The sun is shining, everything’s green, and a warm breeze tousles your hair. It’s camping season! There’s no experience quite like the great outdoors. That’s why camping is one of our nation’s favorite pastimes, and the tradition of campfire tales is a large part of the fun. Humans love sharing stories around campfires… especially scary ones.
If you’re hiking in your neighborhood park, planning a trip to one of our nation’s many beautiful parks, or setting up a tent in your own backyard, here are some stories that will give you chills on summer nights.
Creepy Campfire Stories: Frights to Tell at Night
By Anastasia Garcia, illustrated by Teo Skaffa
The great outdoors has never been so terrifying! Featuring iconic landscapes like the Grand Canyon and Redwood National Park, this book will haunt your dreams long after the last ember of the campfire has faded. Here are just a few of the super-scary stories inside:
A strange museum that won’t stay open after dark.
Sinister plants with a taste for human flesh.
Monsters hidden in the snow―friend or foe?
Mysterious lights in the sky leave messages in a cornfield.
Twin brothers Nox and Noah are identical in every way except one: Noah is sick, and no one can figure out what’s wrong with him. They travel to the town of Evergreen, Maine for specialized medical care, but Nox soon suspects that what’s happening to Noah isn’t natural—and that the people around them are hiding something. His search for answers leads him into the surrounding woods; there, he discovers a hidden world where it’s always nighttime, full of powerful magic and supernatural creatures. 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.
The wilderness is in Jenna’s blood. So, when her best friend is taken by a creature that isn’t supposed to exist, Jenna joins a 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 her best friend is back to take her too! After the unthinkable happens, the scouts, armed with their wits and toiletries, band together to fight the creature and survive the night.
Maudie isn’t your typical twelve-year-old girl—she’s the ghost of one. Along with her best friend Kit and little brother Scratch, she haunts a cottage in the woods, doing her best to scare off vacationers and forget her old life.
But everything changes when Kit and Scratch go missing. Maudie knows something terrible must have happened, and she’s right: Longfingers—a monster from her own nightmares, with spidery fingers and needle-sharp teeth—has stolen her friends away.
But Maudie’s keeping secrets about her past. Unless she finds a way to finally face the truth, she may never be able to rescue her friends from Longfingers’s grasp.
By Fleur Bradley, Ally Malinenko, Josh Roberts, Kim Ventrella, Darcy Marks, Deke Moulton, Erin Petti, Laura Parnum, Sarah Allen, Et al.
Many of the U.S. national parks are huge swaths of wild and barely explored land. While it’s true millions visit the parks each year, most people stay within a mile or so of the popular attractions. Not many people go into the hinterlands where maybe, just maybe, there are all kinds of monsters. In this collection of scary stories set in national parks, 21 amazing authors have chosen a national park, monument, or historic site as a setting for a spooky story. Stories you can read by the campfire, that will haunt your dreams as you lie in your tent, listening to the sounds of nature in the darkness.
In case you need further convincing—each story has a scare rating, and all proceeds go to the National Park Foundation!
*If you order from our Bookshop.org store, you are supporting indie bookstores + ensuring we can continue to offer free virtual visits with schools across the country.
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.
We’re back with another author interview in our series, “5 Questions with…” This month we’re talking with Bram Stoker Award-winning author Lora Senf, whose brand-new novel THE LOSTING FOUNTAIN came out on New Year’s Eve (December 31, 2024).
1) Tell me about The Losting Fountain. What’s the premise and what inspired you to write it.
The Losting Fountain is a dark fantasy story about what it means to be lost, to be found, and to discover our place in the world. Ember, Miles, and Sam—all from different times and places—have been called home. Only home is a place none of them have ever been before. They find themselves on an impossible island where lost things go that want to be found.
As their timelines converge, the choices they make will not only determine their own futures but will also have bigger consequences—they will either restore a cosmic balance or destroy the dams that separate two worlds, ending them both. Ember was called because she belonged, Miles because his mother belonged, and Sam . . . well, Sam arranged his own invitation.
The seeds for this book were planted more than two decades ago when a young child mispronounced lost and found. He called it losting fountain. My brain immediately grabbed on to the idea of such a place—What would be the purpose of a place like that? What would happen there? Who might benefit from it and who might…not? It took me many, many years to work up the courage to try to write a book and The Losting Fountain was my first completed manuscript although it is my fourth published novel.
2) You’ve described The Losting Fountain as “lower YA.” What does that mean to you, and what should readers expect from a book in that category?
