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A Taste of Darkness book cover
A Taste of Darkness
13 spooky stories to savour
2023
First Published
3.75
Average Rating
448
Number of Pages

A chilling, thrilling collection of 13 haunting tales. Perfect for every YA reader! From supernatural thrillers to contemporary horror, creepy ancient legends to murders gone wrong - this insatiable anthology is impossible to put down, and even more difficult to forget. From some of the most celebrated authors writing in this space, this must-have collection will keep you awake at night and inhabit your darkest dreams. Co-curated by Amy McCaw and Mia Kuzniar, this anthology has a story for every reader out there. Perfect for fans of Stranger Things, Wednesday, and all things scary! Featuring stories from: Amy McCaw, Maria Kuzniar, Kat Dunn, Kat Ellis, Rachel Faturoti, Kathryn Foxfield, Dawn Kurtagich, Amy McCulloch, Cynthia Murphy, Melinda Salisbury, Louie Stowell, Rosie Talbot, Mary Watson.

Avg Rating
3.75
Number of Ratings
303
5 STARS
22%
4 STARS
37%
3 STARS
35%
2 STARS
5%
1 STARS
1%
goodreads

Authors

Cynthia Murphy
Cynthia Murphy
Author · 7 books

Cynthia is a YA writer from the North-West of England. She has always enjoyed writing and when her English teacher accused her of plagiarism in Year 8, she thought she might actually be quite good at it. She has a long-standing love affair with all things scary, reading Point Horrors at primary school before graduating to Stephen King in her misguided teens. Classic 90s and 00s horror movies are definitely her pub quiz strong point and her first love may well have been Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Studying for a degree in Art History and Archaeology meant that she developed a thirst for anything old, beautiful and very often dead. She tries to combine this with contemporary settings in her writing to make unique and chilling modern stories. Cynthia is married to her best friend and they share (are ruled by) a Romanian rescue dog called Loli, who loves to steal socks.

Kat Ellis
Kat Ellis
Author · 6 books

Kat Ellis is the author of YA novels WICKED LITTLE DEEDS / BURDEN FALLS, HARROW LAKE, PURGE, BLACKFIN SKY, and BREAKER, and the novella THE TWINS OF BLACKFIN in the THREE STRIKES collection. You'll usually find Kat up to no good on Twitter, trekking through ruins and cemeteries with her camera, or watching scary films with her husband. The best way to keep up to date on all Kat's bookish news is to subscribe to her newsletter, which you can do here: https://katelliswrites.us17.list-mana...

Louie Stowell
Louie Stowell
Author · 24 books
Louie Stowell started her career writing carefully researched books about space, ancient Egypt, politics, and science, but eventually she lapsed into just making stuff up. She likes writing about dragons, wizards, vampires, fairies, monsters, and parallel worlds. Louie Stowell currently works as the publisher of Ladybird Books and lives in London with her wife, Karen; her dog, Buffy; and a creepy puppet that is probably cursed.
Melinda Salisbury
Melinda Salisbury
Author · 15 books
Melinda Salisbury lives by the sea, somewhere in the south of England. As a child she genuinely thought Roald Dahl’s Matilda was her biography, in part helped by her grandfather often mistakenly calling her Matilda, and the local library having a pretty cavalier attitude to the books she borrowed. Sadly she never manifested telekinetic powers. She likes to travel, and have adventures. She also likes medieval castles, non-medieval aquariums, Richard III, and all things Scandinavian The Sin Eater's Daughter is her first novel. She can be found on Twitter at @MESalisbury, though be warned, she tweets often.
Mary Watson
Mary Watson
Author · 8 books
Find me on Instagram @marym_watson
Kat Dunn
Kat Dunn
Author · 6 books

Kat Dunn is the author of BITTERTHORN (May 2023), and the Battalion of the Dead trilogy: DANGEROUS REMEDY, MONSTROUS DESIGN and GLORIOUS POISON. She grew up in London and has lived in Japan, Australia and France. She has a BA in Japanese from SOAS and an MA in English from Warwick. She’s written about mental health for Mind and The Guardian, and worked as a translator for Japanese television.

Rachel Faturoti
Rachel Faturoti
Author · 2 books
Rachel Faturoti is a British-Nigerian YA and children’s fiction writer, editor, and poet with a passion for broadening the scope of authentic Black representation in YA and children’s fiction. She believes it’s important for readers to see themselves represented well in stories.
Rosie Talbot
Rosie Talbot
Author · 6 books

A lover of dark and tightly woven stories, Rosie is inspired by creepy things in junk shops, haunted houses and strange magic. She is a graduate of Curtis Brown Creative and Write Mentor. By day she works as a bookseller. By night, she spends time sewing big skirts with even bigger pockets and wondering why her family has a suspiciously large collection of cauldrons. She currently resides in a mysterious pocket of the Sussex countryside with her very patient spouse and two cats called Tinkerfluff and Captain Haddock. You can connect with Rosie via Tiktok and Instagram (@merrowchild) or on her website www.rosietalbot.co.uk.

Dawn Kurtagich
Dawn Kurtagich
Author · 9 books

Dawn Kurtagich is a writer of creepy, spooky and psychologically sinister YA fiction, where girls may descend into madness, boys may see monsters in men, and grown-ups may have something to hide. Her debut YA novel, THE DEAD HOUSE, was called "an evil and original story" by bestselling author R.L Stine and ""...a haunting new thriller..." by Entertainment Weekly. Her second novel, AND THE TREES CREPT IN (US) / THE CREEPER MAN (UK) received two starred reviews and was called "A must-read for horror fans everywhere!” by bestselling author, Susan Dennard, while Kirkus called it "frightening and compelling". By the time she was eighteen, Dawn had been to fifteen schools across two continents. The daughter of a British globe-trotter and single mother, she grew up all over the place, but her formative years were spent in Africa—on a mission, in the bush, in the city and in the desert. She has been lucky enough to see an elephant stampede at close range, a giraffe tongue at very close range, and she once witnessed the stealing of her (and her friends’) underwear by very large, angry baboons. (This will most definitely end up in a book . . . ) While she has quite a few tales to tell about the jumping African baboon spider, she tends to save these for Halloween! Her life reads like a YA novel.

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