Author: Samantha M Clark

We’re still months away from Halloween, but the spookiness never ends at Spooky Middle Grade Books, and this August is no exception. Three of our Spooky MG authors have wonderful new spooky MG books coming out this month and I’ve interviewed the authors today.

Aug. 16: THIS APPEARING HOUSE by Ally Malinenko. Ally Malinenko is also the author of several poetry collections as well as the middle grade book GHOST GIRL from Katherine Tegen Books. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and you can learn more at allymalinenko.com. 

Aug. 23: DAYBREAK ON RAVEN ISLAND by Fleur Bradley. Fleur Bradley is also the author of the award-winning mystery Midnight at the Barclay Hotel (Viking/Penguin Random House). Her story The Perfect Alibi appeared in Mystery Writers of America’s middle-grade anthology Super Puzzletastic Mysteries, edited by Chris Grabenstein (HarperCollins). Fleur regularly does (virtual) school visits, as well as librarian and educator conference talks on reaching reluctant readers. Originally from the Netherlands, she now lives in Colorado Springs with her family, and entirely too many rescue animals. Find out more about Fleur on her website: www.ftbradley.com and follow her on Twitter @FTBradleyAuthor.

Aug. 30: UNMASKED (FRIGHT WATCH 3) by Lorien Lawrence. Lorien Lawrence is a writer and middle school English teacher from Connecticut. She has creative writing degrees from Wheaton College and Bath Spa University. When she’s not reading or writing, she can be found hunting ghosts with her family.

(In slightly less spooky new releases, my new chapter book series, GEMSTONE DRAGONS, launches this month too! The first two books arriving Aug. 2 aren’t too spooky, but book 3, coming out Dec. 27 is, proving that even December is spooky!)

Now let’s hear from these great authors about their August spooky MG books:

Samantha: Tell us about your new book.

Ally Malinenko: This Appearing House is the story about a girl, Jac, on the cusp of her 5 year anniversary of a cancer diagnosis, who discovers a House at the end of the street that is more than what it seems. When some neighborhood challenge her and her best friend Hazel they get trapped in the House and as they move from one terrifying room to the other they come to understand that the House has a personal connection to Jac. And the only way out is through.

Fleur Bradley: Daybreak on Raven Island is an Alcatraz-inspired scary middle-grade. When three kids miss the ferry after a field trip to Raven Island, they have to solve the mystery of a decades-old prison escape and a current murder mystery, all while outrunning some very scary ghosts (and a flock of ravens). The short answer: it’s Alfred Hitchcock for kids.

Lorien Lawrence: UNMASKED is set in the Fright Watch universe, but it features a new main character. Her name is Marion, and she’s a monster-maker/budding special effects artist. On Halloween night, she creates a sea creature mask that accidentally possessed her crush. Despite her social anxiety, she must go to the school dance to stop her monster/crush from wreaking further havoc on her classmates. 

Samantha: What inspired this story?

Ally: I was diagnosed with cancer 8 years ago but more than talking about cancer I wanted to talk about trauma. This Appearing House is a book that exists to help kids navigate the trauma – and the last few years have certainly been that. The word cancer is in the book only a few times because I wanted every kid who has been through something to see themselves in Jac. I wanted them to see that it’s okay to be angry at an unfair world and that just because this thing happened to them, didn’t mean that they were broken. Jac’s art teacher teaches her about Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing pottery using gold to seal the cracks. In this tradition the broken item is not repaired, it is remade. And just like that pottery kids who have been through trauma, have been remade. I want them to see their cracks lit with gold.

Fleur: After Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, which is lightly spooky, I wanted to write a scarier book. Taking Alcatraz as a jumping-off point, I created my own island, with an abandoned prison, a lighthouse, a morgue, and a cemetery. It was fun to push the paranormal element for this book and imagine what might’ve happened to the prisoners who escaped Alcatraz. What if they made it off?

Lorien: I’m OBSESSED with special effects and the art of monster making. I’ve always wanted to dive into that world (but I’m not remotely artistic!) 

Samantha: Let’s talk about setting. Each of you have created fun and spooky settings for your stories. What inspired them and why did you choose these settings for your stories?

Ally: The Haunted House is usually a metaphor for a diseased mind, but in my book it is a metaphor for a diseased body. When the House first appears Jac thinks she is hallucinating – a sign that her cancer has returned. To prove that it is real she has to physically go into the House. I liked toying with that notion. In so many Haunted House stories I’m always wondering why the people don’t leave. But for Jac, she can’t. She had to go in to prove she was okay and now she has to go through it to survive. 

