Scary Books for Kids 9-12 Part 4 (Final)

Series:  American Chillers
Author: Jonathan Rand
Ages 9+
The Michigan Mega-Monsters (Book 1)
When Rick Owens arrives at Camp Willow, he's ready for a week of fun.  He's met two new friends: Sandy Johnson and Leah Warner, and the three are ready for an exciting week

But when Rick spots strange tracks around his cabin, the campers realize that they aren't the only ones at the small, lakeside summer camp.  And what about the legends that speak of giant, terrifying creaters that roam the swam at night?

Soon, Rick, Sandy, and Leah find out that the legends of the Michigan Mega-Monsters aren't legends at all!   The problem is: have they found out too late?
(Note: Rand intends to write a chiller for every state in the nation.  Currently, there are thirty books in the series and counting.)

Dead End Street by Rick R. Reed - Ages 10+
They are five misfit kids who have banded together in their small Ohio River town. Over the years, they had organized various clubs, and now they've formed the Halloween Horror Club. The premise is simple: each week, each teen spins a horrifying tale, and at the end of five weeks, the scariest story wins a prize. The twist: the stories have to be told in the infamous and abandoned Tuttle house, where, fifteen years earlier, nearly an entire family had been murdered in their beds. With each story (each a completed short, original horror tale that stands on its own), the tension mounts...and so does the anger of the house's mysterious inhabitant. He is enraged at having his space violated, and his rage could mean a real dead end for those who dare to invade his home...

Series: Vampire Plagues
Author: Sebastian Rook
Ages 9+
London 1850 (Book1)
An enormous ship has just reached port. From its hull, a flock of bats ascends and disappears into the streets. Jack Harkett intends to board the ship, in search of food or money. Instead, he encounters a boy his own age -- running for his life! The boy recounts horrific tales about a vampire plague that's killed the entire crew. With no one to turn to but each other, the two boys vow to stop these horrors from continuing. Their pledge will take them on dangerous adventures from London to Paris and finally to Mexico, to confront the beast who started all this destruction....

Series: Araminta Spooky
Author: Angie Sage
Ages 8+
My Haunted House (Book 1)
Araminta Spookie lives in a wonderful old haunted house, but her crabby aunt Tabby wants to move. Aunt Tabby is determined to sell their house—Araminta has to stop her!

With the help of a haunted suit of armor named Sir Horace, a ghost named Edmund, and a lot of imagination, Araminta hatches a plot for an Awful Ambush that is so ghoulish, it just might work!

The Tanglewood Terror by Kurtis Scaletta - Ages 9+
When 13-year-old Eric Parrish comes across glowing mushrooms in the woods behind his house, he's sure there's a scientific explanation. But when they start encroaching on the town—covering the football field and popping up from beneath the floorboards—Eric knows something's seriously wrong. Not that much else is going right: his parents are fighting, his little brother Brian is a little pill, and he's had a falling-out with his football team—over a pig.

Then a runaway girl from a nearby boarding school warns Eric that the fungus could portend the town's doom and leave it in rubble—just like the village that inexplicably disappeared in the exact same spot over 200 years ago. Eric, Brian, and Mandy set out to solve a very old mystery and save the town of Tanglewood.

Series:  Wiley & Grandpa's Creature Features
Author: Kirk Scroggs
Ages 9+
Dracula vs. Grampa at the Monster Truck Spectacular (Book 1) 
What do you call a grandpa who drags his grandson to a monster truck show in the middle of a tornado? AWESOME, that’s what!

My name’s Wiley and that’s my Grampa and this is the story of how we braved lightning, hail, and an angry Gramma just to see Colonel Dracula’s ultimate vampire truck, The Mudsucker! You’ll cringe at the Tarantula Burger, you’ll tremble in Drac’s underground lair, and when Gramma catches us you’ll . . .
AAAAAAH!

Oh, and did I mention the giant mechanical lobsters?

