The Creepy School Bus, Part Two

Hough, Paul. The Creepy School Bus, Part Two. 2025. B0DLYLQDZX. 

Even after last year's successful rescue, many unanswered questions plague Kaitlin and her friends. The identity of those responsible for the disappearances ofd many students remains a mystery, and the chilling possibility of the creepy school bus returning looms large. While Agent Warren and his FBI team are on high alert, the malevolent forces behind the buses prove incredibly potent, drawing everyone into a conspiracy far more profound than anyone initially conceived.

As more children vanish from school buses across the nation, Kaitlin and her allies are forced to confront an array of new and terrifying horrors. Their fight is not just to save their friends, but to permanently halt the sinister operations of the creepy school buses, facing dangers that push them to their limits in a desperate battle against an escalating evil.

It Found Us

Currie, Lindsay. It Found Us. 2023. 288p. ISBN 9781728259499.

Twelve-year-old Hazel Woods, a budding detective, finds herself unexpectedly drawn into a terrifying mystery when her friend Everett mysteriously vanishes after a game of hide-and-seek in the local cemetery. Hazel and her brother, Den, begin to uncover a series of eerie clues, including whispered counting, the scent of smoke, and a chillingly cold presence that seems to follow them. 

As they delve deeper, they realize that Everett's disappearance may be connected to the cemetery's dark history and the lingering spirits of its past. Hazel, with her keen observational skills and unwavering determination, must decipher the cryptic clues and uncover the truth before it's too late for Everett. 

This spooky mystery explores themes of friendship, loss, and the lingering power of the past, inviting readers to join Hazel on a thrilling and suspenseful journey to save her friend and unravel the secrets of the haunted cemetery.

Stinetinglers 4: 3 Chilling Tales by the Master of Scary Stories

Stine, R.L. Stinetinglers 4: 3 Chilling Tales by the Master of Scary Stories. 2025. 224p. ISBN 9781250367952.

Stinetinglers 4 presents a collection of chilling tales set in the town of Hollow Hills, each focusing on young protagonists facing sinister situations. In the first story, Tony's passion for old comics leads him into dangerous territory, threatening his very existence. In the second story, Kylie navigates a summer job at a pet store, where the more gruesome inhabitants begin to have a disturbing influence on her. Finally, in the third story, Teddy suspects his new substitute teacher harbors a monstrous secret, forcing him to weigh the risks of revealing the truth against enduring Mr. Howell's wrath.

Characteristic of R.L. Stine's signature blend of humor and nightmarish fun, Stinetinglers 4 aims to deliver scares and reinforce Stine's legacy in the horror genre. The individual stories, though promising in premise, sometimes feel constrained by their short format, potentially leaving readers wishing for more developed plots and deeper explorations of their unsettling magical elements.

When Devils Sing

Kaur, Xan. When Devils Sing. 2025. 388p. ISBN 9781250357175.

When Dawson Sumter vanishes, leaving only blood in a room at Neera Singh's family's struggling motel, it marks another unsettling disappearance in the rural Georgia town of Carrion. Such incidents are disturbingly common, particularly every thirteen years when a periodical cicada brood emerges, filling the air with their deafening cries. For Neera, Dawson's disappearance is a stark reminder of Carrion's harsh reality: the wealthy prosper, while the impoverished face grim fates.

Determined to uncover Dawson's whereabouts, Neera embarks on an investigation, joined by an unlikely trio: Isaiah, a judge's son and secret true crime podcaster; Reid, the son of the region's wealthiest man; and Sam, the estranged daughter of the local hitman. As they delve into a complex web of secrets and lies, they unearth a terrifying truth: the prosperity of the neighboring Lake Clearwater community is linked to an ancient source of power, rooted in the town's founding and an urban legend of three increasingly sinister devils. The teens must now confront the pervasive corruption and find a way to escape its insidious reach, before they become the devils' next victims.

Gritty and dark, When Devils Sing feature strong characters who aim to escape their own fate and set out on a life of their choosing, instead of suffering the circumstances imposed by others. The alternating point of views propel the story forward, and add to the tension building as the teens discover dangerous clues. Fans of horror will enjoy this story.

Boys with Sharp Teeth

Howell, Jenni. Boys with Sharp Teeth. 2025. 400p. ISBN 9781250334596.

Seventeen-year-old Marin James has always lived on the periphery of the prestigious Huntsworth Academy, where students often look down on the town folk. When her cousin's dead body is discovered on school grounds, she immediately points the finger at Adrian Hargraves and Henry Wu. These two enigmatic yet dangerously alluring boys are the undisputed leaders of Huntsworth's social elite, and Marin is convinced they are responsible for her cousin's death.

Determined to seek justice, Marin trades her usual ripped jeans for a prep school skirt and infiltrates Huntsworth. However, her mission quickly becomes complicated as she finds herself unexpectedly drawn to her new life and to Adrian and Henry, who, despite their dysfunctional and depraved nature, seem to understand her in a way no one else ever has. As Marin unearths an otherworldly secret hidden within the academy's ivy-covered walls, the distinctions between good and evil, love and hate, and even reality itself begin to blur, revealing that nothing at Huntsworth is truly as it appears.

