Samantha McClanahan
Writer. Reader. Book Junkie.
THE BOOKS
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WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND CIRCUS
Gore/Horror
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Tonight is Halloween, and Paul is going to get the best birthday present ever. He’s going with his friends and big brother (well, someone has to drive) to an underground circus. It will be about a thousand times better than walking around the neighborhood begging for candy.
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When the flyer said underground, it meant it. When Paul and the boys arrive, all that's there is a lone tent surrounded by miles of corn, and a deep hole. Oh, and there's a sign that points down and says ENTER HERE. Because that's not creepy. But what would Halloween be without a bit of creepiness?
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A slide down a dark tunnel, and Paul and his friends are in the most amazing place they’ve ever seen. It’s got popcorn fountains, a robot that makes caramel tigers, fire eaters, toy ballerinas that spin perfect cones of cotton candy, and more. But then there’s the terrifying tarot reader and the aerialist who walks on barbed wire.
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Soon, the treats turn into tricks. When a girl in a blue Bo Peep costume dances off the stage with tigers and never returns, Paul decides to follow her path. What he encounters makes him realize that he, his friends, and his brother are in danger. The only way out of the underground circus, however, is to go through it, and there are some very hungry monsters who will do anything to stop them.
TENDER YOUNG ALICE
Mystery/Horror
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Seventeen-year-old Quinn Boothe is hoping to start over when her mother moves the family back to Collinsville, the town Quinn was raised in. The town her father died in. After such a tumultuous childhood, there is very little that Quinn remembers of the town or of her father but she hopes to find closure and the security of normalcy after years spent moving from town to town.
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Those hopes are dashed when Quinn finds the body of a missing young girl and a murder spree takes the small town by surprise. Quinn knows the killer is still lurking in the shadows of Collinsville and that they are watching her.
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When evidence winds up on Quinn's doorstep to incriminate her, she turns to the only person she thinks can help; an enigmatic girl with bubblegum lips and bright blue hair who always seems to be in the right place at the right time: Alice.
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When a friend disappears, Quinn knows she has little time to save her. And as she sinks further into the cat and mouse game, she questions whether she has put her trust in the right people. Quinn never knew that a small town could have such big secrets.