Young Blood: Ten Terrifying College Tales

by Chandrima Das, Anindya Chakravorty (Narrator)

Bored roommates use a planchette to contact a legendary ghost that haunts Pune University. Will she answer?

Is the abandoned Khairatabad Science College in Hyderabad really haunted? A gang of students break inside to investigate.

Nirav and Pavi love each other . . . most of the time. Will exploring a forbidden place inside IIT Kharagpur bring them closer?

From strange sightings to urban legends, from haunted buildings to not-so-friendly ghosts, colleges in India have their fair share of spine-tingling tales, be it Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, St. Bede's College in Shimla or Delhi University. Young Blood is a collection of ten tales that reimagine college urban legends and true first-person accounts, that promises to terrify even die-hard fans of horror.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy

Audiobook

Published January 12, 2021

About the author

Chandrima Das tells stories that explore the no-man's-land between truth and fear. She inherited her love for horror and the supernatural from her father, who told his children ghost stories before bedtime. Rest assured, they didn't sleep easy.
Her digital debut The Talking Dead (Kindle, Audible) was a bestseller in the horror category. Her next book Young Blood (HarperCollins) will be out October 2021. She is presently working on her debut novel, a supernatural thriller set in North-East India, with the SouthAsia Speaks mentorship program.
After a decade-long career in management consulting that spanned from Wall Street to rural Bihar, Chandrima began writing full-time in 2020. Her web-comics and articles have featured in Quartz, Alliance magazine, Scroll, India Development Review, and Open Democracy. Chandrima has performed at live storytelling events with Tall Tales and Kommune, and was published in THE BEST OF TALL TALES (Rupa, 2018).
Chandrima has a B. Tech in Computer Science from NIT Durgapur and an MBA from IIM Calcutta, where she was awarded the Aditya Birla and OPJEMS scholarships. She was born in Shillong, brought up in Guwahati, and currently lives in Mumbai.

Reviews

[Tarang Sinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating edit: 4.5 stars.

I read horror after a LONG time. And I must say, Chandrima Das is a wonderful storyteller. It's a collection of 10 terrifying tales. It wasn't terrifying for me, to be honest, I mean it's not like I couldn't read it at night, alone, but they definitely creepy. The writing is beautiful and crisp. Stories are gripping. You would not want to miss a single paragraph. That engaging. Also, most of the stories convey certain messages/address social issues, in a subtle way.

I recommend it to everyone. Even if you don't like this genre, read it to enjoy the author's writing and storytelling.

Thank you blogchatter for the review copy.

Full review soon.

[Ashwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a fan of horror genre as such. I was not familiar with the author or her previous work.
This book has ten short stories which are sourced from urban legend and folk tales. Most of them keep you engrossed enough to read more. It is good to see how Horror can be expression for victims to overcome trauma or give a ray of hope or can act as a tale of caution.

The only grouse I had was after a while writing becomes repetitive when describing ghosts or supernatural elements.

[Manali · Rating 5 out of 5]

A relatable spooky read

Read my full review here: https://wp.me/p6XQyB-3pG

My rating: 4.8/5

College life and years are generally full of fond memories for most of us. But this anthology makes us recall those tales we were wary of; right from suicide stories to legends about why some spots in our campuses are abandoned or avoided.

What I liked about this book:
-> The first-person narrative of each story makes the incidents more believable, and thus, more terrifying.
-> Though the writing is fear-inducing, there's an element of humor and sarcasm that works to provide relief.
-> Each story is well-paced, taking time to establish the place, character, and the final act which is the horror event itself.
-> We can't help but recall the tales shared over sleepovers and in hushed conversation about similar legends about our own college campuses.
-> All the 10 tales had a different tone and narrative style that was gripping and terrifying simultaneously.
-> There's a common train of thought that connects all the very different stories.
-> There's an Indianess to the conversations and thoughts of the lead characters with the use of colloquial Hindi phrases and words, that makes the reading quite enjoyable, especially for Indian readers.
-> Almost every story forces you to also evaluate the parameters with which you look at the world.


What I did not like about this book:
-> I wish more of smaller, remote-location campuses were also included.

Quotable quotes:
-> When faced with muliple problems, first tackle the easiest one. A win gives you the confidence and motivation to work on the harder ones.
-> When you don't want to be a part of something, just say no. Even if it's for and with someone you're close to.
-> Music keeps our ears free from the strange words and convulated thoughts of other people.
-> The line between funny and offensive lay in different places for different people.

