A Spooky Reading List

Now that we've officially started Fall, it's time to get into the spooky spirit. We've compiled a list of reading materials, categorized by age range, to get your child excited about the Halloween holiday.

Continue reading if you dare!

Grades 1–2 (Ages 6–8) – Fun & Lightly Spooky

• In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories – Alvin Schwartz

• There’s a Nightmare in My Closet – Mercer Mayer

• Creepy Carrots! – Aaron Reynolds

• Ghosts in the House! – Kazuno Kohara

• The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree – Stan & Jan Berenstain

• Monster Mash – David Cutrow

Grades 3–4 (Ages 8–10) – Gentle Chills, Adventure

• The Haunted Library (series) – Dori Hillestad Butler

• The House With a Clock in Its Walls – John Bellairs

• Bunnicula – Deborah & James Howe

• Scary Stories for Young Foxes – Christian McKay Heidicker

• Goosebumps (series) – R.L. Stine

Grades 5–6 (Ages 10–12) – Spooky Mysteries & Mild Horror

• Coraline – Neil Gaiman

• The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman

• Small Spaces (series) – Katherine Arden

• Doll Bones – Holly Black

• City of Ghosts – Victoria Schwab

Grades 7–8 (Ages 12–14) – Darker Middle-Grade/Younger YA Horror

• The Night Gardener – Jonathan Auxier

• Spirit Hunters – Ellen Oh

• Hide and Seeker – Daka Hermon

• The Jumbies – Tracey Baptiste

• The Collectors – Philip Pullman (short horror tales)

Grades 9–10 (Ages 14–16) – Teen Gothic & Psychological Horror

• Anna Dressed in Blood – Kendare Blake

• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

• The Diviners (series) – Libba Bray (supernatural thriller)

• House of Hollow – Krystal Sutherland

• Asylum – Madeleine Roux

Grades 11–12 (Ages 16–18) – Mature Horror, Gothic & Classics

• Dracula – Bram Stoker

• Frankenstein – Mary Shelley

• Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury

• The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson

• Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

• Pet Sematary – Stephen King