Read. If you dare. Our Spooky, Scary Book List Part 1

Spine chilling.

Hair-raising.

Frightening.

Read with the lights on.

Nightmare-inducing.

If these are the kinds of middle-grade and YA stories you love, have we got the book(s) for you! From creepy to terrifying and chilling to horror. You’ll find realistic, apocalyptic, classic, modern tales and urban legends … all perfect for this, the spooky season! My thanks to judges Hailey McKinney, Rachael Owens, Joyce Uglow, Niki Brooks, Tricia Stohrs-Hunt, and Debbie Tanner for pointing me to the 2024-eligible books I would have missed!!

Fear not, young readers! Our not-so-scary list is coming soon. Mwhahahaha…

A book included in this list doesn’t imply anything about its eligibility for a CYBILS Award, nor is it an endorsement.

The CYBILS Awards is a nonprofit. When you buy through the Bookshop.org and Amazon.com buttons,
you are supporting our literacy mission. Thank you. We are grateful.

Book covers link to Goodreads.

All That Consumes Us

The students in Corbin College’s elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all—free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate. When first-gen college student Tara is offered a chance to enroll, she doesn’t hesitate. Then something strange starts to happen. She’s finally writing, but her stories are dark and twisted. Her dreams feel as if they could bury her alive. An unseen presence seems to stalk her through the halls. And a chilling secret awaits Tara at the heart of Magni Viri—one that just might turn her nightmares into reality; one that might destroy her before she has a chance to escape.
YA Speculative Fiction submission, 2024

Blood at the Root

Ten years ago, Malik's life changed forever the night his mother mysteriously vanished and he discovered he had uncontrollable powers. Since then, he has kept his abilities hidden, looking out for himself and his younger foster brother, Taye. Now, at 17, Malik is finally ready to start a new life for both of them, far from the trauma of his past. However, a daring act to rescue Taye reveals an unexpected connection with his long-lost a legendary conjurer with ties to a hidden magical university that Malik’s mother attended. In a wholly unique saga of family, history and community, Malik must embrace his legacy to save what's left of his old family as well as his new one. Exploring the roots and secrets that connect us in an unforgettable contemporary setting, this heart-pounding fantasy series opener is a rich tapestry of atmosphere, intrigue, and emotion.
YA Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

Bumps in the Night

Darika Lovelace (13) is in big trouble. The kind of trouble that means she’s being sent off to her grandmother in the Caribbean. The island is definitely not what she remembers! The minute she steps off the plane, strange things start happening. Thrust into an incredible adventure involving strange monsters, a supernatural silk cotton tree, and a mysterious maze, soon the truth about her unique magical roots comes to light. She’s the island’s only hope, but unless she learns to believe in magic, all will be lost.
Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction submission, 2024

Compound Fracture

On the night Miles Abernathy—sixteen-year-old socialist and proud West Virginian—comes out as trans to his parents, he sneaks off to a party, carrying evidence that may finally turn the tide of the 100-years-old blood feud plaguing Twist Creek. Now, Miles becomes the feud’s latest victim when the sheriff’s son and his friends follow and beat him nearly to death. In the hospital, the ghost of a soot-covered man hovers over Miles’s bedside while Sheriff Davies threatens Miles into silence. But when Miles accidently kills one of the boys who hurt him, he learns of other folks in Twist Creek who want out from under the sheriff’s heel. To free their families from this cycle of cruelty, they’re willing to put everything on the line—is Miles?
YA Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

Dead Things Are Closer than They Appear

High school is hard enough to survive without an apocalypse to navigate. When the earth rips open and unleashes the magic trapped inside. Monsters crawl from the ground, no one can enter or leave, and the man behind it all is roaming the streets with a gang of violent vigilantes. Suddenly, Sid’s life becomes a lot less ordinary.
YA Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