If I’m being really honest, I have a hard time with the age classification for a lot of books. Sometimes a story is just a story and can be for anyone—side note, this is why I love middle grade books so much. They are the one category that can be for just about any reader.
In the case of The Losting Fountain, lower YA is as good a category as any. There’s more blood on the page and light swearing than I would put in my straight-up middle grade books but I think it could serve as a really nice stepping stone for young readers who are ready to try a book outside middle grade.
3) What is your writing process? Are you a pantser or a plotter or somewhere in between?
Oh, how I wish I had a process! It seems to change with every book. I suppose a few things are consistent across my books. While I don’t outline, I do have to mull a story over—for weeks or sometimes months—before I start committing words to page. I usually keep about a page of notes that would make sense to only me. That page has ideas or scenes that are vital to the story I’m trying to tell. The document serves as a sort of touchstone for me as I draft the manuscript.
As for the actual act of drafting, I write when and where I can. I have a family and a full-time job so if I want to get anything done, I have to be flexible. There are lots of very early morning sessions when I’m writing a manuscript. Sometimes I write during lunch breaks. Sometimes I write in the family room while my kids watch TV. Whatever it takes to get it done.
4) The Losting Fountain is your fourth published novel, all of which range from spooky to scary. Why are you drawn to horror stories? Do you have your eye on other genres in the future?
I discovered horror very early and never looked back. I jumped from John Bellairs straight to Stephen King and while I was probably (definitely) too young for King’s books, I was hooked on scary stories. As a kid with a lot of anxiety, those scary stories gave me a chance to practice being brave. And, honestly, I just love the feeling of being terrified and safe at the same time.
I won’t say never, but I have a hard time seeing myself writing something that doesn’t have a ghost or a monster (supernatural or human). I keep a list of all the books I want to write and every one of those is on the spooky-to-scary continuum. I may surprise myself someday and take a different path, but I sort of doubt it.
5) What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m working on the fifth Blight Harbor book—this one is a prequel set in the 1990’s and Blight Harbor readers will recognize the cast. The tweens and teens in this book are adults in the Evie Von Rathe books.
I’m also working on an unannounced YA horror that I am very excited about. I’ll share more about it when I can! Oh, and I’m also in the mulling-over stage of an adult horror novel with some pitch-black comedy. I think that will be my next project when these are done.
All that said, I have so much love for middle grade. I have (what I think is) a really good idea for a new series. Time will tell on that one!
We’ve just completed all 19 days of this year’s 90-Second Scares, a new series featuring some of your favorite children’s horror authors! If you missed some of the videos when they debuted, don’t worry because there’s still time to catch up and enter to win this huge stack of books! Here’s everything you need to know.
1. Watch all 19 videos 2. Collect all 19 creepy code words (one from each video) 3. Submit all creepy code words by 11:59 P.M. PT on Sunday, November 10, 2024.
You can watch all of the videos on our YouTube page or just keep scrolling to see them all here in one place.
Day 1: Deke Moulton Reads from Don’t Want to Be Your Monster
Day 2: Josh Roberts Reads from The Curse of Willow Cove
Day 3: Ally Russell Reads from It Came from the Trees
Day 4: D.W. Gillespie Reads from Give Me Something Good to Eat
Day 5: Marina Cohen Reads from The Doll’s Eye
Day 6: Adrianna Cuevas Reads from The No-Brainer’s Guide to Decomposition
Day 7: Rob Renzetti Reads from The Horrible Bag of Terrible Things
Day 8: Sarah Allen Reads from Monster Tree
Day 9: Darcy Marks Reads from The Afterlife of the Party
Day 10: Mary Averling Reads from The Curse of Eelgrass Bog
Day 11: Josh Allen Reads from Once They See You
Day 12: Samantha M. Clark Reads from Topaz’s Spooky Night
Day 13: Adrianna Cuevas Reads from The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto
Day 14: Janet Fox Reads from The Mystery of Mystic Mountain
Day 15: Rob Renzetti Reads from The Twisted Tower of Endless Torment
Day 16: Lorien Lawrence Reads from The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family
Day 17: Sarah Allen Reads from The Nightmare House
Day 18: Mary Averling Reads from The Ghosts of Bitterfly Bay
Day 19: Darcy Marks Reads from Grounded for All Eternity
Did you make it all the way to the end? Congratulations. Submit all the creepy code words by 11:59 P.M. PT on Sunday, November 3, 2024, for your chance to win!
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
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.
It’s back to school time! Well, in some parts of the world; hopefully if you’re a teacher, you get a few more weeks to catch your breath.