Despite intense attraction and repulsion between characters, Boys with Sharp Teeth is explicitly not a romance. It successfully creates an addictive, tension-filled reading experience, but the plot's direction is often unclear. Readers will ultimately experience the close relationship between love and hate, but will be left to wonder which of the two won in the end.

Inheritance of Scars

Seitz, Crystal. Inheritance of Scars. 2024. 416p. ISBN 9781665959926.

When Astrid's grandmother goes missing, she returns home to her ancestral village, a place her father removed her from when she was young. As a child, she loved spending time with her grandmother, who would tell her stories about the creatures that dwell in the Tiveden Forest, and especially of the King of the forest and of his bloodthirsty draugrs.  But her father feared something in this village, and he took Astrid away. Now she's back, and not much seems to have changed in the village.

Searching her grandmother's house, Astrid discovers a hidden chamber and inadvertently awakens Soren, a centuries-old warrior imprisoned within. Initially fearing him as a monstrous creature who has been imprisoned by Skaga, one of her ancestors. Soren at first believes Astrid to be Skaga, and it takes effort to convince him otherwise. As they spend time together, Astrid gradually realizes that Soren, while possessing supernatural strength, is not the villain he is perceived to be by the forest's residents.

As they delve deeper into the forest, facing perilous encounters with mythical creatures and uncovering a long-buried family secret, Astrid and Soren develop an unexpected connection. When Astrid suddenly discovers that her family, including her grandmother, is responsible for the horrors inside the forest, she must decide whether love or blood is stronger.

Inheritance of Scars explores themes of identity, family legacy, and the blurred lines between good and evil. While the world-building within the modern-day setting could be further developed. The captivating atmosphere within the ancient forest, filled with danger, intrigue, and a touch of forbidden romance help the story move along, and fans of fantasy and romance will enjoy this story set in an unfamiliar setting.

Strange, Dark & Mysterious: The Graphic Stories

MrBallen. Illustrated by Andrea Mutti. Strange, Dark & Mysterious: The Graphic Stories. 2024. 208p. ISBN 9781984863423.

What would you do if you thought there was a ghost coming into your room every night while you were spending a week skiing the White Mountains in New Hampshire? What if there were giants living in the mountains of Kandahar, in Afghanistan? What if there was a place so remote and dangerous that those who went panning for gold there simply disappeared? These are just some of the unexplained phenomena that Strange, Dark & Mysterious explores. All of the events described really occurred, yet there is no explanation for why they took place or even how they took place.

Some of the stories are not for the faint of heart. A German camp counselor has a nightmare that a crown of thorns is pushed on her head, only to awaken and realize that a fox has been mauling her while sleeping. Other stories, such as the beast of Gevaudan, are more well-known. But put together, these stories demonstrate that paranormal activities, where no scientific explanation exists, are taking place around the world.

Told in graphic novel form, the stories are captivating and are sure to inspire a fright or two! Fans of the paranormal will enjoy these true stories, but probably shouldn't read this late at night!

Perfect Girl

Banghart, Tracy. Perfect Girl. 2024. 304p. ISBN 9781250902863.

Unlike her brother, Jessa has always been the perfect girl. She follows all of the rules and is as straight-laced as can be. Her life is laid out in front of her, and everyone knows she will be a lawyer someday. Her brother Josh is the troublemaker in the family, and he's always in trouble. Jessa has had her eyes on Ryan, Josh's best friend, but fearing rejection, she refuses to even approach him. 

Over the last few months, several girls have gone missing in the next state. As her parents are attending the opera in town that evening and not returning until the morning, Jesse convinces them to let her invite her friends and have a sleepover, even if they are not here. Josh will be staying with Ryan. Jesse knows they don't need to worry about her or her friends Kellen, Alexis, and Tiny making trouble or breaking things, but Josh has previously left them with a lasting impression of a party gone bad. 

The four girls gather together for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon, only to experience a loss of power due to a thunderstorm. Josh and Ryan return to the house after getting into a fight with Ryan's parents. Jesse and Ryan are sent to the gas station down the street to call the utility and report the outage. On the ride, Jesse discovers that Ryan likes her but has promised Josh he would not date her out of respect for their friendship. When they come back, the house is empty and dark. 

Looking for her friends, Jesse finds Alexis passed out on the road. She is rescued by David, a senior who lives in the next house down the street. She soon finds herself inside with Alexis, as David's mother, a nurse, ministers to her hurt friend. But all is not well, as she quickly discovers David's creepy side and his mother's insane desire to find him the best wife. Caught in David's trap, Jesse must devise a plan to escape a killer and rescue her friends from certain death.

Perfect Girl is a great mystery, with the killer next door. The characters are realistic, and even if the plot is overly complicated, it is still an entertaining read!