Graphic Novels
 
Bone Vol. 7 - Ghost Circles by Jeff Smith (author) and Steve Hamaker (colorist.)
Summary: The war in the valley rages on while the Bones, Gran'ma Ben, and their loyal rat creature cub venture on a dangerous trek to Atheia, the old city of the royal family. The goal is to bring Thorn to safety, but to do so they must first travel through fields of the mysterious ghost circles where reality meets the supernatural -- and all this while fending off deadly attacks from Briar, Kingdok, and the rat creatures.
 
Short Stories
 
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark collected by Alvin Schwartz, illustrated by Brett Helquist
Summary: Tapped from the oral traditions of American folklore, these ghost stories and tales of weird happenings, witches, and graveyards have startling, funny, or surprising endings.
 
Spooky America - Four real Ghost Stories by Lori Haskins, illustrated by Viviana Diaz
Summary: Recounts four fact-based tales of hauntings, including a ghost horse on the coast of Massachusetts, a haunted painting at a Virginia plantation, a skeleton in Colorado, and a ghostly sea captain of California.
 
 
Shorter Fiction
 
The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost by Stan and Jan Berenstain.
Summary: Brother Bear learns about fear and getting back in the saddle when a ghost haunts the riding academy.
 
The Ghost Town Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Author) illustrated by Charles Tang.
Summary: While visiting a recent purchase of Grandfather's, a ghost town in the Rocky Mountains, the Aldens encounter a mystery involving a run-down motel and a woman who may be a ghost.
 
Ghost Town at Sundown (Magic Tree House #10) by Mary Pope Osborne.
Summary: Their magic tree house takes Jack and Annie back to the Wild West, where they experience excitement and danger and try to solve a riddle.
 
Dial-a-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Summary: A family of nice ghosts protects a British orphan from the diabolical plans of his evil guardians.
 
 
Longer Fiction
 
Pony by R. J. Palacio
Summary:
Twelve-year-old Silas is awoken in the dead of night by three menacing horsemen who take his father away. Silas is left shaken, scared, and alone, except for the presence of his companion, Mittenwool...who happens to be a ghost. When a pony shows up at his door, Silas makes the courageous decision to leave his home and embark on a perilous journey to find his father.
 
The Ghost Sonata by Gilda Joyce
Summary: When ninth-grader Gilda travels to an international piano competition in Oxford, England, as page turner for her friend Wendy Choy, she finds adventure investigating why Wendy is being haunted and who is frightening the performers, while enjoying a romance with a British boy and her first kiss.
 
Ghost Girl by Ally Malinenko
Summary: Zee Puckett loves ghost stories. She just never expected to be living one. It all starts with a dark and stormy night. When the skies clear, everything is different. People are missing. And Zee is seeing frightening things: large, scary dogs that talk and maybe even . . . a ghost. When she tells her classmates, only her best friend Elijah believes her…
 
The Ghost of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage
Summary: When Miss Lana accidentally buys a haunted inn at the Tupelo Landing town auction, Desperado Detectives--aka Mo LoBeau and her best friend Dale--opens up a paranormal division to solve the ghost's identity before the town's big 250th anniversary bash"--
 
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Summary: Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better. Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that's been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing. Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances…
 
Ghost Dog Secrets by Peg Kehret
Summary: Sixth-grader Rusty, determined to help an injured dog that is chained outdoors in frigid weather, calls animal control then takes matters into his own hands, aided by his best friend and a ghost collie that leads Rusty to an even deeper secret. Includes instructions for knitting cat blankets.
 
Golden Ghost (Phantom Stallion series) by Terry Farley
Summary: Sam discovers a lost palomino mare in a spooky ghost town. Is she just a mirage, or will Sam manage to return her to her owner?
 
Ghost by Jason Reynolds
Summary: "Ghost, a naturally talented runner and troublemaker, is recruited for an elite middle school track team. He must stay on track, literally and figuratively, to reach his full potential"

Horror isn’t that bad after one is over the intense feeling of shock and disgust. As far as movies, instead of being fearful and scared, imagine being one of the actors in the movie, imagine how much fun it could possibly be to a part of the cast. If you love Halloween, then you probably would dream of being on a set of Stephen King’s “IT”.

These movies are only scary because they are edited and produced so well. They are just actors, it’s not real. But then there is the fact that, in some cases, the brain does not distinguish our imagination from reality. But one must override the primitive part of our brain (our amygdala!) and just be grounded in knowing that you’re just watching a movie or reading a story.

And, plus, if you have ever Googled your medical symptoms, oftentimes the results can seem far more horrific than any horror movie or book. (Sometimes WebMD is not your friend!).

Still in the mood to relish in a scary story or two? Read on:

 Magical realism and Horror are a great combination in Stephen Graham Jones' The Only Good Indians

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.

Want to read it?
Find it in the catalog / Find the Audio & eBook on Libby

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her own world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies…especially the ones where a masked killer seeks revenge on a world that wronged them. And Jade narrates the quirky history of Proofrock as if it is one of those movies. But when blood actually starts to spill into the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls us into her dizzying, encyclopedic mind of blood and masked murderers, and predicts exactly how the plot will unfold.

Yet, even as Jade drags us into her dark fever dream, a surprising and intimate portrait emerges… a portrait of the scared and traumatized little girl beneath the Jason Voorhees mask: angry, yes, but also a girl who easily cries, fiercely loves, and desperately wants a home. A girl whose feelings are too big for her body.

Want to read it?
Find it in the Catalog / Find the Audio/eBook on Libby

If you just want to get creeped out, then Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the first 100 pages are a “slow burn” and really sets the reader up for the rest of the book.  This book is definitely gothic horror inspired by Jane Eyre. It is a perfectly moldy book. 

It. By Stephen King. Its horrific, creepy, and this is the reason people fear clowns. Classic.

Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond

A mysterious lab. A sinister scientist. A secret history. If you think you know the truth behind Eleven's mother, prepare to have your mind turned Upside Down in this thrilling prequel to the hit show Stranger Things. It's the summer of 1969, and the shock of conflict reverberates through the youth of America, both at home and abroad. As a student at a quiet college campus in the heartland of Indiana, Terry Ives couldn't be farther from the front lines of Vietnam or the incendiary protests in Washington. But the world is changing, and Terry isn't content to watch from the sidelines. When word gets around about an important government experiment in the small town of Hawkins, she signs on as a test subject for the project, code named MKULTRA. Unmarked vans, a remote lab deep in the woods, mind-altering substances administered by tight lipped researchers . . . and a mystery the young and restless Terry is determined to uncover. But behind the walls of Hawkins National Laboratory--and the piercing gaze of its director, Dr. Martin Brenner--lurks a conspiracy greater than Terry could have ever imagined. To face it, she'll need the help of her fellow test subjects, including one so mysterious the world doesn't know she exists--a young girl with unexplainable, superhuman powers and a number instead of a name: 008. Amid the rising tensions of the new decade, Terry Ives and Martin Brenner have begun a different kind of war--one where the human mind is the battlefield.

Want to read it?
Find it in the Catalog / Find the Audio on Libby