Here at Spooky Middle-Grade, we can’t appreciate you educators enough. We do our best to show our appreciation, by hosting free virtual author Q&A visits for example. Some of us are teachers or librarians ourselves, so we get it.
To show our appreciation a little extra at the start of this school year, we’re hosting a MEGA 20-book giveaway…! One winner will get all 20 books in this graphic below. It’s the perfect way to start a spooky middle-grade library…
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!
Spookies rejoice! Not only does September usher in the start of Spooky Season, a new book has arrived TODAY to get you in the spirit! I was so glad for the opportunity to ask Erin Petti about her newest book, THELMA BEE IN TOIL AND TREBLE.
TANIA: YOUR TITULAR CHARACTER THELMA BEE RETURNS WITH A NEW ADVENTURE FOLLOWING THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SERIES, THE PECULIAR HAUNTING OF THELMA BEE. WHAT CAN YOU TEASE ABOUT THIS NEW BOOK?
ERIN: TOIL AND TREBLE is filled with danger, witches, tacos, deep dark woods filled with unknown creatures, and pleather-clad Hollywood ghost hunters who might just botch the whole thing if Thlema’s crew can’t save the day.
There’s also a lot of growing up, which can sometimes be even scarier than ancient curses.
TANIA:THELMA IS A VERY SMART AND INQUISITIVE GIRL WITH A KNACK FOR SCIENCE. IS SHE BASED OFF ANYONE YOU KNOW IN REAL LIFE? WHY DO YOU THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE A CHARACTER LIKE HER AS THE LEAD?
ERIN: While I was writing Thelma I kept asking the question: What if a kid was impervious to the hang-ups that often hold middle schoolers back? What if she didn’t care about what other people thought of her on a superficial level? What if she could shake off bullies like a puppy shakes off rainwater? She really took shape from there.
I think it’s important (for me, as a writer) to have an active protagonist who is filled with ideas and desires because it really moves the story forward. And for readers, I hope her bravery and intelligence, along with her foibles and missteps, light a little spark of “I can do anything too…” inside.
TANIA:IN THE FIRST BOOK, THE PECULIAR HAUNTING OF THELMA BEE, THELMA HAD TO DEAL WITH SUPERNATURAL EVENTS WHICH CONFLICTED WITH HER RATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC MIND. HOW HAVE THE EVENTS OF THE FIRST BOOK CHANGED AND PREPARED HER FOR THIS NEXT ADVENTURE?
ERIN: In book two she’s got a whole new world view, and she’s starting to understand complexities in a whole new way. Things are not black and white. Sometimes the right choice isn’t the obvious choice. Now she truly knows that anything is possible, which makes things a whole lot more complicated. You know, growing up stuff 🙂
TANIA:ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE FIRST BOOK WAS THE LIVELY CAST OF CHARACTERS. WILL THEY ALL BE RETURNING, AND CAN WE LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING ANY NEW FACES?
ERIN: Yes! All Thelma Bee’s friends return in the second book and I’m so excited to introduce some new characters as well. There’s a pair of pleather-clad TV ghost hunters who make quite a splash in town, and a brand new friend named Bobby who is pure chaos and probably one of my favorite characters I’ve ever written!
TANIA: WITHOUT GIVING TOO MUCH AWAY, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THELMA BEE IN TOIL AND TROUBLE?
ERIN: Oooh…OK, this is a tricky question because I don’t want to give spoilers! But I will say that Thelma has to team up with an old adversary while they are lost in a cursed forest…things get pretty dicey, but I really love what happens next!
TANIA: DO YOU THINK WRITING A SEQUEL IS EASIER OR MORE DIFFICULT? WERE THERE ANY CHALLENGES YOU HAD TO OVERCOME TO WRITE THIS STORY?
ERIN: I think writing the sequel was much harder, but it was also more fun! I was so worried because the characters mean so much to me and I wanted to do right by them – which made writing a little slower at first. But once I really understood the story that Thelma had to tell, the RVPS crew basically started speaking for themselves and it was an awesome ride.
TANIA: EVERY SPOOKY MIDDLE GRADE AUTHOR HAS A REASON THEY GRAVITATE TOWARDS WRITING SPOOKY STORIES. WHAT’S YOURS?
ERIN: I think that I am really inspired by the in-between spaces, be that in-between adulthood and childhood, or in-between living and dead, realistic and fantastical. The supernatural is a wonderful, huge, exhilarating question to explore and I just can’t get enough.
TANIA:HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING SUPERNATURAL IN YOUR OWN LIFE?
