Scary Stories For Adults

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths - for good and evil - of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies.

After the loss of her mother, Chloe Kennedy starts seeing the ghosts that haunted her as a young girl again. Spending time at her grandmother's country estate in the south of England is her chance to get away from her grief and the spirits that haunt her. Until she meets a mysterious stranger.... Alexander Reade is 157 years dead, with secrets darker than the lake surrounding Grange Hall and a lifelike presence that draws Chloe more strongly than any ghost before. But the bond between them awakens the vengeful spirit of Alexander's past love, Isobel.

Internationally best-selling author Justin Somper’s exciting Vampirates novels are eagerly anticipated for their swashbuckling adventure. The fifth exciting installment of the series finds the rebel Sidorio - the self-proclaimed King of the Vampirates - eager to expand his empire. But as the Pirate Federation and the Nocturnal Vampirates fight back, destroying rebel ships on sight, Grace and Connor Tempest find themselves drawn into the epicenter of this dangerous conflict.

It's Halloween night when strangers come to Linden Street...and something dear to Olive goes missing. To what lengths will she go to get it back? Can she trust the strangers? Will she turn to a new and dangerous magic within the paintings of Elsewhere? Or will she put her faith in her own worst enemies to save the people and home she loves? The stakes grow higher, the secrets more dangerous, and mystery and magic abound as Olive, the boys, and the cats uncover the true nature of the house on Linden Street.

When Veronica and her friend, Kirk, decide to investigate why, they stumble upon a more sinister plot than they ever could have imagined. One of Veronica’s high school teachers is crippled by the fact that his dead daughter has never returned as a ghost, and he’s haunted by the possibility that she’s waiting to reappear within a fresh body. Veronica seems like the perfect host. And even if he’s wrong, what’s the harm in creating one more ghost?

In the role of death escort, a Fetch is not supposed to step from Heaven back to Earth. A Fetch is not supposed to fall hopelessly in love with a mortal either. But Calder is a Fetch like no other. And when his actions land him amid the clash and clang of the Russian Revolution, he sets off a chain of events with dire consequences for both the living and the dead.

Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby is a teenage grim reaper with the bizarre ability to Damn souls. That makes her pretty scary, even to fellow Grims. But after inadvertently transferring her ability to Zara, a murderous outlaw, Lex is a pariah in Croak, the little town she calls home. To escape the townspeople’s wrath, she and her friends embark on a wild road trip to DeMyse. Though this sparkling desert oasis is full of luxuries and amusements, it feels like a prison to Lex.

After six months in the quarantine, Remy finds out things are much worse than she feared. Her plans to escape come with a heavy cost, and she realizes that zombies aren't the worst of her problems. This is a young adult novel with language, violence, and sexual situations. Not recommended for readers under the age of 17.

Johanna Wise longed to be a part of the rich popular clique at Shadyside High School. When Dennis Arthur, the star of the track team and one of the most popular guys in school, asks Johanna out it is a dream come true. They seem to have so much in common as they joke about school and creative ways to get rid of their least favorite teacher, Mr. Northwood. When Dennis dares her to actually kill Mr. Northwood Johanna jokingly says yes. The problem is that the entire school is taking her seriously - including Dennis.

Time is running out for the star crossed lovers, the teenagers thrown together by fate who were supposed to be trying to kill each other. The undead infection is spreading in Scarlet, slowly worming its way through her body. As they race across the wastelands to the last outpost with advanced medical facilities, their fathers go to war. The cult begins its advance on the free states headquarters and Casey's ruthless cannibals are gathering their forces for their own attack. No one gets to sit this one out. Everyone fights.

New York Times best-selling authors Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs team up to co-author this thrilling first book in a darkly suspenseful middle grade series. Everyone in Timbers knows Still Cove is off-limits, with its creepy Beast sightings and equally terrifying legends. But when a bullying incident sends 12-year-old Nico Holland over a cliff and into Still Cove's icy waters, friends Tyler and Emma - and even Opal Walsh, who usually runs with the popular kids - rush to his rescue...and discover a mysterious island hiding in the murky, swirling mists below.