The Deep Dark

Everyone has secrets. Mags’s has teeth. So Magdalena Herrera keeps her head down. Then Nessa comes back to town with a secret of her own. When the darkness starts to close in on them both, Mags will have to drag her secret into the daylight, and choose between risking everything ... or having nothing left to lose.
YA Graphic Novel nominee, 2024

Ghost Writers: The Haunting of Lake Lucy

A lakeside summer vacation is just what 13-year-old Jayce needs...except he's convinced the ghost from his nightmares lives in the creepy house next door. But when he decides to team up with his twin sister to write a letter to the phantom neighbor, he's shocked when THE GHOST WRITES HIM BACK! Now Jayce must uncover the dark secret of a cursed lake-or remain haunted forever.
Poetry Novel in Verse nominee, 2024

Ghostly, Ghastly Tales: Frights to Tell at Night

Spine-tingling tales haunting illustrations, and a glow-in-the-dark cover! This terrifying collection, inspired by cultures from around the world, pulls you into a dark world of scary stories based on myths and legends from around the world. Haunted battlefields? Talking heads? Ghosts? Nefarious creatures in the night? Read all about spooky field trips, ghostly omens, cautionary tales, and more.
Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction submission, 2024

The Harrowing: A Graphic Novel

Rowan Sterling should be worrying about normal teenage things like attending college and whether her best friend, Lucas, is maybe more than a friend. . . . Instead, she’s having terrifying visions of blood and violence. As the premonitions increase in number and intensity, Rowan seeks her father’s help, but instead finds herself drugged, kidnapped, and sent to a mysterious facility called Rosewood. It isn’t long before Rowan discovers Rosewood isn’t a boarding school or an it’s a training center for teens with special abilities who are known as Harrows. Rowan returns home, empowered by the skills she’s acquired and ready to change the world. Until ...
YA Graphic Novel nominee, 2024

The Headless Horseman of Downers Grove (Hazyscapes, 3)

Being an outsider at Downers Grove Middle School is hard enough. But as Bodie, Abe, and Odesa learn, things can always get a lot worse…and a lot creepier. When a vengeful, headless phantom begins to stalk them in the night, the three 12-year-old strangers must work together to confront a tragic past that mysteriously connects them all.
Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction submission, 2024

Houses with a Story: A Dragon’s Den, a Ghostly Mansion,…

Who is the mischievous bridge-tower keeper? What does the witch grow in her garden? How does the postal worker tame his delivery dragons? In each house, readers discover the contents of rooms and closets, what’s at the top of the stairs, and where shadowy hallways lead.
Young Adult Graphic Novel nominee, 2024

I Will Follow

It's every influencers biggest nightmare when a follower decides to kidnap her TikTok hero in order to become her BFF and a big star herself. Like Stephen King's Misery ... for the TikTok generation.
Young Adult Fiction nominee, 2024

An Illustrated History of Urban Legends

rom the campfire to the digital rumor mill, urban legends have flourished wherever we tell stories. Whether once true, sprouted from half remembered facts or entirely fictional, we have scrutinized these legends for centuries. This book will ferry you across a river of uncanny tales, from classic folklore to contemporary urban legend. So, check the closet, make sure the skies are clear and delve in if you are ready to imagine the strange.
High School Nonfiction nominee, 2024

It Happened to Anna

Rivera has been haunted all her life by a vengeful ghost—a ghost that doesn’t want her to make any friends. The moment she tries? Cue exploding lightbulbs, chilling gusts of wind, and slamming doors. When the ghost caused an accident that killed her best friend, Sadie knew it was all her fault. She's not making any more new friends. Then mysterious cool girl Mal shows up, and the ghost doesn’t bother her for once. But Mal wants Sadie all to herself—and she’ll do anything to make sure it stays that way.
Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

In Utero

Twelve years after a disastrous explosion, young Hailey is dropped off by her mum at a holiday camp in a dilapidated shopping mall. Alienated from the other kids, she connects with an eerie older teen named Jen… but soon dark horrors awaken, and the two new friends are caught up in a cataclysmic battle between two terrifying creatures who have been lying dormant all this time.
YA Graphic Novel nominee, 2024