ERIN: When I was in college I worked at The House of the Seven Gables in Salem, MA as a costumed tour guide. High Edwardian collars and the whole deal. My grandmother Peggy brought her psychic friend Debbie on one of the tours and afterwards Debbie told me that when we were up in the attic, and I was talking about the dollhouse there, there was a little girl ghost dressed in white watching me! But she said, no worries because it seemed like she liked having me there. My little Salem ghost girl BFF!
TANIA: WILL WE BE SEEING MORE OF THELMA BEE IN THE FUTURE? WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?
ERIN: I am working on the third Thelma Bee book as we speak! The intention is to make Thelma Bee a trilogy, but I always want to leave the door cracked open to more adventure. These folks feel like really good friends now, and I will have a hard time saying goodbye.
TANIA:WHERE CAN READERS BEST CONNECT WITH YOU?
ERIN: I love connecting with readers! I’m active on Instagram @erinpetti and Twitter at @empetti – also there’s an Erin Petti, Author Facebook page as well. I’ve met tons of amazing readers this year doing workshops at schools and libraries as well and all that info can be found at erinpettibooks.com/visits.
Welcome to my interview with Author Dan Poblocki and his latest release TALES TO KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT! **Teachers, Parents: With the spooky season creeping every so slowly upon us, this is the perfect book to add to your reading list.
Amelia is cleaning out her grandmother’s attic when she stumbles across a book: Tales to Keep You Up at Night. But when she goes to the library to return it, she’s told that the book never belonged there. Curious, she starts to read the stories: tales of strange incidents in nearby towns, journal entries chronicling endless, twisting pumpkin vines, birthday parties gone awry, and cursed tarot decks. At the center of the stories lies a family of witches. And witches, she’s told, can look like anyone. As elements from the stories begin to come to life around her, and their eerie connections become clear, Amelia begins to realize that she may be in a spooky story of her own.
TALES TO KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT is the perfect next-read for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!. An excellent addition to Halloween round ups, middle grade readers will be glued to the pages, up way past their bedtimes, reading with flashlights, as they explore each of these interconnected stories. With frightening artwork at the start of each chapter, this book keeps readers engaged and terrified from beginning to end.
THE INTERVIEW🎙️
Hi Dan! It’s great to have you visit our spooky crypt. Let’s start with this: A description of Tales To Keep You Up At Night appears in the local newspaper. What does it say?
What do you do if you find a mysterious book in your missing grandmother’s attic? If you’re Amelia, you try to return it to the local library. But what if the librarian says the book doesn’t belong there? Amelia reads the creepy tales within – stories about bad birthday parties and scary sleepovers, about revenge gone wrong and weird rocks out in the woods, about a family of witches who may or may not have the right to be very angry – and by sunset she realizes that the stories are not just stories. Like the title of her new book suggests, Amelia won’t be getting ANY sleep tonight.
That would definitely draw in some attention.
Set the stage as the story begins and what happens when your main character Amelia sneaks into an old attic.
Amelia’s story begins when she and her family are at Grandmother’s house to finally clean it out. Grandmother has been gone for a year. Amelia’s mothers say Grandmother has passed on, but Amelia doesn’t believe it. Annoyed, Amelia sneaks up to the quiet attic and remembers a dream in which Grandmother hands her a book called Tales to Keep You Up at Night. To her surprise, the very book is lying on the dusty floor. Is this a clue about what really happened to Grandmother, or is this just another library book? Flipping through the tales, Amelia soon learns that the answer is a little bit of both, but also . . . a little bit of neither . . .
Like most of your books, Amelia’s story is grounded in spooky elements. What makes this spooky world different or unique from the other scary tales you’ve written?
Tales to Keep You Up at Night is my first foray into short stories. So that feels unique. Like many of my previous work, I was inspired by the books I read as a kid, books that kept my eyes glued to the pages, and that was my goal here, as it has been since I started writing. There are many elements in TALES that I pulled from my own previous work, and perceptive readers might catch clues about how my other books are tied together in a great big web, just like the short stories in TALES. Another unique aspect of Amelia’s story was being able to play with format; there are tales in this new book that are homages to the styles of classic American story-tellers, that are written in unusual Points Of View, and even one that is a series of journal entries. It was a fun challenge to change things up in these ways.
Sounds like a great book for all students, but especially for those reluctant readers out there.
STORY CHARM🌟
You’ve inserted other stories within Amelia’s main story. Would you share how you made it all fit together?
