Back when I was a teen, horror was the genre of the hour and Christopher Pike was it's dark and gooey heart. Unlike Point Horror books, Christopher Pike never offered easy endings or vapid goody two shoes. He gave us male and female protagonists, sex, violence, monsters, dark secrets and blood.
As with most 90's YA, Pike's books are slender, easy reads which can be read in an afternoon, but unlike most 90's YA, the resolutions are anything but easy and some of the plots have stayed with me for a long time.
Take a simple example, Spellbound is a tale about a dead girl, the boy accused of her murder and that boys new girlfriend. In one 300 page (I'm not even sure it hits that many pages) novel, Pike gives us possession, date rape, cowardice, attempted murder and several instances of actual murder. It's gritty, ballsy and beautiful.
Remember Me starts with the death of the main character and follows her as a ghost.
The Last Vampire features the most kickass female vamp you will meet in a long time.
Monster manages to pack Native American legends, a double shooting at a party and a really intense desire for red meat into one awesome paperback.
As a teen, these books were the bomb. I saved up my pocket money for them, I borrowed them from the library and friends and I still sit down and read them. If you ever have the luck to come across Christopher Pike's work, then I recommend that you give him a go. You won't regret it.
As with most 90's YA, Pike's books are slender, easy reads which can be read in an afternoon, but unlike most 90's YA, the resolutions are anything but easy and some of the plots have stayed with me for a long time.
Take a simple example, Spellbound is a tale about a dead girl, the boy accused of her murder and that boys new girlfriend. In one 300 page (I'm not even sure it hits that many pages) novel, Pike gives us possession, date rape, cowardice, attempted murder and several instances of actual murder. It's gritty, ballsy and beautiful.
Remember Me starts with the death of the main character and follows her as a ghost.
The Last Vampire features the most kickass female vamp you will meet in a long time.
Monster manages to pack Native American legends, a double shooting at a party and a really intense desire for red meat into one awesome paperback.
As a teen, these books were the bomb. I saved up my pocket money for them, I borrowed them from the library and friends and I still sit down and read them. If you ever have the luck to come across Christopher Pike's work, then I recommend that you give him a go. You won't regret it.
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