The season of ghosts and ghouls is upon us and people everywhere are excited to be scared out of their socks. Young readers are no exception. To understand the role that scary stories play in the lives of children I turned to a group infinitely qualified to talk about it—Spooky Middle Grade Authors.
By PJ Gardner
What do you think young readers gain from reading spooky/scary stories?
I think reading scary stories helps kids see how brave they really are. They get to be the hero while staying safe. They get to test themselves. Plus, it's just fun! Books read with a flashlight under the covers give kids good memories of their reading lives. - Sarah Allen
Spooky books show kids that they can handle scary things in real life. But also? Scary books can be fun! To me, the appeal of reading spooky books is similar to the appeal of riding roller coasters. You feel a little scared, but in a good way.– Laura Lavoie
We all need a space for our fears. If we don’t create a safe space in fiction, those fears bounce around inside us like ping pong balls. By not being fully resolved, they can hold us back—and potentially have us create or perpetuate legacies of harm. We carry them with us. Books give readers a safe space to address those feelings, and hopefully deal with them in a healthy way so that they can move forward. – Meg Eden Kuyatt
Spooky stories are fun! And as such, they can be a great way to approach some less fun topics. ROUGAROU MAGIC is about moving to a new place where you don't fit in. That's no fun. But add in a scary-at-first, lovable-in-the-end, swamp creature from Cajun folklore, and young readers are way more likely to pick up the book and turn the page. – Rachel M. Marsh
It's fun to experience something scary in a safe environment, and it can be empowering to see a character that you relate to model strength and bravery. – Rochelle Hassan
Kids need to be able to feel scared while also feeling completely safe as a way to learn how to process and manage those feelings. Spooky books allow kids to venture slowly into the adult world and return to childhood. And kids think being mildly frightened is fun, as it serves a cathartic release of adrenaline. – Janet Fox
When young readers read scary stories, they can practice using their fear responses in a safe environment. Spooky books can help young people learn to be brave. – Laura Parnum
They get to be scared in the safety of their own home. Unless they decide to read in their local cemetery or the coroner’s office. Kudos to them if they’re that brave. – Rob Renzetti
Reading scary books is the same kind of fun as trick-or-treating. You're out after dark, breaking the rules demanding candy from strangers. The world looks different. People aren't themselves. Anything can be lurking in the shadows...It's exploring fear and independence in a safe way. The same is true for reading scary books. Kids can face monsters and make it out the other side, all without adults. So much of kids' lives are dictated by parents or teachers, but MG books, especially scary books, give them the freedom to imagine themselves out in the world, making the choices and being the hero all while exploring that terror in safety. – Darcy Marks
What’s a book that spooked you out when you were a kid?
As a kid, I was SO spooked by a Nancy Drew mystery called THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE. Not only did the villain, Nathan Gombet, sneak into his elderly neighbors' home via secret passage to "haunt" them, but he also kidnapped Nancy's dad! I was terrified, and I spent years checking for Nathan around every dark corner. – Rachel M. Marsh
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The illustrations were so incredibly unsettling, and many of the stories made me viscerally uncomfortable, and yet I kept rereading them. – Rochelle Hassan
I was an Agatha Christie fan from about 12. I snuck the books off the bookshelf one summer at a rental house – and hid them from my parents while I love every minute of being mildly creeped out. – Janet Fox
I didn't read too many spooky books, but my father introduced me to horror movies at a very young age. He took my sister and me to see one of the Abbott and Costello monster movies when I was about four years old, and it scared us so much he had to take us out of the theater. One of my earliest favorite books was The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree. I absolutely loved this book and had it memorized so that I could "read" it on my own before I could read. – Laura Parnum
A collection of short stories by Edgar Allen Poe. Those tales left a permanent mark on my psyche. – Rob Renzetti
In fairness I read far too much adult horror as a kid, which is why I love that kids have options now. There are some amazing horror books for kids now, ones that still give me the chills even as an adult! So, instead of giving you an adult book that scared me as a kid I 'll give you a recent MG book that scared me as an adult: Mine by Delilah Dawson. Possessive ghost, waking up in algae filled pools...ugh. *shudder* - Darcy Marks
I didn’t read horror as a kid, but my mom had this picture book that haunted me—Kit William’s Masquerade. There’s a spread with bugs coming out of this woman’s mouth, and I still wonder: why??? – Meg Eden Kuyatt
Stay Out of the Basement, the first Goosebumps book by R.L. Stine. It was creepy but not too creepy. Exactly the kind of scary-fun that I like. – Laura Lavoie
What are the challenges of writing spooky MG?