Fleur: Alcatraz has such a wealth of stories, I really wanted to have some fun exploring the what-if questions. But then creating the fictional Raven Island, modeled after Alcatraz, gave me room to do what I want as a writer. It was a lot of fun.

Lorien: The fictional town of South Haven is based on my Connecticut hometown. It’s VERY New England, very spooky, loaded with urban legends and folklore. It’s a very “kids on bikes” type of town, and I wanted that to translate in my books. 

Samantha: How much are you like your main character? Or if you’re more like another character in your book, which one?

Ally: I think every character I write is a little bit like me. With Jac, she bottles things up and when confronted has trouble talking about things and I think that is very much something that I do. She’s a secret keeper because of her trauma. She doesn’t want anyone to know what she has been through because she’s worried it will be all that they can see then. But once she learns to face what happens she realizes she’s more than that and that other people know it.

Fleur: I’m probably most like Noah in Daybreak on Raven Island. He’s afraid of a lot of things, and doesn’t like breaking the rules. I wish I was more like Marvin in the book: he just jumps right into adventure…

Lorien: I’m a lot like Marion in UNMASKED. She is creative and has an anxiety disorder – something I grew up with. And like me, she uses her art as an outlet and a way to express herself. When I feel my anxiety spiking, I write. When Marion feels her anxiety spiking, she creates monsters. My other protagonist in STITCHERS and COLLECTORS – Quinn – was very confident, which is not at all how I was as a kid. 

Samantha: Many spooky books delve into deeper themes, like grief, anger and healing. What are some of the themes you explored in your book and why?

Ally: As I mentioned before it’s definitely about trauma but it’s also about grief and anger. Jac is angry. She’s angry that she went through this terrible ordeal. She’s angry that she’ll always worry that it will come back – that at any moment her life could be rerouted. She spends a lot of time worried she’s going to die young and navigating grieving what she has already lost. But in the end, it is Hope and Healing that gets her through. 

Fleur: Daybreak on Raven Island is my pandemic book: I wrote and edited it during Covid lockdown. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was exploring the theme of loneliness. Each of the three kids in the book carry a secret around, something that bothers them but they’re too afraid to share. I hope that kid readers will feel a little braver in sharing anything they’re struggling with. It’s no good to be alone with your worries and problems.

Lorien: The first two books in FRIGHT WATCH deal with grief: I had just lost my father when I started the series, and Quinn loses her dad at the beginning of STITCHERS. In UNMASKED, the focus shifts to mental health. Anxiety and depression were a part of my adolescence (and anxiety still is), so I wanted to write about a character who also experiences those things. 

Samantha: Why do you love writing spooky/horror stories for kids?

Ally: I loved horror books as a kid – even though I was a definite scaredy cat! I love writing horror cause horror does something no other writing, except maybe comedy, can do which is to elicit a physical response in a reader. I love that challenge. But I also love that horror teaches kids how to slay the real life monsters when they show up. I believe it’s important for kids to navigate fear in a way that feels safe. Horror books are Safe Scary. It knows that kids will last the night.

Fleur: Horror is so fun, and I love combining it with mystery. It’s great to explore those things you’re afraid of and shine a (flash)light on them. Horror shows kids that the monsters are either not that scary, or that they can be slayed.

Lorien: Because horror is electric! You HAVE to read through to the end. And it’s way more hopeful than people give it credit for. We see kids being brave and conquering their deepest, darkest fears (both internally and externally).

Samantha: When you were growing up, what was your favorite spooky book?

Ally: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was definitely my most read. Those illustrations alone would give me nightmares! But I also loved Mary Downing Hanh’s Wait Till Helen Comes.

Fleur: I didn’t read a lot of horror until I was an adult, I’m sad to say… It’s fun now to catch up and discover horror for kids. There are so many great books being published!

Lorien: SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK hooked me in kindergarten. (I know – probably too young, but hey, it was the 80s!)

Samantha: What’s your current favorite modern spooky book by someone other than the authors in this interview, because we know they’re all brilliant? 🙂

Ally: I recently read The Clackity by Lora Senf and loved it. It’s a great story with so much heart (the best kind of horror) and just the right amount of frights.

Fleur: I’m such a fan of Dan Poblocki’s books. He has a new book out in August, Tales to Keep You Up at Night, which I can’t wait to read.

Lorien: Any and all from our Spooky Middle Grade group (and I’m NOT just saying that!) I also adore Daka Hermon’s HiDE AND SEEKER and I am impatiently awaiting her next middle grade horror book. 

Samantha: What wonderful answers!

Click here to get your copy of THIS APPEARING HOUSE, DAYBREAK ON RAVEN ISLAND and UNMASKED (FRIGHT WATCH 3).

