Staff Picks
Scary is Always in Season
Let me tell you something.
I don’t scare easy.
I say that as I jump out of my skin when someone pokes their head around the corner.
But when it comes to scary stories, I’ve been desensitized.
So it takes a special sort of creep factor to really unsettle me.
Those are the best kinds of stories though, the ones that make a lasting impression, the ones you can recall even years later.
I remember in 3rd grade, my teacher shared tales from Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz with us.
There's a particular one I think about every now and then.
In this story, a young girl wakes up one morning with a pimple on her face.
No big deal, right? It'll go away on its own... but no.
It gets bigger and bigger over the next couple days. The night before she can see a doctor about it, she decides to take a bath.
The heat relaxes her skin and causes the pimple to burst and what comes out?
Dozens and dozens of tiny, baby spiders....
Eww. Eww! EWWW!!
Some spider LAID EGGS in this girl's face!!! Ugh! *Shudder*
But you see what I mean? Creep factor activated.
Now, I work in the Children’s Department but I don’t discriminate. Humans, ghouls, mummies or little monsters....
I have scary recommendations for everyone.
Check out the books and movies below guaranteed to make you cringe, cry, and/or question the supernatural safety of your own home.
BOOKS
Adult
- Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
- Pet Sematary by Stephen King
- We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
- Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
- Bird Box by Josh Malerman
- Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Teen/Young Adult
- I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
- The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
- Asylum by Madeleine Roux
- The Silver Eyes by Scott Cawthon
- Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake
- The Monstrumologist by Richard Yancey
Middle School
- Lockwood and Co Series. by Jonathan Stroud
- The Nightmarys by Dan Poblocki
- Daemon Hall by Andrew Nance
- The Devouring by Simon Holt
- Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender
- I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
Elementary School
- Goosebumps Series by R. L. Stine
- The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright
- Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
- Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz
- Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
- The Nest by Kenneth Oppel
Picture Books (ALL AGES)
- Creepy Pair of Underwear by Aaron Reynolds (4-8)
- Wolf’s Coming! by Joe Kulka (4-8)
- The Spooky Book by Steve Patschke (5-8)
- The Monster Who Did My Math by Danny Schnitzlein (4-8)
- The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman (6-10)
- The Night World by Mordicai Gerstein (5-6)
TV & FILM
Teen/Adult Movies
Teen/Adult TV Shows
- Stranger Things
- The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix)
- The Twilight Zone
- American Horror Story
- Attack on Titan
- Penny Dreadful
Kids' Movies
- Coraline
- Corpse Bride
- Monster House
- The Haunted Mansion
- Scooby Doo on Zombie Island
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
Kids' TV Shows
- Are You Afraid of the Dark?
- Creeped Out (Netflix)
- Tales From The Cryptkeeper (Amazon)
- The Haunting Hour: TheSeries
- The Nightmare Room
- Freaky Stories (Amazon)
Below are a few favorites. Don't enjoy them all at once.
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
Meet Hanna.
She’s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He’s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good.
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?
Jasper "Jazz" Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say. But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view.
And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.
In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?
Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud
Book #1 - The Screaming Staircase
When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .
For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.
Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz
This spooky addition to Alvin Schwartz's popular books on American folklore is filled with tales of eerie horror and dark revenge that will make you jump with fright.
There is a story here for everyone—skeletons with torn and tangled flesh who roam the earth; a ghost who takes revenge on her murderer; and a haunted house where every night a bloody head falls down the chimney.
Creepy Pair of Underwear! by Aaron Reynolds
Jasper Rabbit is NOT a little bunny anymore. He’s not afraid of the dark, and he’s definitely not afraid of something as silly as underwear. But when the lights go out, suddenly his new big rabbit underwear glows in the dark.
A ghoulish, greenish glow. If Jasper didn’t know any better he’d say his undies were a little, well, creepy. Jasper’s not scared obviously, he’s just done with creepy underwear. But after trying everything to get rid of them, they keep coming back!
The Orphanage
A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
Scooby Doo on Zombie Island
After a year-long hiatus, the Mystery Gang reunite and visit Moonscar Island, a remote island with a dark secret.
Now the host of a successful new talk show about mysteries, Daphne wants more than just a villain in a costume, and they get more than they ever expected.
Stranger Things Season 1
When a young boy disappears, his mother, a police chief, and his friends uncover a mystery involving secret experiments and must confront terrifying supernatural forces in order to get him back.
Tales from the Cryptkeeper
The frightful host known as The Cryptkeeper serves up some scary tales to his viewers, each with a lesson to be learned.