Amity by Micol Ostow Published by Egmontusa on 8-26-2014
Genres: Depression & Mental Illness, Horror & Ghost Stories, Law & Crime, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 368
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For fans of Stephen King and American Horror Story, a gruesome thriller suggested by the events of the Amityville Horror. Connor's family moves to Amity to escape shady business deals. Ten years later, Gwen's family moves to Amity for a fresh start after she's recovered from a psychotic break. But something is not right about this secluded house. Connor's nights are plagued with gore-filled dreams of demons and destruction. Dreams he kind of likes. Gwen has lurid visions of corpses that aren't there and bleeding blisters that disappear in the blink of an eye. She knows Amity is evil and she must get her family out, but who would ever believe her? Amity isn't just a house. She is a living force, bent on manipulating her inhabitants to her twisted will. She will use Connor and Gwen to bring about a bloody end as she's done before. As she'll do again. Alternating between parallel narratives, Amity is a tense and terrifying tale suggested by true-crime events that will satisfy even the most demanding horror fan. Releases simultaneously in electronic book format (ISBN 978-1-60684-380-2)
I would LOVE to welcome Micol Ostow to Good Books & Good Wine today! Micol is author of upcoming YA horror novel, Amity and she’s here to share her favorite horror novels with us. Stick around to the end to win a signed copy of Amity!
Ooh, I love this topic, because, as you may have guessed, I LOVE scary stories!
At the very top of the list would have to be Stephen King’s The Shining. I’m an enormous groupie of all King’s work, but perhaps more than any of his other novels, The Shining is the one I come back to time and again. His Overlook Hotel as a sentient being, a re-imagined nexus of evil a la Shirley Jackson’s Hill House, is iconic, and I also love the larger question of whether a person is innately evil, or becomes evil under an external influence. I consciously modeled a lot of Connor’s journey in Amity after Jack Torrance.
And of course, I have to mention (again) Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, which, as discussed, is the absolute number one ne plus ultra haunted house tale. Psychological horror done right-est.
As for YA horror, it’s a genre that is not as populated as you might think, once you filter out paranormal romance, sci-fi, and dystopian from the category. I have to shout-out to the brilliant Adele Griffin’s Tighter, an update of Henry James’ classic ghost story, The Turn of the Screw. Atmospheric, chilling, and a phenomenally unreliable narrator. I also devoured (no pun intended) Courtney Summers’ This is Not a Test, thanks to the pathos and humanity she brought to the zombie trope.
And finally, if you want to get your little one hooked on horror from day one, there are some fantastic spooky picture books out there! (Grimms’ fairy tales, original flavor, anyone?) The wild things of the eponymous Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak) were pretty intense for me as a small child at bedtime. And while it is not actually scary at all, I also adore Peter Brown’s My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I am Not.), which has a great message and turns the “scary grown-up” angle on its ear.
Happy (scary) reading, people!
Check out the rest of the tour here!
Don’t miss tomorrow’s stops at Book Chic Club and Book Briefs
GIVEAWAY: Win a signed hardcover of Amity by using the rafflecopter. US and Canada addresses only. Must be 13 or older to enter. I won’t sell your information.
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My favorite scary movie is Insidious. It’s not that it’s scary though to me; I just really love the story.
My favorite scary movie is Scream. Though, it’s not really a horror movie. I also really like When A Stranger Calls. Nice slow build, plus, that house is amazing.
The Bone Collector 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
The movie Psycho is an old favorite. I also really like the first Alien movie, that’s a scary one. Thanks
My favorite scary movie is The Shining.
Omg this looks amazing
Favorite scary movie: the classic 1970’s & 1980’s – I grew up watching Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street. etc. But if I have to pick just one as a favorite, it would definitely be Halloween.
Favorite scary novel: Red Dragon. That book STILL haunts me…
Happy Reading and Good Luck to All!
Crys
My favorite scary movie is the Thirteen Ghost! Thanks for the giveaway.
Haunting of Connecticut
My favorite horror novel is The Exorcist. Nice giveaway!
I LOVE scary books! Love them. In high school I lived on a steady of diet of John Saul. So good (in a bad way!). I also loved The Shining. It is my favorite Stephen King novel of all time. J
My favourite movie ever is Disturbia, which is actually more a thriller than a horror but it’s still super creepy! As for books, Ilsa J. Bick’s Ashes trilogy is absolutely terrifying. It’s just so grim and dark.
My favorite scary move and book is an oldie, but goody…The Fog! It has been remade as a movie a couple of times, but still, one NEVER knows what is coming out of that fog! LOL Also, IT by Stephen King, that book and movie scares the crap out of me, and has me forever afraid of clowns! lol
The walking dead i like.
I love Stephen King! His Dark Tower series is unbeatable, and I totally loved The Shining/Doctor Sleep duology.
Poltergeist is my favorite movie.
Nothing really scares me anymore, so none of them are my fave for scares, but I have always loved the original Halloween (NOT the Rob Zombie remake, which is rubbish!)
Definitely teh creepy stuff, like the Conjuring!!
thank you 🙂
Friday the 13th