Extremities: Stories of Death, Murder, and Revenge by David Lubar YP FIC LUBAR

A group of girls give their gym teacher a dose of her own medicine, a boy plots the perfect murder of his 'perfect' parent, a boy falls for a girl so beautiful she's to die for, and ten more tales of doom from David Lubar.

David Lubar opens by saying "This is not a book for children," but honestly I think this would be a pretty good read for horror fans of many ages.  Sure it has a good amount of death, dismemberment, and murderous teens, but the carnage and gore is kept to a nice minimum.  It makes for a nice alternative to the likes of Charlie Higson and Darren Shan's hyper-gory scare fests.  I love all the guts and grime of their books, but its nice to have creepy alternatives that don't get so vivid about viscera.  It reminds me of a modern update to the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series (J 398.25 SCHWARTZ), which is my gold standard for creepy!  The stories are almost all very quick.  Just long enough to set a mood and pull off a fun or sick or shocking (or a combination of the three) twist and end strong.  But he's really good at pacing the longer stories, so they are just as compelling as the quick ones.  His writing is super simple and very easy to read, which works very well for the type of page turning, look over your shoulder, goosebump raising stories he's writing.  A really fun and classically creepy read for the horror fans from casual to serious.
You can find Extremities in our catalog here.

Ghostgirl: Lovesick by Tonya Hurley YP FIC HURLEY

Charlotte Usher is totally invisible at school. Of course, that’s because she’s a ghost, but she still hates it. In the third installment of this trilogy Charlotte has to help the guy she used to love find love with someone else or she can never make it to the afterlife. Charlotte knows there is life after death, but what about love after death? Can she let go of her old love or will she be stuck as a Ghostgirl forever?

This is the third in a trilogy, so absolutely pick up the first two books if you haven’t already. The good news is that this is a very satisfying end to the series for Ghostgirl fans. All the major characters from the previous books come together in this one and have their storylines resolved. The books are funny and quirky, and even though they are super goth in style they are never depressing. The design of the books themselves is excellent, from the die cut covers, to the artistic chapter pages. The books are fun, short reads that are actually enjoyable beyond just their goth appeal.

The seer of shadows by Avi

An eerie ghost story set in New York City, in 1872, this chilling look at the early practice of photography will raise goosebumps and cause you to look over your shoulder at dark corners.

Fourteen-year-old Horace Carpetine has been apprenticed to an unknown photographer who intends to get rich from society portraits, and cheerfully concocts an elaborate scam to do so. Horace has been raised to approach things scientifically, and is more puzzled than scared when his manipulated photographs reveal haunting likenesses of a dead girl, Eleanora. Strange happenings and the discovery that Eleanora's death may not have been innocent convince Horace that her ghost has returned for a frightening revenge.

A deliciously scary, but poignant ghost story, which will stay with you long after you finish the book.