These are series of ghost stories, horror, or the supernatural. The things I have here are generally pretty tame (that’s my style), but I include warnings about things that people might find disturbing. One of the things I keep in mind with my descriptions is that, while some people read them for nostalgia, reminding them about books they read years ago, and others might be looking for information to help them decide whether they should read this book now or not.
If you find the supernatural disturbing or don’t like stories about real ghosts, you could check out the page of Pseudo-Ghost Stories, where you’ll find some stories that include fake ghosts, often sort of Scooby-Doo style mysteries. They’re slightly spooky and atmospheric, good reading for Halloween, but you can feel reassured that the scary stuff doesn’t turn out to be real (at worst, they leave you with a bit of a question of whether anything supernatural is real or not).
The series listed here are about “real” ghosts (real in the context of the story) and are meant to be frightening. So, if you’re looking for a bit of a scare or are trying to remember just that one ghost story you read years ago, you’ve come to the right place!
As always, this site is a work in progress, so more will be added here. To see scary/ghost stories that are not part of any series, check out the complete listing of books on this site, organized by decade, under Books By Decade.
The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids
The third grade class at Bailey Elementary keeps encountering strange adults who may actually be mythological or supernatural creatures. 1990-2007.
Blossom Culp and her friend Alexander are both psychic and have supernatural adventures in their small town during the early 1900s. By Richard Peck.
Goosebumps Books
Popular scary stories series from the 1990s, featuring ghosts and monsters of various kinds. Some individual books connect to each other, but many don’t. Creepy with some frightening twist endings, but nothing graphically violent. By R. L. Stine.
The original Goosebumps series had 62 books, but because with the added spin-off series, the full series is over 200 books long, and it was so popular that it’s been described on many other sites, I’m not going to cover it here, at least not yet. I might change my mind if it seems like it needs more attention later, but right now, I think others have covered it better than I could. The Goosebumps series also inspired a television series and a movie.
Kathy is a twelve-year-old girl who can see ghosts and sometimes gets visions through the drawings she makes. By Norma Lehr.
Short Story Collections
A series of books of scary stories for children, best known for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. 1981-1991.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 