Arts & Entertainment

Spooky Reads for Teens and Grown-Ups

A local librarian shares her Halloween picks for more advanced readers.

Share a scare this Halloween with books from the All titles have been especially chosen for your chilling pleasure by librarian Ally Godina.

Juvenile Fiction (3rd-6th grade)

Miss Mary Is Scary!  by Dan Gutman

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Once your young reader has gotten hold of this series he or she will find it addictive. We can barely keep this series on the shelf! With goofy rhyming titles, the stories themselves are just as funny. Not quite ready for Diary of a Wimpy Kid? This might be the perfect place to start.

Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise

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A new series that is wonderfully spooky (but never too spooky) for children who are looking for a good creepy mystery. It has more literary weight than many series out there and children will love the story line of a haunted house and a grumpy old children’s author.

Guys Read: Thriller by Jon Scieszka

Jon Scieszka's latest endeavor has been putting together the Guys Read titles, which are brilliant short story compilations from some of the best authors out there. Geared toward boys, even the most reluctant reader will devour them.

Young Adult (7th-11th grade)

How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg

A new nonfiction book found in the children’s section of the library. Ideal for those readers who like the creepier stuff more true than not. This book covers the bitter end of 19 historical figures who died in funny and not-so-funny ways. The illustrations are an added bonus to this excellent title.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a master of creepy works. Coraline and The Graveyard Book are two of my favorite eerie reads for fifth graders and up. Adults, you will enjoy these too! They are fast-paced and mysterious, pulling in readers and keeping them on the edge of their seats with chilling detail and creative writing.

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

Not quite the Grimm fairytales, they have been remixed and rematched bringing forth a whole new story equally as compelling. Hansel and Gretel don’t have it any easier in this new twist where they find themselves wandering into eight new fairytales with no bread crumb trail to lead them back.

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

This is not for the faint of heart: if you want horror, if you want gore, this is the story. Will Henry is apprentice to a Monstrumologist who dissects dead bodies for a clue into the past and saving the future. Good news is, the blood and gore continue into a series of well-written horror novels by Rick Yancey.

Adult readers

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro

As I watched the AMC series Walking Dead, it reminded me of this book but with vampires instead of zombies. If you like chilling stories full of tension and suspense, I highly recommend this one.  

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

Machines are taking over: the ones in your house, the GPS in your car, the airplane in the sky. It’s scary because it’s all too possible. Technology takes a turn to the dark side where they fight to overthrow humans.

Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

A fun, quick read to put you in the Halloween spirit. This novel will have you scratching, cleaning and double-checking your sheets, but is it all in your head?

Ally Godina also compiled for younger readers.


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