Creepy/scary children's books

Please use this sub-forum to discuss both middle-grade and younger children's books, including picture books, easy readers, and children's chapter books. Topics for books aimed at children 12 and under go in this forum.
Forum rules
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
Post Reply
User avatar
Zupanatural
Posts: 107
Joined: 29 May 2017, 03:41
Currently Reading: The Book of Strange New Things
Bookshelf Size: 12
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-zupanatural.html
Latest Review: "That Place of Knowledge" by Philip Alan Shalka

Creepy/scary children's books

Post by Zupanatural »

Some kids books, esp from bygone days, can be absolutely terrifying on account of either the story or the illustrations. Which ones freaked you out in your younger years and why?

The ones that stand out for me (now in my mid-thirties) are the original Moomins books, which were written in Finland by Tove Jansson in the 1940s & 50s. The illustrations are just sinister (lots of darkness, trees & half-hidden creatures) and have always scared the hell out of me.

:shifty:
Latest Review: "That Place of Knowledge" by Philip Alan Shalka
User avatar
Brandi Noelle
Posts: 253
Joined: 07 Apr 2017, 00:46
Currently Reading: The Invention of Murder
Bookshelf Size: 71
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-brandi-noelle.html
Latest Review: Marrying a Playboy Billionaire by H M Irwing

Post by Brandi Noelle »

I loved the "Goosebumps" series when I was a kid. I think my favorite scary book was "The Dollhouse Murders."
User avatar
Lincolnshirelass
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 1509
Joined: 30 Oct 2017, 04:36
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Lincolnshirelass »

I was freaked out by 'Struwelpeter' (which I read in the original German and unexpurgated!) but also by some things you may not think - my (much) older brother was into astronomy and I remember one of his books describing how the earth would end and it scared me so much I couldn't even look at the page. I was also one of those children (and I'm not entirely rid of it now) who found anything to do with clowns unsettling.
An Eye for an Eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

Mahatma Gandhi
User avatar
JusCally
Posts: 34
Joined: 17 Jan 2018, 11:39
Currently Reading: Psycho 2
Bookshelf Size: 27
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-juscally.html
Latest Review: Heartaches 3 by H.M. Irwing

Post by JusCally »

Does anyone remember Scary Stories to Read in the Dark? To this day I haven't read anything (fictional) that scared me as much as those stories did back in the day! In my mind is one specific illustration
of a woman's skeletal head, with which my loving sister would ambush me at every opportunity.
User avatar
Faees
Posts: 1
Joined: 25 Jun 2018, 09:13
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Faees »

I like scary stories because they are interesting especially this book when i read this book that night i wasn't able to sleep properly and cannot concentrate in work but, if you start reading this you won't feel like stop reading.
Lil Reads
Posts: 243
Joined: 17 May 2018, 19:29
Currently Reading: Chip’s World: Complex #31 and The Caretaker
Bookshelf Size: 20
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-lil-reads.html
Latest Review: Pastoring is not what you think by Elijah Oladimeji

Post by Lil Reads »

The Goosebumps series overall was very creepy, for an entirely unexpected reason. The supernatural elements were just the tip of the ice burg. The children protagonists seemed to be the only ones who saw that anything was wrong.

I read one of the books for a class assignment and it had such a creepy undertone. The protagonist was a boy who is experiencing weird physical changes: lots of weird body hair, appetite changes, and more. Some could be attributed to puberty, especially since his classmates are having similar changes, but then it turns out the children are all dogs who a scientist transformed into humans via injection, the children are regressing into their animal forms, and the story ends with the boy in full dog form seeing his parents come home with a new baby that turns out to be the family cat transformed via a similar serum. The entire town is doing similar things - transforming pets into children for a few years then the children reverting so the animals are stuck with their memories as children as their parents get new kids from transforming new animals.

The TV adaptations of the books showed this very well; one episode, titled something like Say Cheese and Die had a set of kids find a magic camera. The magic changes their appearances rapidly, the girl becomes so thin she literally vanishes and the boy gets so fat he goes from thin to morbidly obese; this all takes place over a few days, less than a week and none of the parents are really concerned. The boy's teacher mocks him in front of the other students.

Overall, there was a theme of adults not caring about the kids and how the kids have to deal with supernatural elements on their own.
:coffee3-smiley: :auto-mysterymachine:
Jessica Reehl
Posts: 54
Joined: 09 Jul 2018, 16:32
Currently Reading: Goodnight Irene
Bookshelf Size: 24
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-jessica-reehl.html
Latest Review: The Unbound Soul by Richard L. Haight
Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU

Post by Jessica Reehl »

I haven't read many truly scary children's books but I have heard other moms describe Roald Dahl books as being dark/scary. He's my favorite author so that always surprises me. My kids and I love reading all of his books over and over.
User avatar
Chayimecel2611
Posts: 2
Joined: 03 Aug 2018, 10:27
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Chayimecel2611 »

It seems that most of the people like goosebumps, yes it was scary but i like stories that came from my locality which I going interesting especially at night time
User avatar
Vscholz
Posts: 455
Joined: 09 Jul 2018, 00:59
Currently Reading: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Bookshelf Size: 816
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-vscholz.html
Latest Review: Primrose’s Curse by Kiara Shankar, Vinay Shankar
Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU

Post by Vscholz »

JusCally wrote: 09 Feb 2018, 14:27 Does anyone remember Scary Stories to Read in the Dark? To this day I haven't read anything (fictional) that scared me as much as those stories did back in the day! In my mind is one specific illustration
of a woman's skeletal head, with which my loving sister would ambush me at every opportunity.
I was going to say these books! The stories are creepy enough but then the illustrations make it even more so! Even as an adult, I find them unsettling.

He also has a set of stories in a Learn-to-Read book called In a Dark, Dark Room. They aren't as scary but they are for people who are just learning to read. It has one of my favorite stories in it--"The Yellow Ribbon."
As for you & your heart & the things you said & didn't say, she will remember them all when men are fairy tales in books written by rabbits. (Schmendrick the Magician)
User avatar
Vscholz
Posts: 455
Joined: 09 Jul 2018, 00:59
Currently Reading: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Bookshelf Size: 816
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-vscholz.html
Latest Review: Primrose’s Curse by Kiara Shankar, Vinay Shankar
Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU

Post by Vscholz »

Mary Downing Hahn has some really creepy books. Wait Til Helen Comes is one that comes to mind. I don't remember the titles of her other books but I do remember devouring them all when I was in elementary school.
As for you & your heart & the things you said & didn't say, she will remember them all when men are fairy tales in books written by rabbits. (Schmendrick the Magician)
User avatar
OloladeO
Posts: 421
Joined: 02 Jul 2018, 08:36
Currently Reading: The Michael Project
Bookshelf Size: 41
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-ololadeo.html
Latest Review: Twisted Threads by Kaylin McFarren

Post by OloladeO »

As a kid, I wasn't exposed to scary books. The only scary thing I remember is Chucky and it wasn't a book but a movie.
User avatar
Writing queen
Posts: 12
Joined: 16 May 2020, 15:49
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Writing queen »

I loved reading goosebumps and scary stories to tell in the dark. And I still read them.
Post Reply

Return to “Children's Books”