The 2021 American Library Association Youth Media Awards were announced yesterday, and among all the fantastic titles that were honored was a wonderful spooky middle-grade book from one our authors. Adrianna Cuevas‘ THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ was one of two novels that received a Pura Belpré Children’s Author Honor. Congratulations to Adrianna and her Nestor!

To celebrate, we wanted to heard from Adrianna about this wonderful honor. You can also read more about the book in this interview.

Congratulations, Adrianna! How are you feeling? Has it sunk in yet?

I’m not quite sure it’s sunk in yet. I watched the awards announcements, screaming and cheering for my author friends. When my book popped up on the screen, I was still completely surprised, even though I knew it was going to be there. It didn’t seem real.

Tell us about that moment you found out your book had been honored.

I was notified on Saturday. They had to call me four times because I have a phobia of talking on the phone and kept ignoring their calls. I was out for a walk in my neighborhood when we finally connected. I’m fairly certain my neighbors are now concerned for my well-being since I sobbed all the way back to my house.

If your neighbors had known, they would’ve been sobbing along with you! When you were a kid, did you dream of this moment?

I loved writing and telling stories growing up but being an author didn’t seem like a real job so it wasn’t something I dreamed of. So being a Pura Belpré Honor author was even farther out of the realm of possibility for me.

What would you say to all the kids who’ve read THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ and dream of one day telling their own stories?

I would advise them to tell the stories that make them happy, that make them laugh, and that are just bursting through their fingers to be put down on paper. Don’t worry about what other people are writing or what you think others want to read. Tell the story you want to tell. I wasn’t sure anyone would connect with my farting talking animals but now I can say I’m the author of AWARD-WINNING fart jokes. So you never know what might happen when you tell the stories you want to tell.

This is the BEST advice! And we all need more farting talking animals in our lives.

If you haven’t read THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ yet, check it out here. And look out for Adrianna’s next middle-grade novel, CUBA IN MY POCKET, coming out on September 21.

Samantha M Clark is the author of THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster) and ARROW (coming June 22, 2021).

As we celebrate contemporary fantasy spooky books with our giveaway this week, I’m excited to interview one of our newer Spooky Middle Grade authors, Adrianna Cuevas. Adrianna’s debut novel is the fantastically fun and spooky THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in July.

Adrianna Cuevas is a first-generation Cuban-American originally from Miami, Florida. A former Spanish and ESOL teacher, Adrianna currently resides in Austin, Texas with her husband and son. When not working with TOEFL students, wrangling multiple pets including an axolotl, and practicing fencing with her son, she is writing her next middle grade novel.

Hey, Adrianna! I’m so happy you’ve joined this group. Tell us about your book THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ…

The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez is about a boy from a military family who’s used to moving to a new town every few years. When he finally gets the chance to live with his grandmother in New Haven, Texas, his one goal is to make sure that no one finds out his biggest secret- he can talk to animals. But when a tule vieja, a witch that can transform into animals, starts threatening his new home, Nestor must decide whether to risk revealing his secret to save his friends. 

How did you get the idea for the story?

There’s a slight chance (and by slight, I mean 100% true) that I was sitting in a high school faculty meeting four years ago, doodling in my notebook as I tried to pay attention. I thought about how my family had just moved to Texas and how my son had lived in five houses in six years. He’s always asking me hypothetical questions like “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” or “If you could be any animal, what would it be?” From those ideas, I came up with Nestor—a Cuban-American boy with a secret ability, looking for a home. 

And I don’t think I missed any crucial information from that faculty meeting while I brainstormed. 

Ha! We won’t tell. 😉 Can you tell us more about the real-life tule vieja legend?

The tule vieja is a legend from Panama and Costa Rica, two countries I lived in when I was younger. She’s a bit different from the tule vieja I present in my book since the traditional tule vieja has permanent animal features like bat wings and crow feet. She also walks around topless… perhaps not the best look for a middle grade story? She’s very similar to the legend of La Llorona, since she can be found snatching unruly, truant children off the streets. I thought it would be more fun to connect the tule vieja to Nestor’s animal communication ability by having her kidnap New Haven’s pets and livestock in a bid to increase her power. 

She’s also fully clothed. 

Are any of the characters in the book like you? Can you secretly talk to animals like Nestor?

I’d love to say that I’m brave like Nestor or that I can cook and sew like his abuela. But, alas, I fear I’m most like Cuervito, the snarky raven that pesters Nestor, and Val, the coyote with a penchant for making jokes in serious situations. 

And most of the communication I have with animals tends to be one-sided arguments with my dog and cat about how I’ve already fed them.

I hear you! I have the same conversation with my dogs. They never believe me! What’s your favorite thing about writing spooky stories like this one?

