Ally Russell’s novel Down Came the Spiders will publish from Scholastic December 2025. Spooky Middle Grade is excited to help reveal the cover of Ally’s new book, but first . . . let us tell you what the book is about!
Twelve-year-old Andi loves everything about spiders—they’re endlessly fascinating creatures. So when she finds a species she’s never seen before at a classmate’s Halloween party, she’s over the moon. 🕷️ Until the spiders start to behave in unusual and threatening ways, that is. They can camouflage themselves incredibly well, they can jump higher than she’s ever seen, and their webs are strong. Maybe even strong enough to trap a person . . . 🕷️
Andi and her friends Carly and Devon try to find an adult to help, but make a terrifying discovery: The parent chaperones have been immobilized by the spiders. As the only ones who know 🕷️ what’s going on, Andi, Carly, and Devon will have to take on the spiders themselves—before it’s too late!
Sorry to leave you hanging by a thread. Here’s the cover!
Arachnophobia meets Five Nights at Freddy’s in this middle grade horror novel perfect for fans of K.R. Alexander and Mary Downing Hahn.
And now, let’s hear more from the spider on the cover:
Is this your first book cover?
I’ve been under plenty of books, but this is my first time being ona book.
Did you spin that web yourself?
Jai McFerran helped with the illustrations, and Stephanie Yang helped with the cover design, but I produced all the spider silk for the web. It was a team effort.
Why red?
Why not?
How did you decide on the title Down Came the Spiders?
I mean . . . that’s kind of what spiders do, you know?
When can readers get their hands on this book?
We were aiming for Halloween, but we decided to jazz things up, so look for this book under your bed . . . no. Wait. Sorry. Force of habit. Look for this book at Scholastic Book Fairs and bookstores December 2, 2025.
About the author:
Ally Russell is the author of It Came from the Trees. She grew up on a steady diet of Halloween parties, horror films, Unsolved Mysteries, and Goosebumps books. She has always loved scary stories, and got her MFA from Simmons University. She hails from Pittsburgh—ground zero for the zombie apocalypse. Ally lives with her husband and her two black cats, Nox and Fury. She’s afraid of the woods, the dark, and heights.
Set in a small New England town with a secret history dating back to the Salem Witch Trials, The Witches of Willow Cove is an upper-middle grade series full of magic, mystery, and adventure perfect for readers ages 10 and up. To mark today’s publication of the second book in the series, we’re sitting down with author Josh Roberts for another installment of our Spooky Middle Grade interview series, “5 Questions with …”
1. Tell us about The Curse of Willow Cove and its predecessor, The Witches of Willow Cove.
The first book, called The Witches of Willow Cove, tells the story of a 13-year-old girl named Abby Shepherd, who learns she’s a witch just as a mysterious stranger arrives in town and offers to teach her everything there is to know about witchcraft. The only problem? This stranger might also be responsible for the disappearance of someone close to Abby years earlier . . . and she might have something equally wicked planned this time around.
In The Curse of Willow Cove, Abby has a year of witchcraft under her belt and things are finally starting to go her way—until some of her classmates start vanishing in the night, only to return as something terrifyingly different than before. With the clock ticking and the danger getting closer and closer to Abby’s doorstep, she and her best friend Robby O’Reilly must both decide what they’re willing to risk to save everyone they love . . . before an ancient curse from Willow Cove’s past sinks its teeth into them all.
School Library Journal says that The Witches of Willow Cove series “may be written for middle grade, but the exciting narrative could appeal to young adults,” and that’s exactly what I was going for—a sort of PG-13 story that can genuinely be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
2. What inspired this new book? How did you come up with the idea?
As a lifelong New Englander, I’ve always been interested in the region’s history and folklore, and in particular a mysterious episode from the past called the Great New England Vampire Panic. Back in the late 19th century, farmers and townspeople all across New England became convinced that their dead relatives were rising from their graves as vampires to suck the life from their living relatives. The Curse of Willow Cove began with the question, “What if they were actually right?”
3. Did you love spooky stories as a kid?
My dad was a funeral director and we lived in a spooky old Victorian funeral home for my entire childhood, so in many ways my life was a spooky story. In fact, my dad was the fifth generation in our family to work as a mortician, dating all the way back to the Civil War. I don’t recall reading a lot of scary stories as a kid, but I have always loved inventing them.
The Witches of Willow Cove series borrows heavily from my childhood and teenage years growing up in a New England town just north of Salem, Massachusetts. I became fascinated by the fact that not only were there accused witches all across the state—including one in my hometown—but also that the witch trials did not actually occur in modern day Salem.
That was the kernel of the idea that kicked off the whole series: What if the town you were living in had a secret witch history you didn’t even know about . . . and what if something about your own family history tied you directly to that distant past?
4. What is your writing process?
It changes and evolves with every book. Earlier in my writing career, I was a meticulous outliner. I had to have every scene and chapter mapped out and working perfectly before I could even begin to put words on the page. But what I found is that it made the writing process less interesting for me once I sat down to actually craft the story, because it didn’t leave a lot of room for surprises.
With the first book in The Witches of Willow Cove series, I went entirely the other way—I just started writing without any idea of where it would go. That proved to be a little too exciting because it led to a few dead ends that I struggled to resolve in my early drafts.
Where I’ve landed now is a sort of hybrid writing process where I put together a list of ideas, scenes, themes, characters, and settings that I find interesting, and then I start to write with some checkpoints in mind. I have a vague sense of where I’m going and how I want to get there, but there’s still plenty of room for discovery and surprises along the way.
In every scene, I’m asking myself, “What’s the most exciting thing that could happen here?” Sometimes it’s an idea I’ve already settled on. Sometimes it takes the story in a whole new direction. I love giving myself permission to explore those ideas and see where I end up.
5. What’s next for The Witches of Willow Cove?
As with The Curse of Willow Cove, the next book in the series will jump ahead another year—putting the main cast of characters in high school for the first time. So, a new school, new friends, new rivals . . . and lots of new opportunities for storytelling. It’s tentatively titled The Haunting of Willow Cove and I can’t wait to share it with readers, just as soon as I finish writing it!
