When I was five my dad had to carry me, crying, out of the Salem Witch’s Dungeon. You’d think that would put a damper on my love of spooky things, but it absolutely did not! Bela Lugosi was my first crush. I set up Haunted Houses in my garage and read every single book my local library had on the Salem Witch Trials. I made my way from Bunnicula and The Halloween Tree, to books by Stephen King and Anne Rice. Halloween and horror will always have a special place in my heart, and yet…I still don’t let my legs dangle off my bed, lest the monsters get me.
Every day is Halloween when you live in the seventh most haunted town in America, so ghosts and witches are nothing new to Evie Von Rathe. But when Aunt Des disappears, Evie knows she’ll do anything to get her back, even if it means playing a deadly game against a serial killer with a creature called The Clackity.
Watching Evie overcome her anxiety is a struggle kids will relate to and makes her an easy character to root for. The Clackity has such a perfect spooky Grimm’s Fairy tale vibe, that I was immediately sucked in. Nothing is more Halloween than a dark trip through the woods, and the twisted Alice in Wonderland feel of this book lives and breathes Halloween.
Reminiscent of Doll Bones and Small Spaces, this "delightfully eerie" (Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows) middle grade novel tells the story of a girl who must rescue her aunt by entering a world of ghosts, witches, and monsters to play a game with deadly consequences.
Evie Von Rathe lives in Blight Harbor-the seventh-most haunted town in America-with her Aunt Desdemona, the local paranormal expert. Des doesn't have many rules except one: Stay out of the abandoned slaughterhouse at the edge of town. But when her aunt disappears into the building, Evie…
Nothing is more Halloween than a haunted house, especially when that house randomly appears out of nowhere one day.
Jac can’t resist going in and checking it out, after all, it’s not the first time she’s faced death and beat the odds. Besides, things have been weird with her mom since Jac survived cancer, and she could use the distraction. Unfortunately for Jac, the house isn’t going to let her go, and the only way out is through.
This book’s heart elevates the story but make no mistake: this one is for the kids who love horror. This Appearing House is immersed in horror tropes and monsters, and one particular scene (ugh, teeth, *shudder*) still haunts me!
From the author of Ghost Girl comes another standalone spooky middle grade for fans of Nightbooks and Ghost Squad, about a terrifying house and the girl haunted by her experience with cancer, grief, and healing. Are you brave enough to step inside?
For as long as anyone could remember there wasn’t a house at the dead end of Juniper Drive . . . until one day there was.
When Jac first sees the House, she’s counting down to the five-year anniversary of her cancer diagnosis, when she hopefully will be declared NED, or “no evidence of disease.” But with a…
The Stitchers is the first book in the Fright Watch series and any one of them would be the perfect Halloween read. But let’s be real. Old people are scary.
Quinn knows there’s something off about her neighbors. The Oldies have lived in the neighborhood for as long as anyone can remember, and yet they never seem to get any older. If Quinn’s dad was still alive, she knows they’d be coming up with theories: Are they vampires? Aliens? Who knows! The answer is worse than she imagined. When Quinn sees one of the Oldies jogging, she knows she recognizes that leg…it was her dad’s.
I always loved Rod Sterling at Halloween and The Stitchers has such a great Twilight Zone vibe. It’s perfect for kids who lean towards the science fiction side of spookiness where normal things are just…wrong.
"The chills come guaranteed." -Stephen King
The start of a spine-tingling new horror series perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Goosebumps.
The spine-chilling middle-grade horror that Stephen King called "the perfect book for kids to cool off with on a hot summer day, because the chills come guaranteed"-now in paperback!
Something strange is happening on Goodie Lane . . .
Thirteen-year-old Quinn Parker knows that there's something off about her neighbors. She calls them "the Oldies" because they've lived on Goodie Lane for as long as anyone can remember, but they never seem to age. Are they vampires? Or…
Eastport is the most cursed city in the US and the residents are darn proud of it!
Unfortunately, Mallory hasn’t quite adapted to her new home and finds her parents’ spooky stories to their restaurant customers and the constant Halloween in the town embarrassing. None of this stuff is real, after all! But when Mallory sees the girl in white, things start happening that she can’t explain. Worse yet, she’s doing things she can’t explain. Dangerous things.