[Akilesh Sridharan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved these campus horror stories — a new genre in itself.

10 Chapters. 10 Stories. 10 Days.

Yes, that's how I read this book every night religiously before going to bed for 10 consecutive days.

These stories are not your boogie-woogie horror stories. They have a good pacing, upping the ante as each chapter progresses.

These stories spine-chilling and blood-curdling but in a darn likable way with a dreamy, gothic flavour with silent dark nights as a companion.

What I liked about these tales were the author took her sweet little time to establish the place, character and the final act — the horror event itself. It was outstandingly etched out in an organic, no-nonsense manner.

These stories happen in well-reputed national institutions from IITs to NITs to other academic centres spread all over India — from Shillong to Shimla, from Hyderabad to Manipal, from Delhi to Pune.

We have characters ranging from friends, lovers, hostel wardens and college security and those abandoned eerie buildings.

I won't be getting into the nitty-gritty of each stories, as it has to be experienced, I feel.

I have a couple of favourite stories.

"Ghost of a Chance" that happens in IIT Kanpur about a young dejected college boy who tries committing suicide and the ghost that he meets thereafter.

"Pen for Your Thoughts" takes place in St Bede's College in Shimla. It is a story of a young collegegoer Aditi and her discovering a haunted pen and how it changes her thoughts.

But I loved reading all the 10 tales. Each had a different tone and narrative style that was gripping and terrifying simultaneously.

Go for it, even though Halloween is over and Christmas is here — you won't regret a wee bit.

A highly promising and talented debut women author to look out for in the future.

[Avinish Pathak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bored roommates use a planchette to contact a legendary ghost that haunts pune university . Will she answer ?

Is the abandoned khairatabad science college in hyderabad really haunted? A gang of students break inside to investigate .

Nirav and pavi love each other ...most of the time . Will exploring a forbidden place inside iit kharagpur bring them closer?

From strange sightings to urban legends , from haunted buildings to not so friendly ghosts, colleges in india have their fair share of spine -tingling tales.

After reading these above mentioned preferences about the things which we are going to read in this book. Just loved these campus based horror stories -10 chapters and 10 different stories each and every story has its own uniqueness . Each storyline is griping having a good pace . In this whole i just loved all the stories but still their are some favourite stories of mine :-

"Pen for your thoughts " takes place in st bedi 's college in shimla. It is a story of young college goer aditi and her dicovering a haunted pen and how it changes her thoughts .

But overall i loved all the 10 tales . Written with sheer brilliance and intelligience . All the stories kept you on the edge of the seat to know what will happen next? I think author has created some amazing thrilling stories with some equally amazing characters that will remain with you for longer time and had a greater impact on you .

Overall i strongly recommend you this amazing haunted college stories of some famous indian campus to all the lovely readers to give a try i am sure you all are going to love them .

Must read ❤❤

[Lekha reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short horror stories featuring popular tales from various famous colleges across India. Also, the stories include several problems faced by college going kids such as eve teasing, bullying, depression, toxic relation and suicidal tendency.

It contains 10 stories and I have reviewed every story in accordance with scariness level.

🕹️Challenge Accepted: 2.5🌟– not scary and quiet predictable

🖊️ Pen for Your Thoughts: 3.5🌟 – a girl discovers a haunted pen and her life changes; decent story with unique setting

🚪The Inner Door: 4🌟 – story of two roommates staying in PG; scariness level was good

🤷Who The Fuck is Alice?: 4.5🌟 – a well written scary story; involves ouija board; loved the ending

🧐The Benefits of Doubt: 2🌟– lot of loopholes; didn’t get the logic behind the ending

🎨The Colours of a Bruise: 5🌟 – loved this ones; a great horror story with a good message

🩺Final Possessions: 4🌟 – a medical student who has the power to feel pain of living and dead; good plot with ample scary scenes

👨‍🎓Ghost of a Chance: 4🌟– a young dejected IIT student tries to commit suicide; ending with a good twist

🗡️The Sacrifice: 3🌟 – less scary and more thought provoking

🚺Good Girls, Bad Girls: 4🌟– bogeyman creating havoc in woman hostel; gave me chills

As all the stories are of college students, it feels repetitive at times. Overall, the book was moderately spooky and its a fast read too. The author has done good research and its evident from the details in the stories.

You can go for it, if you scare easy and are looking for something less spooky.

Average rating: 3.7🌟

[Aradhana Mathews · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must confess I approached this book with some trepidation, being someone who (as you all probably know by now) doesn’t naturally gravitate towards horror.