I love the ability of spooky stories to be a vehicle for exploring deeper themes and issues. For someone like me with the attention span of a single-cell bacterium, action-packed, quick-paced scary stories are an accessible way to address themes of family, belonging, and identity. Also, showing young readers someone like them overcoming monsters, both imaginary and real, is something I treasure as an author. 

Absolutely! Did you have a favorite spooky book, movie or character growing up?

I was obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe growing up. I had an illustrated anthology of his poems and short stories that I read constantly. The Pit and the Pendulum was my favorite short story of his because I was enthralled with how Poe’s gruesome descriptions put the reader directly in the scene. To prove I wasn’t a completely blood-thirsty child growing up, I also loved his poem Annabel Lee. That one definitely ushered in my strong emo phase as a teenager. My poor parents. 

Oooh, I love Edgar Allen Poe! I have a pop-up version of his The Raven. It’s awesome. What’s your biggest fear?

You know in horror movies where a character sticks their hand in the garbage disposal because they think it’s broken, only to have it suddenly turn on? Yeah, that’s not my biggest fear. How about when you turn off all the lights in your bedroom so you have to race and jump on top of your bed before anything lurking below can grab you by the toes? That’s not it either. 

My biggest fear has nothing to do with the supernatural or anything imaginary. There’s a scene in The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez where Nestor’s mom mistakes two high school ROTC students for an Army mortuary affairs detail coming to tell her something has happened to her husband. That was my fear every day for the years my husband was deployed as a military policeman. Writing Nestor was a healing way to process those emotions and use my fear to show young readers a way to confront separation and grief. 

Wow. That’s a deep fear a lot of readers will experience. It’s wonderful that they can learn to deal with it through your book. You’ve got another book coming out next fall. Can you give us a sneak peek into what it’s about?

I’m so excited for my next book, Cuba in My Pocket! It tells the story of a young Cuban boy who immigrates to the United States by himself in the 1960s. I based it on my father’s experiences and I’m so thrilled to honor him with this story. It will also clearly show that my sarcasm and snark is genetic. 

Fantastic! I can’t wait for CUBA IN MY POCKET, and I know all our readers can’t either.

If you haven’t read THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ yet, get it now! You won’t be disappointed.

Samantha M Clark is the author of THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster) and ARROW (coming June 22, 2021).

I’ve been a fan of Cory Putman Oakes and her books for years. Afterall, she’s the author of the fabulously magical young adult novel WITCH TOWN and the fantastically fun middle-grade DINOSAUR BOY series, among others. But my excitement was ratched up a thousand when she told about the newest middle-grade book she’d sold, because it has ghosts!

THE SECOND-BEST HAUNTED HOTEL ON MERCER STREET comes out from Abrams on Aug. 18, and I’ve already pre-ordered my copy. (You can get yours here.) You can just imagine my excitement at interviewing Cory about her new book. And the best part? She’s given us a wonderfully spooky recipe to try too.

Hi, Cory! Welcome to Spooky Middle Grade! Tell us about THE SECOND-BEST HAUNTED HOTEL ON MERCER STREET.

THE SECOND-BEST HAUNTED HOTEL ON MERCER STREET is “You’ve Got Mail” meets “The Haunted Mansion,” but for a middle grade audience. The idea is that there are two competing haunted hotels on Mercer Street: The Hotel Ivan (small, quirky, family-owned), and The Hauntery (part of a big, soulless, corporate chain). There are also two main characters. There’s Willow, a living girl, whose family has owned the Hotel Ivan for 400 years. Willow’s mother has died and come back as a ghost – she and all of the other friendly ghosts who haunt the Ivan are starting to fade (along with the hotel’s business). Willow is desperate to save her beloved home and the ghosts who are like family to her. Then there’s Evie, a ghost, who works for The Hauntery where she is forced to play the role of “Spooky Little Girl.” Evie longs to play the Terrifying Phantasm, but neither hotel management or her own family will let her prove she’s terrifying enough. The two girls meet at their local library (they’re fans of the same mystery series) and hatch a daring plan to help one another, but can they pull it off before the dreaded Hotel Inspector decides, once and for all, which hotel is the “Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street”?

So much fun! What inspired you to write this story?

I spent an entire night walking my infant son around a decidedly not-haunted hotel. He wouldn’t sleep and he’d fuss whenever I tried to sit down so we walked around empty ballrooms, meeting rooms, down quiet hallways, and through the deserted lobby. We didn’t see any ghosts, but seeing a hotel in the dead of night like that – all that emptiness and quiet, with only echoes of all the parties and proms and weddings and life events that have happened there – was the most haunted thing I’ve ever experienced. I knew immediately I had to write a book about a haunted hotel.

