Horror

This genre is for those who yearn for a good scare.

Horror books venture into the fantasy world to the dark side of the unknown. Nightmares like monsters, demons, and mythical creatures come to life in horror books, and readers are immersed until they become a part of the unknown.

Here are some of the best horror books, according to the students of KHS.

The “Miss Peregrine’s” series

Senior Jesse Hohenstein loves the art behind the books.

“This (‘Miss Peregrine’s’) is my favorite book series because it’s got a very good plot that is very interesting and well thought out,” Hohenstein said. “The concept of the story is just amazing.”

The “Miss Peregrine’s” series by Ransom Riggs begins with the 2011 novel “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.”

The story follows young Jacob Portman in his quest for the unknown. With the peculiar circumstances of his grandfather’s death, clues lead Jacob to an abandoned orphanage on a Welsh island. Here, Jacob finds a “loop” into the world of peculiar children — born with remarkably odd talents.

Everything is all fun and games until Miss Peregrine, the “ymbryne” (bird shape-shifters that create time loops to keep peculiars safe) protecting the peculiars, is stolen by a group of evil “wights” and their demonic invisible “hollowgast” followers.

Jacob learns that he is the only one who can see the “hollows,” and he is the only one who can save Miss Peregrine and her fellow “ymbrynes” from certain death.

There are two other books in the series. “Hollow City” was published in 2014, and it follows Jacob’s adventures into his own peculiardom as he learns to get used to his new-found gifts.

“Library of Souls,” published in 2015, brings the series to a climatic close as Jacob fights to save the lives of his friends, along with keeping the world from a “wight” takeover.

“11/22/63”

Junior Colton Gagne is enthralled by the novel “11/22/63.”

“The book never drags on or gets boring,” Gagne said. “It is 849 pages and every page is great. You see what life was like in the mid 1900s and what the world would be like if JFK was never killed.”

“11/22/63” by well-known horror author Stephen King was published in 2011.

The book centers a time traveler that attempts to prevent the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Jake Epping, a high school English teacher, befriends a local diner owner named Al. When asked to meet at Al’s diner, Jake is surprised to see that Al has aged years since they saw each other the day before.

Al tells Jake that he is dying. The reason why is that he time-traveled to 1958 through a portal in his diner’s pantry and has been living in the past for years.

The portal is simple: when one enters, they are always transported to Sept. 9, 1958, at precisely 11:58 a.m. No matter how long one stays in the past, when they return to the real world (2011), only two minutes has passed. Past events can be changed, but the outcome for said changes is unknown.

Because the portal gives one the chance to change events in the past, Al tells Jake that he has created a plan to prevent Kennedy’s assassination and make the world a better place. After Al’s sudden suicide, Jake races against time to follow through with Al’s assassination-prevention plan with no idea of how the world will change if he succeeds.

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Other horror books

• “Darkfall” by Dean R. Koontz
• “The Wind Through the Keyhole” by Stephen King
• “The Green Mile” by Stephen King
• “The Shining” by Stephen King
• “Rose Red” by Stephen King
• “Misery” by Stephen King