I can’t say enough good things about this book. Like her long-missing mother, the protagonist is a literal monster… but Shesheshen displays more humanity than many of the “normal humans” she meets throughout the story. She even struggles with the feelings of affection she develops for one of these people: Does she actually love this human woman, or are her feelings rooted in a monstrous, biological urge? Oddly cozy in spite of its grotesque elements, Wiswell’s story asks readers to consider the nature of love, family, and identity and he wraps his questions in a scintillating origin story.

This YA title stands up just as well to adult audiences as it does to teens, and one of the ways it does so is by incorporating recognizable themes from U.S. history, as well as a variety of languages, into a supernatural set of tales. Following the winding branches of one indigenous family tree, “Man-Made Monsters” combines the family's generational stories with tropes and creatures from classic horror, bringing them together in an eerie homage to the Native American tribes of the southeast.

Published more than a quarter-century before Bram Stoker’s "Dracula," Carmilla is often considered one of the earliest examples of vampires in popular literature. My take on it is less forgiving than many; I can’t help but ask why a deep and loving friendship between two young women is portrayed as such a danger to one’s health and livelihood, but I still enjoyed the story a great deal. Frankly, my disagreement with Le Fanu’s sentiments on female connection kept me just as engaged with the text as any other reader.

This is book is an award-winning gothic horror, set in 1950s Mexico. It's centered on a young woman who receives a panicked letter from her newly married cousin, which then prompts her to visit. But over the course of her stay with her new in-laws, Noemí discovers that the family her cousin married into consider themselves the keepers of many things, including their luxurious - if dated - mansion, their rigid traditions, and the terrible secret they’ve guarded for generations. (An utterly gorgeous and memorable read from cover to cover—horror steeped in the historical flair and racial tensions of mid-century Mexico. To this day, I still can’t get over this story’s twist.)

There’s something about ‘homecoming season’ that lends itself to eerie and creepy stories. The "Autumnal" is no exception, using vivid illustrations to enliven a story about how home isn’t always a safe place—how sometimes, the idea of "home" is downright life-threatening in ways we might never have imagined.