Kids Recommendations

Featuring stories from R.L. Stine and Madeleine Roux, this middle grade horror anthology, curated by New York Times bestselling author and master of macabre Jonathan Maberry, is a chilling tribute to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Flesh-hungry ogres? Brains full of spiders? Haunted houses you can't escape? This collection of 35 terrifying stories from the Horror Writers Association has it all, including ghastly illustrations from Iris Compiet that will absolutely chill readers to the bone.

So turn off your lamps, click on your flashlights, and prepare--if you dare--to be utterly spooked

The complete list of writers: Linda D. Addison, Courtney Alameda, Jonathan Auxier, Gary A. Braunbeck, Z Brewer, Aric Cushing, John Dixon, Tananarive Due, Jamie Ford, Kami Garcia, Christopher Golden, Tonya Hurley, Catherine Jordan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Alethea Kontis, N.R. Lambert, Laurent Linn, Amy Lukavics, Barry Lyga, D.J. MacHale, Josh Malerman, James A. Moore, Michael Northrop, Micol Ostow, Joanna Parypinksi, Brendan Reichs, Madeleine Roux, R.L. Stine, Margaret Stohl, Gaby Triana, Luis Alberto Urrea, Rosario Urrea, Kim Ventrella, Sheri White, T.J. Wooldridge, Brenna Yovanoff

Perfect for fans of Doll Bones and Hocus Pocus, this “beautifully creepy” (Kirkus Reviews), highly illustrated middle grade novel follows a girl who hopes to fix her outcast status through a game in the haunted woods, only to discover that some legends shouldn’t be played with.

Everyone knows Fall Hollow is haunted. It has been ever since Abigail Snook went into the woods many years ago, never to be seen again. Since then, it’s tradition for the sixth graders at Beckett Elementary to play the Bellwoods Game on Halloween night. Three kids are chosen to go into the woods. Whoever rings the bell there wins the game and saves the town for another year, but if Abigail’s ghost captures the players first, the spirit is let loose to wreak havoc on Fall Hollow—or so the story goes.

Now that it’s Bailee’s year to play, she can finally find out what really happens. And legend has it the game’s winner gets a wish. Maybe, just maybe, if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before her grandma got sick and everyone at school started hating her. But when the night begins, everything the kids thought they knew about the game—and each other—is challenged. One thing’s for sure: something sinister is at play…waiting for them all in the woods.

From Ethan M. Aldridge, bestselling creator of Estranged, comes a gothic middle grade prose novel that follows a nonbinary student who is drawn to their boarding school's forbidden east wing, where something stalks the shadowy corridors. Perfect for fans of J.A. White and Mary Downing Hahn!

When Guinevere "Nev" Tallow receives an acceptance letter to the exclusive Deephaven Academy, they know it's the fresh start that they've been looking for.

But things are strange from the moment they arrive--the house itself seems to breathe, students whisper secrets in dark corridors, and the entire east wing of the academy is locked away for reasons no one wants to explain. And Nev knows something ragged stalks the shadowy corridors, something that sobs quietly and scratches at the walls, waiting to be released.

With the help of another first-year student, Nev takes it upon themselves to unravel the mysteries hidden in Deephaven's halls. But will they risk their fresh start to bring the academy's secret to light?

Goosebumps meets The Baily School Kids in this young middle-grade series about four unlikely friends who must band together to save their town from an evil curse!

WARNING: This book contains a very scary and silly story about a long-dormant witch's curse that's been unleashed on the unsuspecting town of Cauldron's Cove. It's revenge, over three hundred years in the making. (Hey, better late than never!)

When Regan, Sofia, Bennett, and Darius unfairly get put into detention, they know something is wrong. And they're right: This detention is far from ordinary. Their science teacher, Ms. Stein, believes that by using these kids' DNA she can create an army of "perfect" students who have Sofia's smarts, Regan's heart, Bennett's likeability, and Darius's loyalty. Soon the clones are wreaking havoc around town and getting the real kids in trouble!

Will the kids be able to save the town or will they be cursed for eternity? There's only one way to find out and fair warning, dear reader, you should definitely read this with the lights on.

Based on Nickelodeon's hit horror franchise Are You Afraid of the Dark?, The Witch's Wings and Other Terrifying Tales is the first in an all-new horror graphic novel series with three original stories based on Hispanic urban legends and cultural lore from bestselling and award-winning author Tehlor Kay Mejia, which are beautifully and hauntingly brought to life by artists Junyi Wu, Justin and Alexis Hernandez, and Kaylee Rowena.



A new Midnight Society gathers around the campfire to share urban legends, folklores, and all manner of spooky stories. These three terrifying tales feature haunted buses, monstrous creatures, and spine-chilling mysteries guaranteed to have you reaching for the light switch!



In "The Tale of the Witch's Wings," a young boy with a habit of bullying meets his match when an ancient witch sets her eyes on him. In "The Tale of the Haunting of Bus #13," a young girl finds herself potentially trapped on a bus haunted by more than just ghosts! And in "The Tale of the Stray Comet," two siblings bring home a stray dog that is much more monstrous than they could ever imagine!



