Addicted to "Young Adult" Horror Novels

[realdealblues]

Is anyone else addicted to Young Adult Horror Novels or am I the only one?

I started reading things like R.L. Stine's Fear Street and stuff from Christopher Pike, M.C. Sumner, Diane Hoh, Nicholas Adams, Lynn Beach, Carol Ellis, etc...as a kid and even though I'm 31 now, I still end up reading like 2 a week in between more serious books just because I still enjoy them.

I read plenty of Adult books (usually classics like Dickens, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Doyle, Twain, etc) but when it comes to horror, outside of the occasional Stephen King or Dean Koontz, most of what I read are these young adult horror novels.

When I think about it, most horror movies involve teenagers. Almost all these books are usually set with the main characters in the 16-18 year old range. They're usually like 160-250 pages so they are really quick reads. I usually blow through one in 2-3 hours. It don't have to think about the story too hard or keep 50 characters straight in my head. I usually picked them up for like 10 cents or in a lot of 50 for like $20. I just find them quick, fun, cheap, entertainment.

I also have many that are also from Horror Franchise Films, F13, Halloween, Nightmare, etc. It's always interesting to see what they do with some of the big characters. I love Eric Morse's Friday The 13th/Camp Crystal Lake series and Kelly O'Rourke's Michael Myers/Halloween books. I paid $1 a piece and now they're pretty rare. I've seen them sell for over $40 a piece, but I'll never get rid of them because I enjoy them too much. I usually re-read them once a year and they never get old.

At last count I had over 400 and I just picked up another lot.

A lot of people I know think I'm weird for reading them but I still just enjoy the shit out of them.

Am I the only one past their teenage years who still enjoys these books?

[hammerfan]

My sister is 61 and still reads them. She loves R.L. Stine.

[realdealblues]

Wow...61...that makes me feel better :D

They're just fun. I really like R.L. Stine's style. I'm just re-read a few of the Fear Street books over the weekend for fun.

[TimMiller2011]

maybe it's just me, but I never got YA books. Even when I was 13, I was reading Stephen King and Clive Barker.

[realdealblues]

Originally Posted by TimMiller2011

maybe it's just me, but I never got YA books. Even when I was 13, I was reading Stephen King and Clive Barker.

I first read The Stand around 13 or 14 and I remember what a pain it was keeping all the characters straight and jumping from these characters to these characters. (Edit: I guess I wouldn't say pain...I guess I would say it felt like it was a lot of work) It took me weeks to get through it. But then I would read a Christopher Pike or R.L. Stine novel and feel like I was watching Friday The 13th or Halloween or some Slasher Movie. It was just kind of mindless entertainment. It just always felt good to have that break between more complex works. I think that's why I still like them...