You’ve written some other spooky stories. What do you like best about spooky stories?

I love to tell stories that have a spooky (or magical) element brewing right under the surface of “normal.” There’s something very fun about a world that looks a lot like ours except for one, big, spooky/magical difference. In this case – the world of Mercer Street is just like ours, except ghosts exist and are woven into the fabric of everyday life. I love having paranormal elements brush up against modern things like WiFi and Instagram and toxic corporate culture – it allows me to really play with these concepts in interesting ways.

I’ve always loved spooky stories in particular because they are so layered. On the surface, spooky stories are fun in that spine-tingling, oh-no-don’t-open-the-door, deliciously frightening way. But, especially when spooky stories deal with ghosts and hauntings, they always have a deeper layer of meaning that venture into subjects like death, moving on, living life to the fullest, and what it means to really be “alive.” These are all subjects that kids wonder about and often have a hard time discussing because adults don’t always know what to say about them. The great thing about middle grade ghost stories is that they’re safe places for kids to explore these topics – they allow kids to dip their toes in the heavier stuff while they’re still floating on that cushion of surface-level, spine-tingling fun stuff.

What are your favorite spooky stories that you’ve read?

Recently, I’ve really enjoyed GHOST SQUAD (by Claribel Ortega), GREENGLASS HOUSE (by Kate Milford), GLOOM TOWN (by Ronald L. Smith) and THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ (by Adrianna Cuevas). While I was writing this book I also re-watched a lot of old, classic scary movies like The Shining, Poltergeist, Halloween, and The Haunted Mansion – in fact, a lot of my secondary character names ended up coming from those movies!

Have you ever seen a ghost in real life?

I have never seen a ghost in real life. My Gram used to see them with some regularity and at various points in my life, I’ve worried that I might have inherited this talent of hers. But I’m turning 40 this year and it hasn’t happened yet, so I think I’m safe. Thank goodness! As much as I love literary ghosts, I know I’d be absolutely terrified if I ever encountered the real thing.

The cover for THE SECOND-BEST HAUNTED HOTEL ON MERCER STREET is so fun. Can you introduce us to the characters?

I love the cover too! This book actually has illustrations throughout – they (and the cover) are all the work of a talented artist named Jane Pica. I LOVE the way she captured the personalities of the characters.

And yes, let’s meet them! On the bottom left we have Willow – Willow’s family owns the Hotel Ivan (which everybody is standing in front of). Evie, the other point of view character, is on the bottom right, wearing her “Spooky Little Girl” outfit (which the Hauntery forces her to wear and which she hates with every fiber of her being). Above the girls are some of the Hotel Ivan’s resident ghosts. Going clockwise (starting above Willow’s head), we’ve got: Molly the Headless Horsewoman (she frequently loses her head), Alford (a WW1 veteran who wears his uniform when he’s nervous), Leonata (a drag performer who is married to Alford. When she’s not in drag, she’s Leopold, a former opera singer and the Ivan’s resident Terrifying Phantasm). Bree (the Ivan’s Social Media Coordinator, whose dream is to open her own photography studio). And right at the bottom between Willow and Evie is Cuddles, the Hotel Ivan’s resident ghost dog.

Do you have a spooky craft or recipe to share?

I do! If you’ve been anywhere near my Instagram, you probably noticed that I like to bake. I always try and find a way to sneak baked goods or other recipes into my books. In THE SECOND-BEST HAUNTED HOTEL ON MERCER STREET it was pretty easy – there are actually two other Ivan ghosts who I haven’t mentioned yet (who aren’t on the cover): Antonia, the Ivan’s Head Chef and her niece, Francesca, a Chef-in-Training. They make a number of interesting dishes throughout the story (including one, very memorable dinner party menu). But my favorite, and probably the best one to pass along, is the recipe for the chocolate chip scones they bake for the lobby. This recipe is adapted from one of my all-time favorite scones recipes in The National Trust Book of Scones (by Sarah Clelland).

THE HOTEL IVAN’S CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES

(Adapted from The National Trust Book of Scones by Sarah Clelland)

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz self-rising flour

4 oz butter, cubed

3 oz caster sugar (or granulated sugar if you don’t have caster)

4 oz chocolate chips (plus more to snack on while baking)

1 egg, beaten

200 ml whole milk

PROCEDURE:

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift the flour. Rub in the cubed butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until it resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the sugar and the chocolate chips.

Add the egg and mix in almost all of the milk (saving a little bit to brush on top of the scones before baking) to make a soft dough.

Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface until it just comes together. Press the dough out with the palms of your hands until it’s about an inch thick then stamp out the scones with a small round biscuit cutter. Re-roll the scraps and stamp out more until you run out of dough. (If you prefer triangle scones, then flatten the dough into a large circle and cut the dough, pizza-style.)

Brush the top of the scones with the remaining milk and bake them for 10-15 minutes until they’ve risen and are golden brown on top.

Eat them while they’re warm and melty. Share with your favorite ghosts.

Mmmm. My mouth is already watering. Thank you, Cory, for stopping by Spooky Middle Grade. We can’t wait for your new book!

Samantha M Clark is the award-winning author of the spooky and mysterious middle-grade novel THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster). Find her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or her website.

Samantha M Clark here, and I was recently interviewed by Q.L. Pearce for the Haunted Nights Live! podcast. I had a blast talking about THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, writing and the fun of spooky middle-grade books. Since Q shares my love of spooky MG, I thought I’d get to know more about her and the podcast she helps to host. Here’s what she said…

Thanks for joining me on Spooky Middle Grade, Q! What made you want to write spooky books for kids?

My family is British, so ghost stories are programmed into my DNA. When I was a child, we moved to Florida and lived on an island in Tampa Bay. There were a few kids about my age on the island. We’d often hang out and trade comics. While my friends picked out Archie or Superman, I forked over my allowance for House of Mystery and Strange Tales. I also loved TV shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Twilight Zone. It didn’t take long for me to start writing my own stories, which I would share with my friends whether they wanted to hear them or not. A neighborhood mom once complained to my mother that her daughter couldn’t sleep because of my spooky stories. I was sent to my room early that night. My mom crept in later with a bowl of popcorn, and I shared my scary tales with her.

I won my first school writing contest at age nine and my first city-sponsored contest at age eleven. By that time, I was hooked on the horror genre. Swimming Lessons, the opening story in my first Scary Stories for Sleep-Overs book, is based on something spooky that happened on the island when I was a kid.

Can you tell us about some of your recent books?

I write in a variety of genres and age ranges, but my favorite is scary middle grade. My most recent is Spine Chillers: Hair-Raising Tales. There’s no link between them, but Spine Chillers is in the tradition of Scary Stories for Sleep-Overs. It’s a collection of short stories that includes classic ghosts, a monster or two, invented urban legends and one tale that is an homage to The Twilight Zone. The stories are created for reading aloud at a sleep-over or under the covers with a flashlight.

Picture book author Mem Fox once said, “Writing for children is like writing War and Peace in haiku.” I think that describes short stories perfectly. They oblige the writer to develop characters and plot concisely, while still telling a satisfying tale that’s fun to read. I’m currently working on the next collection.

You host the YA and MG days of the Haunted Nights Live podcast. Can you tell us about the podcast and how you got involved?

Thorne & Cross Haunted Nights Live! has been part of the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network since 2014, and it’s one of their top-rated shows. The hosts, legendary horror writers, Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross, have interviewed many of my favorite adult horror authors and filmmakers. I was thrilled when they decided to expand the show to include books for younger readers and invited me to join them as MG/YA host. I have a lot of wiggle room when it comes to guests, so I also cover mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. It’s a wonderful opportunity to chat with the authors of books and films I admire. The show can take some surprising turns, and it’s always fun and illuminating.
Tamara and I are close friends. We started chatting at a book signing some twenty years ago and haven’t stopped talking since. We occasionally take road trips together to visit haunted hotels, abandoned buildings, and ghost towns for research. I must admit that Tamara is the brave one and I’m a chicken. When we encounter something a little bit frightening, I’m the first one to the exit.

Why do you think spooky books are important for young readers?

Of course kids have varied likes and dislikes when it comes to reading, but I think spooky books can have many benefits for those who enjoy the genre. Children of all ages deal with tough feelings like anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. Books are a safe way of experiencing a scary situation without any real risk. A scary book gives kids a chance to think through difficult circumstances and build confidence. They can also put the book down if they feel uncomfortable. Scary stories can help children recognize the consequences of making poor choices; like going into that abandoned old house alone! In a very real sense, it empowers kids and can turn reluctant readers into lifelong book lovers. Still, horror for young readers is a balancing act when it comes to age range. What’s scary to a first grader probably seems silly to a fifth grader, so an author has to know the audience well.

What were your favorite spooky books when you were a kid?

When I was a kid, I didn’t read a lot of scary books specifically for children, but I devoured scary comics. On the first Saturday of every month, I’d ride my bike across the bridge to Mr. McKelvey’s drug store to buy a cherry Coke, a Clark Bar and the latest comics.

