Horror- & Geistergeschichten

Even the lightest hearts have shaded corners to hide the black thoughts that come at night. Experience the darker side of YA as 13 authors explore the places that others prefer to leave among the shadows.You’ve been there.It’s dark and you’re comfortable. You’re just about to fall asleep when you can’t help but wonder if maybe tonight the thing you’ve always been sure exists will finally find you.The best short stories stick with you, and the stories in this book especially, are meant to cast long shadows. The authors who contributed to this anthology are not only familiar with what lurks among the shadows, we choose to spend time there. Our monsters all live in different places—under beds, beside peaceful streams, inside ourselves, down mine shafts, in the sky. The darkness you’ll find in these pages knows no boundaries, so it’s only fitting that these stories cover many genres.Reality can be just as terrifying as anything our imaginations conjure, which is why the darkness in these pages isn’t relegated just to flights of fancy or the paranormal. In choosing such a wide range of stories, our hope is that everyone will find something to make them clutch their bedcovers a little closer.In realistic contemporary stories from Joelle Charbonneau and Kelly Fiore, depression, addiction, obsession, and isolation are all the stuff of nightmares. Other stories by Justina Ireland, Phoebe North, and Geoffrey Girard straddle the line, making us question what is real and what is false. Mindy McGinnis explores the question of not knowing yourself, while Kate Karyus Quinn speculates on the effect of learning that every terrible thing that’s ever happened to you has been manufactured for the entertainment of others.Demitria Lunetta and Gretchen McNeil each take a closer, horrific look at human nature. Lenore Applehans delves into a post-apocalyptic future, while R.C. Lewis discovers the darkness that lurks on another planet in her science fiction narrative. Then of course there are the paranormal stories from Beth Revis and Lydia Kang, each digging into the many types of monsters that might wait for us in the dark.Overall, you’ll find a wide range of horrors represented, including demons, aliens, and one of the most frightening creatures ever—human beings.So set aside an hour or two, switch on some lights and come join us… among the shadows.

Reads from right to left in the traditional manga format.

Definitely Not Kansas is the first volume of the Nocturnia Cycle, a series for both adults and young readers, middle grades and up. Two remarkable, adventuresome kids-Emma and Ryan-discover a parallel world that is the source of all our most well-known monsters. Werewolves, vampires, mummies, trolls, zombies? Certainly. But the world of Nocturnia is also home to some more esoteric creatures such as Rakshasa, Djinni, Ethereals, and the Silent Ones. Welcome to Nocturnia, where the monsters have their own nation states and humans are either slaves, or food, or both. Where even the flowers will suck your blood if you venture near. Emma and Ryan have followed the trail of their missing older brother, Telly. When they discover that Telly is not only in Nocturnia, but also involved with the one entity that could bring an end to the human world, Emma and Ryan begin a desperate search to find him and escape the parallel world of nightmares. As they search, they come to suspect that they did not arrive in Nocturnia by accident. But if not, why are they here? Are their destinies somehow entwined with this nightmare world?The first of a trilogy.

There''s something different about Sarah Town. It''s brimming with ghosts - and some of those ghosts need help! That''s where the GHOST Group comes in - the Ghost Helpers of Sarah Town. The GHOST Group is made up of five 11-year-old team members: Jesse, Jenny, Ryan, Trent, and Cassie.The Ghost of the Irish Setter is a "ghost dog" story where team member Jesse must come to terms with losing his dog, Lolly, after she ran away. A ghost dog that is an Irish setter seeks Jesse''s help, but when the rest of the GHOST Group join the case, it becomes a matter of life or death after Cassie and Ryan are kidnapped! Can the GHOST Group help the ghost dog? And can Jesse find out what really happened to Lolly?In The Ghost of the Missing Hiker, a day of April Fool''s hijinks turn into another mystery for the GHOST Group. Meanwhile, the group''s helper ghost, Adam, has some bad news for the team, and Jenny realizes she must accept her special gift and learn how to use it so she can help other ghosts in Sarah Town.

"Give Me a D-I-E!" Newcomers Corky and Bobbi Corcoran want more than anything to make the cheerleading squad at Shadyside High. But as soon as the Corcoran sisters are named to the team, terrible things happen to the cheerleaders. The horror starts with a mysterious accident near the Fear Street cemetery. Soon after, piercing screams echo through the empty school halls. And then the ghastly murders begin... Can Corky and Bobbi stop the killer before the entire cheerleading squad is destroyed?

"One of the most feared of a witch''s powers is that of the evil eye..." After throwing Mrs. Tuggle''s evil glass eye into the creek, Lynn and her best friend, Mouse, anticipate a soothing summer. But when Lynn notices some strange-looking purple plants growing down by the creek, she begins to worry. Is she imagining it, or are the plants sprouting right near where she threw the eye? What''s worse is that some girls from school may be starting their own coven of witches -- and Mouse might be getting sucked in! Does Mrs. Tuggle have unfinished business with them? And if so, can Lynn fight her evil again?

There's someone out there, someone who kills on Valentine's Day. Josie and Melissa are scared, especially when they receive threatening valentines. Then the murders begin. Who is sending these horrible valentines to the girls of Shadyside High? And who will be the next to die?

More tales of myth and magic from the master of children's storytelling.

A dark and twisted thriller from New York Times bestselling author of Thirst, Christopher Pike.

Jani freaks when her parents tell her they are moving to the country, away from the home she loves, the friends she's had since kindergarten, and all the horses at the riding stable. Her only consolation is that she can bring Keeta, her beautiful pinto mare, with her.But adventures await. While cleaning out the barn on their new property, Jani sees a swirl of movement beside the black, twisted stone in the corner. The barn is haunted!With the help of a new friend, Jani sets out to solve the mystery behind the wild, angry spirit and set it free.

Nightstruck: the start of a spooky yet romantic dark paranormal horror series from Glimmerglass author Jenna Black.The night is the enemy, and the city of Philadelphia is its deadliest weapon.Becket is an ordinary teenage girl, wrestling with the upheaval of her parents' divorce. A studious high school senior, her biggest problems to date have been choosing which colleges to apply to, living up to her parents' ambitious expectations for her, and fighting her secret crush on her best friend's boyfriend. But that all changes on the night she tries to save an innocent life and everything goes horribly wrong.Unbeknownst to her, Becket has been tricked into opening a door between worlds, allowing a dark magic into the mortal world. As the magic trickles in, the city begins to change at night. Strange creatures roam the streets, and inanimate objects come to life, all of them bloodthirsty and terrifying. The city returns to normal when the sun rises in the morning, and no one can capture the strange changes--such as potholes turning into toothy mouths and wires turning into strangling vines--on film, which prompts the government to declare that the city has been infected with some kind of madness and must be quarantined. Meanwhile, venturing out of one's house at night has become a dangerous proposition, and the moment the sun sets, most of the citizens of the city shut themselves up in their houses and stay there even in the case of dire emergencies.The magic is openly hostile to most mortals, but there are some individuals it seems to covet, trying to lure them out into the night. While Becket struggles to protect her friends and family from predatory creatures of the night, she is constantly tempted to shrug off all her responsibilities and join them. Joining the night world means being free of not just responsibility, but conscience, and it means no longer caring about the fate of others.