Praise for The Witches of Willow Cove series
“Roberts is a masterful storyteller. I loved it!” —Lora Senf, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Clackity
“A delightfully spooky page-turner . . . Roberts spins an engrossing tale of magic, mystery, and friendship.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“The book may be written for middle grade, but the exciting narrative could appeal to young adults . . . A first-tier purchase for public and school library middle grade collections.” —School Library Journal, Starred Review
At Spooky Middle Grade, we firmly believe that spooky books should be celebrated and enjoyed all year long. But even we can admit there’s something a little extra special about reading a spooky book in the fall, when the days grow colder and the nights begin to creep closer and closer into the daylight hours.
So, this Halloween season, settle in with one of our hand-picked recommendations for spooky middle grade books published this summer and fall. And check back in January for our winter 2025 recommendations!
Benji Zeb has to balance preparing for his bar mitzvah, his feelings for a school bully, and being a werewolf in this heartfelt, coming-of-age novel for middle-grade readers. For fans of Don’t Want to Be Your Monster and Too Bright to See.
Benji Zeb has a lot going on. He has a lot of studying to do, not only for school but also for his upcoming bar mitzvah. He’s nervous about Mr. Rutherford, the aggressive local rancher who hates Benji’s family’s kibbutz and wolf sanctuary. And he hasn’t figured out what to do about Caleb, Mr. Rutherford’s stepson, who has been bullying Benji pretty hard at school, despite Benji wanting to be friends (and maybe something more). And all of this is made more complicated by the fact that, secretly, Benji and his entire family are werewolves who are using the wolf sanctuary as cover for their true identities!
Things come to a head when Caleb shows up at the kibbutz one night . . . in wolf form! He’s a werewolf too, unable to control his shifting, and he needs Benji’s help. Can anxious Benji juggle all of these things along with his growing feelings toward Caleb?
After getting bullied at Figueroa Elementary, Stix Hart wants nothing more than to fly below the radar at middle school. He’s heard all the horror stories, but none involved ghosts.
On Stix’s first day of sixth grade, his anxiety is off the charts. It doesn’t help when he spots a kid who reminds him of his old bully, Xander Mack. Soon after, he encounters two other students who take a keen interest in him. He quickly learns the spooky truth—the trio are lost souls in need of a solid. When the ghosts tell him they’ve been stuck in middle school for decades, it’s up to Stix to figure out how to help these not-so-normal new friends.
Solving this paranormal predicament will take some serious sleuthing and tremendous bravery. Can Stix solve this mystery and help these spirits move on before it’s too late?
From the creator of My Life As a Teenage Robot comes the second story in a middle-grade horror series about a horrible bag, the spine-chilling world hidden within it, and a terrifying adventure into the world of GrahBhag. Perfect for fans of Coraline, the Spiderwick Chronicles, and Small Spaces.
Zenith Maelstrom knows he’s forgetting something…
But he can’t quite remember what. He wakes up to notes in his handwriting with messages like, “Prepare for battle!” – but what battle? – and his sister Apogee seems to grow angrier with him by the day. It’s not until he finds Apogee sneaking back into the horrible bag hidden away in their basement that all the dreadful details about GrahBhag resurface. The spiderlike Shlurps. The trio of foul mouths that hunger for blood. Eldritch horrors around every corner.
Desperate to save Apogee from her ill-planned attempt to right the wrongs of their last trip into the bag, Zenith is forced to follow her into the bizarre world that has certainly not forgotten them. Between old foes set on vengeance like Raggedy Albert and terrifying new ones like the haunting Wraith, Zenith will have to put things right with his sister without falling into the clutches of those who would do him harm. For if he is caught, Eternity Tower awaits…
With a combination of dry, absurdist humor and no-holds-barred horror, Rob Renzetti has crafted a delightfully imaginative fantasy world that will hook readers as surely as it will send chills down their spines.
The legend of Bigfoot gets a bone-chilling update in this scary story about a young girl and her scout troop who are willing to brave the woods to find her missing friend when no one else will. Perfect for fans of Daka Hermon and Claribel A. Ortega!
The wilderness is in Jenna’s blood. Her Pap was the first Black park ranger at Sturbridge Reservation, and she practically knows the Owlet Survival Handbook by heart. But she’s never encountered a creature like the one that took her best friend Reese. Her parents don’t believe her; the police are worthless, following the wrong leads; and the media isn’t connecting the dots between Reese’s disappearance and a string of other attacks. Determined to save her friend, Jenna joins a new local scout troop, and ventures back into the woods.
When the troop stumbles across suspicious signs: huge human-like footprints near the camp, scratch marks on trees, and ominous sounds from the woods, Jenna worries that whatever took Reese is back to take her too. Can she trust her new scout leader? And will her new friend Norrie—who makes her laugh and reminds her so much of Reese—believe her?
After the unthinkable happens, the scouts, armed with their wits and toiletries, band together to fight the monster and survive the night.
The Walter Award Honor–winning author of Root Magic returns with a terrifying story in the Southern Gothic tradition, inspired by the hoodoo practice of hair burning.
At night, Roddie still dreams of sitting at his mother’s feet while she braids his Afro down. But that’s a memory from before. Before his mom died in a tragic accident. Before he was taken in by an aunt he barely knows. Before his aunt brought him to Dogwood House, the creepiest place Roddie has ever seen. It was his family’s home for over a hundred years. Now the house—abandoned and rotting, draped in Spanish moss that reminds him too much of hair—is his home too.
Aunt Angie has returned to South Carolina to take care of Roddie and reconnect with their family’s hoodoo roots. Roddie, however, can’t help but feel lost. His mom had never told him anything about hoodoo, Dogwood House, or their family. And as they set about fixing the house up, Roddie discovers that there is even more his mother never said. Like why she left home when she was seventeen, never to return. Or why she insisted Aunt Angie always wear her hair in locs. Or what she knew of the strange secrets hidden deep within Dogwood House—secrets that have awoken again, and are reaching out to Roddie…
This spine-tingling ghost story follows a tween girl who’s being literally haunted by loneliness until a new friendship upends her life. From the bestselling author of the Paola Santiago series!