Adults are a challenge. Kids LOVE horror. Look at the success of Five Nights at Freddy's! And yet, adults constantly think it's not appropriate or want to sanitize children's books, especially when those books deal with real life. And let's be real, horror, even when it deals with vampires and possessed animatronics, deals with real life issues. But kids can handle tough stuff and scary books are not only a ton of fun, but help them know they can face their own monsters! Horror makes kids brave! – Darcy Marks
The hardest part might be calibrating the scares for middle graders. Luckily, I have my editor to tell me if I’ve gone too far. But she usually tells me to push it further! – Rob Renzetti
Sometimes it can be hard to find the exact right level of spooky, especially for the grownups. (Young readers are almost always braver than I am!) For ROUGAROU MAGIC, I got a lot of feedback from my agent and editor to make the early chapters scarier, but then my editor also had me change the rougarou's eyes from red to yellow because red eyes were too scary. – Rachel M. Marsh
One of the challenges that's always in the back of my mind is how to balance darker content with moments of levity without breaking the tension too much. In MG especially, a little humor can do a lot to help younger readers connect with the story. – Rochelle Hassan
To find the right balance of a great story – all the elements from character to plot to world – while also making it spooky. This is one reason I love spooky mysteries. Those books also tease the reader with clues and puzzles while also having the ability to harbor more supernatural spooky elements. – Janet Fox
I think every author will have their own challenges. For me, I think I'm guilty of making my spooky stories not spooky enough! I have trouble putting these characters I've created into real danger because I'm protective of them. I need to remember that I can put them into more creepy or perilous situations because I have the power to get them out of those situations as well! – Laura Parnum
I think it’s the same as writing any book—it’s no easy feat to write an entire novel! But right now the middle grade market is particularly difficult, and there are a lot of spooky books out there, so writing one that stands out can be tough. – Laura Lavoie
How subjective spookiness is! For THE GIRL IN THE WALLS, my agent insisted the whole time it wasn’t horror. But then other people said it was too scary. – Meg Eden Kuyatt
Honestly, to me lately the challenge is to stand out. Monsters and spooky stories have a long and rich history, and the (fun) challenge is to make your monsters and your scares stand out from the rest. - Sarah Allen
What advice would you give to anyone who wants to write spooky MG?
For writing MG in general, I encourage folks to mine their own fears, insecurities and “knots.” When I write, I ask myself: what am I struggling with right now? What do I need to hear? For spooky MG, I think it’s great to take those fears and struggles and play with the body those can take. Writing head-on about painful things isn’t fun, but how can we use spooky fiction to, in the words of Emily Dickinson, “tell it slant” and create an entrance into the difficult? For MG, how can we take that difficult thing but still end in something lovely? – Meg Eden Kuyatt
My advice is to play! To dig deep into your own self and figure out what you find most spooky, and most fun. Certain scary stories and certain monsters mean something special to you: why? Dig into that from a fun aesthetic standpoint and from a psychological standpoint too. That will help your spooky stories have the heart only you can give it. Ya know, after you've cut it, beating, from your own chest, etc, etc. - Sarah Allen
Talk to any kid who loves spooky stories and find out what they like best. Hunt the bookshelves for today’s popular stories to see how they work. Emulate the best writers but bring something original to the table. – Janet Fox
Read lots of current spooky middle grade books. These books have deeper themes that are in keeping with the developmental stages of this age group and aren't just about scares for scare sake. – Laura Parnum
Read, watch, and listen to all the spooky, scary stuff you can get your hands on. Loving the genre is a prerequisite to writing the genre. – Rob Renzetti
First off, this advice is pretty universal for anyone writing: You need to read recently published books for kids (lots of them), not rely on what you remember from your own childhood. Those, I hate to tell you, are vintage, and may not reflect the life kids are living right now. With writing spooky MG I will say to focus on what scares you, because if it does (or did when you were a kid) it will scare someone else. – Darcy Marks
Read a lot of spooky MG so you can see what’s been done and what scare factor is appropriate for your target age group. Then try to come up with a concept that either feels fresh or is a fresh twist on a classic horror trope. – Laura Lavoie
Go for it! Read other spooky middle grade books for inspiration. Find other spooky middle grade writers and form a workshop or critique group. Publishing can be a hard industry, but it's easier when what you're writing is a lot of fun. – Rachel M. Marsh
Think about the things that scared you when you were a kid. Not just the Halloween monsters, but real things—things that maybe still scare a lot of adults, like losing your loved ones or being alone. I think the most effective spooky MG novels use the fantastical and supernatural elements of the story to explore situations or feelings that kids might experience in real life. The Nest by Kenneth Oppel is a great example of this. – Rochelle Hassan
Now let’s find out what scares these authors
SARAH ALLEN
Which is scarier:
o A vampire or a werewolf: Werewolf. Vampires seem at least somewhat rational, sometimes, on occasion.
o A Zombie or a ghost: Zombie, definitely. Ghosts are sweet.
o A giant spider or a giant mantis: Giant spider!
o A Xenomorph or a Predator: Physically, Xenomorph. Every other way, Predator.
o Big Foot or el Chupacabra: Definitely Chupacabra. Big Foots are sweet and friend shaped.
