So my 10-year-old son loves the five nights at Freddys bendy and the ink machine books. He’s 10 but has reading and comprehension of a 13-year-old so he doesn’t necessarily need super basic children’s books. You can read chapter books just fine. And the suggestion of something similar to the five nights at Freddy’s series?
by MoeHamster
23 Comments
Has he tried any of the Goosebumps books?
Skeleton Man by Joseph Brusac! My first stint into thriller as a kid!!! Still love that book.
Or Coraline!! 🙂 I read it in middle school and loved it.
If you haven’t yet, ask over on /r/horrorlit as well. They’re kind of the experts in the genre and they’ll likely be able to provide lots of suggestions.
Coraline
Although it’s a kid’s fantasy adventure series rather than horror, Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain is plenty scary at the kid level. It has a Horned King, Cauldron Born (undead warriors) and a Land/Lord of the Dead.
It might be a little advanced for a 13-year-old, but try *Ready Player One.*
https://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/reading-and-viewing/book-lists/horror-books-middle-grade-and-ya-readers
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. It’s often used for GCSE so should be suitable given reading age.
Coralline! Oh also I think he’ll love the demonata series too!
Stephen King books are great at that age!!!
The mortal instrument series is a good one I read as a freshman in highschool, decent length and compelling characters
Get him into RL Stein! They have a lot of great age appropriate horror.
Neil Shushterman is another great author for that age range
There are a bunch of great horror and sci-fi books and short stories by Bruce Coville that I loved around that age – check them out!
Darren Shan? His vampire saga isn’t really horror but his demonata series is quite scary
Maybe check one out yourself first though. They are aimed for kids but I’m not sure if 10 is a bit younger than the average reader of them
Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman. I remember they had codes in them to videos mentioned by the characters that can still be found online. Made they more interactive and I remember the videos being creepy to me as a child
There’s a short story series called Yhe Midnight Library by Damien Graves I read around that age and didn’t have good endings like a bunch of other kids horror books end with
Rot and Ruin series
The screaming staircase by Jonathan Stroud.
At his age, I LOVED anything by Christopher Pike.
Neil Gaiman! A lot of his stuff has elements of horror, but nothing that will give you nightmares. Might be fun for a family book club as gaiman has appeal for all ages imo
Clive Barker’s ‘Books of Blood’ is a collection I recommend for its groundbreaking range of horror stories. Barker’s imagination knows no bounds, and this compilation showcases his ability to terrify and fascinate with tales that are both visceral and evocative.
Anne Rice’s ‘Interview with the Vampire’ is a book I suggest for its richly detailed world and the philosophical musings of its immortal characters. The novel redefined vampire lore and presents a horror story that is as much about the loneliness of immortality as it is about the thirst for blood.
frank peretti is pretty creepy i read him at that age hang on ill find the one i remember, [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19747756-house?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=aVflMLcQZd&rank=6](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19747756-house?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=aVflMLcQZd&rank=6) granted they are labeled christian fiction so i figured they would be fine for a 13 year old and i remember listening to this on the radio once a week when i was a kid.
[https://middlegradereads.com/scary-middle-school-books-to-read/](https://middlegradereads.com/scary-middle-school-books-to-read/)
[https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/horror-books-for-kids-and-teens](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/horror-books-for-kids-and-teens)
these two websites should help you find good books.