The Hidden House by Dubois, ViVi

Lionel Hartley, a boy living alone and on the cusp of high school graduation, always knew there was something strange about the street he lived on. It didn’t show up on maps, the air was colder, the birds were silent, and he was almost certain that most of the houses were empty. It was a peaceful place to live until a chance encounter on a cold autumn evening shook his very understanding of what was real. In the middle of the night, Lionel wakes to see a mysterious red-eyed figure lurking at his 2nd floor window. Soon after, the animal sacrifices begin to appear on his doorstep. And then he bumps into the pale-skinned young man from across the street, Morden Noir, who never seems to eat and claims that he can’t be exposed to sunlight. This was only the beginning. As matters escalate and become increasingly dangerous, Lionel’s moral integrity gets pushed to the limits as he’s forced to confront his own demons. Are these events coincidence? Or is there some deeper, more sinister conspiracy at work? With his world turned upside down, Lionel must decide if he wants to risk becoming a part of this darker mystery, or if he needs to escape it. And soon. ((This is a YA horror-fantasy with a male male romance subplot.))