Sadie Rivera has been haunted all her life by a vengeful ghost—a ghost that doesn’t want her to make any friends. The moment she tries? Cue exploding lightbulbs, chilling gusts of wind, and slamming doors.
Last year, Sadie got fed up. Last year, she made a best friend, Anna. So when the ghost caused an accident that killed her best friend, Sadie knew it was all her fault.
Which is why she’s not going to make any friends this year at her new school. At least until mysterious cool girl Mal shows up, and the ghost doesn’t bother her for once. But Mal wants Sadie all to herself—and she’ll do anything to make sure it stays that way.
A boy travels into an alternate version of his Halloween-obsessed town to save his sister from an evil witch and free the town from the witch’s curse. A ghoulish and creepy middle school read perfect for spooky season!
Welcome to Pearl, a town obsessed with Halloween: the spooky decorations, the costumes, the candy. No one seems to notice that every October 31st, a kid goes missing. Mason Miller does, though. Somehow he’s the only one who has any memory the person existed at all.
When Mason’s sister, Meg, vanishes while they’re trick-or-treating, Mason and his friends are pulled into an underworld where monsters roam the streets. They need to fight the evil taking over Pearl, but none of them know the true danger they’re facing.
Meg has been stolen by a witch who has no plans to let her go. Shadows of death curl around trees and behind doorways as Mason must use every ounce of bravery he has . . . or be haunted forever with the memory of a sister that only he remembers.
The past has come calling in the town of Hush, and for one girl, that means facing her ghosts. Perfect for fans of the satisfyingly scary Small Spaces quartet!
Maddie Maverick likes to win. Whether it’s track team races or one-liners she delivers on her parents’ home renovation show, Maddie knows that if she puts in the work, she’ll always come out on top. But things take a turn when her ghost-hunting nana passes away, and Maddie and her twin sister, Nat, discover that Nana left them an unexpected inheritance: They can now see ghosts just like she did.
While Nat is totally on board to try to help some spirits find peace, a ghostly calling is just not Maddie’s speed. So when history comes back to haunt their town, and the story of a decades-old train crash rears its ugly head, Maddie wants nothing to do with the ghosts of days long gone. But one ghost in particular won’t go away, and Maddie might just be the only one with the power to help her—that is, if she can survive the Night Train herself.
In this eerie tale by beloved author Lorelei Savaryn, one girl’s determination to bring long-hidden secrets to light might just change her town—and herself—forever.
There’s no escaping these deliciously creepy tales of everyday horror, perfect for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
Once you open this book, you’re doomed . . . Cursed to stay up late, savoring every line of these terrifying stories. Go ahead and try to resist. The Night Things won’t let you get far.
Master storyteller Josh Allen, hailed as the “heir-apparent to Alvin Schwartz,” brings thirteen nightmare scenarios to life in this page-turning collection. From a shiny abandoned bike, to an innocent classroom icebreaker, to a piano recital that requires unusual sacrifices, there’s no end to the shocking twists on everyday reality.
In Allen’s wondrous world, which looks an awful like our own, danger waits behind every doorway . . . even in the most ordinary places. Kids eager for age-appropriate horror will relish every thrill and chill. Eerie illustrations by award-winning artist Sarah Coleman accompany the stories, packaged in a stunning hardcover edition complete with a glow-in-the-dark jacket. Readers will sleep with one eye open!
The legend of the Pied Piper meets Sal and Gabi Break the Universe with a touch of Coraline in this spooky and suspenseful middle grade adventure about a boy whose wish goes horribly wrong and his fight to reunite with his real family.
Sam Windsor’s parents and younger siblings, Grayson and Addie, are his whole world, so when his parents announce they’re separating, Sam is devastated. He’d do anything to make his parents change their minds and keep the family together. When a stranger offers a flute made of bone that supposedly grants the player’s wish, Sam doesn’t really believe it will work but figures he has nothing to lose.
Surprisingly, the wish on the skeleton flute comes true. The next day, his parents are happily in love, with no plans for his dad to leave. But there’s a major problem: his parents’ relationship isn’t the only thing in his life that has changed, and some of the changes are definitely for the worse.
Caught in a world full of unintended consequences and familiar strangers, Sam has limited options for returning to his old life—worries, challenges, and all. Can he track down the mysterious man who gave him the flute and undo his wish?
Stranger Things meets A Monster Calls in this spine-tingling, emotionally rich middle grade novel about a boy who must protect his neighborhood from a malevolent monster tree while dealing with the recent loss of his father.
Linus used to be an artist, like his dad. Now his father is gone, and Linus’s mom has moved them to the other side of the city, hoping for a fresh start. Maybe, for the first time in months, Linus will even draw again.
But there’s something unusual about their neighbor Maude and something wrong with the grotesque tree in her backyard. At night Linus sees it moving, changing, growing. When increasingly bizarre events plague the neighborhood―massive claw marks appearing on doors and cars, pets going missing, sightings of a red-eyed creature―he suspects Maude and her tree are to blame.
With his home under threat, Linus teams up with his goofy best friend, Spencer, and no-nonsense new girl Abby to unearth whatever sinister seeds have been planted next door . . . where something truly monstrous is just taking root.
The first book in a rich, eerie middle grade fantasy duology full of magic, monsters, and miles and miles of untamed forest, from the author of The Prince of Nowhere. Motivated by desperation and brotherhood, a boy must venture deep into the Nightwood to find a cure for his mysteriously sick brother. Perfect for fans of Over the Garden Wall and Serafina and the Black Cloak.
For twelve-year-old Nox Winters, the town of Evergreen isn’t home—it’s a tourist trap in middle-of-nowhere Maine for amateur cryptozoologists hoping to spot its infamous legend, a batlike creature known as the Evergreen Devil. But his twin brother, Noah, has been wasting away from an illness that has left medical professionals stumped, and the doctors here in Evergreen are his last hope. And Nox goes where Noah goes.
