Spine Tinglers for Kids Who Love to Be Scared
I used to hate scary stuff when I was a kid. Part of the problem was that I had an incredibly active imagination. The other part? I grew up in an old farmhouse with a creepy attic and basement straight out of a horror film. If for some reason I had to go into either room, I would run up or down the stairs and back so fast you would've thought I was competing in the Olympics.
Not surprisingly, I didn't usually choose to read spooky stories as a kid (I read a Goosebumps book once or twice and that was enough for me), but one of the things I've learned since becoming a children's librarian is that a lot of older kids LOVE scary stories. Since Halloween is only a few weeks away, I thought it'd be timely to share some of the scariest children's books I've read:
Orphaned and on their own, Irish immigrants Molly and Kip feel lucky to find work as servants in a creepy manor house, even though they are warned by villagers that the house is cursed. It soon becomes obvious that the family they serve is harbouring secrets and that everyone living in the house is in mortal danger.
This is the latest book in a series that highlights scary and mysterious tales from across the country. Are the stories true? Kids are sure to speculate and be eager to read the other books in the series.
Well-known in Inuit folklore, the qalupalik is a sea monster that preys on children by humming and drawing them closer to the water where it lurks. When an orphaned boy comes across a qalupalik in this tale, he attempts to outsmart it, but will he succeed?
Written by Neil Gaiman, master of creepy novels (he also penned The Graveyard Book), this book tells the story of Coraline, who moves into a flat with her paren'ts and discovers an alternative reality on the other side of a mysterious, locked door. She learns the hard way that sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side. You will never look at big, black buttons the same way again.
What children's book freaks you out?
4 thoughts on “Spine Tinglers for Kids Who Love to Be Scared”
Eeek, spooky list! Here’s two more scary reads that I enjoyed reading as a kid: http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM166074&R=166074
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM191878&R=191878
my daughter loved this version of the Hobyahs when she was very tiny, and i made it into a little video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xPe1f6CbXgQ
we also loved Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories. My other kids, definitely not, but she loved getting goosebumpy and pulling the covers up tight.
I remember the Scary Stories book! The cover alone is enough to give me nightmares… 🙂
That’s an awesome reading of the book! Thanks for sharing the video. This would make a great read aloud for Halloween… It looks like Main Street branch still has a copy! http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM250587&R=250587