Into the Goblin Market

Millie loves her quiet life on the farm, but Mina longs for adventure. When the Goblin Market comes to town, Millie knows visiting it is a bad idea. They've been told stories their whole lives about the dangers of the Goblin Market. But Mina just can't resist. When Mina doesn't come back, it's Millie's turn to brave the market to bring her home. She will use all her smarts and courage to try to outwit the goblins and save her sister... but will it be enough?
Fiction Picture Book nominee, 2024

The Invocations

Three girls, one supernatural killer on the loose. Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to consider—that her murdered sister is gone forever and there is nothing she can do about it. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, Jude Wolf's soul has been slowly turning necrotic. Enter Emer Byrne, an orphaned witch with a dark past and a deadly power, i.e., the solution to both Zara’s and Jude’s problems.
YA Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

Island of Whispers

On the misty island of Merlank, the lingering dead can cause unspeakable harm if they’re not safely carried to the Island of the Broken Tower, where they can move on. Milo’s father always told him that he wasn’t suited for dealing with the dead and could never become the Ferryman—but one day, he’s unexpectedly thrust into the role. And his father is his first passenger ...
Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction

It Watches in the Dark (Eek!)

Twins seek medical help in a remote village after their father is in a canoeing accident...only to discover the scarecrow that stands watch in town may have a stronger hold over the residents than expected. Prepare to be scared silly in this creepy middle-grade novel!
Elementary/Middle-Grde Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

Looking for Smoke

When local girl Loren includes Mara in a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway to honor Loren’s missing sister, Mara thinks she’ll finally make some friends on the Blackfeet reservation. Instead, a girl from the Giveaway, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered. Despite deep mistrust, the four must now take matters into their own hands and clear their names. Even though one of them may be the murderer.
Young Adult Fiction nominee, 2024

A Misfortune of Lake Monsters

Lemon Ziegler wants to escape rural Devil’s Elbow, Pennsylvania to attend college―but that’s impossible now that she’s expected to impersonate the town’s lake monster for the rest of her life. When a very real, and very hungry monster is discovered in the lake, secrets must fall by the wayside. Determined to stop the monster, Lemon and her best friends are the only thing standing between Devil’s Elbow and the monster out for blood.
YA Speculative Fiction Nominee, 2024

My Throat an Open Grave

Growing up in the small town of Winston, Pennsylvania feels like drowning. Leah goes to church every Sunday, works when she isn’t at school, and takes care of her baby brother, Owen. Like every girl in Winston, she tries to be right and good and holy. If she isn’t the Lord of the Wood will take her, and she’ll disappear like many other girls before her. One night, when Owen won’t stop screaming, Leah wishes him away, and the Lord listens. The screaming stops, and all that’s left in the crib is a small bundle of sticks tied with a ribbon. Now Leah is forced to cross the river into the Lord of the Wood’s domain to bring Owen back. The devilish figure who has haunted Winston for generations isn’t what she expects. He tells her she can have her brother back―for the price of a song. A song that Leah will have one month to write.
YA Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

The No-Brainer’s Guide to Decomposition

No one has ever called Frani Gonzalez squeamish. Having bodies buried in her backyard doesn’t exactly make Frani the most popular kid in school, and the imaginary spider that lives in a web in her brain isn’t helping either. Arañita’s always to blame for the distracted thoughts weaving through Frani’s mind. But when a hand reaches out of the ground and grabs her ankle, Frani realizes that she’s got bigger problems. Not everything is as it seems at the body farm, and now Frani must help the teenage zombie that crawled out of the dirt…before he gets too hungry.
Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

No One Left but You

A trans teen is swept up in a whirlwind friendship with lethal consequences in this taut YA thriller, for fans of Sadie, K. Ancrum and HBO's Euphoria. Both sharp-edged thriller and moving coming-of-age, this gorgeously wrought novel is perfect for readers who want stories with trans characters front-and-center.
Young Adult Fiction submission, 2024