It was like piecing together the biggest puzzle I’ve ever worked on. Simply put, I first mapped out which tales would be in the novel. Then, I wrote them, one by one. And as I went along, I noted characters and elements from the tales that might overlap with others. Once I understood that ALL of the tales related to Amelia’s own life, I leaned hard into making those overlapping details as strong as I could, so that the entire book reads more like a novel than a collection of tales. Though, now I can see that the book is BOTH of those things, which I think is pretty cool.
And I’m sure readers will think that’s pretty cool, too!
Do you have a favorite scene in the book?
In the tale called “The Volunteers,” a series of horrifying events befalls a family after they reject a gift of pumpkins from their witchy neighbors. By the end of the story, the main character realizes he’s all alone, in the dark, and he reflects back on his life, and his family, and what got them to this place. These little moments click together in his mind as he scrambles to write them all down. It’s a whirlwind of thought and emotion and worry about the choices he must now make, and every time I reread it, I get chills. The details feel real and true, and this makes the moment even scarier.
#GULP
AUTHOR’S CORNER 🖊️
What is the hardest part about writing?
The hardest part for me is the waiting. I find that most times, I can push myself to put down words on the page easily enough (especially if I don’t think of them as overly-precious words), but then, waiting to hear back from other people about what they thought or if the manuscript will sell, and finally, everything that leads up to a book coming out into the world is so stressful. But it’s also out of my control. The best thing I can do in those circumstances is start writing something new, just for myself. That’s what I can control, and that’s what keeps me grounded. Keeps me going.
What do you believe young readers can gain from reading spooky tales?
I can talk about what I gained from reading spooky tales as a young reader: a love for turning pages to find out what will happen next; for Story with a capital S; a sense of how to solve problems that scare you; that there may be a way out of the dark if you look hard enough; that children can be (and sometimes need to be) as brave (or braver!) than any adult. And especially: If a story feels TOO spooky, you can ALWAYS put the book down and say, NOT TODAY, DAN POBLOCKI, YOU SCOUNDREL! (Trust me, I don’t mind.)
Any advice for teachers and parents out there on how to encourage middle schoolers to engage in more independent reading and writing?
Thinking back to what first got me excited and engaged: Reaching for what felt accomplishable. Sometimes those were books with lots of pictures, or comic strips, or comic books, and then, eventually graphic novels, even poetry and short story collections. I’m not saying these things are necessarily “easy” but they have an added appeal for reluctant readers that other books might not. I liked being able to finish reading something, even if it was a page or two long. So, maybe, let kids read what they want to read, don’t push them away from what you think isn’t right/ sophisticated enough for them, and then encourage them to explore what might be directly adjacent to their interests, to expand the Venn diagrams of their minds.
Inquiring minds want to know: What can your readers expect from you next?
Next up are MORE TALE TO KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT. Specifically, another novel of interconnected scary stories that piggybacks off of Tales to Keep You Up at Night with new characters, new settings – even some familiar names and faces. You won’t need to read the first collection to enjoy this next one, but it certainly won’t hurt (at least . . . I hope it won’t. I can’t make any promises!).
JUST FOR FUN🤪
Have to ask: What scares you?
Many of my early nightmares were about giant mouths filled with sharp teeth, which is weird because now that I’m a little more grown-up, I have an irrational fear of being eaten alive . . . By fish, bears, pythons, alligators, even by hungry humans! NOPE. NO WAY. (NOT TODAY.) I still have a difficult time looking at photographs of animals (especially from the deep ocean) with wide jaws and their mouths full of little serrated blades. Yowch! Please, never show me a picture of a shark. I will fall to the floor and cover my head, and then I’ll be embarrassed and you’ll be embarrassed and no one will have a good time anymore, at all, ever.
Um, yeah . . . you probably should stay away from giant teeth. LOL
Thank you for sharing your spooky tales with our readers! All the best to your from your #SpookyMG crew!
THE AUTHOR
Dan Poblocki is the co-author with Neil Patrick Harris of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Magic Misfits (writing under the pen-name Alec Azam). He’s also the author of The Stone Child, The Nightmarys, and the Mysterious Four series. His recent books, The Ghost of Graylock and The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe, were Junior Library Guild selections and made the American Library Association’s Best Fiction for Young Adults list in 2013 and 2014. Dan lives in Saugerties, New York, with two scaredy-cats and a growing collection of very creepy toys.
About the illustrator: Marie Bergeron was born and raised in Montreal. After studying cinematography, she attended École de Design. Her style is inspired by many things, including films and games, contrasting a more graphic approach with organic strokes. Her clients have included Marvel Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Fox Entertainment, and more.
*So Readers, what do you think about Dan’s new book?
Spooky Middle Grade 