Slasher Girls & Monster Boys Anthology​

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys stories selected by April Genevieve Tucholke
Series: N/A
Publisher: Speak
First published August 18th, 2015
Genres: Anthologies, YA, Horror, Paranormal
Pages: 416
Format: Paperback
Buy: Book Depository | Amazon

For fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Lois Duncan, and Daphne Du Maurier comes a powerhouse anthology featuring some of the best writers of YA thrillers and horror

A host of the smartest young adult authors come together in this collection of scary stories and psychological thrillers curated by Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’s April Genevieve Tucholke.

Each story draws from a classic tale or two—sometimes of the horror genre, sometimes not—to inspire something new and fresh and terrifying. There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat. From bloody horror to supernatural creatures to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, this collection has something for any reader looking for a thrill.

Fans of TV’s The Walking Dead, True Blood, and American Horror Story will tear through tales by these talented authors:

Stefan Bachmann, Leigh Bardugo, Kendare Blake, A. G. Howard, Jay Kristoff, Marie Lu, Jonathan Maberry, Danielle Paige, Carrie Ryan, Megan Shepherd, Nova Ren Suma, McCormick Templeman, April Genevieve Tucholke and Cat Winters.

I was really excited to read this during the Spookathon. It’s perfect Halloween material! It has a lot of amazing authors and I generally enjoy anthologies! But dark anthologies? I’m so ready for this! I’m most excited to read Leigh Bardugo’s story, Marie Lu’s story and Cat Winters’ one since I like a lot of their books. But I’m also excited to get to know some new authors, and who knows? I might find a favorite!

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The Birds of Azalea Street by Nova Ren Suma – 5 stars

This was such a good short story! It was beautiful and mysterious and magical. It’s about a guy that is seen by everyone as being good. But our main characters, 3 teenagers, know that’s not true. But who would believe them?! After all, they are just teenagers, what would they know? It’s a powerful story joined with fantastic elements and… birds!

In the Forest Dark and Deep by Carrie Ryan – 5 stars

Holy… I loved this so much! Such a grotesque and horrifying Alice in Wonderland retelling! This is my favorite story so far, and believe me, I loved the first one. This one tho, might not be for everyone. But if you like tense atmosphere, horror and a lot of blood, well, you will love this! I’m not into every type of horror but this is for sure my type. It’s set in a forest and it has everything I love from Alice in Wonderland – tea parties, the rabbit and a lot of weird things happening. It’s creative, disturbing, dark and extremely unexpected.

Emmeline by Cat Winters – 4.5 stars

I’m not too much into historical fiction but I adore Cat Winters stories! They are just so dark and fascinating! She always has a way of making me side with the villains. It’s set during WWI, which is one of my favorite historical fiction topics and it has a bit of romance in it. It’s a sad and gripping story and quite haunting too.

Verse Chorus Verse by Leigh Bardugo – 4 stars

This was something… It was a bit slower than the last ones but it was disturbing! It was dark and dripping with some paranormal elements, which I wasn’t expecting. Joined with a “realistic” story about a teenager-star sentenced to rehab, and her mother. But this rehab is nothing like ever seen before. It’s quite weird, or let’s say… unique. It was not the story I was expecting from Leigh Berdugo but it was pretty damn good and extremely creepy!

Hide and Seek by Megan Shepherd – 4 stars

Another really great story! This one is all about Death. Annie, our main character dies and Crow Cullom comes to take her soul. But she knows from when she was a child, all the death tales her grandmother used to tell her. She remembers that she can cheat death if she wins a game against it. She chooses to hide and seek and during 24 hours she has to survive all the traps death sets. But how can one hide from a force of nature? It had some really interesting surprises and it was fast, gripping and exciting.

The Dark, Scary Parts and All by Danielle Paige – 2.5 stars

This story is based on Frankenstein and the movie The Omen, which I really like. It started okay but it just kept going downhill? The Omen is a freaking creepy movie and this just got too meh. I was expecting something more on the line of Things We Have in Common and instead I got some high school drama romance with supernatural. It could have been so much better.

The Flicker, The Fingers, The Beat, The Sigh by April Genevieve Tucholke – 3 stars

This story is inspired by Carrie by Stephen King, which I have yet to read and the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer, which I could definitely see a resemblance with. It’s not a scary story but it’s dark and tense. It made me feel powerless and sad.

Fat Girl With a Knife by Jonathan Maberry – 2.5 stars

This is definitely not my type but it was still good. I don’t wanna say too much about it but if you read any other book from  Jonathan Maberry you know what this is going to be about. I’m not a fan of the topic but I really did like our main character, Dahlia. There’s nothing that much surprising about the plot but Dahlia is quite an interesting and strong character, and I liked reading about her.

Sleepless by Jay Kristoff – 4.5 stars

This was unexpected… Real liked this one. It’s extremely dark and full of twists! It’s one of the creepiest stories until now and I actually haven’t seen the movie that it’s based on… But I am for sure excited to! It’s in a way realistic, but it does have some supernatural into it that I loved!

M by Stefan Bachmann – 3 stars

This one is quite interesting. The main character is a blind girl and she is trying to find the murderer that is in the house. Plus there are children singing creepy rhymes! It’s definitely an unusual story. I liked how dark and creepy it was, but the end didn’t fully satisfy me.

The Girl Without a Face by Marie Lu – 5 stars

Wow… This was so incredibly unsettling! What a story. It was creepy, it was dark, it was mysterious and it was extremely thrilling and tense. It has both realistic and supernatural elements and it reaches a point that you don’t know what is real anymore. It’s so creepy! And all the closets and mirrors, holly… This was not at all easy to read! This is what I consider horror to be like. Can’t say too much about it tho… Just read it!

A Girl Who Dreamed of Snow by McCormick Templeman – 3.5 stars

I’m a bit conflicted with this one, but I overall really liked it and wanted more. I loved the supernatural aspect in this story but I wanted more of the plot. It was very interesting but too short. The world seems fascinating and I really liked the main character although I can’t say I know much about her. She seems like a bad-ass character with a golden heart.

Stitches by A.G. Howard – 5 stars

And we have another favorite. This was fantastic! It was creepy and gruesome, it had a tense side to it and an incredibly unexpected twist to it. This one is based on a very well known classic that many people love! Definitely not a story for everyone but if you like gruesome books like Stalking Jack the Ripper and Hunting Prince Dracula, this is perfect for you!

On the I-5 by Kendare Blake – 3.5 stars

Not one of my favorites but I love the theme and the main character. It’s creepy, tense and utterly sad. It’s a really good story, with a slight supernatural theme to it, which is different from what I normally read. It’s strong and the theme, like I said, is one I really enjoy reading about and an important one. Also, it’s slightly unexpected – at first I didn’t know what direction the story was going to take, so I have to say, although I’m pleased with it, it could have been stronger.

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This is the best anthology book I’ve seen so far. it’s incredible. If you like creepy stories of either horror, mystery, thriller or supernatural, this is the book for you! There are stories here that are truly incredible and they will leave you tense and creeped out for sure. I couldn’t choose a top 3. I have 4 favorites and they are all incredible. The Birds of Azalea Street, In the Forest Dark and Deep, Stitches and The Girl Without a Face. They are perfect and they are followed really close by Emmeline. 

Especially those are AMAZING and I would highly recommend these stories and obviously this book, especially during Halloween, it’s perfect!

Have you read this yet? What did you think of it? Let’s discuss it in the comments below!

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