As far as books, I was first drawn to mysteries and fantasy. I read the Enid Blyton books and Nancy Drew, particularly those with ‘ghost’ or ‘haunted’ in the title. The Chronicles of Narnia was a favorite. Finally I discovered ghost stories by Edith Wharton and H.G Wells. That led to Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury and Shirley Jackson. The Haunting of Hill House is one of my two favorite books of all time. The other is Animal Farm. Ray Bradbury is my hero. I love his writing style. I had the opportunity to hear him speak once. He was just as wonderful in person. My favorite quote of his is, “We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.”

I love that quote! Listen to Q. L. Pearce interviewing me for the Haunted Nights Live! podcast here.

Q. L. Pearce began her career as a writer and editor with Lowell House/ Roxbury Press in Los Angeles. She has since written more than 150 books for children, both fiction and nonfiction. Her published work includes a dozen collections of scary stories and mysteries, such as Scary Stories for Sleepovers and Spine Chillers, as well as film tie-in books for the Fox animated film Titan AE and the Universal animated series Land Before Time. Red Bird Sings, co-authored and illustrated by Gina Capaldi, received the Carter G. Woodson gold medal for nonfiction picture books, the Moonbeam gold medal, and the Eureka silver medal. It has been adapted for the stage by the Ophelia’s Jump Theater Group and performed at the San Gabriel Valley Literary Festival. Q lives in California with her research scientist husband, two very spoiled dogs, a talkative cockatiel, a bevy of fish and a host of wild squirrels who believe her life revolves around delivering their meals.

Two of the Spooky Middle Grade authors had new novels published earlier this month, and they’re both within book series. Angie Smibert continues her GHOSTS OF ORDINARY OBJECTS series with the second book LINGERING ECHOES, and Kat Shepherd began the new GEMINI MYSTERIES series with book one, THE NORTH STAR. Writing a series has its own set of unique challenges from writing a stand-alone book, so I asked these two spooky authors to give us some insight into their process.

Angie, tell us about your GHOSTS OF ORDINARY OBJECTS series…

Angie Smibert: The series is a blend of history, mystery, folklore, and magical realism. Set in 1942 in a small coal mining community in Southwest Virginia, GHOSTS centers around Bone Phillips (12) and her family and friends. In the first book, BONE’S GIFT, she discovers she’s coming into her Gift, as her Mamaw calls it. Almost everyone in the Reed/Phillips family has some sort of ability. Bone finds she can, with a touch, see the stories—or ghosts—in ordinary objects. People leave emotional imprints on objects. In the first book, Bone is faced with many changes besides her Gift. Her best friend goes to work in the mines. Her father gets drafted. And she has to go live with her dreaded Aunt Mattie, who does not hold with the Gifts. All the while, Bone needs to learn to use her Gift in order to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother.

How does the story continue in this new book, LINGERING ECHOES?

Angie Smibert: In the new book, Bone is a bit more at ease with her Gift, or at least she’s getting there. This time Bone needs to use her Gift to solve the mystery behind a seemingly haunted or magical jelly jar. Her best friend Will—Silent Will Kincaid—inherited this jar along with his father’s dinner bucket from when he goes to work in the mines. One day, Will hears sounds coming out of the empty jar. In fact, it appears to capture sounds. Bone suspects solving the mystery of the jar might help her get to the bottom of why Will can’t talk. Oh, and this story happens at Halloween!

Oooh, extra spooky! Kat, can you tell us about THE GEMINI MYSTERIES 1: THE NORTH STAR?

Kat Shepherd: THE GEMINI MYSTERIES is an interactive mystery series that follows the adventures of four teenage sleuths. At the end of every chapter is a picture with a clue hidden in it. Each hidden clue leads the detectives onto the next stage of solving the mystery. In Book 1, THE NORTH STAR, twins Zach and Evie and their best friend, Vishal, are hanging out with the twins’ crime reporter mom when she gets a call that a priceless diamond necklace has been stolen just before a charity auction. The friends quickly find themselves right in the middle of a crime scene, and they discover there is no shortage of suspects of who want the necklace for themselves. With the help of new girl Sophia Boyd, the detectives are soon chasing down clues in a race against time to get the necklace back before it’s too late.

Wonderful! Kat, this is the first book in a series. What are the challenges and/or joys of writing a book that’s starting a series?

Kat Shepherd: One of the things I love about starting a new series is getting to build a world for the reader. I love the opportunity to create an immersive experience, figuring out the rules of the world and the intricacies of my characters. And then figuring out how to introduce the reader, deciding what they need to know right now and what can wait. The fun of a series is it’s a slow burn, so you don’t have to tell everyone everything in the first book. Not every question has to be answered. Some things you get to keep for yourself to reveal later.

