Mina’s having a hell of a household reunion. After the demise and chaos of Halloween, Mina and the gang are wanting ahead to their street journey to Roswell, New Mexico, the place they’re hoping to be thrilled by the alien tales and have some R & R with Mina’s mother and father. Nonetheless, their journey ends abruptly and earlier than they understand it, they’re again in New Orleans. As an alternative of having fun with the autumn celebrations and renovating the mansion, they discover themselves investigating a serial killer who claims to be an actual vampire in disturbing letters to the press.
As the town is gripped by concern, a gaggle of believers is planning to disrupt the delicate stability between the people and the supernatural creatures hiding within the shadows. This threatens the peace that Mina and her buddies have been working so laborious at sustaining.
Caught between investigating the killer and attempting to cease the group’s damaging plans, Mina’s third thriller is perhaps her final…
I horrified Antonia, the publicist that organised this visitor submit for us by telling her that, in a faculty library, a e book set within the 90s is a historic novel 😁 The Mina collection are <historic> horror thriller for teenagers and YA and must be in all of your libraries! The creator, Amy McCaw, wrote a chunk for us about how she establised the setting.
Why the fascination with 90s nostalgia?
Books, music, vogue and flicks from the 90s appear to be extra widespread than ever. I’m nonetheless as obsessive about my 90s favourites as I ever was, and I’ve a number of theories about why the fascination with the 90s persists.
After I began writing Mina and the Undead, I wasn’t positive what 12 months I’d set it in. Throughout the very early phases of writing, I realised that the Interview with the Vampire film got here out in 1994, and 1995 was additionally the deadliest 12 months in New Orleans historical past, with over 400 folks being murdered that 12 months alone. These two issues got here collectively in my creativeness to supply a homicide thriller the place vampires is perhaps chargeable for the excessive crime charges.
As soon as I’d settled on the 90s, I realised how enjoyable it might be to lean into 90s popular culture within the plot, music, film references and clothes. The e book ended up having the texture of issues I beloved within the 90s, together with Scream, Buffy and Charmed. I used to be an adolescent later within the 90s, and I believe having fun with these issues a lot in my adolescence left an enduring impression on me. After I watch my 90s favourites, they’re nonetheless nice on their very own deserves, however additionally they take me proper again to that point.
There are a variety of the reason why the 90s might need continued to have such an enduring affect. The music has a particular really feel, with that grunge and indie sound by no means actually being replicated since. Slashers and paranormal books and TV reveals had an actual second, and horror collection like Level Horror and Worry Road had been on the peak of their reputation. Like me, some folks circle again to their outdated pursuits, however this could’t be true of youthful readers who weren’t born within the 90s. In my expertise, youngsters take pleasure in dipping their toes right into a time interval that feels comparatively latest and but so completely different from present popular culture, with an immediately recognisable flavour.
In the event you’re a fan of 90s popular culture, I extremely suggest visiting the unique influences I’ve already talked about. Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains to be my all-time favorite type of any popular culture, and Scream reinvented the slasher style, making it self-referential and delighting in outlandish, gory kills.
There are additionally loads of YA books set within the 90s or which have that 90s really feel that I all the time crave. Studying something by Kathryn Foxfield, Cynthia Murphy or Kat Ellis will fill that Level-Horror formed hole in your life. I additionally suggest Kendare Blake’s Buffyverse books in case you’re searching for one thing that reads precisely just like the Buffy TV present. I lately learn The Babysitter’s Coven by Kate Williams, and that’s full of 90s references and has a really feel someplace between Buffy, Charmed and The Babysitters Membership.
I like delving into completely different time durations in my studying and writing, and I’m delighted that readers appear to agree with me.
Amy McCaw is a YA creator and YouTuber. She’s the creator of the Mina and the Undead collection, YA homicide mysteries set in 1995 New Orleans. She additionally co-curated the A Style of Darkness horror anthology with Maria Kuzniar. Her essential pursuits are books, films and the macabre, and her novels have components of all of those. Unsurprisingly, she’s an enormous Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and has gone to conventions to satisfy James Marsters extra occasions than she cares to confess.
If you wish to speak with Amy about books or 90s films, you’ll find her on Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube.
Mina and the Cult, the final within the trilogy, is revealed within the UK by UCLan Publishing on 4th April 2024
