Novels that are classified as middle grade or juvenile fiction are geared for ages 8-12. They are for readers that have moved beyond simple chapter books, but are not quite ready for young adult novels. Common themes are family, friendships, and school. There are several different genres that fall under middle grade readers including graphic novels, fantasy, realistic fiction, science fiction, action/adventure, humor, and manga.
This month we are looking at scary books for the middle grade reader. Many of the middle grade books focus on facing fears. Often, these books feature a scary setting, creepy characters, and suspenseful plots. The books rarely have gore and are not graphic in nature. Often you will see a group of children working together to solve the mystery or problem, usually without the help from adults..
Reading middle grade horror can also be a good way for kids to safely explore fear. If a story becomes too scary, they can put the book down, or take a break from the story. Young readers can also learn coping skills from reading stories. They see the characters face and overcome scary situations and from this they can learn how to handle their own anxietiesm and fears, and strategies on how to handle them. Many scary books feature main characters who must think critically to outsmart a villian or solve a mystery. The reader has now had this critical thinking modeled for them so they can apply it to their own problems. Finally, many middle grade horror stories have positive endings, showing that even scary/frightening situations can have a positive outcome.
The Last Resort
Author:
Erin Entrada Kelly
Genre:
Mystery/Horror
Summary:
Twelve-year-old Lila has two goals, to win back the friends who ditched her for being too dramatic, and to stop being so dramatic.
But then Lila’s estranged Grandpa Clem dies, throwing a wrench in her plans. Now she’ll have to spend the summer in Ohio while her parents decide what to do with Grandpa Clem’s creepy Victorian Inn. How can she show off the “new and improved” Lila from so far away? Even worse, strange things keep happening. En route to Ohio, the family gets into a scary car accident. No one’s hurt, but the remainder of the trip is… odd. At every rest stop, Lila sees people in weird old-fashioned clothes. People no one else can see or hear…
Lila convinces herself it’s just her overactive imagination until the day of the funeral when she spots an old man sitting in her grandfather’s favorite chair. She does a double take — it’s him, Grandpa Clem. He tells Lila that he didn’t die of a heart attack, he was murdered. Possibly by someone who wants to control the inn. Because it’s not a normal bed & breakfast; it’s a portal between the land of the living and the realm of the dead. A hotel for ghosts passing onto the afterlife.
With the help of her skeptical brother, Caleb, and their new ghost-obsessed neighbor, Teddy, Lila — the girl who’s vowed to be less dramatic — must uncover her grandfather’s killer AND stop the evil spirits desperate to make their way back into the human world.
The House Next Door
Author:
Ellen Oh
Genre:
Horror
Summary:
Rory Parker knows not to step a foot in, on, or around the house next door. He’s seen things creeping in the shadows, has had encounters with spirits, and lost a best friend to the house’s malevolence. But when his new neighbors, Jack and his lovable family, move into the house next door, Rory makes it his duty to protect them at all costs.
But the vicious forces lying within the house are plotting something evil, something that puts Jack’s little sister in extreme danger. Soon, Rory understands he’ll need the help of his new friend and some friendly ghosts in order to stand a chance at defeating whatever lurks within its walls for good. But what exactly lives in the house next door, and will Rory and Jack find out in time to save the day, or can its evil never be evicted?
The House with a Clock in its Walls
Author:
John Bellairs & Edward Gorey
Genre:
Fantasy/Horror/Mystery
Summary:
When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan, comes to stay with his uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, are both magicians! Lewis is thrilled.
At first, watching magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman named Selenna Izard. It seems that Selenna and her husband built a timepiece into the walls—a clock that could obliterate humankind. And only the Barnavelts can stop it!
Nightmares!
Author:
Jason Segel & Kirsten Miller
Genre:
Fantasy/Horror
Summary:
Charlie Laird has several problems:
1. His dad married a woman he is sure moonlights as a witch.
2. He had to move into her purple mansion, which is not a place you want to find yourself after dark.
3. He can’t remember the last time sleeping wasn’t a nightmarish prospect. Like even a nap.
What Charlie doesn’t know is that his problems are about to get a whole lot more real. Nightmares can ruin a good night’s sleep, but when they start slipping out of your dreams and into the waking world—that’s a line that should never be crossed. And when your worst nightmares start to come true . . . well, that’s something only Charlie can face. And he’s going to need all the help he can get, or it might just be lights-out for Charlie Laird. For good.