The challenge of a new series is the other side of the coin. You’re starting from scratch. Everything is new. There’s no shorthand the way there is with later books in a series. You can’t take anything for granted. And you have to build something strong enough in that first book that a whole series can stand on it; you have to create something that makes your readers want to come back for more.

Yes, interesting. Angie, what made you want to write ghost stories?

Angie Smibert: This isn’t precisely a ghost story. (The next book, though, does have a ghost dog in it.) The ghosts that Bone sees are more memories that have left their marks on these objects. Bone loves stories—everything from folktales to movies—as long as they aren’t true. So, of course, I gave her a Gift that she’d hate, seeing real stories in objects. Eventually, she’ll learn that her Gift is to give voice to unheard stories.

But, that being said, I do love ghost stories! I can still remember when my fourth grade teacher told us about the ghost that haunted her childhood home in Alabama. It was the ghost of a young slave girl who’d been killed by her owner for revealing to the Union troops where the household silver was buried. The girl could still be seen walking down the grand stairs and out into yard. She’d disappear precisely where the treasure was buried. So that’s probably when I got hooked on ghost stories.

Wow! Cool story. Kat, we know you love spooky books, because your other series is BABYSITTING NIGHTMARES. How was it different writing this mystery series?

Kat Shepherd: There are lots of similarities between spooky books and mysteries. There are thrills, chills, and suspense in both. Suspense is what keeps the reader turning the pages. You want cliffhangers, you want surprises, you want peril, all that great stuff that keeps the story going. I think the biggest difference between them actually comes with the pre-writing. With spooky stories I have my concept and the basic plot mapped out. I know about where the setpieces will go and how the story will end, but a lot is left to be discovered as I write. I get to play a little, seeing how I can up the spookiness factor or what twists I can add to build suspense or atmosphere. But with mysteries I have to know everything in advance. This is especially true for the interactive mysteries, because every chapter has to lead to a hidden clue. That means I have to know in advance what every clue will be, and I have to know exactly how every scene will play out to lead the characters (and the readers) to the clue. For THE NORTH STAR, I had a 6,000 word outline and color-coded timeline for every major character before I wrote a single word of the story. Because of that, once I finally sat down to write the book, it went very quickly. I knew exactly what was going to happen, and my only job then was getting it down on paper and making it come to life on the page.

That pre-writing can really help. Angie, was it easier or harder to write this second book in the series and why?

Angie Smibert: In some ways, it’s easier because I’ve already established the setting and characters. I don’t need to really do additional world building. But then again, the second book is harder because I still have to introduce the world to new readers—without overdoing it for those who read the first book.

That’s a challenge! Kat, the third BABYSITTING NIGHTMARES is coming out in August, THE TWILIGHT CURSE, then another GEMINI MYSTERIES, THE CAT’S PAW, in December. How does your writing change when you’re working on the second and third books in a series?

Kat Shepherd: What’s challenging about follow-up books in a series is that essentially you have to follow that old Hollywood studio line: “Give me the same, but different.” Readers love series books because they’re familiar and comfortable; they follow certain patterns or have similar themes, and writing a series needs to give that to them but still make it feel fresh. So it’s always a challenge to decide what parts of the patterns to keep and what to change up. For example, in BABYSITTING NIGHTMARES, each book follows a different girl with a different spooky problem; that’s the different part. But other things need to stay consistent, like the rules of the world, the Big Bad in the background, and certain beats, like the girls meeting up for doughnuts and strategy sessions at Kawanna’s costume shop. I want to give readers those familiar beats so the series starts to feel like home to them. What’s really nice about writing second and third books in a series is that by this time you’ve really spent a lot of time with your characters, so you know them well and you know their world. You’ve seen them grow and develop and unfold, so writing the later books is like visiting old friends again. I hope they start to feel like old friends to readers, too!

Oh yes, good tips. Angie, will there be more books in the GHOSTS OF ORDINARY OBJECTS series? What can we look forward to from you?

Angie Smibert: Yes, there’s one more book in the series (so far), called THE TRUCE. I’m working on the revisions right now. Or I should be! Book 3 comes out next March. The story is set at Christmas and involves a body found in the mine, Uncle Ash, a German soldier, and a ghost dog.

Fantastic! Read more about Angie Smibert’s books here and Kat Shepherd’s books here and look out for more spooky and mysterious books in these series soon.

Samantha M Clark is the author of THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster). A former journalist and editor and constant wonderer, she’s convinced she’ll one-day find the wardrobe that took the Pevensie’s to Narnia. Until then, she’s writing about her own magical worlds. Find out more about Samantha and her books at SamanthaMClark.com.