Aušrinė Tilindė, Roberta Railaitė. Šiurpnakčio istorijos (Fright Night Stories), Vilnius: Alma littera, 2024. – 184 p.  

The novella Šiurpnakčio istorijos (Fright Night Stories) consists of twelve realistic stories, all featuring a chilling event that unsettles their protagonists. The stories are told in a realistic style until, at some point, something magically strange and terrifying happens. For example, teenage girls decide to hold a séance to summon a spirit… until they actually summon one and panic; a scary one eyed bear shows up in a forest; a mysterious sled turns out to belong to children who vanished a long time ago… Reading these stories, the reader will feel a shiver run down their spine. The effect is heightened by Roberta Railaitė’s greyscale, mysterious black-and-white illustrations, reminiscent of comic book art or anime.

Aušrinė Tilindė (b. 1987) is a lawyer and emerging writer for children and adults. She studied law at Vilnius University. She lives and writes in Vilnius. She has written books for both children and adults. Her books for adults include the psychological novel Pabėgimas (The Escape, 2022) and Stiprus žmogus. Asmeninio bankroto gidas (Strong Person. A Guide to Personal Bankruptcy, 2022), co-authored with her husband Martynas Tilindis. Her children’s books include Anita ir kiti pasauliai. Stebuklingas miškas (Anita and Other Worlds. A Magical Forest, 2022). In 2024, she wrote two books for teenagers: Dvylika kruvinų plunksnų: skinvokerių legenda atgyja (Twelve Bloody Feathers: The Legend of the Skinwalkers Awakens) and Šiurpnakčio istorijos (Fright Night Stories). This novella won the Alma littera Children’s and Young Adult Literature Competition (2023). It was also included in the “Book + Cinema” list of the ten most cinematic books.

Roberta Railaitė (b. 1992) studied graphic design at Vilnius Design College and currently resides in Vilnius. She is an emerging illustrator of children’s books, creating digital illustrations. Her digital works have been exhibited not only in Lithuania but also in the USA, Canada and Italy. She illustrated Aušrinė Tilindė’s Šiurpnakčio istorijos (Fright Night Stories, 2024) and Dvylika kruvinų plunksnų (Twelve Bloody Feathers, 2024).
Illustrator’s portfolio: https://railaiter.com/

Contact for rights: D.Sinkeviciute@almalittera.lt