Spooky Middle Grade Reads To Usher in Fall

Fall is here and with that comes earlier sunsets, the changing of the leaves, chilly temps,  and the start of spooky season. As you enjoy your apple or pumpkin pie and a cup of warm cider or cocoa, relax and enjoy these eerie tales that will put you in the mood for the season.

Dead Wednesdayby Jerry Spinelli 

When the school assigns each eighth-grader the name of a teenager who died in the past year as a lesson in mortality, Worm Tarnauer, who thrives on being invisible, doesn't count on Becca Finch, the seventeen-year-old car crash victim who changes everything.

Ghost Girlby Ally Malinenko 

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. Whatever the storm washed up isn't going away. To fight for what's right, Zee will have to embrace what makes her different and what makes her Ghost Girl. 

The Shadow School Trilogy (Archimancy, Dehaunting, and Phantoms) by J.A. White

Sent to a strange boarding school in New Hampshire where she discovers that she can see ghosts, Cordelia teams up with a fellow medium and the class genius to uncover their school’s sinister origins. 

Embassy of the Dead  by Will Mabbit, illustrated by Taryn Knight

Jake Green is dead. Or he might as well be when he mistakenly accepts a package from the Embassy of the Dead in this hilarious adventure of the afterlife.

The second book in the series, Embassy of the Dead: Hangman's Crossing will be released in November.

The Haunted Mustache by Joe McGee

Fifth-graders Parker and Lucas get more than they bargained for when they seek to debunk one of Wolver Hollow’s greatest legends about a haunted mustache that, every year on the anniversary of its owner’s death, seeks a lip to claim as its own.

Artie and The Wolf Moonby Olivia Stephens 

Artie goes out after dark to  capture  a picture of the  a full moon and  she finds out that she and her family descend from werewolves.

Ophie's Ghostsby Justina Ireland 

Discovering her ability to see ghosts when a cruel act ends her father's life and forces her to move in with relatives in 1920s Pittsburgh, young Ophelia forges a helpful bond with a spirit whose own life ended suddenly and unjustly.

The Dollhouse: A Ghost Storyby Charis Cotter

Alice's world is falling apart. Her parents are getting a divorce, and they've cancelled their yearly cottage trip. Instead, Alice and her mom are heading to some small town where Alice's mom will be a live-in nurse to a rich elderly lady. The house is huge, imposing and spooky, and everything inside is meticulously kept and perfect—not a fun place to spend the summer. Things start to get weird when Alice finds a dollhouse in the attic that's an exact replica of the house she's living in. Then she wakes up to find a girl asleep next to her in her bed—a girl who looks a lot like one of the dolls from the dollhouse... 

Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.