But as Noah’s condition worsens, Nox begins to suspect that Evergreen is doing more harm than good—and that there might be some truth to its tales of fearsome cryptids and mysterious disappearances. When Noah falls into a deep sleep that Nox can’t wake him from, Nox’s only chance at saving him lies in the surrounding forest; there, he discovers a hidden world where it’s always nighttime, full of powerful magic, supernatural creatures, and capricious minor gods. Nox must venture deeper into an endless night and successfully bargain with the terrifying Keepers of the forest for a cure to Noah’s ailment or else neither twin will leave Evergreen alive.
Evie ventures into the Dark Sun Side to rescue her loved ones, only to discover truths darker than she could have ever imagined in this thrilling finale to the Blight Harbor series that’s perfect for fans of Doll Bones and Small Spaces.
As summer comes to an end, Evie Von Rathe is determined to begin the search for her parents in earnest. Armed with her knowledge of the otherworldly, her mom’s violet glasses, and a pendant full of doors, Evie begins to piece together clues. When she realizes her mother’s bedtime story might be a roadmap to finding them, Evie follows it back to the Dark Sun Side.
But stories are funny things, and they change from one teller to the next.
The black nothing of the Radix is waiting, and it knows more than it’s ever let on. Evie will need every bit of courage she has for what’s coming. With Bird at her side, and maybe even a reluctant Lark as well, Evie has what she hopes is her last adventure under a purple sky.
In Pura Belpré Honor–winning author Adrianna Cuevas’s new spooky middle grade novel. Frani must fight to stop the undead from rising in her father’s body-farm laboratory—that is, if she can embrace the true nature of her brain and its ADHD.
No one has ever called Frani Gonzalez squeamish. Seriously, whether it’s guts (no big deal), bugs (move aside, she’s got this), or anything else that you might find at the Central Texas Forensic Anthropology Research Facility, to her and her dad, the university’s body farm is just home.
Having bodies buried in her backyard doesn’t exactly make Frani the most popular kid in school, and the imaginary spider that lives in a web in her brain isn’t helping either. Arañita’s always to blame for the distracted thoughts weaving through Frani’s mind. But when a hand reaches out of the ground and grabs her ankle, Frani realizes that she’s got bigger problems.
Not everything is as it seems at the body farm, and now Frani must help the teenage zombie that crawled out of the dirt…before he gets too hungry. But as more and more zombies begin to appear—and they seem to get less and less friendly—can Frani embrace the true nature of her brain and count on new friendships to solve the body farm’s mystery before it’s overrun with the undead?
Coraline meets Ghost Squad in this terrifying story about what happens when you aren’t careful what you wish for.
Ollie Di Costa wishes things could be different. He wishes the bullies at school would leave him alone. He wishes his parents would stop fighting. He wishes his sister Mia didn’t have to worry about things like paying for college. But most of all, he wishes he wasn’t so angry about all of this.
When he and Mia find a two-tailed cat they name Wishbone, Ollie takes comfort in telling him everything he wishes would change-then suddenly, it does. Everything Ollie and Mia wish for comes true, and it’s like all of their problems are solved. But magic comes at a price. Whatever they wish for is not simply given to them, but taken from others. And to make matters worse, a mysterious shadow man called The Mage is after Wishbone and his power.
With each wish, darkness takes over more and more of their world, and worst of all, it threatens to take over Ollie, too. But can he let go of everything he’s ever wanted?
A new locked room scary story about thirteen-year-old Avery, who plans a séance at a deserted theater to bond with her friends, only to realize they’re locked inside with someone—or something—else. This spine tingling read is perfect for fans of Katherine Arden and Lindsay Currie!
When Avery returns to her hometown after moving away a year earlier, she is hoping to jump back into her friend group as if nothing’s changed.
Unfortunately, new interests, secret crushes, and changing dynamics get in her way. To reunite her BFFs, she suggests they host a séance at an abandoned theater that was the site of a horrible tragedy. What starts as a fun outing, soon becomes a fight for survival after the group gets locked in …and discovers they’re not alone.
Haunted Mansion meets the ultimate escape room in this tense and twisty middle grade horror following four kids who must beat a series of games to make it out of a haunted house.
The creepiest place in Barret Eloise’s small town is the abandoned Raithfield Manor, a decrepit house surrounded by rumors of ghosts and kids going missing. So she certainly never planned on stepping foot inside. But when her history teacher gives her a group project to research a local landmark, the manor is the location her group chooses. Determined to ace the project and fix her awkward first impression on her assigned partners—which include her former friend Helena, smart and confident Wayne, and school basketball star Ridge—Barret Eloise isn’t about to let some tall tales scare her off.
When the kids first enter the house, it seems to be nothing more than an empty building. But when the sun goes down, the doors and windows lock, sealing them inside. Even worse, the room they’re in transforms into an all-too-real game of The Floor is Lava. It doesn’t take long for the group to realize the mansion is a maze of childhood games. Win the game and you keep moving forward, lose and you disappear. And complicating it all is a worrying revelation—they are not alone in the house. If Barret Eloise wants to make it home, she and her dysfunctional group are going to have to learn to work together quickly.
A spooky, heartfelt mystery inspired by Caribbean mythology, featuring the most lovable characters in middle grade fiction!
For once, everything in twelve-year-old Josephine’s life is going according to plan. She’s finally proved that girls belong on the cricket team and earned a spot as a starting player! And she’s confident that she and her best friend, Ahkai, will both be accepted to their dream secondary school. Nothing can stop Jo now — not even the memory of the vengeful sea spirit she vanquished last year.
