Attacks on these books further increased as librarians' role in guiding children's reading became more clearly defined as the process for selecting children's books in school and public libraries was standardized. Numerous educational studies concluded that these books were 'unwholesome' and 'immoral.' Children who read them were believed prone to juvenile delinquency, illiteracy, mental laziness, and disrespect for authority. Mass-marketed fiction, such as dime novels, boys' adventures stories, horror, the Oz books, comics, and series fiction, were deemed 'sensational literature,' reading material thought to develop children's taste for the lurid and the fantastic.

Gothic horror stories were one of the chief targets of those educators and librarians. Stine's 'Goosebumps' series (Scholastic) in the company of children's librarians and you will inevitably be met with groans, sighs, eye-rolling, and comments like, 'it's junk, but at least they're reading something!' Moreover, when the July 2006 issue of School Library Journal featured a cover article on horror fiction for teens, it included the disclaimer: 'Great literature? Maybe not, but teens love horror.' These perceptions are not new they date back to the early 20th century when children's library services were being developed and school librarians played a key role in guiding young people's reading choices.

Educators, librarians, and children's literature specialists have long viewed Gothic horror as low-level, sensationalized pulp fiction, lacking moral, educational, and literary merit. Yet I can think of no other genre in children's and YA publishing that is viewed more disparagingly by my peers. Moreover, Gothic-influenced young adult novels have begun to garner prestigious literary awards including David Almond's Printz Award-winning ghost story Kit's Wilderness (Delacorte, 2000), the Silver Award for the Nestlé Smarties Prize for Chris Wooding's The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray (Scholastic, 2004), and Celia Rees's The Wish House (Candlewick, 2006), which was short-listed for the Welsh Tir na n-Og award. Simply put, most teens adore horror and love being scared they enjoy delving into the forbidden and the shock and terror that ensue.

Last year, vampire novels were the most requested type of books by my students.

A look at the subversive power of the genre and its appeal to today's teens Gothic horror fiction has become wildly popular in my high school library over the past few years, and series like Darren Shan's 'The Demonata,' Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' (both Little, Brown), and Libba Bray's 'Gemma Doyle' trilogy (Delacorte) have been in high demand.

Terror na Bilbioteca by R.L. Stine