Slasher Girls and Monster Boys by April Tucholke

Title: Slasher Girls & Monster Boys
Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Pages: 400
Published: August 18th 2015 by Dial Books
Source: library
Links: goodreads,

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 Cat Winters 

I don't know what it is that made me pick up this book?? The cool book cover? The fact that it is short stories and I love them so much?  It was around Halloween and I was in the mood for a scary read?  What ever it was I am so glad that I did it... it was a good anthology.  I thought all the stories in it were really strong.  It was a little more mature ... so if you are uncomfortable with sex, or adult themes skip it.  Well.. it is a horror book so if you are easily scared you should skip this book too. One of the unique things about this particular anthology is that while you read a long you can make a guess as to what book/movie/song the story was influenced by.  There are stories influenced by Frankenstien, the Crow, Psycho, and many others.  I was able to guess a few and I thought that was super fun.  I do think though that that particular feature in the book should've been mentioned in the beginning in some sort of an introduction or something.  I got to the end of the first story and saw some fine print upside down on the last page flipped it over and read it. A little confused at the time.

I think what I enjoy most about short stories is the fact that I can get a taste of new authors and decide this way whether or not I want to read more of their books.  In fact, this is how I discovered Jim Butcher who now is a favorite author in our house.  I think this book would be a cool way to introduce young adults to the horror genre.  I think if they have never tried it before short stories are the way to go.  These stories actually stuck with me when I was finished.  There is a super super creepy Alice and Wonderland based story that just blew me away!  I debated reviewing each story here in the review but figured most people probably haven't read it so I might not be interesting to read about.  I noticed people did review each story on goodreads but only put.. yeah this one was great.  So that doesn't give much information about each story.  I'll just let you know that pretty much each story was perfect.  This is a good read anytime of the year!

5 stars!