MG Horror?

[VeggieChick]

Is there anything out there that is straight horror for MG? I understand it can't be anything too graphic, but good enough for a scare. I'm not talking about fantasy or anything like that. I mean Goosebumps style, just newer and maybe less funny (more straight horror). I've been searching in Amazon for an hour and can't come up with anything.

[alleycat]

There's The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I haven't read it, but I think it fits your description.

[Kathleen42]

I'm not sure if it's considered MG or YA but try The Thief of Always by Clive Barker.

Also, older and possibly too young for MG, but The Dollhouse Murders and Christina's Ghost by Betty Ren Wright.

[Kathleen42]

There's The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I haven't read it, but I think it fits your description.

Coraline, also (though am not sure if it's considered YA or MG)

[som1luvsmi]

Neil Gaiman's The Wolves in the Walls and the Goosebumps series.

[VeggieChick]

Neil Gaiman's The Wolves in the Walls and the Goosebumps series.

I looked up Gaiman's book. The illustrations look amazing but I think it's classified as a picture book. I'm looking for something longer, like a novel. Something like the Goosebumps series.

[alleycat]

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

[VeggieChick]

There's The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I haven't read it, but I think it fits your description.

Has anybody read this book? The description sounds a little more fantasy than horror.

[Kathleen42]

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

That's definitely not MG though. It'd be like letting twelve year olds watch Battle Royale.

[VeggieChick]

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

This I read a review of the other day and it sounds absolutely brilliant. It's YA though, which seems to be the problem I'm having when searching for books: all the horror I'm finding is for older audiences.

[Day O']

The The Thief of Always is middle grade horror, and it's quite good. It was one of the few books my son liked reading. It's word count is somewhere between 37,000 and 38,000 so longer than goosebumps.

[alleycat]

If you do a google search for "middle grade horror books" you'll get a few hits.

Here's one link: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-lists/best-horror-stories-middle-grade-readers

[Kathleen42]

The The Thief of Always is middle grade horror, and it's quite good. It was one of the few books my son liked reading. It's word count is somewhere between 37,000 and 38,000 so longer than goosebumps.

I thought it probably was. For some reason the local bookstore has it shelved with the rest of Barker's books (Abarat aside) in the adult section. I read it as an adult but really enjoyed it.

[Day O']

Go to the old http://www.renlearn.com/store/quiz_home.asp?c=MP+95%3A91%3A3+9002%2F21%2F9

Do an advanced search with middle grade and horror/thriller. They actually list a lot.

[VeggieChick]

Go to the old http://www.renlearn.com/store/quiz_home.asp?c=MP+95%3A91%3A3+9002%2F21%2F9

Do an advanced search with middle grade and horror/thriller. They actually list a lot.

Thanks. This really, really helps. I didn't know about this site!

[Kitty Pryde]

The Graveyard Book and Coraline both are fantasy, but they have strong horror themes too I think. They are both pretty freaky. If you haven't read them DEFINITELY put them on your TBR list. The Graveyard Book has a lot of disturbing stuff, written to be kid-friendly.

[lonestarlibrarian]

A lot of the MG horror books in my library that aren't Goosebumps seem to be collections of short stories, a la campfire ghost stories. No specific titles immediately spring to mind, but that's the impression I get.

[Kitty Pryde]

A lot of the MG horror books in my library that aren't Goosebumps seem to be collections of short stories, a la campfire ghost stories. No specific titles immediately spring to mind, but that's the impression I get.

They're a little old, but there's Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark. There are three books of short stories in the series. I love them! I loved them as a wee child as well. Lots of good scary stories to read alone or tell around a campfire. Loads of heads falling off and lost body parts seeking revenge and deadly rats and such.

[VeggieChick]

A lot of the MG horror books in my library that aren't Goosebumps seem to be collections of short stories, a la campfire ghost stories. No specific titles immediately spring to mind, but that's the impression I get.

