Scary Fantasy

Devin and his sister Violet are visiting their Uncle Jack in an old house by the seashore. Jack was a sailor and he has collected strange and fascinating items from the sea. Exploring a back room, Devin and Violet discover a locked trunk. A pirate's chest. They manage to get it open - and see that it's filled with antique jack-in-the-boxes. Huh? Up pops a very ugly, mean-looking puppet, an old pirate with a dirty red bandana over his long greasy hair. "Thanks for letting Sailor Jack out!" he rasps. Will Jack return them to their uncle? Just how much is a pirate's promise worth?

In the Clandoms, every person is born with wings, along with the ability to fly. But there has always been one deadly restriction to this gift—a rule that must never be broken. Flying in cloudy skies summons gargols, vicious stone monsters that will tear any poor trespassers apart. History doesn't tell where the gargols came from, or why they're so intent on punishing those who soar too high. But now Ellie Meadows thinks she knows why. An aspiring knight turned wanted fugitive, Ellie has seen the truth with her own eyes.

Fed up with her wild behavior, 16-year-old Lex’s parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort’s true occupation is much dirtier than shoveling manure. He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach Lex the family business. She quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next.

A host of the smartest young adult authors come together in this collection of scary stories and psychological thrillers curated by Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea's April Genevieve Tucholke. Each story draws from a classic tale or two - sometimes of the horror genre, sometimes not - to inspire something new and fresh and terrifying. There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat.

Zed, Brock, and their friends may have saved Freestone from destruction, but the fight against the Dangers is far from over. No one knows what to expect next from the dark power that forced the elves to abandon their city. And the influx of elf refugees in Freestone strains resources and brews resentment among the townspeople. Things have shifted between best friends Zed and Brock, as well, with their friendship crumbling under the weight of the secrets they're keeping from each other.

Thirteen-year-old Anna Ballinkay has never been normal. Her family uses their psychic abilities to help run the Ravenfall Inn, a magical B&B between the human world and the Otherworld. But it’s hard to contribute when your only power is foreseeing death. So when fourteen-year-old Colin Pierce arrives at Ravenfall searching for his missing older brother, Anna jumps at the chance to help. But the mysteries tied to Colin go much deeper than either of them expects...

When middle schooler Kelly Ferguson’s Halloween plans switch from party-going to babysitting, she thinks the scariest part of her night will be the death of her social life. But then Baby Jacob gets kidnapped by the Boogeyman’s minions and Kelly learns there’s a whole lot more to childcare than free snacks and Netflix. Like chasing shadow monsters, drop-kicking Toadies, and mastering monster-fighting moves like the Naptime Headlock and Playground Punch. With the help of an ancient handbook and a secret society of butt-kicking babysitters, Kelly sets out to destroy the Boogeyman.

Fifteen-year-old Benny Imura lives in a world infested with zombies where, when a kid turns 15, he must get a job to continue receiving food rations. Benny has no interest in the family business of zombie killing, but figures he doesn’t have much of a choice. He’s tried out a bunch of other jobs, and hasn’t found anything he likes. But as Benny starts training with his brother, he learns things about being human that he never expected.

In Gustav Gloom and the Nightmare Vault, Fernie and Gustav find themselves battling another shadowy foe - The Shadow Eater. He is after one thing, The Nightmare Vault, which his master, the evil Lord Obsidian, will use to unleash the most terrifying and threatening shadows into the world. As Fernie and Gustav race to stop the Shadow Eater, Fernie learns about Gustav's mysterious past and just what happened to his missing parents.

Brett and Tom are crazy about video games. In fact, they became best friends when they discovered that they could beat all their opponents. Now they’re ready to take on the best one of all—Rodomonte’s Revenge—a new virtual reality game that just opened in the mall. Fire rivers, enormous buzz-bugs, impossible cliffs, and a treasure-filled castle are all exciting parts of the skill levels. But when the game begins to take over Brett and Tom’s minds, they fear that they might become a permanent part of the action.

Twelve year-old Serenity Noah has never told anyone about her recurring nightmares -- the haunting images of silver butterflies whose flapping wings drive away all sound, leaving only suffocating silence in their wake. Her parents already favor her "perfect" younger brother, Peace, and she doesn't want to be seen as the "problem" child. Instead, Serenity's found a productive way to channel her fears: creating a horror movie as scary as her nightmares. When Peace suddenly becomes afraid of the dark and refuses to sleep alone, their parents take him away for "treatment" on Duppy Island.

Having grown up watching her dad tend their lawn, Lisa has always wondered: Where does the poison in weed killer go after the weeds die? When Lisa has a dream one night about a monster that lives below their yard, she doesn't think anything of it - until she goes outside sees a grass goblin and plants with teeth and horrible, gleaming eyes. Is Lisa doomed forever or will she stop the yard madness?

Our greatest fears are brought to life in this collection of spine-chilling tales. An ordinary round of the Lava Game turns terrifying. An old lodge for loggers is haunted by a miserable ghost. A boy thinks he's home alone until he finds evidence someone else is there with him.

Siblings Kareem and Amina are dreading a night with their neighbor and babysitter Old Mrs. Heeley. The only good thing is, she always brings cupcakes. But when they go to get a tasty treat, Kareem and Amina find that the cupcakes seem to be devouring one another. Will Kareem and Amina be able to stop the madness before the zombie cupcakes take over?

A strange, silent girl who only appears in phone pictures. A school prank with a Christmas elf that goes terribly wrong. A piece of chalk that draws frighteningly fast. A boy's bone-tingling encounter with the world's most awesome toothpaste!

In this collection of spine-chilling tales, a doll comes to life and haunts a little girl, a young writer only has one hundred words to let others know about an approaching danger, and a boy is trapped in an underground bunker with spooky people who have been missing for years and years.

One night, when Ethan reaches under his bed for a toy truck, he finds this note instead: “Monsters! Meet here for final test.” Ethan is sure his parents are trying to trick him into staying in bed...until he sees five colorful sets of eyes blinking at him from under the bed. Soon, a colorful parade of quirky, squeaky little monsters emerge from beneath the bed and compete to become Ethan's monster. But only the little green monster, Gabe, has the perfect blend of stomach-rumbling and snorting needed to get Ethan into bed and keep him there.

A game of tag turns monstrous one night in the forested village of Pine Bluff, where kids who are "it" for too long transform into something terrifying. When little Mateo goes missing after being "it," the kids begin to worry who the next victim will be—only to discover that the truth may be scarier than they thought! Follow along with Mateo and others in this collection of scary stories.

Jodie loves visiting her grandparents' farm. Okay, so it's not the most exciting place in the world. Still, Grandpa tells great scary stories. And Grandma's chocolate chip cookies are the best. But this summer the farm has really changed. The cornfields are sparse. Grandma and Grandpa seem worn out. And the single scarecrow has been replaced by twelve evil-looking ones. Then one night Jodie sees something really odd. The scarecrows seem to be moving. Twitching on their stakes. Coming alive...

Trevor thought his zombie-busting days were over. Then his new teacher turned the gym class into radio-controlled jocks! Can Trevor save his zombified classmates from this muscle-bound madman?