Vacations from Hell »

Libba Bray is the author of the New York Times bestselling Gemma Doyle trilogy, comprised of A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, their son, and two cats. Visit her at www.libbabray.com.

Life's a beach . . . and then you're undead?

in this must-have collection, five of today's hottest writers—Libba Bray (A Great and Terrible Beauty), Cassandra Clare (City of Bones), Claudia Gray (Evernight), Maureen Johnson (13 Little Blue Envelopes), and Sarah Mlynowski (Bras & Broomsticks)—tell supernatural tales of vacations gone awry. Lost luggage is only mildly unpleasant compared to bunking with a witch who holds a grudge. And a sunburn might be embarrassing and painful, but it doesn't last as long as a curse. Of course, even in the most hellish of situations, love can thrive. . . .

From light and funny to dark and creepy, these stories have something for everyone. You definitely won't want to leave this collection at home!

VOYA

Bray, Cassandra Clare, Claudie Gray, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Mylnowski each contribute a short story to this collection about teenagers on vacation experiencing the supernatural. In Mlynowski's Cruisin', a high school graduate is seeking to lose her virginity on a cruise ship, but a vampire twist changes the plot. Gray's I Don't Like Your Girlfriend follows a teenage girl on vacation to North Carolina's Outer Banks with her family and her mother's coven. Johnson's The Law of Suspects includes two sisters on vacation in France, where a local legend leads innocents to murder and mayhem. The Mirror House by Clare focuses on a young American girl visiting Jamaica and her struggle to keep her stepbrother from the clutches of a local witch. Bray's Nowhere is Safe focuses on teenagers backpacking through Europe and their stop in a small town during a haunted festival. A portion of the proceeds of this book's sales will be donated to College Summit, an organization that helps send students to college. An editor is not listed, and one would have helped this story collection tremendously. Gray is the only author who uses humor in her story, and the stories are predictable, like urban legends on vacation. Vampires are present in one story and witches appear in two others. The authors are extremely successful in fantasy and chick lit, but this collection does not live up to the quality of their novels. Reviewer: Sarah Hill