But then a series of disasters strike. Ahkai suddenly seems to have a new best friend — the annoyingly perfect Lynne. Then Jo isn’t accepted to the same school as Ahkai! Even worse, Jo keeps having eerie encounters with a mysterious figure lurking in the shadows — a figure who bears an unsettling resemblance to the fearsome Heartman rumored to steal children’s hearts…
Jo doesn’t know where to turn. With Daddy away, the only person who’ll believe her is Ahkai, but Jo is too proud to ask for help after being replaced. By the time she musters the courage to approach him, it’s too late. Ahkai has disappeared without a trace. He’s been taken by the Heartman. None of the adults believe Jo. The Heartman is just a legend, after all. But Jo knows that the fearsome creature is real and that if she doesn’t find his lair soon, Ahkai will be lost forever.
From J. A. White, the acclaimed author of Nightbooks, comes another spine-chilling stand-alone middle grade horror novel about a pair of friends who discover a strange creature in a cave that can make any wish come true—including bringing the dead back to life.
The town of Haywood, New Jersey, has a secret. A wish monster. Violet Park discovered its cave by accident, and the wish monster granted her deepest desire by bringing her dog Midnight back to life. It even erased everyone’s memory of his death. Life was perfect. But then an unremarkable boy named Hudson Causeway somehow remembered Midnight had died.
That scared Violet. What if he ruined everything? Even worse, what if the wish monster wasn’t as innocent as it seemed? Deep down, Violet knew: No wishes are made without consequences, and every monster needs to be fed.
A chilling middle grade novel about a girl haunted by a hungry ghost.
Molly Teng sees things no one else can. By touching the belongings of people who have died, she gets brief glimpses into the lives they lived. Sometimes the “zaps” are funny or random, but often they leave her feeling sad, drained, and lonely.
The last thing Jade remembers from life is dying. That was over one hundred years ago. Ever since then she’s been trapped in the same house watching people move in and out. She’s a ‘hungry ghost’ reliant on the livings’ food scraps to survive. To most people she is only a shadow, a ghost story, a superstition.
Molly is not most people. When she moves into Jade’s house, nothing will ever be the same―for either of them. After over a century alone, Jade might finally have someone who can help her uncover the secrets of her past, and maybe even find a way out of the house―before her hunger destroys them both.
Jasmine Garza has a problem: a ghost has been following her for years, ever since her Papi died. Not that Mami will admit anything supernatural is going on. But even the ghost she won’t acknowledge makes real trouble, so Jasmine and her mami are moving (again) to a new apartment in East Hollywood. This time Jasmine is committed to living a normal life with normal friends.
Enter: Bea Veracruz and Jorge Barrera. They’re the only two members of Jasmine’s middle school’s Gay Straight Alliance and they’re already obsessed with all things supernatural. Bea wants to prove herself to her paranormal investigator parents and Jorge is determined to overcome his fear of the beyond. And when Jasmine confesses she’s been tormented by a ghost for years, they not only believe her, they’re thrilled!
Together they set out to prove that Jasmine’s not just acting out after her father’s death–ghosts are real and Jasmine is haunted. But not everyone agrees how to deal with the departed. As Jasmine’s hauntings increase in intensity, her resentment builds. Why is her Mami so secretive about her past? Why is she the center of such a terrible vortex of supernatural activity? And why hasn’t her Papi ever reached out to her since he passed?
In order to face her ghosts―both internal and external―Jasmine must come to terms with her own history.
In this spellbinding sequel to The Witches of Willow Cove, Abby Shepherd and her coven of teenage witches must confront an undead terror that threatens the safety of their friends, families, and maybe even the entire world.
Now fourteen years old and with a year of witchcraft under her belt, Abby finally feels like things are going her way. That is, until her mother announces they’re moving to a new town, her boyfriend stops speaking to her, and her eighth-grade classmates start vanishing in the middle of the night-only to return as something terrifyingly different than before.
When the mysterious Council of Witches summons Abby and her friends to their secret domain, then forbids the young coven from investigating the sinister events unfolding in Willow Cove, Abby begins to suspect the Council knows more about the disappearances than they’re letting on.
With the clock ticking and the danger getting closer and closer to Abby’s doorstep, she and her best friend Robby O’Reilly must both decide what they’re willing to risk to save everyone they love . . . before an ancient curse from Willow Cove’s past sinks its teeth into them all.
A girl tackles a summer filled with mystery, treasure, and learning to be her true self in this middle grade adventure that’s a modern-day Holes set on a dusty dude ranch in Montana.
Becca Soloway’s perfect summer goes up in smoke when her mom flees a looming divorce by dragging Becca to a Montana resort. To make matters worse, her mom’s hasty booking lands them not at a spa, but an aging dude ranch called Far Away.
Becca is miserable until she meets the wrangler’s son, Jon, who shows her what might be the first clue to a century-old mystery: the lost treasure of a Robin Hood–like outlaw known as Pearlhandle Pete.
As they slowly uncover the true history of Pete, venture into the mountains, search haunted ghost towns, and are threatened by a treasure-hunter-social-media star, Becca discovers that treasure is in the eye of the beholder and the important things in life are always worth fighting for.
Then join Spooky Middle Grade for 90-Second Scares, a new series featuring some of your favorite children’s horror authors! Listen as they read short, spooky excerpts from their books between October 13-31, 2024.
Where can you watch?
Every day at 7:00 P.M. ET / 4:00 P.M. PT on the @spookymiddlegrade Instagram or YouTube channel.
Will there be treats?
YES! It wouldn’t be Halloween without a treat! If you survive all 19 days of 90-Second Scares, you can enter a giveaway for a chance to win a stack of autographed horror books from participating spooky MG authors. To enter the giveaway, follow these three steps . . . if you dare!
1. Watch all 19 videos
2. Collect all 19 creepy code words
3. Submit all creepy code words at the link below by 11:59 P.M. PT on Sunday, November 3, 2024. Winners will be announced the following week.
Welcome to our new author interview series, “5 Questions with…” Our first victim—I mean guest—is Spooky Middle Grade author Darcy Marks, whose fantastic novel THE AFTERLIFE OF THE PARTY (the sequel to GROUNDED FOR ALL ETERNITY) comes out in paperback today, July 16.