Does that mean there's no market for kid's horror? That makes me want to cry. I don't write fantasy. I don't read fantasy. I want to write traditional horror. I know when I was a kid I loved to be scared but I couldn't find good books. I started reading Stephen King when I was nine, because it seemed to be the only thing available (my mom had to sign a special form so the librarian would allow me to take adult books) :D

[Kitty Pryde]

I think there is a market for it: see this sub-heading on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_p_n_age_range_2?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Cn%3A !1000%2Cn%3A4%2Cn%3A2966%2Cn%3A3013%2Cn%3A3018%2Cp _n_age_range%3A673423011&bbn=3018&ie=UTF8&qid=1252959226&rnid=673420011

The thing is that horror for little kids has to be handled really sensitively, as certain topics are going to be ok, but others aren't. In adult horror, anything goes, in YA horror nearly anything goes, but in kid stuff you have to exercise restraint even as you try to scare em. From my experience, darker topics can be covered, but they have to be covered sensitively, or in a way that will protect more naive readers from stuff that would disturb them too much. I would suggest you read a lot of kid horror to get an idea of what will fly and what won't.

And yeah, I was a fellow reader of Stephen King as a wee child, but I have learned that I can't judge the appropriateness/correct age level of books based on my own experiences, because they are way way off average.

[lonestarlibrarian]

@Kitty- Good call! Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark circulates really well with the kids who have gobbled up all the Goosebumps and are looking for more. I really need to sit down and read it myself sometime. :o)

@Veggie- There's lots of room for more kids' horror. "Do you have any scary stories?" is probably the number one request at the youthdesk (after "Can I have a computer pass?", lol). From a writer's standpoint, I think the hardest part would be getting a nice balance between what will scare/squick out a kid enough that they're entertained but not so much that they're too scared/squicked. If it's not so fun walking that line, definitely consider writing YA horror. :o)

[timp67]

I've heard that a lot of adventuresome MG readers are reading The Hunger Games ...

[MsJudy]

I haven't read the CIRQUE DU FREAK books, but I know they're popular. Are they horror or just strange?

[mware01]

Personally I don't think The Hunger Games is horror; more suspense or even SciFi.
But I don't read much horror. Either way it's a good book =-)

[cwgranny]

CIRQUE DU FREAK by Darren Shan is YA, not middle grade. He has a demon series that is very scary but very YA -- gruesome.

Mary Downing Hahn writes middle grade horror -- Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story and the others are definitely middle grade. Very creepy, atmospheric, and middle grade readers find them very scary. They aren't at all like the campy style of Goosebumps.

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman is probably pushing toward YA...it's an interesting format (told half through journal entries in the book, half through video entries online. It's very scary but I would consider it "middle grade-esque" -- there is nothing inherently "teen" about it except that it's scary.

Vivian Vande Velda has done some middle grade horror (though she often gets bumped up to teen because of the dead people in the books, but some of them have a very middle grade vibe --there is one with a civil war era ghost and one with a hanged guy...very scary, a little wry but not at all campy like Goosebumps. The titles reflect the wry voice, but they are not comedies.

Skeleton Man by Joseph Bruchac is supposed to be very scary -- I haven't read it. It's definitely middle grade.

The Hanging Hill by Chris Grabenstein (and The Crossroads, the first book in the series) are PERFECT middle grade horror. Very scary. Not funny. But tempered for kids. If you really want to understand how to do middle grade horror -- Grabenstein and Vande Velde should be required reading.

The Suddenly Supernatural Series by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel is very much a middle grade girls ghost/horor series. Creepy more than gross (so think more atmospheric and less goosebumps.)

Now, I don't know if the book is out yet, but I have a copy of MALICE by Chris Wooding and it's middle grade that is super, super scary. It's a combination of straight narrative with comic book entries (which makes perfect sense with the storyline). Really wonderful horror story.

In the boxloads of books I get for review, I'm seeing an ever growing pile of middle grade horror. So, it's out there -- to really understand it though, read Mary Downing Hahn, Vivian Vande Velde, and Chris Grabenstein -- you'll be glad you did. It doesn't have to be silly, campy or light.

[trocadero]

Interesting that people consider Darren Shan YA. It was probably the most popular series in my classroom for 5th and 6th grade boys. They loved it, though I didn't like it at all.

The Hunger Games is great and also popular with my 6th graders last year, and my 7th graders this year, but it's not horror. I'd say dystopian SF. I didn't find The Graveyard Book to be horror at all. The concepts are, I guess, but it's not scary, except in some suspenseful moments. My 6th, 7th and 8th grade girls have been wild about vampires, but mostly in a fantasy sense, I think, rather than horror. I have an 8th grader reading Stephen King right now.

