DJSturbia

Schow, winner of the Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Awards, pairs 13 short stories with 13 essays in his newest collection, which circles around the idea of monsters, both real and fictional. The essays range in topic from the dangers of censorship after 9/11 to the history of science fiction conventions. Fans of the cult movie The Crow will relish reading about some of the extra features from the movie that are still unavailable. However, there is considerable time devoted to what Schow sees as a dumbing down of society and even a mention of "digital natives" not being interested in erudite literary pursuits, so any teens who are insulted by this argument will be turned off by the general attitude behind some of the essays. Teens will be more drawn to the content of the short stories, which are mostly modern horror with a classic feel: a revenge-seeking entity goes on a murdering spree in "The Finger"; "Blue Amber," a tale about killer bugs, would be a good read-alike for Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle; and "The Chili Hunters" details the dangers of losing one's virginity under the stars.