The Running Bibliophile

The Dare by Natasha Preston is a young adult horror novel centered on Marley and her friends Atlas, Lucia, and Jesse, all seniors in high school. What begins as harmless, lighthearted senior pranks quickly takes a dark turn when Rhett starts assigning dares that are far more serious and dangerous. As the stakes rise, the question becomes whether Marley and her friends will survive the consequences of playing along. A huge thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced readers copy of The Dare by Natasha Preston. The last book I read by this author was well written and engaging, so I was excited to dive into her latest young adult horror story. From the start, the novel feels reminiscent of R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series, which instantly brought back a wave of childhood nostalgia. Unfortunately, that initial excitement didn’t last. Before long, the plot shifts into territory that felt eerily similar to the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer . At that point, my interest started ...

Too Scared To Sleep by Andrew Duplessie is a chilling collection of horror short stories that immediately brought to mind the eerie, unforgettable feeling of reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Each story delivers suspense, creepiness, and just enough unease to keep readers turning the pages late into the night. What truly sets this teen horror anthology apart is its interactive element: at the end of every story, there is a QR code that readers can scan to watch a short video connected to the plot. This creative feature adds a modern twist, enhancing the atmosphere and making the stories feel even more real and immersive. I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing me with an Advance Reader’s Copy (ARC) of this horror collection in exchange for my honest review. The synopsis immediately caught my attention, and I was excited for the opportunity to dive into these scary short stories. When I found out I had been approved to read it, I couldn’t wait to experience how the stories w...

Music From The Dead by Bebe Faas Rice is a young adult horror novel that was originally published in April 1997. The story follows Marnie and her cousin Peter as they drive to Stonycraig, a sprawling mansion that Marnie’s father has rented for the summer. Arriving ahead of her father, the cousins begin settling into the grand, mysterious home. Marnie is immediately uneasy when she thinks she sees a shadow in one of the windows, and her unease grows when she starts hearing a woman crying late at night. Are the ghost stories surrounding Stonycraig true, or is there another explanation for the strange occurrences in the mansion? I first read this book as a teenager and remember being captivated by both the story and the writing. Recently, I decided to revisit Music From The Dead as an adult to see if it lived up to my memories, and I was thrilled to discover that it exceeded them. The book remains exceptionally well-written and completely unputdownable. Even though certain plot points c...