Blog Posts by Subject: Horror

One of the most common questions we get from our young readers is "Where are your scary books?" Unfortunately, books for children and teens that will keep readers on the edge of their seats are usually mixed in with the rest of the fiction section, so they can be a little tricky to find… until now.

The short stories of H.P. Lovecraft have always been personal favorites of mine. Ever since I read "The Call of Cthulhu" for the first time as a teenager, I have been hooked on Lovecraft's particular brand of supernatural fiction and the sense of cosmic horror his characters evoke.

It's the spookiest time of the year, when a young man's thoughts turn to scares and gore, children beg for scraps ... 'scuse me, I mean trick-or-treat, and people everywhere unleash their inner demons. In a good way, we hope! Here's a spotlight on cool apps for all ages to enhance your Halloween fun. There are iOS and Android apps to be found here, most of the them free and all of them good fun.

This is the third edition of Halloween reads, a sequel to Halloween Reads and Halloween Reads II: The Re-Ordering. I tried to have a theme to my previous posts and the theme of these can best be described mind candy: relaxing treats that you can read to keep you in the Halloween spirit since the holiday falls in the middle of week this year.

Our first NYPLarcade Game Club explored the works of thatgamecompany's Jenova Chen. In this six week series, we will look at a variety of horror-themed video games, from the terrifying Amnesia to the utterly bizarre Deadly Premonition to the experimental Dear Esther.

Cas Lowood uses his father's blade to send ghosts out of this world and back to where they belong. Cas used to help his father with this task, but now his father is dead, murdered by one of those evil spirits. Cas has battled with many ghosts in his time, but when he meets a ghost named Anna, his unusual life takes an even more dangerous turn.

Muchas han sido las historias que se han producido acerca de los espectros de la noche, y Sombras Tenebrosas (Dark Shadows) es una de ellas, la cual es una nueva producción basada en la famosa serie de televisión producida en los años 1966-1971, y estará presentándose en los teatros próximamente con el talentoso actor Johnny Depp, protagonizando el papel de Barnabas Collins. La obra presenta la historia de la distinguida famila Collins y Barnabas Collins, quien se convierte en una criatura de la noche por una maldición que le conjura Angelique, la bruja despechada.

¿Entonces porque no tratar otra historia similar que podrás igual disfrutar y la vez enriquecer el literario paladar?

Los juegos del hambre (The Hunger Games) de Susan Collins, que acaba de salir en estreno el pasado fin de semana ya sobrepasa los 150 millones de dólares, se desenlaza en un mundo futurístico que se genera después del Apocalipsis. Allí, los dueños del poder mantienen a sus ocupantes bajo el terror y para controlarlos, cada año, seleccionan al azar a un grupo de jóvenes para competir en una batalla a muerte. En esta terrible competencia ellos deben vencer todos 

By now we are well into The Servants by M.M. Smith. Our protagonist, Mark, is 11 years old and unhappy. Having just relocated to Brighton from London, he has no friends and spends the rainy, chilly days skateboarding by himself. Full of resentment against his new stepfather, David, and confused by his mother's illness, he meets an old lady who unlocks for him a bygone era in her basement flat in the 200-year-old house David owns.

I've been thinking about this post ever since Lady Gaga and Mayor Bloomberg hosted the New Year's ball drop, which made me think of her Monster's Ball tour, and of monsters, in general. Unfortunately, I have been a wee bit tardy in posting it, so some of these books are not exactly hot off the presses, but I think they are all great horror and science-fiction reads for 2012. As a bonus, some are available as e-book titles. Readers, engage!

A cemetery used to take up residence in the block bordered by Leroy, Clarkson, and Hudson streets. Jam-packed with stones, approximately 10,000 people took up their final resting place on this block. James J Walker Park now fills this space, and a single stone honoring firefighters who died in the line of duty over 150 years ago is all that remains of St. John's Burying Ground. Edgar Allan Poe used to wander this space — he found it inspiring, I suppose. His birthday is January 19.

Benny Imura was appalled to learn that the Apocalypse came with homework.

Thus begins Jonathan Maberry's new teen novel Dust & Decay, the eagerly-anticipated sequel to his 2010 novel Rot & Ruin.

A library patron (Marie Hansen, Young Adult Librarian) is returning her overdue items at the Jefferson Market Library in New York City. She soon discovers the library to be inhabited only by a strange and terrifying Ghoul (Frank Collerius, Branch Manager)! Created for The New York Public Library.