The Nest
Author:
Kenneth Oppel
Genre:
Horror/Fantasy
Summary:
For some kids summer is a sun-soaked season of fun. But for Steve, it’s just another season of worries. Worries about his sick newborn baby brother who is fighting to survive, worries about his parents who are struggling to cope, even worries about the wasp’s nest looming ominously from the eaves. So when a mysterious wasp queen invades his dreams, offering to “fix” the baby, Steve thinks his prayers have been answered.
All he has to do is say “Yes.” But “yes” is a powerful word. It is also a dangerous one.
And once it is uttered, can it be taken back?
Small Spaces
Author:
Katherine Arden
Genre:
Horror/Fantasy/Paranormal
Summary:
After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn’t think—she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man,” a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.
Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn’t have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: “Best get moving. At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you.” Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie’s previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.
Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver’s warning. As the trio head out into the woods–bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them–the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: “Avoid large places. Keep to small.”
And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.
Monstrous Devices
Author:
Damien Love
Genre:
Fantasy/Steampunk/Science Fiction
Summary:
On a winter’s day in a British town, twelve-year-old Alex receives a package in the mail: an old tin robot from his grandfather. “This one is special,” says the enclosed note, and when strange events start occurring around him, Alex suspects this small toy is more than special; it might be deadly.
Right as things get out of hand, Alex’s grandfather arrives, pulling him away from an attack–and his otherwise humdrum world of friends, bullies, and homework–and into the macabre magic of an ancient family feud. Together, the duo flees across snowy Europe, unravelling the riddle of the little robot while trying to outwit relentless assassins of the human and mechanical kind.
Out to Get You:
Author:
Josh Allen
Genre:
Short Stories/Horror/Fantasy
Summary:
Get ready for a collection of thirteen short stories that will chill your bones, tingle your spine, and scare your pants off. Debut author Josh Allen masterfully concocts horror in the most innocent places, like R.L. Stine meets a modern Edgar Allan Poe. A stray kitten turns into a threatening follower. The street sign down the block starts taunting you. Even your own shadow is out to get you! Spooky things love hiding in plain sight.The everyday world is full of sinister secrets and these page-turning stories show that there’s darkness even where you least expect it. Readers will sleep with one eye open. . . .A glow-in-the-dark cover and thirteen eerie full-page illustrations by award-winning artist Sarah J. Coleman accompany the tales in this frightful mashup that reads like a contemporary Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
The List of Unspeakable Fears
Author:
J. Kasper Kramer
Genre:
Horror/Historical Fiction/Paranormal
Summary:
Essie O’Neill is afraid of everything. She’s afraid of cats and electric lights. She’s afraid of the silver sick bell, a family heirloom that brings up frightening memories. Most of all, she’s afraid of the red door in her nightmares.
But soon Essie discovers so much more to fear. Her mother has remarried, and they must move from their dilapidated tenement in the Bronx to North Brother Island, a dreary place in the East River. That’s where Essie’s new stepfather runs a quarantine hospital for the incurable sick, including the infamous Typhoid Mary. Essie knows the island is plagued with tragedy. Years ago, she watched in horror as the ship General Slocum caught fire and sank near its shores, plummeting one thousand women and children to their deaths.
Now, something on the island is haunting Essie. And the red door from her dreams has become a reality, just down the hall from her bedroom in her terrifying new house. Convinced her stepfather is up to no good, Essie investigates. Yet to uncover the truth, she will have to face her own painful history—and what lies behind the red door.
The Girl in the Lake
Author:
India Hill Brown
Genre:
Horror/Mystery
Summary:
Celeste knows she should be excited to spend two weeks at her grandparents’ lake house with her brother, Owen, and their cousins Capri and Daisy, but she’s not.
Bugs, bad cell reception, and the dark waters of the lake… no thanks. On top of that, she just failed her swim test and hates being in the water-it’s terrifying. But her grandparents are strong believers in their family knowing how to swim, especially having grown up during a time of segregation at public pools. Without the opportunity to learn, Grandma’s sister drowned when they were kids.