Are you afraid of the dark? You will be...

A twelve-year-old cemetery boy and monster hunter–along with his flesh-eating mermaid friend–has to race against the clock to save the ghost of his dead mother in Brick Dust and Bones, M.R. Fournet's magical middle grade debut.

Nothing’s more dangerous than a monster hunter with a mission.

Marius Grey hunts Monsters. He's not supposed to. He's only twelve and his job as a Cemetery Boy is to look after the ghosts in his family's graveyard. He should be tending these ghosts and–of course–going to school to learn how to live between worlds without getting into trouble.

But, Marius has an expensive goal. He wants to bring his mother back from the dead, and that takes a LOT of mystic coins, which means a LOT of Monster Hunting, and his mother’s window to return is closing.

If he wants her back, Marius is going to have to go after bigger and meaner monsters, decide if a certain flesh-eating mermaid is a friend or foe, and avoid meddling Demons and teachers along the way. Can Marius navigate New Orleans’s gritty monster bounty-hunting market, or will he have to say goodbye to his mother forever?

Celebrated author Angela Cervantes' brand new novel combines a chilling ghost story with her award-winning, heartfelt storytelling style.

One two, the Caretaker's coming for you. Three-four, you'll breathe no more. Five-six, you'll float like sticks. Seven, eight, you'll meet your fate.

Rafael Fuentes isn't easily scared. He loves writing ghost stories, reading scary books, and entertaining his friends with terrifying tales he creates on the spot. Rafa has come up against enough real-life scary situations that fictional hauntings seem like no big deal. Rafa's incarcerated mom is being released from jail soon, and will be coming to live with him, his sister, and their grandparents. For the first time in a while, Rafa feels a pit of fear growing in his stomach.

To take his mind off his mom's return, Rafa spends an evening crafting the scariest ghost story he's ever told. As an eerie blood moon hangs in the sky, Rafa tells a group of friends about The Caretaker. The Caretaker is an evil ghost who lures unsuspecting kids into the neighborhood pond. . . and they don't ever come out. Rafa is really proud of his latest creation, until strange things start to happen around him. With a sinking feeling, Rafa realizes the Caretaker is real. Rafa has brought the ghost to life--and only he can stop him.

The Breakfast Club meets Stranger Things in this middle grade horror novel for fans of Goosebumps! Detention turns even scarier when a group of classmates discover dangers lurking in their school.

When classmates Hallie, Angelo, Gustav and Naira are forced to come to school on a Saturday, they think things can’t get much worse. But they’re wrong. Things are about to get seriously scary.

What has dragged their teacher underground? Why do the creepy caretakers keep humming the tune to Itsy Bitsy Spider? And what horrors lurk in the shadows, getting stronger and meaner every minute . . .? Cut off from help and in danger each time they touch the ground, the gang’s only hope is to work together. But it’s no coincidence that they're all there on detention. Someone has been watching and plotting and is out for revenge . . .

In this debut spooky adventure, Jerry and her trusty wheelchair move into a creepy motel at the edge of the woods where nothing is as it seems. When her mom disappears, it's up to Jerry to brave the forest and its demons so she can save what's left of her family.

Ever since her dad died, 11-year-old Jerry Blum and her mom have bounced around dead-end towns, staying in a series of rundown motels where her mother picks up housekeeping work and Jerry can get around in her wheelchair.

But the Slumbering Giant motel is different. Lights blink on and off in the surrounding trees, a mysterious radio station plays only at midnight, and people disappear into the woods, never to been seen again. Not to mention that Jerry's mom keeps vanishing to do "special work" that she refuses to discuss. When her mother doesn't come home one morning, Jerry springs into action.

Luckily, she's not alone. Paul, a pocket-size imaginary dragon, and Chapel, a new friend with a penchant for the supernatural, join Jerry's search for her missing mom. But along the way Jerry discovers her mother's terrible secret: she's not a housekeeper at all; in fact, she's been defending the town from demons that have been haunting it for generations.

Armed with nothing but a Ren Faire sword and a backpack, Jerry and her friends venture into the forbidden woods to save Jerry's mother. But the "demons" hiding there aren't what they seem, and Jerry must unravel the truth behind the town's legend, or risk losing what's left of her family.

This Halloween season discover a new action-comedy series about two kids battling an army of evil teddy bears! What a nightmare! Can they save the day before bedtime?

After Lisa-Marie and her big brother, Vernon, visit a Create-A-Ted store, the unexpected happens.

Their teddy bears come to life!

But it turns out they aren't the only ones. All kinds of teddy bears--zombies, ghosts, aliens and more--are suddenly alive and creating mayhem . . . and soon there is an army of evil teddy bears on the loose!

Can Lisa-Marie and her big brother Vernon save themselves--and the world?

The Living Ted series appeals to readers of all ages with quick chapters, laugh-out-loud action scenes, and lively illustrations throughout.