Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals both domesticated and wild, today's list focuses on those stories that begin our paths into the dark and unknown.
Top 13 Scary Stories for Young Readers
13. Cirque Du Freak: The Saga of Darren Shan - Darren Shan's 12-book vampire series is humorous yet dark; and told at a lightning-fast pace that makes it impossible not to gobble up.
12. Slumber Party - Just like there is Stephen King and Dean Koontz, there is R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike. Pike has gone on to write over 50 novels, but
Slumber Party (1985) is his first, and as good as any a place to start.
11. I know What You Did Last Summer - If you're like me than you probably had no idea the movie was first a book written by Lois Duncan. And, yes, the book was better than the movie.
10. Mommy? - By Maurice Sendak, Arthur Yorinks, and Matthew Reinhart,
Mommy? is one of the most well-designed pop-up books I've ever seen, and the story is very cute and suitable for young children.
9. The Forest of Hands and Teeth - It's hard for me to believe Carrie Ryan's post-apocalyptic novel is her debut. It's easy, however, to believe that she's a fan of George Romero.
8. The Graveyard Book - Hey, it won the Newbery Medal. That still means something, right?
7. The Witches - Roald Dahl, the author of such classics as C
harlie and the Chocolate Factory and
James and the Giant Peach, teaches us, with his playful style, that witches can look just like you and me ... oh, and they really hate children.
6. The Devil’s Storybook - Natalie Babbitt's comically portrays the devil as an often bored practical joker in ten compact stories.
5. The Twilight Series - I'll admit, I haven't finished the entire series, but on good authority I've heard that each book is as good as the first. The books are for teenage girls ... and for writers who like dissecting popular novels to see what makes them tick. If you don't fall into either category, you probably won't like the series.
4. The Thief of Always - One great modern-day fairytale ... told by the same guy who gave us
Books of Blood?
3. Coraline - Well if you liked the
Thief of Always, then I imagine you'll like
Coraline. While the stories are different, I think If you ripped the covers off and handed them to me, I wouldn't know who wrote which one.
2. Abarat - The Abarat is where it's at. If you don't buy it for Clive Barker's fantastic story, then buy it for his fantastic artwork.
1. Goosebump Series - Before there was Rowling there was R.L. Stine.
Later Fiends,
