19 Best Halloween Books for Middle Schoolers

If you want to know what Halloween is, or if you simply want a spooky adventure, take this mystery history trip.

The Night Gardener follows two abandoned Irish siblings, Molly and Kip, who travel to work as servants at a creepy, crumbling English manor house. But the house and its family are not quite what they seem. Soon the children are confronted by a mysterious spectre and an ancient curse that threatens their very lives.

This middle-grade book is all about Ollie an 11 year old orphan who discovers a chilling ghost story. It is an excellent, but spooky tale!

A new, beautifully laid-out, easy-to-read edition of Washington Irving's 1820 classic. This is a relatively short book, so could easily be read in a day by an avid reader.

Roald Dahl read about 750 supernatural tales at the British Museum Library before selecting the 14 that comprise this anthology. "Spookiness is, after all, the real purpose of the ghost story," Dahl writes. "It should give you the creeps and disturb your thoughts."

These are not written by Roald Dahl and are aimed at upper middle school and high school grades. We made the mistake of buying it in upper elementary and it has sat on the bookshelf until he is less scared!

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the Forest, Xan, is kind.

She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan rescues the children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.

It’s not easy being a teenage witch. Seventh grader Abby Shepherd is just getting the hang of it when weird stuff starts happening all around her hometown of Willow Cove.

Green slime bubbling to life in science class.

Giant snakes slithering around the middle school gym.

Her best friend suddenly keeping secrets and telling lies.

Bursting with blood, guts, history, and science, this book is a must-have for monster lovers of all ages

Could Dr. Frankenstein's machine ever animate a body? Why should vampires drink from veins and not arteries? What body parts are best for zombies to eat? (It's not brains.)

This fascinating encyclopedia of monsters delves into the history and science behind eight legendary creatures, from Bigfoot and the Kraken to zombies and more.

Pekin Dewlap hasn’t seen a ghost since she was twelve. But she’d do anything to get them back. Starting a ghostbusting business with her two best friends, Amber and Scout, seems like the perfect way to accomplish her goal.

The Raven: Tales and Poems is a landmark new anthology of Edgar Allan Poe’s work, which defied convention, shocked readers, and confounded critics. This selection of Poe’s writings demonstrates the astonishing power and imagination with which he probed the darkest corners of the human mind.

Filled with broken hearts and black ravens, Edgar Allan Poe’s ghastly tales have delighted readers for centuries. Born in Boston in 1809, Poe was orphaned at age two. He was soon adopted by a Virginia family who worked as tombstone merchants.

He is considered to be the inventor of detective fiction and the father of American mystery writers.

On a cold winter night, Iris and her best friend, Daniel, sneak into a clearing in the woods to play in the freshly fallen snow. There, Iris carefully makes a perfect snow angel―only to find the crumbling gravestone of a young girl, Avery Moore, right beneath her.

Immediately, strange things start to happen to Iris: She begins having vivid nightmares. She wakes up to find her bedroom window wide open, letting in the snow. She thinks she sees the shadow of a girl lurking in the woods. And she feels the pull of the abandoned grave, calling her back to the clearing...

An all time classic exploration of Halloween history, from the mysterious year-end rites of the ancient Celts to the autumnal reign of Samhain, the Druid god of death, to the coming to Europe of Christianity and "All Saints Day," to the charming early 20th Century Halloween beliefs and customs of Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, France, Germany, and America.

Filled with Halloween poems, games, and tried and true ancient methods for divining the future

Tracing as far back as the Stone Age, witches have fascinated us for centuries. But were they evil sorceresses determined to seek revenge, or suppressed feminists who were misunderstood?

Halloween has spread around the world, yet its associations with death and the supernatural as well as its inevitable commercialization have made it one of our most puzzling holidays. How did it become what it is today?

Every thirteen years in the town of Eden Eld, three thirteen-year-olds disappear.

Halloween was once a day of mischief, oracles, ghost stories and fires: author R.E. Kelly tells the history of Halloween from the perspective of the early 1900s United States.

This book is intended to give the reader an account of the origin and history of Hallowe'en, how it absorbed some customs belonging to other days in the year,—such as May Day, Midsummer, and Christmas.

This national geographic book is the least spooky of them all, but great for kids who don't like scary ghost stories!