1. Tell us about THE AFTERLIFE OF THE PARTY.
THE AFTERLIFE OF THE PARTY is the sequel to GROUNDED FOR ALL ETERNITY, which follows a group of regular, everyday kids who just so happen to live in Hell. The suburb part, that is. Also, they can fly. And some of them can do magic.
You know, regular kids.
In GROUNDED, we went on an adventure to Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween night. Fun? Yes! Dangerous? Absolutely! Forbidden? You bet! Which brings us to AFTERLIFE.
Malachi and his friends are home and finally ungrounded, although not everyone thinks they should be. Some of his classmates seem to think he should be spending time in the pit, but Malachi couldn’t care less because there is a new resident in Hell (from Faerie!) and that is a Big Deal.
It’s probably just coincidence that their arrival comes with a once in an eon invitation to an interdimensional mixer with Heaven, right? The adults are just paranoid thinking there’s some big plot afoot.
OK, yes, the ground has started shaking, and there’s been a few breaches into Hell that should never have happened, and OK, not everyone trusts Morgan’s expertise with glamour and the deception it involves. But it’s just a party.
What could go wrong?
2. What is your writing process?
Stare into the void and hope the Universe makes the words appear…
OK, but after that doesn’t work (and it never does), I start drafting.
My writing process is kind of like an onion, lots of layers! My favorite author of all time, Terry Pratchett, once said that the first draft was just you telling yourself the story. (As a person who does not outline ahead of time, this is important.) The first draft is not supposed to be perfect, it’s just getting it all out there so you, as the author, understand what the story is and where it’s going.
After I have that framework laid out, I go through it again, and start adding more details. Maybe I add other subplot points or backstory or get deeper into the mythology or character development. Then I go through it again and add more. Once I feel like I have the story fully fleshed out, then it’s time to cut, because at that point there might be some repetition or scenes that don’t really fit anymore. My last go through is really trying to make sure things are tight and ensure that everything is there for a reason. Sometimes I have to kill my final darlings, alas.
3. How did you tailor the level of creepiness or scariness that you wanted for the book?
So, here’s the thing: Kids like horror, and there’s not as much tailoring for the audience as you’d think. A lot of adults think you have to really tone down the scariness when you write for kids, but if you read MG horror, you’ll start to notice that it’s not just scary for kids, it’s scary! There are legitimately scary-to-me MG horror books out there that feature all of the same horror tropes and elements that you’ll see in adult horror.
I’ve never felt constrained in my storytelling in that way. In both GROUNDED and AFTERLIFE, the scariness and creepiness flowed with the story. If I were to compare the difference between the two, I would say GROUNDED has more of the traditional in-your-face bad guy scariness, but in AFTERLIFE the fear is more based on the enemies being inevitable, that feeling like there’s nothing you can do to stop what’s coming. It’s more existential.
4. Why do you think kids are drawn to scary stories?
I think partially for the same reason adults are. Scary stories get your heart racing and the adrenaline pumping! They’re exciting and fun. Kids love Halloween and it’s not just for the candy, there’s excitement to being out on the street in the dark going house to house. To strangers’ houses! There’s a rule-breaking, societal norm defying feel to the holiday and that’s not even getting into thoughts of what might be lurking in the dark…
That love translates very easily to scary stories or movies. And there’s another side to it. Beyond the excitement, kids are already functioning in the world where there are a lot of unknowns, and they don’t really have a lot of control over what happens on a day-to-day basis. MG Horror let’s kids experience the creepiness of the unknown and see the kid overcome the bad guy, and typically the kid main character is succeeding where adults have failed.
There’s something truly empowering to see that happen and to learn that you’re strong and capable and brave, and that just like the main character you can overcome bad things too.
5. What’s your favorite Halloween costume you’ve ever worn?
This is embarrassing. When I was a kid my mom made all of our costumes, but that’s not the embarrassing part! My mom made fantastic costumes! The embarrassing part is that I just desperately wanted costumes like my friends had.
Now, I was a kid in the 80s, and the commercial costumes at the time were these terrible plastic masks with plastic aprons with the costume printed on it. Seriously, Google it. It’s terrifying. Anyway, I begged for a store-bought costume, and I was Smurfette. I can still feel the condensation under the mask and the sweat from the plastic.
It was terrible.
So that’s not my favorite Halloween costume but that one stands out (as well as the robot costume my brother wore that he couldn’t bend his legs in. That was hysterical!).
My favorite Halloween costumes were ones I did as adults: Columbia from Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sailor Mercury from Sailor Moon and a horror circus costume of my own design. They were great and I put them together myself which always makes them more rewarding!
THE AFTERLIFE OF THE PARTY and GROUNDED FOR ALL ETERNITY are both on sale now. Check them out at your favorite bookseller today!
When I was a school librarian, I liked to explore fantasy worlds with students. I’d read books to them and book talk new selections. As an author myself, I’ve always liked to create excitement in students—not only with reading but also in creating their own characters and stories.
Many students though found the writing process daunting. One way I would ease their way into crafting a fantasy story was by taking them through the simplified steps of drawing a dragon. The students then could each write their own dragon story or poem. There’s something about being physically attached to a creature that makes it easier to create a story about it.
At this time of year, (or all year long according to us spooky authors) it’s fun to not only write spooky stories but craft spooky art as well.
Here are crocheted dragons by Samantha Clark, celebrating the release of her two GEMSTONE DRAGONS chapter books which premiered in August.
Crocheted Gemstone Dragons created by Samantha Clark
In tribute to my main character, FRANKENSTEIN FRIGHTFACE GORDON in FROM THE GRAVE, I personalized a small candy jar with Frank’s face. The jar is perfect for holding a Gory Grape Eyeball—or candy of your choice. It’s a super simple project. I drew Frank’s face on a piece of paper that fit inside the jar—then I traced the drawing on the outside. I used black, white, and blue Sharpie pens to draw and color in Frank’s face on the outside of the jar.
Frankenstein Frightface Gordon Candy Jar created by Cynthia Reeg
Now it’s your turn! Choose one of your favorite fantasy characters and bring them to life in whatever medium you chose!
If you need inspiration, I’ve included a spooky example below. Have fun!
