#tbt: The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Image: Simon & Schuster

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey. 434 p. Simon & Schuster BFYR/ Simon & Schuster, September, 2009. 9781416984481. (Own.)

#tbt features The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey. This gothic horror novel is the diary of Will Henry, an orphan who was taken in by Dr. Pellinore Warthrup, pre-eminent monstrumologist. Will has to assist the fussy doctor in all manner and at all hours. When they are awakened late one night by a visitor bearing the body of a young girl with the monster that killed her still attached and still feeding one her, Will and Dr. Warthup's already dangerous occupation is about to get real. 

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart. It's grisly and suspenseful and better suited to a mature teen reader. If you are a fan of horror, The Monstumologist should fill the bill - sure to make you gasp and gag and possibly scream. It is the first of a four book series. The Monstrumologist was published in 2009 and named a 2010 Printz Honor book. The cover has changed over the years but my favorite happens to be the original, which I could only find on Wikipedia, so I took a picture of my first edition copy. 

Teen Tuesday: Thornhill by Pam Smy

Thornhill by Pam Smy. 544 p. Roaring Brook Press, August, 2017. 9781626726543. (Review from purchased finished copy)

If you enjoy graphic novel hybrids or gothic horror, check out our Teen Tuesday feature. Thornhill by Pam Smy. Two stories are told in this debut, one in pictures and one in prose. The pictures take place in the present time and the prose is the diary of a girl who resided at Thornhill back in the days when it was an orphanage. It's a boarded up dilapidated wreck now but Ella, who has just moved in across the street spies a girl in the upstairs window and, because she is lonely, investigates.

This one is dark, creepy and disturbing. Dread grows as the diary entries unfold and the visual story is equally suspenseful, helped along by the tones of black and shadows. Atmospheric and a perfect choice to lure a dormant reader.