We have zombies and elves and star-crossed lovers, oh my!

ParaNorman: Attack Of The Pilgrim Zombies
Author: Annie Auerbach
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 24 pages

THIS is based on the similarly titled animated movie currently showing in cinemas nationwide, with the screenplay written by Chris Butler. There is also a novel adaptation but this edition is for younger readers.

Something weird is happening in the small town of Blithe Hollow. An old witch’s curse has raised the dead from their graves! These undead Pilgrims are out and about, and only looking for one thing – a boy named Norman Babcock. You see, Norman has a special ability: he can talk to ghosts. Unfortunately, zombies are a little different from spirits. So what can he and his friends do to stop the undead invasion?

Temptation
Author: R.L. Stine
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 416 pages

THIS is a collection of three fan-favourite stories: Goodnight Kiss, Goodnight Kiss 2 and The Vampire Club.

It’s summer in Sandy Hollow, and the vampires there look forward to the arrival of tourists, which really means the arrival of fresh new blood for them to feast on. But they want to have some fun first with a game: the first vampire to seduce and turn a human date into a blood-sucking creature will emerge the winner. But there’s a catch. They can only take three small sips on three different nights. Drink too much and the human prey will die. But can they resist temptation since their thirst is so great?

The Vampire Fighters
Author: Pete Johnson
Publisher: Corgi, 272 pages

AFTER The Vampire Blog and The Vampire Hunters comes this third book in the series. Marcus, the 13-year-old half-vampire, tries to live life as normally as he can but the hour is approaching when he will acquire his special powers. Yet, it doesn’t seem to happen when he expects it, and every day that passes piles on the pressure.

Then a weird Winter Fair comes to town, and when a few horrifying attacks occur, Marcus and his friends believe it is the work of the super-evil Deadly Vampires sect.

Elf Girl And Raven Boy: Fright Forest
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Publisher: Orion, 224 pages

THIS is the first book in the Elf Girl And Raven Boy series. Funny, entrancing and creepy adventures abound for the two magical creatures. Raven Boy is gifted with the ability to talk to animals and with incredible night vision. Meanwhile, Elf Girl is lightfooted and quick-thinking.

They meet under not-so-wondrous circumstances, however – Raven Boy falls out of a tree and crushes Elf girl’s home! Before they can begin fueding, though, they find they have their work cut out for them to save their world from ogres, witches, trolls and other such monsters in the frightful forest.

Ash Mistry And The Savage Fortress
Author: Sarwat Chadda
Publisher: Collins, 320 pages

AUTHOR Sarwat Chadda travelled the world collecting myths and legends. With this new series, he aims to share them, bringing together obscure Eastern gods, heroes and demons to sit alongside other well-known mythical characters of the world.

In this first book, Ash and his sister Lucky visit their relatives in India and end up at a party hosted by the strange Lord Savage. Ash is suspicious of Lord Savage, and believes there is more to the man than meets the eye. Sure enough, soon Ash and Lucky are on the run from Savage and his demons.

Spark (Sky Chasers 2)
Author: Amy Kathleen Ryan
Publisher: Pan MacMillan, 309 pages

THIS is the thrilling sequel to Glow. Waverly and Kieran are reunited on the Empyrean, and continue on their mission to rescue their parents from the enemy ship, New Horizon. But Kieran’s leadership ways begin to raise Waverly’s suspicions and she finds herself more and more in agreement with Seth.

When a mysterious explosion occurs on the Empyrean, Seth is released from the brig, but the ship has been thrown off course. Fingers point at Seth as the cause of the explosion, and Waverly is accused of releasing him. Will Kieran lock them both away or will Seth find the real culprit?

Insignia
Author: S.J. Kincaid
Publisher: Hot Key Books, 444 pages

IMAGINE if playing computer games could save the world, and the government needs you to do just that. Wouldn’t that be every kid’s dream?

Tom Raines drifts from town to town with his gambler father. But one day, he is recruited into an elite military academy to train as a virtual reality combatant. If he passes the test, he will join the Intrasolar Forces and help his country fight in World War III. But he can he pay the price of becoming a virtual reality soldier.

Dreamless (Starcrossed 2)
Author: Josephine Angelini
Publisher: Macmillan UK, 487 pages

THIS the sequel to Starcrossed, which introduced readers to the unusual Helen Hamilton, the only human who can travel into Hades.

Helen has been tasked with killing the Furies, but she doesn’t know how to do it. She wanders around the Underworld, and the exhaustion is tearing away at her sanity. Though still with the Delos Clan, Helen and Lucas are slowly accepting the fact that they cannot be together. Believing she can only complete her task alone, Lucas leaves her. In comes Orion, an attractive descendent of Adonis, who keeps Helen safe from the dangers of Hades. But even as her world turns chaotic, she finds that she still cannot forget Lucas.

• Best restaurants in Asia
• Yorkshire: England’s best-kept secret
• Who has the better chance of bagging that high-salary post?
• Snapshorts
• Google makes the world go round
• Love letter from a freelancer
• DÔME delicious
• The call of the Sahara
• A kink in the kindness
• Online guide for safari lovers