Young Blood is a series of short horror stories featuring popular tales from various colleges of India. The narrative style has a very college-like element to it; it felt like well known stories were being re-told, which significantly lowered the scare factor (unlike books like The Shining, for example, which are truly terrifying and yet impossible to put down – you end up reading the whole book in a kind of horrified trance).

The most interesting element of these stories was how much they reflected society – almost all of the supernatural entities I came across among these pages brought an issue to light that is highly relevant to ‘young blood’ (dealing with ridiculous amounts of pressure to perform, exploring romantic relationships in a society that condemns them, pushing the limits of your curiosity in a way you weren’t allowed to do as a child, etc.).

I wouldn’t call this particularly masterful horror writing, but the stories themselves are engaging and the overall reading experience is comfortably spooky.

[Siddhant Agarwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Blood is a unique collection of stories that sits in the genre of horror, but isn’t limited to sound effects and other typical signatures of a horror story. Each of the story subtly builds up to the crescendo that is the climax and the spine-chilling part of the story. The USP of each of the story is how each of them is drawn from the local legends and the myths propagated through the years. The stories are relatable because either we have been a part of some of the institutions or have visited a place to hear haunted stories about nearby places. While the book focuses on 10 stories and locations, the focus on details is critical and Chandrima nails the devil of the details perfectly. Another interesting aspect of the collection is that they are spread across geographically, thus increasing the relatability. The author has used simple language and focused on the plot. Not just building up a feeling of terror, the stories also carry social messages and I admire the way she has mixed them up.

[Sonali Ekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 10 short horror tales set in different Indian college campuses. Each one is based on popular campus myths, superstitions & local legends. But instead of simply presenting the legends as is, the author has used them as bases & added other elements like social message, regional culture & history etc. to weave new stories of her own.

The resulting stories are novel, gripping & terrifying at various levels. What I loved most were the campus settings. My alma mater Kgp has been featured too, and since I know the campus well, I know how intricately CD has done her research & magically takes the reader to these campuses through her vivid & accurate imagery.

This book is refreshing & promising, that there's hope to be able to read many more good horror stories. There aren't any cliches or tropes, and while there are ghosts in the stories, they aren't the only scary elements.

I'd recommend this to all horror fans.

[Hope of Readers World · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover fits the title perfectly and gives the vibes of an old abandoned classroom. The title ‘YOUNG BLOOD’ is a collection of Universities' horror stories. All the subtitles of these stories are amazingly selected by the author.

‘Final Possessions’ and ‘The Colours of a Bruise’ I like these stories the most. All the stories are engrossing.

The first story ‘Challenge Accepted’ reminds me of the movie ‘Haunted Hospital’ of course the storyline was different. Yet in both, the scenario people accept the challenge to explore the place in order to win the challenge. The stupid decision isn’t it. Will you risk your life to win a challenge?

The stories can freak you out. It can lead to countless sleepless nights for some. I recommend to readers to read these stories at their own risk as not everyone is able to cope up with such stories, especially sensitive people.

[Afreen Khalil Inscribed Inklings · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young blood by Chandrima Das 📚



Young blood was a book that was scary as well informative for me. It was really cool to read stories related to places I've heard of India. All the 10 short stories in the book was based on actual urban fantasy stories in the particular colleges. It was also cool to read that all the haunted places were within college campuses. This book is definitely not for the faint hearted.

The author had given us a note in the end of the book which contained the real urban lore of each story and that was my favourite part of the book. The book was very fast paced and it took me just 2 days to finish. Some stories were nice and others lacked the oomph factor. I felt like the stories could have been longer at times and some could have been more scarier.

The author has done a lot of research to give this and that was clearly seen in the details in the story telling. Overall, it was a fun spooky read.

[Neha Parmar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Blood is a collection of ten terrifying horror stories, inspired from various collage tales from places like Khairatabad, Shimla, Delhi, Pune University, Kharagpur, Fergusson, Manipal, Kanpur, Shilong, and Durgapur. Apart from these stories being horror, they also shed light on various issues college going kids face including peer pressure, Suicidal tendency, depression, eve teasing, Abusive relations etc. The stories differ from each other vastly in terms of setting, characters, basic nature of character, relationships even the evil spirit or ghosts of the stories. All the 10 stories are equally spine chilling and interesting!
Read full review on my blog:

http://nehaparmar9.blogspot.com/2021/...