RETURN OF THE MUMMY
Here are directions for creating a mummy rising from its coffin!
I used the book, SPOOKY THINGS: Making Pictures by Penny King and Claire Roundhill, to provide an idea. But I improvised with many of the components, and that’s what makes each art project so unique—just like each spooky story.
Find a sturdy background for your artwork—I used an old manilla folder but a piece of cardboard or poster board would work too. I cut a sponge into a rectangular brick then dipped it in alternating paints to make the crypt-like stonework behind the mummy’s coffin.
Supplies
For the tomb’s floor, I used some chocolate sprinkles. The book suggested brown rice but I didn’t have any on hand. Smear a layer of glue below the sponged wall and press the sprinkles/rice into the glue.
At this point, I helped my artwork dry more quickly by blowing hot air on it with a blow dryer set on low.
Next, I cut out my head, hand, and leg pieces from a discarded cereal box in my recycle bin. I tore thin strips of toilet paper and wrapped them around each piece. On the back of each piece, I used wrapping tape to hold the TP in place.
Drawing the Head, Hand, and Leg on Cardboard
I glued two googly eyes on the head and drew the mouth with a Sharpie. You could draw the eyes as well or cut out eyes from construction paper or other recycled paper.
The directions called for a discarded tube—like paper towel or toilet paper—cut in half, length-wise. But I didn’t have any empty tubes, so I improvised by shaping some recycled box paper into an open box. I used masking tape (applied horizontally) to hold the coffin together. The tape also provided some dimension and the appearance of planks—like a real coffin. All I had to do then was color over the masking tape with brown acrylic paint.
At this point, you can tape/glue your head, hand, and leg into place on the coffin. If you are gluing the pieces, make sure they are totally dry before proceeding with the next step.
I doubled-up a strip of wrapping tape (or you could use double-sided tape) to hold the coffin in place on my backdrop. Then I stapled it at both ends to keep secure. You could glue the coffin at this point, rather than taping and stapling. If you do, it will have to remain flat and dry completely before you can display it upright.
It’s ALIVE!!!
I stamped the background with a few bats and jack-o-lanterns. Some Halloween cobwebs would look quite lovely too. Or you could cut out spiders, bugs, or other creepy crawly things to add to the delightfully frightful scene.
I’m sure Oliver, the mummy character in my books, would be impressed with this picture. Why, I think I hear him whispering a new story into my head right now. I bet, if you listen closely, your monster creature will want to tell its story too—and you’re just the person to write it all down!
Kory Merritt is an amazing author and illustrator with a creatively creepy book–NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS–that released last month, just in time for Halloween. We are so excited to host him on our spooky blog and learn more about his art and his writing.
What inspired you to write NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS?
I’ve always loved spooky stories. As a kid, my favorite book characters were always the creatures–Gollum from The Hobbit, the sea-rats from Brian Jacques’s Redwall series. Even as an adult, I still love reading books with strange and imaginative monsters: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Thee Jumbies series by Tracey Baptiste, numerous classics by legends like Stephen King and Tananarive Due. Now more than ever, it’s fun to escape to monster land.
So when my amazing agent, Dan, suggests I try writing and illustrating a spooky story, I was thrilled. I actually, originally wrote and illustrated a version of No Place for Monsters back in 2011, when I was an art teacher, and posted it on a comics syndicate website called GoComics. My agent suggested I take the basic concept of a memory-snatching monster and remake it as a middle-grade book.
Willow Monster
Your previous MG title is The DreadfulFate of Jonathan York. Why do you like to write spooky stories?
I do my own illustrations (I’ve illustrated more books than I’ve written) and I love drawing toothy, creepy characters. So it’s fun to build stories around the creatures in my notebooks.
What interesting things did you discover while working on your latest story?
My awesome editor and agent both convinced me to trim down the prose narrative and let the pictures tell the story when possible. There’s still test, but I think the writing and pictures work in tandem.
How did you transition from comics to MG stories? And how long dose it take you to create such a lavishly illustrated story?Please tell us how the process of mixing the story and illustrations comes together.
I broke into MG as an illustrator for a comic book/graphic novel series based on the online game Poptropica. I think No Place for Monsters could be considered a graphic novel even though there is a prose text, since there are many places where the pictures take over the narrative. It was an easy transition.
It took several months of rough drafts and talks with my agent before he accepted it and sold it. Then it took about four months to illustrate a fully inked draft of No Place for Monsters (summer and fall 2018), and then several more months for edits and revisions with my editor.
Heckbender Monster
What books are you reading now or plan to read next?
Right now, I’m reading The Last Last-Day-of Summer by Lamar Gilese. It’s a zany romp that reminds me how creative great MG books can be. I also started listening to audiobooks last year (I can listen and illustrate at the same time, which is nice). I’m listening to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin, and the new audio-drama of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman (which is one of the few Neil Gaiman books I’d never read before).
Preview of Book 2!
Who do you feel was the biggest influence on your becoming an author and illustrator?
I mean, of course my parents–both classroom teachers, both encouraged a lot of reading and exploration and creative pursuit. As for professional writers . . . tough one. Going to have to say the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett. Love his books. As for illustrator . . . Bill Peet, Bill Watterson, and Brian Selznick (who was kind enough to give me a quote). Also Gina Pfleegor, who I used to teach with, and who is one of the most talented artists/illustrators I’ve ever met.
Frost Monster
How have you adjusted your marketing/promotional plans with the pandemic?
I’m being very careful and social-distancing, so that means no in-person festivals or visits. I’m about to start virtual visits with classrooms. I used to be a public school K-6 art teacher, so I have plenty of classroom experience. Some of the visits are workshops: Students write stories, and I try to illustrate parts of them. It’s fun, and since I don’t have to travel, I don’t have to postpone illustration work.
Preview Book 2!
Can you share anything about a new story you’re working on?