[cwgranny]

A lot of YA is VERY popular with younger kids, but it's still YA. Why is Darren Shan YA? Because of content. He's very violent -- and quite graphic. Which pushes it into YA regardless of who eventually reads it. He doesn't write it to be middle grade (unlike There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around and Ghost of a Hanged Man which often get shelved with YA in libraries but is very very middle grade in style and structure.)

Just because younger kids read it doesn't mean it isn't YA -- which is important to know since it will help in identifying and marketing your own manuscripts. If in any doubt -- read one of Shan's Demonata books and Vande Velde's GHOST OF A HANGED MAN. The difference between YA horror and MG horror will jump out at you like the an alien from the guts.

[VeggieChick]

Thanks so much everybody. This really helps. I'm out of the country (living in Vietnam right now!) so I don't have access to a library or bookstore selling these titles, and that's why I came here to ask. I'd love nothing more than take a bunch of these from the library, but for the time being I'll have to make do with whatever I can get online. I'm planning on reading through all the answers again and make a list of a few books that I can order on Amazon. Hopefully they'll get here!

[VeggieChick]

The Hanging Hill by Chris Grabenstein (and The Crossroads, the first book in the series) are PERFECT middle grade horror. Very scary. Not funny. But tempered for kids. If you really want to understand how to do middle grade horror -- Grabenstein and Vande Velde should be required reading.

Thanks, I'm definitively getting this. I totally envy the reviewing gig. You don't really understand how much you miss books until you live in a place where you can't get any!

[Exir]

The Tulip Touch by Anne Fine. Tulip is definitely a scary personality for a child.

[Angela_785]

There's a book called 'The Skeleton Man' aimed at juveniles--quite dark. Not true horror, but it has this tense dark feeling similar to Coraline and will grab you on the first page. Sorry, the author escapes me right now.

Another one I liked was 'Down the Rabbit Hole.' This one (Peter Straub, I think?) is a thriller, somewhere around MG/YA.

Hunger Games isn't a Horror, but definitely a Thriller. Think Running Man & The Long Walk by Stephen King--her book combines those two concepts (but IMO, is original and not a SK rip off). The Hunger Games is def. one of my favorite books.

Forest of Hands and Teeth is YA, But fantastic! Gotta read that one, too. :)

[SheilaJG]

Mary Downing Hahn writes popular ghost stories. Suspenseful and creepy, but on a middle-grade level. My favorites are Wait Till Helen Comes and All The Lovely Bad Ones, but I haven't read them all.

[VeggieChick]

A friend offered to send me "Wait Till Helen Comes" and I jumped at the chance. I'm glad to hear it's a good one. Hopefully it'll get here soon to help me sort my ideas. I'm kind of stuck on how to get the book going because I'm afraid to get too spooky or take the story on a completely inappropriate direction. I definitively need to read a few of these books to get a feel for what's acceptable and what's not. I have a basic plot in mind and just need to figure out how far to go with it.

[abctriplets]

So, what would you consider to be the best Vivian Vande Velda horror stories? (I'm making a giant list - I never read MG horror before!)

[cwgranny]

I think There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around and Ghost of a Hanged Man are her only middle grade horror. I really like BEING DEAD (it's a short story collection, but it's YA).

[fringle]

VeggieChick, as a fellow expat, I have to jump in here and say that you must, must, must get yourself a Kindle. I've been an expat for 10 years, and the combination of the Kindle and Slingbox (for TV) has revolutionized my life in ways nonexpats can never understand.

[VeggieChick]

VeggieChick, as a fellow expat, I have to jump in here and say that you must, must, must get yourself a Kindle. I've been an expat for 10 years, and the combination of the Kindle and Slingbox (for TV) has revolutionized my life in ways nonexpats can never understand.

I've been going back and forth on this. I HATE HATE HATE reading on a screen. I bought a couple of e-books last year because I really wanted to read them and I can never get past the first few pages. The idea of seating in front of a screen to read something just drives me nuts. I've been told reading on a Kindle is different but I have my doubts. It's still a screen, isn't it?

[fringle]

yes, but it doesn't seem that way. The Kindle has a way of disappearing in your hands. I am the biggest book nerd. I love books. I love to hold books, smell them and flip through the pages. I swore that if I didn't live abroad, I would have never bought the Kindle. But now that I own one, I'm in love. Seriously. My daughter broke my fist Kindle w/in 1 week of owning it and I had to buy another that very day. I cannot live w/o it.