THE STITCHERS by Lorien Lawrence
Thirteen-year-old Quinn Parker knows that there’s something off about her neighbors. She calls them “the Oldies” because they’ve lived on Goodie Lane for as long as anyone can remember, but they never seem to age. Are they vampires? Or aliens? Or getting secret experimental surgeries? Or is Quinn’s imagination just running wild again?

If her dad were still around, he’d believe her. When he was alive, they’d come up with all sorts of theories about the Oldies. Now, Quinn’s determined to keep the investigation going with the help of Mike, her neighbor and maybe-crush. They’ll have to search for clues and follow the mystery wherever it leads-even if it’s to the eerie pond at the end of the street that’s said to have its own sinister secrets. But the Oldies are on to them. And the closer Quinn and Mike get to uncovering the answers, the more they realize just how terrifying the truth may be.
Reading age: 10-14 Goodie Lane is so creepy!! I loved Quinn and Mike so much and adored spending time with them. This has got all the spooky vibes, and the mystery kept me turning the pages. I will be returning!
HOODOO by Ronald L. Smith

Twelve-year-old Hoodoo Hatcher was born into a family with a rich tradition of practicing folk magic: hoodoo, as most people call it. But even though his name is Hoodoo, he can’t seem to cast a simple spell.
Then a mysterious man called the Stranger comes to town, and Hoodoo starts dreaming of the dead rising from their graves. Even worse, he soon learns the Stranger is looking for a boy. Not just any boy. A boy named Hoodoo. The entire town is at risk from the Stranger’s black magic, and only Hoodoo can defeat him. He’ll just need to learn how to conjure first.
Reading age: 10-12 The setting of this book was incredible. In 1930s small town Alabama, the swamps and sweltering heat and eeriness poured out of this book from the start. I’m obsessed with the southern gothic, folksy horror vibes, the vivid storytelling, and black magic.
THE DOLLHOUSE by Charis Cotter
Alice’s world is falling apart. Her parents are getting a divorce, and they’ve cancelled their yearly cottage trip — the one thing that gets Alice through the school year. 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 . . .
When the dollhouse starts to change when Alice isn’t looking, she knows she has to solve the mystery. Who are the girls in the dollhouse? What happened to them? And what is their connection to the mean and mysterious woman who owns the house?
Reading age: 9-12 Gothic, sprawling mansions are an instant ‘yes’ from me and this one did not disappoint! I loved all the secrets and mystery, and the dollhouse in the attic was so creepy.
SCAREWAVES by Trevor Henderson

The small town of Beacon Point has always been plagued by eerie local phenomena. It’s a town where disappearances are common, strange creatures have been sighted with unnerving frequency, and a ghastly secret lurks in the woods. The adults in town are oblivious to these strange occurrences. Others prefer not to talk or even think about them. But over the course of several terrifying nights, a group of kids will come face to face with the horrors hiding within their sleepy town. Guided by the mysterious radio host Alan Graves, they must follow the clues to a terrifying secret before it eats them alive.
Reading age: 9-12 Such a cool book, jam-packed with nightmares! Loved the creepylicious small-town vibes. Some of the scenes are terrifically terrifying and the illustrations are unbelievable. Will be forever haunted by the deer. LOVED.
FIELD OF SCREAMS by Wendy Parris
Paranormal enthusiast Rebecca Graff isn’t happy about being dragged to Iowa to spend the summer with family she barely knows. But when she tracks a ghostly presence to an abandoned farmhouse, she starts to think the summer won’t be a total lost cause!

The trouble is no one believes her. Then Rebecca finds a note stashed in a comic belonging to her late father—a note that proves the same spirit haunted him when he was twelve. Suddenly she feels a connection to the dad she pretends not to miss, and she is determined to uncover the story behind the haunting.
But the more Rebecca discovers, the scarier the ghost becomes. Soon she is in a race to piece together the puzzle and recover a family legacy before it is lost forever and a horrible tragedy repeats itself.
Reading age: 8-12 I adored this spooky summer small town horror! It’s packed full of horror and heartache. I loved piecing together the mystery among some genuinely chilling scenes.


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