8 Tales with Chills and Thrills

By
Staff of Anne Arundel County Public Library
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0
150

Get your trick-or-treat bag ready and cue up the flashlight-lit ghost stories, because it’s the season of all things spooky, scary and ghostly!

Preschool

Photo of a book cover: drawing of a little boy with brown hair looking behind him at the ghost of a cat. Light gray text at the top reads "Ghost Cat," under the author's name. Kevan Atteberry in dark blue.
Courtesy of Neal Porter Books.

“Ghost Cat”
by Kevan Atteberry
A boy who used to have a cat believes that its ghost is darting through his house by day and purring in his bed at night.

Photo of a book cover; illustration of about half a dozen critters dressed in Halloween costumes running together, trick-or-treat bags in hand. The title, in large orange block letters, reads "Vamos!"
Courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers.

“¡Vamos! Let’s Celebrate Halloween and Día de Los Muertos”
by Raul the Third
On Halloween, Little Lobo and his friends dress up in costumes, trick-or-treat for candy and share spooky stories. Then, everyone in the town prepares food, drinks and other gifts and decorates the cemetery with ofrendas so they can enjoy Día de Los Muertos with the spirits of the people they love.

Elementary

Photo of an orange book cover with various sized green circles. White text reads "Carving a Jack-o'-Lantern." Below that are four step-by-step photos of an adult carving a pumpkin with a child watching.
Courtesy of Sequencing Stories.

“Carving a Jack-o’-lantern”
by Meg Gaertner
This book introduces readers to time-order words through Carmen’s engaging story. Vibrant and colorful photos help tell the story. Fun facts add engaging details about jack-o’-lanterns and Halloween.

Photo of a book cover made to look like the cover of a red journal. Black text reads "The Notebook of Doom" and "Rise of the Balloon Goons."
Courtesy of Scholastic Books.

“The Notebook of Doom: Rise of the Balloon Goons”
by Troy Cummings
Alexander’s new classroom is located in the hospital morgue. He finds a notebook full of information about monsters—and everywhere he turns there are spooky balloon men determined to attack him.

Middle school

Photo of a book cover; an illustration of a ghost in the sky is looking at a girl with dark hair, who is crouching outside a gate. White block letters read "Ghost Book" inside the clutches of a ghostly white hand with sharp, long fingernails.
Courtesy of Macmillan Publishers.

“Ghost Book”
by Remy Lai
July Chen sees ghosts, but her dad insists ghosts aren’t real. So, she pretends they don’t exist—which is incredibly difficult now as it’s Hungry Ghost month, when the Gates of the Underworld open and dangerous ghosts run amok in the living world. When July saves a boy ghost from being devoured by a Hungry Ghost, he becomes her first ever friend.

Photo of a black book cover with a photo of a large smiling jack-o'-lantern. Large block letters above that read "Halloween."
Courtesy of Enslow Publishing.

“Halloween”
by Joanna Ponto
Most kids think about candy and costumes when they think about Halloween. Readers of this engaging volume will be excited to learn about the way other cultures celebrate and honor the dead, as well as their differing customs. They can round off their learning by making witch finger treats and mini ghost decorations.

High school

Photo of a black book cover with a photo of a white residential house. Large white letters at the top read "Haunted Southern Maryland."
Courtesy of Arcadia Publishing.

“Haunted Southern Maryland”
by David W. Thompson
Southern Maryland is one of the most haunted spots in America. From pre-colonial settlements to modern times, the tales of every era of its history are often dark and sometimes bloody. Brave readers will meet the many otherworldly specters that loved the area too much to leave, like the spirit of the witch Moll Dyer or the nun reclaiming her ancestral home.

Photo of a dark blue book cover with an illustration of a large upside-down person with glowing tendrils escaping from her mouth. She is clutching her throat with two pale hands. Spooky white text reads "All These Sunken Souls: A Black Horror Anthology."
Courtesy of Chicago Review Press.

“All These Sunken Souls: A Black Horror Anthology”
by Circe Moskowitz
In this young adult horror anthology, fans of Jordan Peele, Lovecraft Country and Horror Noire will get a little bit of everything they love—and a lot of what they fear. From haunted, hungry Victorian mansions, temporal monster-infested asylums and ravaging zombie apocalypses to southern gothic hoodoo practitioners and cursed patriarchs in search of Black Excellence, “All These Sunken Souls” features the chilling creations of acclaimed bestsellers and hot new talents.

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