brother Henry isn’t so lucky. Araby determines to speak with her father and see if he can secure a mask for her to give to Henry.

Masks are scarce, though, even to Araby and her family since the city’s mad ruler, Prince Prospero (who also happens to be April’s uncle), only allows a certain number to be produced and sold. It’s his sadistic way of lording his power over the citizens and ensuring enough of the poor masses die so he can stay in control. Nice guy. Meanwhile, there’s another whack-a-doodle known as Reverend Malcontent, who is working underground to overthrow Prince Prospero, rid the city of masks and let God sort it all out. You’ll either die or not die, and God will be the ultimate determiner of that, so says the Rev.

Annnnnnd somewhere in the middle of these two crazies is April’s brother, Elliott. Elliott can’t stand his uncle because, duh, PP’s sick and twisted AND he killed April and Elliott’s father in front of them with a knife across daddy's throat. Therapy for the two isn’t available – but revenge is! Elliott sanely reasons if enough masks can be produced, then rich and poor both can be protected, Prospero can be overthrown, and order and life possibly restored to the city. To achieve this, Elliott sets his sights on Araby – afterall, a hook-up with Araby means access to her dad’s information on producing the masks. Clever. Transparent, but clever.

The first half of the book drags a bit as Griffin sets all this up, but once this back story is out of the way, the action really takes flight and the characters come to life. Why do Araby’s parents treat her so coldly? What happens to April when she mysteriously disappears after a night at the DC with some older men? Prince Prospero, Reverend Malcontent and Elliott – who’s the real Big Bad in all this? And what of the love triangle with Araby, Elliott and Will – who truly cares for Araby and will be able to break the porcelain mask she figuratively wears to protect her heart? Just when you think you've got it all sorted, Griffin throws in a plot twist and leaves you guessing again! What's worse, since it's the first in a planned series, don't expect things to wrap up into one nice, big, velvety gothic bow bustle at the end either. The cruelty...

Griffin is currently a middle school teacher who appreciates the importance of pairing current Y.A. literature with the classics. Can’t help but feel in this case, Poe would approve. To learn more about Bethany Griffin and this book, check out her website at http://www.bethanygriffin.com/masque.html .