I loved this new take on the Lady in White urban legend, and as a huge fan of towns like Salem, where the Halloween vibe is year-round, I loved visiting Eastport, even if Mallory’s not a fan. This one has some truly scary scenes, but the story itself has a base that any kid will relate to, the struggle of fitting in.
For fans of Small Spaces and the Goosebumps series by R.L Stine comes a chilling story about a twelve-year old girl who must face down the most notorious ghost in her haunted East coast town to stop a centuries-old curse that threatens to destroy everything.
Mallory hasn't quite adapted to life in her new town of Eastport yet. Maybe it's because everyone is obsessed with keeping the town's reputation as the most cursed town in the US.
And thanks to the nightmares she's had since arriving, Mallory hardly sleeps. Combined with the unsettling sensation of being watched, she's quickly becoming…
I firmly believe that Halloween books are for everyone, even kids who don’t want their pants scared off or kids who aren’t big readers. In comes Lumberjackula! An adorable graphic novel with a great Halloween esthetic.
Jack is a half vampire, half lumberjack kid who has to make a big decision: should he go to Lumberjack school like Mom wants, or Vampire school like Dad wants? Jack doesn’t want to disappoint either parent, but he has a secret…he wants to dance!
Lumberjackula has all the fun of Halloween without the fear, and the illustrations are adorable. It’s a great book to make sure all of your middle graders get to join in the Halloween fun. (And as a former goth myself, Dad’s band is awesome!)
For fans of The Okay Witch and Fake Blood, this hilarious middle grade graphic novel follows a half-vampire, half-lumberjack boy who feels torn between his parents and just wants to be a dancer.
Jack is in a pickle. His lumberjack mom wants him to go to Mighty Log Lumberjack Prep to learn how to chop wood and wear flannel. His vampire dad wants him to go to Sorrow's Gloom Vampire School to learn how to turn into a bat and drink blood-orange juice. And Jack has a secret: what he really wants to do is dance.
A group of kids from hell come to Earth on one of the craziest nights of the year—Halloween—in this “entertaining, high-octane” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade adventure about teamwork, friendship, shattering expectations, and understanding the world (or otherworld) around us.
Malachi and his friends are just your regular average kids from hell. The suburbs that is, not the fiery pit part. But when Hell’s Bells ring out—signaling a soul has escaped from one of the eternal circles, Mal and friends can’t help but take the opportunity for a little adventure. Before they know it, they’ve slipped through the veil and found themselves in the middle of Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night. And what’s worse, they’ve managed to bring the escaped soul with them!
My favorite fantasy novels tend to be rather complex. Winding plotlines, mysteriously interconnected characters, whimsical settings, and intricate, thoughtful worldbuilding combine to create immersive stories that stick in the mind like overworn folklore. Time travel or interworld travel lend additional layers of intrigue and mystery, forcing the inescapable contemplation of a more thrilling, alternate reality. And if it’s all packaged in artful, breathtaking prose that breeds full-color images, audible noises, indelible flavors, nose-crumpling odors, and tangible textures, I will happily lose myself in the pages, truly forgetting about the strictures of everyday life… at least until I get hungry and remember I need to consume more than books to survive.
An Heir of Realms tells the tale of two young heroines—a dragon rider and a portal jumper—who fight dragon-like parasites to save their realms from extinction.
Rhoswen is training as a Realm Rider to work with dragons and burn away the Narxon swarming into her realm. Rhoswen’s dream is to Ride, but her destiny will pit her against her uncle and king, who have scorned her since before her birth.
In the Exchange, the waystation between realms, Emmelyn fights the G’Ambit, a gambling ring with members more intent on lining their pockets than protecting the realms—or their own lives.
Realm-devouring parasites threaten all existence. The Exchange is desperate to destroy them. But could their radical plans endanger the realms, too?
Soul-sucking parasites are overwhelming the realms.
Rhoswen of Stanburh is of age to train as a Realm Rider—a defender of the realms. Riders and their dragons work together to burn away infiltrating Narxon as they swarm in through tears in a realm’s fabric. But it’s not an easy battle: the mere touch of the smoky, dragon-like adversaries can reduce the lively winged beasts—and their Riders—to ash.
Becoming a Realm Rider is Rhoswen’s dream, but she carries far more responsibility…
