Hey everyone! I'm going to the book store today and I'm quite in the mood for a dark book. I finished the twilight series, so I need a different path right now. I also adore books about teenagers and problems (Go Ask Alice, Fifteen and Pregnant, The Best Little Girl In The World etc). I attempted to find, on google, the original Alice in Wonderland--about the drugs and stuff-- but I couldn't find it.
I'm really looking for a dark and scary book. I really liked Stephen King's "IT" but I'm not sure if I want King at the moment. I AM considering Pet cemetery (or semetery as it's spelt on the cover, I think) since I saw the movie and fell in love so the book HAS to be great.
I'm not sure.
Any suggestions for good books?
- Lily
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I'd go with Stephen King. The Dark Tower Series or prehaps Salem's Lot if you like vampires.
I just finished that one. It was good, and weird.
As for dark ... if you're looking for, like, horror-story dark I'd recommend anything by Joseph Citro (especially Shadow Child) or Stephen King. Creepy~
Others you might like ... Dead Girls Don't Write Letters (by Gail Giles) or Invisible (by Pete Hautman), Feed (also by M.T. Anderson), The Wave (by Todd Strasser), Speak (by Laurie Halse Anderson).
Hm, not a genre I read much of, really. Hopefully those'll be a help.
(Also, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland isn't technically about a drug trip; it's just literary nonsense that's been interpreted as being about drugs. That wasn't the intent when it was written, though.)
A lot of stuff by Ted Dekker is dark and kind of creepy. I recommend "Thr3e," "House," or "Skin." I've heard that "Adam" was kind of freaky too, but I didn't read that one.
For fantastically creepy, go for the Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker or The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix. (That man has a warped mind.) "The Green Mile" is awesome too. It made me cry a lot though.
The Book Thief!
Lord of the Ringa goes without saying. Oh, and anything by George Orwell, or Ian McEwan.
Its not classed as horror persay but you should try Garth Nix's Sabriel, lirael, Abhorsen.
Its a fantasy thing, lots of undead and monsters, but the main characters are teenish girls.
A part in Lirael scared me so much I stayed up all night reading until the monster got defeated. but then again im a wimp, so maybe im not the best judge.
Ooh, I love terribly dark books.
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, by M.T. Anderson
Running With Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs and/or Mysterious Skin, by Scott Heim (they really are in the same category of creepy).
The Book of Fred, by Abby Bardi (not so much dark as very strange and amazing).
Looking for Alaska, by John Green (if you are alive you have to read this book).
The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak
Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov (in the same category as Running With Scissors and Mysterious Skin--what is wrong with me? @_@)
The Minister's Daughter, by Julie Hearn
Books that were not my favorite but that you might enjoy:
Invisible, by Pete Hautman
Lessons from a Dead Girl, by Jo Knowles
Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Well... Count of Monte Cristo is the only book that pops into my mind. Its by Alexandre Dumas...
It's not young adult, but have you ever read the Charlie Parker books by John Conolly?
They're kind of crime/horror and really creepy.
Basically Charlie Parker is a private dectective; his wife and daughter were killed by a serial killer called The Travelling Man, and since then he kind of sees dead people. He usually gets taken on for cases and ends up involved with some really evil characters. Two of his friends who regularly help him out are a gay couple, one of whom is an ex hit man and the other is a serial burglar with a seriously bad fashion sense. The books can seriously freak you out and have you laughing your head off at the same time. They're excellent.
The series so far is 'Every Dead Thing', 'Dark Hollow', 'The Killing Kind', 'The White Road', 'The Black Angel' and 'The Unquiet'.
They're easy to read either as a series or as stand alone. I read 'The Killing Kind' first and then went back and read the first two. Probably the creepiest are 'The Killing Kind' and 'The Black Angel'. I had trouble sleeping after reading those.
Or if you're looking for short stories, his collection called 'Nocturnes' is great too.
Ok, if you want something YA then I have a whole list of Authors:
) then 'Tamar' by Mal Peet is an excellent book.
Sue Mayfield
Stephanie Meyer
Gabrielle Zevin
Meg Rosoff
Melvin Burgess
Berlie Doherty
Kevin Brooks
Julia Green
Sarah Dessen
Bali Rai
If you want a book that's a bit deeper than the usual YA but still has that sort of style to it I'd recommend 'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult.
'Dracula' is a good one for something classically dark.
If you want a good war story (and I know you didn't ask for that but you never know
Also, if you want a really deep book then 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath is a good book.
As for Stephen King, 'The Green Mile' although I have not read it myself.
Hope you find something you like!
Alainna
xx
I haven't read any of these books (all the way through, at least), so consider these sort of second-hand recommendations. This is a list of books that my librarian suggested that we read during "banned book week" (she's very anti-censorship) so most of them do have lanauge, sexual themes, etc. but I figure some of these might fit into the "Fifteen and Pregnant" category:
Blame my librarian.
Any books by Ellen Hopkins - she does a lot of "distressed teenager" type things, all in verse-narrative style.
Teach Me by R.A. Nelson - Psychologically creepy book about a student/teacher relationship, really good according to one of my friends, despite the heavy subject matter.
A Room on Lorelei Street by Mary E. Pearson, also banned at some schools in our district XD.
The Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfield. This is supposed to be really good; verges on science-fictiony. I got bored after the first couple chapters just because I wasn't a fan of the style, but I have friends who swear by it.
Again, haven't read the above, so I own no fault if they're bad.
But books I actually have read:
Shade's Children by Garth Nix. The characterization is better in some of his other books (Abhorsen trilogy, etc) but this one is probably his darkest. Kind of a post-apocalyptic thing about teenagers who live in this really oppressive slave environment - I read it in 7th grade and it made me want to write a million stories.
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Awesome book about a traveling circus gone wrong, kind of a psychological-thriller type thing. It's very short, and Bradbury is really a master of this kind of story. Very dark.
Tithe by Holly Black. Pure teen-lit fantasy, but it definitely fits into the "dark" category; you'll probably enjoy it if you liked "Twilight." There are sequels, too.
...aaaand that's all I can think of.
I suggest The Possessed, by Dosteovsky.
A brilliant book.
(be prepared for verbosity beyond your wildest dreams. But it's a very good book none the less.)
-Pros
I'm wondering how you didn't find Alice in Wonderland? Haha, well, it's by Lewis Carroll, which might help you. I need to read that. Edit: Try looking for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland? *has no clue*
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by dark and creepy. Going off the fact that you like vampires, try The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, or, of course, Dracula by Bram Stoker.
I don't read a lot of YA things, so I can't help you on that topic. I don't read a lot of horror, either, but an amazing book horror book is House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski. It's an intense book; scared the heck out of me in some places.
A really strange but lovable book is Running with Scissors by Augustin Burroughs. *points to avatar* I saw the movie this weekend. XD It's real crazy though. If you do not have a tolerances for disgusting-strange things, or R topics, then don't get it. But otherwise, it's amazing.
Hope that helped! I could spew other book titles at you but I'm not sure how much you would enjoy them, heh.