Now, Conjurers

Nesbit Nuñez discovers the partially devoured body of Bastion Attia: star quarterback, secret witch, and Nesbit’s even-more-secret boyfriend. Now the remaining members of North Coven—Nesbit, Dove, Drea, and Brandy—vow to get answers. Nothing can prepare them for what they uncover: Bastion had been locked in a terrifying battle of wits and wills with something living deep beneath an ancient mausoleum in the local
cemetery.
YA Speculative Fiction submission, 2024

The Poisons We Drink

Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her. As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it's hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.
YA Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet

Some of Earth’s strangest—and creepiest—wonders lie deep below the surface. Dive into the most mysterious waters around the world (if you dare) in this illustrated nonfiction book.

Middle-Grade Nonfiction Nominee, 2024

Spooky Poems Aloud: 25 Poems to Frighten and Delight (P…

Within these pages, you'll discover poems that can be recited loudly, softly, or in a ghostly whisper, offering a diverse range of performances. Some poems are meant to make your audience jump or send shivers down their spine, while others weave spell-poems that can enchant a witch's cat, or cast a spell of laughter. There are even poems that will tickle your funny bones.
Poetry Collections Nominee, 2024

Stage Fright

Avery returns to her hometown after being away for a year with hopes of jumping back into her friend group as if nothing’s changed. But that's not how life works. In an attempt to reunite her BFFs, she suggests they host a séance at an abandoned theater that was the site of a horrible tragedy. Everything started out fun, but when the group gets locked in - and discovers they are not alone - it becomes a fight for survival. Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction submission, 2024

A Tempest of Tea (Blood and Tea, #1)

On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone. Dark, action-packed, and swoon-worthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.
YA Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

Till the Last Beat of My Heart

Death is just another part of life for Jaxon Santiago-Noble (16). Most dead bodies in town wind up at Jaxon’s house; his mom is the local mortician, after all. He doesn’t usually pay them much attention ... but then his one-time best friend and first crush Christian Reyes is brought in after a car accident. When he accidentally resurrects Christian, Jaxon must navigate dark, mysterious magics and family secrets. Stepping into an inherited power may also mean opening up old family wounds.
YA Speculative Fiction submission, 2024

Trapped in the Horror Dome (Monsterious #5)

When their school wins a state science competition, Rowan, Tinker, and Amari earn a dream trip to Earth Two, a biodome research lab deep in the desert, which is sealed off from the outside world. What could be cooler?
Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction nominee, 2024

Wander in the Dark

Amir Trudeau only goes to his half brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. Does she want to hook up? Or is she trying to meddle in the estranged brothers’ messy family drama? Amir can’t tell. He doesn’t know what Chloe wants from him when, in the final hours of Mardi Gras, she asks him to take her home and stay—her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone. Amir never gets an answer to his question, because when he wakes up, Chloe is dead. To find Chloe’s killer, Amir and Marcel need to dig into her secrets. And what they find is darker than either could have guessed. Parents will go to any lengths to protect their children, and in a city as old as New Orleans, the right family connections can bury even the ugliest truths.
Young Adult Fiction nominee, 2024

Wishbone

When Ollie and his sister Mia find a two-tailed cat they name Wishbone, Ollie takes comfort in telling him everything he wishes would change. Then it does. Everything Ollie and Mia wish for comes true, and it’s like all of their problems are solved. But magic comes at a price. Their wishes have consequences, and a mysterious shadow man called The Mage is after Wishbone. Darkness is overtaking their world, and worst of all, it threatens to take over Ollie, too. Can he let go of everything he’s ever wanted, or will he let evil win?
Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction submission, 2024

Spine chilling.

Hair-raising.

Frightening.

Read with the lights on.

Nightmare-inducing.

See also …