For Rebecca Chin, babysitting has always been fun. But one night, a thunderstorm knocks the power out while she’s watching baby Kyle, and creepy things begin to happen in the house. A locked window opens by itself, mossy handprints streak the wall, and the baby begins acting strange. When she finds out that no one else in town was affected by the storm, Rebecca begins to wonder if something supernatural is going on. Fellow sitters Tanya, Clio, and Maggie help Rebecca unravel the mystery, only to discover something unbelievable.

Fans of Adam Gidwitz and Neil Gaiman will love this middle-grade adventure about two boys, a mysterious, old book with some dark secrets, and a horde of angry demons. Nothing could go wrong, right? When Walter Prairie is struck dead by a bolt of lightning, he's fast-tracked through the Afterlife Academy and assigned as a Guardian Agent to protect a High-Level Target. Walter's HLT, Charlie Dewdle, isn't the most popular kid in school. He's a bit paranormally obsessed. And he has just found an old book that could be used to open the Gateway for demons to wreak havoc on earth.

It's hard to fit in when your nightmares open portals to the Netherworld, where horrible creatures live: like the class 3 Netherstalker that invaded a sleepover and tried to eat the other children. Luckily there's a place for Charlie: the Nightmare Academy. Built from wrecked ships set in the branches of the world's most incredible tree fort, the Academy trains people to use their unique gifts to fight the monsters that rush in when the lights go out.

There's a new boy at Shadyside High School, and he's stolen the hearts of all the girls. Good-looking, athletic Ross Gabriel is the kind of guy that every girl wants to date - including best friends Janie, Eve, and Faith. They've even made a bet on which one of them he'll go out with first. Ross dates a lot of girls - and one by one, they're all murdered. It looks like going out with Ross means flirting with a gruesome and horrifying fate.

Martin Conway comes from a family filled with heroes and disgraces. His grandfather was a statesman who worked at the US Embassy in London during WWII. His father is an alcoholic who left his family. His sister is an overachieving Ivy League graduate. And Martin? Martin is stuck in between—floundering. But during the summer after 7th grade, Martin meets a boy who will change his life forever. Jimmy Harker appears one night with a deceptively simple question: Will you help?

In this intricate, magnificently imagined sequel to Blue Balliett's international best seller, Chasing Vermeer, supersleuths Petra and Calder, along with Calder's old friend, Tommy, are cryptically drawn into another art mystery, this time involving a Frank Lloyd Wright architectural masterpiece, the Robie House.

Every October, Cara and her family become inexplicably and unavoidably accident prone. Some years it's bad, like the season when her father died, and some years it's just a lot of cuts and scrapes. This accident season - when Cara; her ex-stepbrother, Sam; and her best friend, Bea, are 17 - is going to be a bad one. But not for the reasons they think.

Denise Farber has just moved back to New Orleans with her mom and stepdad. They left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and have finally returned, wagering the last of their family's money on fixing up an old, rundown house and converting it to a bed and breakfast. Nothing seems to work around the place, which doesn't seem too weird to Denise. The unexplained noises are a little more out of the ordinary, but again, nothing too unusual. But when floors collapse, deadly objects rain down, and she hears creepy voices, it's clear to Denise that something more sinister lurks hidden here.

When Miranda Barnes first sees the sleepy town of St. Yvette, Louisiana, with its moss-draped trees, above-ground cemeteries, and her grandfather’s creepy historic home, she realizes that life as she knew it is officially over. Almost immediately, there seems to be something cloying at her. Something lonely and sad and...very pressing. Even at school and in the group project she’s been thrown into, she can’t escape it. Whispers when she’s alone, shadows when no one is there to make them, and a distant pleading voice that wakes her from sleep.