[Sitharaam Jayakumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually, my rating is 4.5/5. Generally, when it comes to writing a book in the “Horror” genre, the one most important thing to keep in mind is how to build an atmosphere of terror and suspense. This is usually easier to handle in a full-length novel than in an anthology. In anthologies the author finds herself/himself restricted by the smaller length per story, and this makes it very difficult to create the atmosphere of terror and tension needed to keep the reader hooked. Chandrima Das has excelled in managing this challenge very adeptly by using chilling language.

[sliceofmini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horror is not my genre , but everything about it hits !

The audiobook is really the way to go , the sound effects added to the overall story.

Something about it being Desi and being based on the college lore just had me so interested in the book for me to finish the whole audiobook.
It did get a bit redundant with the scares in the end , but I think that's more of a me problem than anything else , I could've easily dispersed my reading over few more days instead of binge listening and that would've been fine.

[Dev Ayon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for reading clubs

Quite a fast paced enjoyable read. Ten stories differ widely in their setting, scare levels and style. My favorite one is the one set in Pune’s Ferguson College, which is a not so subtle exploration of toxic relationships.

I’d recommend a slow read, savor each story separately.

If I had to pick one flaw, I’d saw that the order of the stories is not my preferred sequence. So I reread some of the stories again.

[Deepti Srivatsan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Chandrima’s style of writing and it is evident that a lot of research has gone into this book. As an author myself, I know that it is difficult to make short stories gripping since there’s very little scope to include plot twists without multiple subplots/characters. And yet Chandrima does this with ease. The stories are riveting and some parts are genuinely hair raising. Enjoyed reading this one.

[Fanatic Ho · Rating 4 out of 5]

definitely a great pick..weren’t the most horrifying of tales but they are definitely a page turners.. some more creepier than the others but i do have my faves, i could not move on from the first tale.. IF u are debating on it i would say go for it u would not be disappointed

[Effie (she-her) · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was so much fun!! The sound effects of the audiobook leveled up the experience of reading this book. I really liked it when the author chose to change the protagonist of some stories when things were getting weird. It gave an interesting perspective to these stories.

[AANVI WRITES · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Blood is a collection of 10 spine chilling tales of horror from various prestigious colleges of India. The stories are gripping and gives a dose of spiokiness leaving one wanting for more.

Each story is unique with a different setting and gives goosebumps for sure. Though I liked all the story , I enjoyed reading the "Ghost of a Chance" and feel that it may linger in the mind of the weak hearted for long. Apart from being a horror fiction the author has tried to address various other problems associated with student life eg eve teasing, depression, stress etc.

The author with her excellent narrative skill takes the readers on an experience of a lifetime through these stories as it gives a glimpse of the famous IIT and NIT's that one longs to study in. The characters are well established and relatable. Some of these stories give us a nostalgic feeling of the good old college days. Every story has a moral for the readers to take back.

Writing a novel based on the paranormal world needs intensive research, and the author has done it well. I suggest the book be read at leisure so as to completely experience the various levels of horror it displays.
Overall a perfect read for horror fiction fans .

[Rutuja Ramteke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 10 short stories that will keep you entertained if you are a horror lover, at times I did feel I wasn't too scared! But yes a lot of people will enjoy it. Go for it.

Rating: 3.25

[Labanibiswas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories are really well written. Full of suspense and goosebumps. Just loved it.

[Yadhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Entertaining and mild .. although a little repetitive....

[Elza (Elzasbokhylla) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a ride!

[Aman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Average book
The writing style is not at par with other authors .
you get bored after some time ..

[Prakarsha Pilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first one was from my own city - Hyderabad. It intensified my interest and I started imagining a vivid movie in my brain. Needless to say, I googled the place in question after reading the short story. Internet is bombarded with ghost stories, experiences and surmises about such places with clickbait headings which you may read if this genre fascinates you.
For each short story, the author has given some background about the hearsay of that college. Now if you googled any of them, you'd find ghost tales. What part of that is true and what is fake? I am really not bothered about it. I am bothered with how much this book entertains me and that is undoubtedly immense.
The idea of framing horror stories around India's colleges itself is a novel one. Like the author says, college is a place where we come out of our parents' protective circle and want to explore everything there is. We deliberately poke our noses into things that don't even involve us. We deal with things which we aren't mature enough to understand. So it isn't surprising that we make ghost stories about anything little suspicious (enhancing the stories already cooked by our seniors).
Can be read by anyone, especially by Indians because they are aware of the college scene here.