The Boy of a Thousand Faces by Brian Selznick - Ages 8+

Because Alonzo King was born on Halloween, he has always loved monsters. But no one would ever guess that he lives in a haunted house with a graveyard out back, communicates with the dead, turns into a six-armed, slime-covered creature, or is a walking encyclopedia on horror films! However, when The Beast arrives, not even Alonzo can track it down. Will he be able to solve the mystery of the creature stalking his town and make his dream of becoming The Boy of a Thousand Faces come true?

The Houdini Box by Brian Selznick - Ages 8+

Open this book and come face-to-face with the greatest magician of all time: Harry Houdini!

Victor is forever trying to escape from locked trunks, to walk through walls, and to perform any number of Houdini's astonishing magic tricks...without success. Then -- amazingly -- he meets his idol and begs Houdini to explain himself. A mysterious, locked box is the only answer, and Victor is left to wonder: Does the box contain the secrets of the most famous magic tricks ever performed?

From the creator of the Caldecott Medal-winning bestsellers The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, comes this magical storybook that combines captivating mystery with mesmerizing historical fiction. The Houdini Box conjures up the pure pleasure of an old-time magic show.

Series: Little Vampire

Author: Joann Sfar

Ages 9+

Little Vampire Goes to School (Book 1)

Living in a house filled with grown-up ghouls and monsters, Little Vampire is so lonely that he’s even willing to go to school if that’s what it takes to find friends.  Unfortunately, school seems to be filled with children who are still alive. . . .

Little Vampire finds friendship with a boy named Michael, and they embark on adventures in the three stories in this collection.  Included in this book are Little Vampire Goes to School (a New York Times Bestseller), Little Vampire Does Kung Fu, and Little Vampire and the Society of Canine Defenders (now published in the United States for the first time).  Insightful and inventive, Joann Sfar brings Little Vampire and Michael’s fantastical world to young readers in stories that both feed the imagination and resonate with emotional truth.

Series: Little Vampire

Author: Joann Sfar

Ages 9+

Little Vampire Does Kung Fu! (Book 2)

Jeffrey the jerk is a bully and everyone knows it.

Little Vampire isn't about to stand around and watch him pick on his best friend, Michael.

There's only one thing to do:

Travel to the highest mountain and seek kung fu lessons from the master...

The Boy Who Couldn't Die by William Sleator - Ages 11+

William Sleator is a recognized master of sci-fi and horror and a favorite of reluctant readers. Here he gives fans a spin on the classic zombie story, following sixteen-year-old Ken as he bargains with a psychic to gain immortality, only to awaken one night with blood-spattered clothes and the realization that he's sold more than his soul.

The Phantom Limb by William Sleator - Ages 12+

Isaac is the new kid in town. His mother, Vera, is in the hospital with a mysterious illness, and the only person left to care for Isaac is his distant grandfather. Friendless and often alone, Isaac loses himself in his collection of optical illusions, including a strange mirror box that he finds in his new house, left behind by the previous tenants. Designed for amputees, it creates the illusion of a second limb.

Lonely Isaac wishes someone would reach out to him, and then someone does—a phantom limb within the mirror box! It signs to Isaac about a growing danger: someone who has murdered before and is out to get Vera next. The only way Isaac can solve the mystery and save his mother is with the help of the mirror box. But can he trust the phantom limb?

Series: Vampirates

Author:  Justin Somper

Ages 12+

Demons of the Ocean (Book 1)

The year is 2505. The oceans have risen. A new era of piracy is dawning.

A vicious storm separates twins Connor and Grace Tempest, destroying their boat and leaving them fighting for their lives in the cruel, cold water.

Picked up one of the more notorious pirate ships, Connor soon finds himself wielding a cutlass. But does he have the stomach to be a pirate?

Grace finds herself aboard a more mysterious ship. Kept under lock and key she’s assured no harm will come to her, just as long as she follows the enigmatic captain’s rules…

It's the First Day of School...Forever by R.L. Stine - Ages 9+

On the first day of school, Artie falls out of his bed and hits his head. Hard. He tells his mom he’s dizzy and she says:

“You’re just worried about your first day in a new school.”

