If you’re sitting around a campfire on a spooky night glowing with a full moon and someone asks, “Tell us a scary story,” be smart and don’t tell them the one about the girl who has the power to kill ghosts. Why frighten those kids with nightmares filled with spooks and demons? But if a…
Looking for an interesting book to read? On April 21-22 the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be presenting its 23rd annual event on the University of Southern California campus. Five hundred authors, celebrities, musicians, artists, and even chefs will be featured. Admission to the festival is free. There will be over 230 booths…
Alice the Player is the third novel in the Serenity House series by A.W. Exley. This series is a sequential one meaning the author has connected the plots of her novels chronologically so readers are best served beginning with book one. In this case that’s Ella the Slayer (read Pop’s review). Alice the Player picks…
Ella the Slayer isn’t your everyday fairytale adaptation of the Cinderella fantasy. Eleanor Cowie’s father is a knight and her deceased mother, who died when Ella turned ten, was a humble maid. Prior to fighting in the Great War (WWI), Eleanor’s father, Sir Jeffrey, married Elizabeth, the mother of two daughters, Louise and Charlotte. When…
Holiday shopping is right around the corner. Are you really looking forward to spending hours fighting for a parking spot or waiting in long checkout lines at Macy’s, Sears, or Best Buy? If you want to avoid the hassles, think about buying your favorite child a book this year. You will want your book choice…
About the Book Title: Monsterland Author: Michael Okon Genre: YA Welcome to Monsterland—the scariest place on Earth. The last couple years of high school have not been fun for Wyatt Baldwin. His parents divorce, then his dad mysteriously dies. He’s not exactly comfortable with his new stepfather, Carter White, either. An on-going debate with his…
Flying to the Fire is the second book in Elyse Salpeter’s Flying Series. The central character, Danny Anderson, a thirteen-year old deaf child with special gifts, has the unique talent of communicating with the souls of the dead. In the first book in the series, Flying to the Light, Danny is six when a crazy corrupt…
Many young readers may not know much about “Twilight Zone,” an anthology series hosted by Rod Serling that ran for five seasons from 1959-1964. Episodes included psychological horror and thrillers, fantasy and science fiction. Usually an episode ended with a macabre twist. Author Majanka Verstraete undoubtedly was influenced by Serling’s TV show when she wrote…
Throw away your cell phones and euthanize your chihuahua for Earth is ensnared in a global epidemic. For about two decades the world community has been battling Human-Animal Conflict (HAC) where animal behavior has gone amok. Wild and domestic animals are attacking innocent people. The theory accepted by the scientific community explains that the phenomenon is due to an abundance of…
Ricket Row is an anthology of creepy horror tales by Elyse Salpeter, the author of The Mannequins. A few of the short stories read more like outlines while others were well developed short stories with satisfying endings. Many of the stories included zombies, vampires, and ghosts—welcomed fare for creepy tales of horror. “Mrs. O’Malley’s Children”…