Dead Connections by Charlie Price

"They are not graveyards. I hate it when people say that. They are cemeteries. The one I know best is Forest Grove. I spend most of my time there. That's where most of my friends are. I don't spend much time with the older people. I figure they deserved it. Not deserved it, really, but what could they expect? After forty, you're going to die. The ones my age and the children, they almost all need someone to talk to. I comfort them the best I can. They weren't ready. They'll tell you that. They're not jealous or mean or scary like you might think. Just really lonely. Everybody needs a friend."

Murray spends most of his free time in the local cemetery. It's probably because all of his friends are there. Murray speaks to the dead. Now he's hearing a new voice and doesn't know how to help. Told in many voices from many points of view, this unusual page-turner follows the lives small town residents and their connections to one dead girl.

SLJ recommends grades 8 and up.

Learn more at HCL, Amazon, and here.

Devil's Footsteps by E. E. Richardson

"One in fire, two in blood. Three in storm and four in flood. Five in anger, six in hate. Seven fear and evil eight. Nine in sorrow, ten in pain. Eleven death, twelve life again. Thriteen steps to the Dark Man's door. Won't be turning back no more."

Five years ago Bryan's brother Adam disappeared. They'd been tempting fate while testing the local legend of the Dark Man--reciting the old rhyme while stepping down a stone path. Bryan had been too chicken to finish the rhyme. He'd turned and run from that terrifying spot in the woods. Adam was never seen again. Since then, Bryan has been tortured by nightmares. He's been coping with the overwhelming abscence of his brother. And he's noticed things. Things like the huge number of children that go missing from his town each year. And the fact that no one seems to notice. In the company of two unlikely companions, Bryan finally begins to confront his fears and his past by unraveling the horrific secret behind the Dark Man and his rhyme.

E. E. Richardson's first novel is a page-turning, heart pounding, sleeping with the lights on, devilish delight!

Learn more at HCL and Amazon.

Subjects: Supernatural, Brothers, Missing Children, Horror Stories.

(SLJ recommends grades 6-9)