My dear friend, bestselling YA author Heather Brewer, has a new book out this week. In honor of the release of THE CEMETERY BOYS, I asked Heather if she would share with us a few of the books that made her into the fabulously awesome and darkly misfit Auntie we know and love today.

Three cheers for Auntie Heather and all her Minions!

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THREE BOOKS THAT WARPED ME INTO WHO I AM TODAY
By Heather Brewer

It’s not difficult to admit that I was always an…unusual…child. Whereas most of the kids my age were reading The Babysitters Club books and Little House on the Prairie, my tastes leaned toward the dark and macabre. Horror was like candy to me. I watched it on television, in movies, read books. If it featured blood or monsters, I was instantly drawn to it. But there are three books that really stand out in my childhood. Three books that happily warped my twisted little mind into the even more twisted thing it is today.

1. SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK, written by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell. This was an incredible collection of short horror stories that came out in 1981. The stories themselves were twisted and delightfully weird, but the best parts were the illustrations. I can’t imagine publishers okaying such frightening imagery in a children’s book today, but as a child in that day that hungered for scary, they were perfect for me.

2. THE AQUEDUCT by Ray Bradbury. Granted this one is a short story, but its length was good enough to satisfy a hungry young reader, and the big twist of what the aqueduct was for was MESSED UP. I loved it. It came out in 1979, and to this day, gives me a delightful shiver whenever I reread it.

3. IT by Stephen King. Published in 1986, this book is the sole reason I am afraid of clowns. More than that, it’s the most brilliant example of flashback scenes that I can think of. Perfectly evil!
There were many other books and stories that I can blame my weird side on, but these three are right up there. They made me love horror. They made me want to write it. Because what’s better than scaring children?

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Thank you, Heather, for dropping by! Everyone, please be sure to check out THE CEMETERY BOYS, now available online, or in a store near you.

So…what are three–just three–stories that made YOU are who you are today?