JANET FOX
Which is scarier:
o A vampire or a werewolf werewolf
o A Zombie or a ghost zombie (ugh!!)
o A giant spider or a giant mantis spider, for sure
o A Xenomorph or a Predator Predator
o Big Foot or el Chupacabra Chupacabra
ROCHELLE HASSAN
Which is scarier:
· A vampire or a werewolf: Werewolf. I like to think I could reason with a vampire, or maybe come to a mutually beneficial arrangement where I would surrender a non-lethal amount of blood and in exchange be allowed to live, preferably in the vampire's giant gothic mansion. I don't think most werewolves have mansions.
· A Zombie or a ghost: Ghost. I could theoretically run from a zombie, and usually there's a way to kill them. A ghostly possession sounds harder to fend off and the success rate of movie exorcisms feels low.
· A giant spider or a giant mantis: Both. *shudders*
· A Xenomorph or a Predator: Okay this is a huge gap in my pop culture knowledge so I had to do some googling here, and after approximately three minutes of research I've come to the conclusion that Xenomorphs are scarier. Anything that can use a human host as an incubator for its spawn is automatically the scariest monster in the room.
· Big Foot or el Chupacabra: Chupacabra. Big Foot minds his own business.
MEG EDEN KUYATT
Which is scarier:
A vampire or a werewolf
A Zombie or a ghost
A giant spider or a giant mantis
A Xenomorph or a Predator
Big Foot or el Chupacabra
LAURA LAVOIE
Which is scarier:
- A vampire or a werewolf- vampire
- A Zombie or a ghost- zombie
- A giant spider or a giant mantis- giant spider
- A Xenomorph or a Predator- I’m not familiar with a Xenomorph (can I admit that?), but a predator is definitely scary!
- Big Foot or el Chupacabra- el chupacabra
DARCY MARKS
Which scarier:
o A vampire or a werewolf
§ Werewolf, because vampires are awesome.
o A zombie or a ghost
§ Zombie! There is no winning a zombie apocalypse.
o A giant spider or a giant mantis
§ This is tough because spiders are terrifying but a giant mantis will eat your head like candy. Mantis.
o A Xenomorph or a Predator
§ Predator! There's a reason we're afraid of what's lurking where we can't see.
o Big foot or el Chupacabra
§ El chupacabra! It's like a dog with mange, which is very scary. Also, I saw Harry and the Henderson's as a kid so I can't ever be afraid of Big Foot.
RACHEL M. MARSH
Rachel's website
Which is scarier:
· A vampire or a werewolf – werewolf
· A Zombie or a ghost – zombie
· A giant spider or a giant mantis - giant spider
· A Xenomorph or a Predator - I don't know what either of these are. . . and I'm running away before I find out!
· Big Foot or el Chupacabra – Chupacabra
LAURA PARNUM
Which is scarier:
·
A vampire or a
werewolf - A werewolf; you can possibly reason with a vampire.
·
A Zombie or a ghost -
A zombie; while ghosts can bring about that atmospheric terror, a zombie will
bite you, and then there's no turning back from the inevitable.
·
A giant spider or a
giant mantis - A close one, but I'll go with the mantis—those front legs! (shudder)
·
A Xenomorph or a
Predator - Xenomorph—acid for blood, head hugger, chest burster, double jaws,
and lacking the ability to reason.
·
Big Foot or el
Chupacabra - Bigfoot, but only because I was convinced Bigfoot lived in the
closet at the end of my second floor hallway when I was a kid.
ROB RENZETTI
Rob's website
Which is scarier:
- A vampire or a werewolf – Vampire. A thinking monster is worse than an instinctual monster.
- A Zombie or a ghost – Zombie. You can see them, and they smell worse.
- A giant spider or a giant mantis – Mantis. Yuck!
- A Xenomorph or a Predator – Xenomorph. All those teeth within teeth within teeth.
- Big Foot or el Chupacabra – Neither. They both seem more like unusual pets than monsters.
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