First published 2021
Rachel Chavez finds solace in horror films while navigating her fancy New York high school filled with wealthy, disinterested classmates. She knows the genre's survival rules by heart: never enter abandoned places, always stick together, avoid romance when killers lurk nearby. When the enigmatic Mary Shelley Club recruits her, Rachel discovers a group dedicated to orchestrating Fear Tests. These elaborate pranks draw inspiration from urban legends and classic horror scenarios. Rachel throws herself into the club's twisted games, finally finding peers who share her macabre interests. But the pranks take a darker turn when a masked figure begins stalking the group. Rachel realizes this isn't another staged fright. Her buried past has surfaced, and someone wants revenge. The final test approaches, but this time the terror is real. Rachel must use everything horror movies taught her to survive a nightmare that no script can control.
Genres: mystery, contemporary, thriller, young-adult
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: New York
Period: 21st-century
430 pages · Paperback · Electric Monkey Books
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, violence