At breakfast, his little brother, Eddie, splashes syrup in his hair, and there’s no time to wash it. Artie has to go to school with syrup-hair. And then, on the way there, he gets splashed by a puddle that makes him look like he wet his pants. It’s not just the first day of school; it’s the worst day of school.

On the second day of school, Artie falls out of bed and hits his head. Hard. He tells his mom he’s dizzy and she says:

“You’re just worried about your first day in a new school.”

Huh? Today is just like the day before. Can Artie find a way to change it, before it’s the first day of school…forever?

Series:  Goosebumps Graphix (Graphic Novel)

Author: R.L. Stein (and various artists)

Ages 9+

Creepy Creatures (Book 1)

Creepy creatures are howling, growling, and stalking through the artwork of the first Goosebumps Graphix anthology when three hot, talented comic artists adapt the bestselling Goosebumps books into a cool, new graphic novel format:

(Note: interior artwork is all black & white)

Series:  Killer Pizza

Author: Greg Taylor

Ages 10+

Killer Pizza (Book 1)

Toby McGill dreams of becoming a world-famous chef, but up until now, his only experience has been watching the Food Network. When Toby lands a summer job at Killer Pizza, where pies like The Monstrosity and The Frankensausage are on the menu, things seem perfect. His coworkers, Annabel and Strobe, are cool, and Toby loves being part of a team. But none of them are prepared for what’s really going on at Killer Pizza: It’s a front for a monster-hunting organization! Learning to cook pizzas is one thing, but killing hideously terrifying monsters? That’s a whole other story. Still, if Toby quits Killer Pizza, will monsters take over his town?

Series: Killer Pizza

Author: Greg Taylor

Ages 10+

The Slice (Book 2)

Four months after they discover that their new place of employment, Killer Pizza, was a front for an underground Monster Hunting Organization, Toby and his fellow rookie Monster Combat Officers, Annabel and Strobe, have been invited to New York City to tour KP Headquarters. But the exclusive tour is cut short when a monster emergency sends the trio off on a secret mission delivering Calanthe, a beautiful 14-year-old, defecting monster with serpent-like abilities, into the Monster Protection Program. It seems like an easy assignment until the teens realize Calanthe is the sacrificial offering in a ceremony set to happen in a few days and her people will stop at nothing to get her back!

Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel - Ages 10+

Imagine Garth Hale's surprise when he's accidentally zapped to the spirit world by Frank Gallows, a washed-out ghost wrangler. Suddenly Garth finds he has powers the ghosts don't have, and he's stuck in a world run by the evil ruler of Ghostopolis, who would use Garth's newfound abilities to rule the ghostly kingdom. When Garth meets Cecil, his grandfather's ghost, the two search for a way to get Garth back home, and nearly lose hope until Frank Gallows shows up to fix his mistake.

Series: Scary Godmother

Author:  Jill Thompson

Ages 9+

Scary Godmother (Book 1)

It's Halloween night and it's up to Scary Godmother to show one little girl just how much fun spooky can be! Meet Hannah Marie, who, with the help of Scary Godmother, stands up to her mean-spirited cousin Jimmy and her fear of monsters on her first Halloween adventure with the big kids. Later, Hannah joins forces with Orson, the vampire boy, to unravel a mystery near and dear to their hearts. Some of Scary Godmother's closest (and most frightful) pals get in on the fun too, including Bugaboo, the Boozle, and Skully Pettibone.

Series:  Wolven

Author:  Di Toft

Ages:  10+

Wolven (Book 1)

The madcap debut adventure of a boy and his pet werewolf!

Snaggly teeth, patchy white fur, glowing orange eyes: Woody is a far "cry" from cute. Yet Nat is strangely drawn to the rough mutt that howls at the moon. And before long, Nat learns that Woody's not a dog at all -- he's a WOLVEN: the last of a noble breed of lycan, a shape-shifter that changes from beast to boy without much warning!

