Shiver Point by Gabriel Dylan

The Shiver Point series is a brilliant spooky read for the season. We are thrilled to share author, Gabriel Dylan’s recommendations for other books that are perfect for the spooky season!!

Aliens. Scarecrows. Werewolves.

In the first three books of my middle grade horror series, Shiver Point, the Shiver Squad have had to face monsters galore, with more to come when book four is released in February.

But if you and your children have already visited Shiver Point, and you’re looking to get a monster fix this spooky season, here’s some timely recommendations of my favourite Halloween monsters and where you can find them :

Zombies

I’ve heard a lot of people say that zombies are out of fashion right now, but my 11 and 13 year-olds don’t think so, and I do love a good zombie film or book. I know it sounds weird, but there’s something strangely cosy about a group of characters locked in a supermarket or school whilst a horde of marauding zombies pound at the doors. And whilst they aren’t strictly zombies, Dan Smith’s Invasion of Crooked Oak, with its strange fungus pods that quickly take over a quiet, ordinary town, has some great creepy sequences, especially when the three main characters get chased through the empty streets by the town’s zombified inhabitants. If you’re looking for something even scarier, try Charlie Higson’s The Enemy series, where a group of teen survivors try to survive the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse!

Vampires

I know you shouldn’t really have favourites, but I do have a soft spot for vampires. Ever since I watched Salem’s Lot at a sleepover with friends when I was way too young and got introduced to Barlow, the head vampire, I’ve found them the scariest and most fascinating monsters of all. And one of my favourite vampire books of recent years is Amy McCaw’s excellent Mina series, with great Buffy vibes, a cool New Orleans setting and some seriously nasty vampires. And if you like your vampires mixed with snow and deserted ski resorts, my debut novel for teen readers, Whiteout, might give you the chills.

Ghosts

Ghosts and ghouls feature quite heavily in Shiver Point: Beneath the Ghostly Graves, out early next year, and I do love a good ghost story. Two great haunted stories of recent years that mix chills and ghostly goings on are Hayley Hoskins The Whisperling, and Phil Hickes Shadowhall Academy. Both feature some very creepy and gothic scenes, including children trapped in school walls whilst playing Hide and Seek, and strange, magical gifts that allow people to talk to the dead. Eek!

Witches

I’ve always found witches very scary; I think maybe this comes from watching The Wizard of Oz when I was really little, or from the time that a very drunken man mistakenly jumped on me when I was watching the end of The Blair Witch Project in the cinema because he thought I was one of his friends. Or maybe it comes from this, a book my mum used to read to me when I was little, and one that I still scare my four year-old with now. Teeny Tiny and the Witch Woman has got all the classic ingredients; deep, dark woods, creepy cabins, and witches that like to eat small children, and it’s scary, but not too scary. If you can find it, it’s a great one to read to little ones. And it just might have been part of the inspiration for something secret I’ve been working on recently…

Happy Halloween!

Shiver Point: Under A Howling Moon by Gabriel Dylan is out now, published by Piccadilly Press

 

Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Federation.