But soon strange things start happening, like Celeste’s cousins accusing her of waking them up in the middle of the night. But Celeste hasn’t been awake during the night-she knows she’s been fast asleep because she’s been having terrible nightmares about drowning!
Things at the old house only get spookier until one evening when Celeste looks in the steamy mirror after a shower and sees her face, but twisted, different…
Who is the girl in the mirror? And what does she want?
Aviva vs the Dybbak
Author:
Mari Lowe
Genre:
Fiction/Fantasy
Summary:
A long ago “accident.” An isolated girl named Aviva. A community that wants to help, but doesn’t know how. And a ghostly dybbuk, that no one but Aviva can see, causing mayhem and mischief that everyone blames on her.
That is the setting for this novel of a girl who seems to have lost everything, including her best friend Kayla, and a mother who was once vibrant and popular, but who now can’t always get out of bed in the morning.
As tensions escalate in the Jewish community of Beacon with incidents of vandalism and a swastika carved into new concrete poured near the synagogue, so does the tension grow between Aviva and Kayla and the girls at their school, and so do the actions of the dybbuk grow worse.
Could real harm be coming Aviva’s way? And is it somehow related to the “accident” that took her father years ago?
The Girl in White
Author:
Lindsay Currie
Genre:
Horror/Mystery/Fantasy
Summary:
Sweet Molly once lived in Eastport
Sweet Molly once loved the sea
Sweet Molly lost Liam to the shadows
Now Sweet Molly is coming for ye …
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 one of the most haunted places to visit.
And thanks to the nightmares she’s had since arriving, Mallory is having a hard time sleeping. Combined with the unsettling sensation of being watched and losing chunks of time, she’s worried that maybe the ghost stories she’s been quick to dismiss might actually be real.
When Mallory has a terrifying encounter with the same old woman from her dreams, she’s not sure what to do. With Eastport gearing up to celebrate the anniversary of their first recorded legend Mallory is forced to investigate the one legend she’s always secretly been afraid of . . . Sweet Molly.
The Otherwoods
Author:
Justine Pucella Winans
Genre:
Fantasy/Horror/LGBTQ
Summary:
The Otherwoods is calling. And it won’t be ignored.
Some would call River Rydell a ‘chosen one’: born with the ability to see monsters and travel to a terrifying spirit world called The Otherwoods, they have all the makings of a hero. But River just calls themself unlucky. After all, it’s not like anyone actually believes River can see these things-or that anyone even believes monsters exist in the first place. So the way River sees it, it’s better to keep their head down and ignore anything Otherwoods related.
But The Otherwoods won’t be ignored any longer.
When River’s only friend (and crush) Avery is kidnapped and dragged into The Otherwoods by monsters, River has no choice but to confront the world they’ve seen only in their nightmares-but reality turns out be more horrifying than they could have ever imagined. With only their cat for protection and a wayward teen spirit as their guide, River must face the monsters of The Otherwoods and their own fears to save Avery and become the hero they were (unfortunately) destined to be.
Justine Pucella Winans will have you cowering and cackling as you follow River’s reluctant hero’s journey, perfect for fans of Doll Bones, Ghost Squad, and Too Bright to See.
It Came From the Trees
Author:
Ally Russell
Genre:
Horror/Mystery
Summary:
The wilderness is in Jenna’s blood. Her Pap was the first Black park ranger at Sturbridge Reservation, and she practically knows the Owlet Survival Handbook by heart. But she’s never encountered a creature like the one that took her best friend Reese. Her parents don’t believe her; the police are worthless, following the wrong leads; and the media isn’t connecting the dots between Reese’s disappearance and a string of other attacks. Determined to save her friend, Jenna joins a new local scout troop, and ventures back into the woods.
When the troop stumbles across suspicious huge human-like footprints near the camp, scratch marks on trees, and ominous sounds from the woods, Jenna worries that whatever took Reese is back to take her too. Can she trust her new scout leader? And will her new friend Norrie—who makes her laugh and reminds her so much of Reese—believe her?
After the unthinkable happens, the scouts, armed with their wits and toiletries, band together to fight the monster and survive the night.
The Cursed Moon
Author:
Angela Cervantes
Genre:
Horror/Fantasy
Summary:
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.
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