But Nat's not the only one wise to Woody's secret: Rogue government agents have picked up his scent. They're on the hunt to trap him and turn him into a hairy new breed of bioweapon! To battle a mad scientist and his mutant werewolf goons, Nat and Woody have to use their brains...and their brawn!

Skary Children and the Carousel of Sorrow by Katy Towell - Ages 10+

Twelve years ago, for 12 days straight, the town of Widowsbury suffered a terrible storm, which tore open a gate through which escaped all sorts of foul, rotten things. Strange things and strange people were no longer welcomed in Widowsbury, for one could never be sure of what secrets waited under the surface . . . 

Adelaide Foss, Maggie Borland, and Beatrice Alfred are known by their classmates at Widowsbury's Madame Gertrude's School for Girls as "scary children." Unfairly targeted because of their peculiarities—Adelaide has an uncanny resemblance to a werewolf, Maggie is abnormally strong, and Beatrice claims to be able to see ghosts—the girls spend a good deal of time isolated in the school's inhospitable library facing detention. But when a number of people mysteriously begin to disappear in Widowsbury, the girls work together, along with Steffen Weller, son of the cook at Rudyard School for Boys, to find out who is behind the abductions. Will they be able to save Widowsbury from a 12-year-old curse?

Series: The Crowfield Curse

Author:  Pat Walsh

Ages 10+

The Crowfield Curse (Book 1)

It's 1347, and Will, an orphan boy, lives and works as an apprentice of the Crowfield monks. Sent into the forest to gather firewood, he stumbles across a trapped, wounded creature no bigger than a cat.The little goblin shares a terrible secret: Buried deep in the snow behind the monastery is an angel. But, Will wonders, how can an angel die? And what does this angel have to do with the history of Crowfield? When two cloaked strangers show up and start asking questions, Will is drawn into a dangerous world of Old Magic.

Series: The Crowfield Curse

Author:  Pat Walsh

Ages 10+

The Crowfield Demon (Book 2)

Warning Huge spoilers here!

In THE CROWFIELD CURSE, young monks' apprentice Will learned he was gifted with the Sight. Protected by the warrior fay Shadlok -- and accompanied by the wry, wary hobgoblin called Brother Walter -- the boy is just coming into his strange powers.

But now, from its very foundations, Crowfield Abbey has begun to crumble. As Will slaves to salvage the chapel, he discovers something truly terrifying. A heathen creature from a pagan past is creeping up through the rubble -- avowed to unleash havoc on holy ground!

Pricker Boy by Scott Winnem - Ages 12+

He was human once, or so they say. The son of a fur trapper, he was taunted by his peers and tricked into one of his own father’s traps. By the time anybody found it, the trap’s vicious teeth were empty, pried open and overgrown. It was said the brambles themselves had reached out and taken pity on that boy; that his skin had hardened to bark as thorns grew over every inch of his body.

Maybe it’s true and maybe it isn’t. But anyone who knows anything stays out of the woods beyond the Widow’s Stone.

That used to be enough. But this is the summer everything changes, as Stucks Cumberland and his friends find a mysterious package containing mementos of their childhood: baseball cards, a worn paperback, a locket. Offerings left behind in the woods years ago, meant to keep the Pricker Boy at bay. Offerings that have been rejected.

Series: Malice

Author: Chris Wooding

Ages 11+

Malice (Book 1)

Everyone's heard of it...but nobody's read it. Luke, Seth, and Kady have heard all the stories about Malice--a secret comic about a strange, awful world full of tricks and traps, and overseen by a sinister master of ceremonies, Tall Jake. But if the rumours are to be believed, the children in this comic are real... Luke is the first to fall into this trap--and Seth and Kady are the next to follow. They have left our world and entered the sinister comic book. The question is--can they make it out alive? From acclaimed author, Chris Wooding, a novel that's half fact, half comic--and all thrills.

Series: Malice

Author: Chris Wooding

Ages 11+

Havoc (Book 2)

Getting into the sinister comic-book world of MALICE is just the beginning. Getting out of it is much, much harder -- as is surviving while you make your attempt.

Part novel, part comic book, all thrill -- welcome to MALICE.