I’m doing another book with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for Fall 2021. It’s a follow-up to No Place for Monsters, with some of the same characters, and plenty of new creatures. It’s set in a haunted school. As a former art teacher, I find the school setting easy to write about. Much of it is told through “found footage”–illustrations seen through the view of cameras and phones. Sort of like an illustrated Blair Witch Project. It’s experimental. Hope it works!
What is your advice to aspiring authors and illustrators?
Read, write, and draw as much as possible! Read lots of books: prose books, books with lots of pictures, books with no pictures. Books by a wide variety of authors. Books outside your comfort zone. Write and draw and try to get things published locally. You’ll write and draw stuff that will be embarrassing in a few years, but hopefully you’ll have developed and honed your style. And have fun! You should love writing and drawing even if only a few people see it. If it’s a chore, or if you only want to write/draw for money . . . Well, that’s not a good sign. It could be years, or never, before you make any substantial money. Have a day job or a “Plan B.” Having a great career in a creative field can always be your end goal, but it’s very difficult to get there, so writing and drawing and making up stories should be fulfilling and fun no matter what stage you’re at.
Thanks so much, Kory, for sharing your thoughts and insights! I’m sure everyone will enjoy your entertaining monster stories! Please, keep them coming. 🙂
There are many different types of spooky stories. Some feature humor, adventure and straight-up chills, while others explore sensitive topics and tug at readers’ emotions. No matter what type of story you love, spooky books have a place in the classroom, library and beyond all year round, not just at Halloween. To delve deeper into this topic I spoke to some of today’s foremost authors of middle grade spooky stories.
Jan Eldredge
Why do you write spooky stories?
I guess I write spooky stories for the same reason I love to read them. They allow us an escape to dangerous, exciting worlds, worlds that we get to explore from the comfort of our safe, everyday lives.
Why are spooky stories important all year round?
Spooky stories are chock full of benefits, particularly for young readers! Reading about young protagonists defeating evil can be very empowering for children. Spooky stories can also provide safe ways for kids to explore fear and experience a sense of danger, sort of like trying on a costume to see what it feels like to be someone else for a while. Spooky stories are great reminders that our boring lives aren’t quite so bad after all.
S.A. Larsen
Why do you write spooky stories?
For me, spooky stories are like passageways into the unknown and the misunderstood, mysteries that keep me on the edge of my seat. I’ve always been curious about the great beyond and the aspects of life we can’t see – like what really goes on inside a cemetery when none of the living are watching. Writing spooky tales with otherworldly or ghostly elements gives me the freedom to explore life themes such as the importance of family, self-esteem and confidence, and friendship in new and unexpected ways for young readers.
Why are spooky stories important all year round?
Tales with spooky and eerie elements explore the same important life struggles, hopes, dreams, and challenges that contemporary stories do. They also help kids see that fear is a part of life – fear of change, fear of a new school, fear of taking a test – and helps them see and workout solutions to overcoming fear. These are universal emotions and challenges that can be discussed throughout the year. The possibilities are endless!
Janet Fox
Why do you write spooky stories?
Really, the spooky part of THE CHARMED CHILDREN OF ROOKSKILL CASTLE was accidental! My original idea was more mystery/fantasy, but as I wrote the antagonist she became darker and darker and more nuanced for it. And the darkness of the antagonist reflected something in my own mood, something I needed to sort through. But my son said something recently that was inspired in this regard. He said that he loves dark, spooky stories because that one tiny glimmer of hope within the darkness – even if it’s just a candle – can feel like a brilliant light. And I thought, yes. That’s what I like, too. Magnifying the light in the darkness or the happiness within the spookiness. That’s the secret.
Why are spooky stories important all year round?
I would say that’s why spooky stories are always in season – they offer that recognition that hope flickers brilliantly in the dark.
Samantha M. Clark
Why do you write spooky stories? I get scared easily when I’m reading spooky stories, but I still love them. Spooky stories get my blood pumping, and I need to know if everything’s going to end safely. When it does, it helps me know that when I’m scared in real life, everything can be okay. So when there’s an opportunity to put some spookiness into my own stories, I jump at the chance. Getting scared can be fun, especially when we know we can always close the book if we need a break.
Why are spooky stories important all year round?
Halloween is, of course, when we celebrate spooky stories the most, but reading spooky stories is fun and good for us at any time. They remind us that it’s okay to be scared, and show us that we can be brave just like the characters in the stories. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'” And with spooky stories, we can build courage and confidence safely while facing our fears within the pages of the books and with the characters as our guides and companions. Spooky stories help us grow, and that’s a good thing every day.
Jonathan Rosen
Why do you write spooky stories?
I’ve always loved spooky stories. Much more so than horror. I like the creepiness factor of the unknown. What’s there lurking in the shadows? The mystery, to me, is much scarier and interesting, than having the monster actually appear on the stage. Why is the ghost there? What’s the story behind it? How was that monster created? I loved these stories as a kid, and always felt fascinated by them. I like to write to my younger self and kids who were like me.
Why are spooky stories important all year round?
There is no bad time to read scary stories. Yeah, they’re much better to read at Halloween time, but the kids who love them, don’t want to be relegated to one season a year for books. Kids like to be scared, to a degree, but then they know they can put the books away. They’re safe again. I also read a long time ago, and it’s true, spooky stories give kids the consequences of not following rules. Your Mogwai will turn to a Gremlin if you don’t follow them. Your vampire neighbor can get in your house, if you don’t follow the rule about not inviting him in. Spooky stories also open the mind to think of different possibilities. I know when I read them, I always went searching for more. More stories about the subject. I wanted to read about haunted places. The times when the ghosts came from. I think reading leads to more reading.
Kim Ventrella
Why do you write spooky stories?
I have always been interested in the intersection of darkness and whimsy. I love the space where macabre tales meet deeply-felt emotions and discoveries. Adding a spooky element allows me to explore difficult real-life topics in a way that I find more palatable and easier to understand.
Why are spooky stories important all year round?
Spooky stories aren’t just about Halloween. They’re about exploring the mysterious all around us, searching for new possibilities, confronting our deepest fears and stepping out into the darkness to find that courage and resilience that resides within us all.
Spooky Middle Grade 