Horror stories for young children

March 18, 2025 11:07 AM

I'm looking for spooky and/or scary story books for a six year old.

I have a 6 year old who was just diagnosed with dyslexia. She probably has ADHD too. She's never been very interested in books. She often can't pay attention through a whole book. She doesn't get enjoyment from hearing rhymes or alliteration (that's a dyslexia thing). I need to find some books that will excite her. It's really important right now that she begin to see reading as something fun and desirable.

One example I can think of is The Snow Queen. I remember how my eldest daughter loved that book; you could tell how she was just glued to it because of how mysterious and dangerous the idea of an attractive evil queen and a lured child is. The only reason I haven't tried it yet with my 6 year old is that the language is too advanced.

Anything creepy/scary will do. So please recommend more! They don't need to be as sophisticated and 'literary' as The Snow Queen. It's ok if you can think of a story/tale but not a specific publication; I can do the legwork there. Please note: she's not ready to listen to books without pictures yet.

posted by kitcat to Grab Bag (21 answers total)

Maybe the Goosebumps series of books? My kid loved them.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:24 AM on March 18 [2 favorites]

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series.

Disney books.
Goosebumps.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:29 AM on March 18 [3 favorites]

The Haunted Library series. There are not a ton of pictures, though.
posted by sacrifix at 11:56 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]

My son, now 37, loved The Ghost Eye Treeand remembers it well.
posted by theora55 at 12:06 PM on March 18 [2 favorites]

My kid now 12, would when he was younger essentially refuse to be read to unless it was spooky or scary stories. He ate up the Eerie Elementary series at that age. He also liked, but not as much, Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol.

The "Halloween" versions of any little kids' establishment series like Berenstain Bears, was good.

FWIW, he also ADORED kid versions of Greek myths. I think because of all the monsters and magical powers. Depending on what yours likes about spooky books, that may be hit or miss.

I'll take a peek at our old books and see if anything else pops up.
posted by fennario at 12:09 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]

Oh and the "From the Black Lagoon" series. There are oodles of them.
posted by fennario at 12:15 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]

Sorry to repeatedly post, but also, "In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories".
posted by fennario at 12:17 PM on March 18 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Now I've thought of one myself - anyone remember a picture book about a creepy elementary teacher? I think she had black curly hair and exaggerated red lipstick? I would have read this in the 80's.
posted by kitcat at 12:28 PM on March 18

Dog Man isn't billed as horror per se, but the entire plot hinges on sewing a dog's head onto a braindead man's body, so I say it counts. These graphic novels have an absolute chokehold on my 6 year-old (and pretty much every other kid, apparently, given their popularity). The author has talked a lot about his ADHD and how it influences his writing, so it might worth checking out to see if it speaks to your kid.
posted by MeadowlarkMaude at 12:35 PM on March 18 [4 favorites]

I think the Fairytales illustrated by Sybille Schenker might work. The books are gorgeous and creepy, but this assumes you're looking for something to read to your 6 year old.

The other story that jumped to mind was the "baby" stories from Priscilla Howe (you can listen at the bottom of the page, we listened to the Chickens! CD so many times... Sadly they are only audio...

I also recall Otis and the Tornado by Loren Long feeling pretty intense.
posted by skunk pig at 12:38 PM on March 18

Response by poster: I found what I was looking for - it's Miss Nelson Is Missing! and other books in the series.
posted by kitcat at 12:41 PM on March 18

Wanda Gag's version of Grimm's fairy tales
posted by brujita at 4:09 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]

Jon Klassen's The Skull has been a huge spooky hit with every kid I've shared it with.
posted by Bambiraptor at 4:25 PM on March 18 [3 favorites]

Your mention of the Miss Nelson series from the 80s reminded me of reading Bony-Legs by Joanna Cole, a picture book retelling of Baba Yaga.
posted by sigmagalator at 6:46 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]

I found Sideways Stories from Wayside School pretty eerie as a kid, although I think it was supposed to be humorous. It had stories like a suspicious kid who shows up to school wearing layers and layers of raincoats and after he was made to take them all off, "all that was left was a dead rat"
posted by space snail at 7:55 PM on March 18 [3 favorites]

Eerie Tales from the School of Screams by Graham Annable is both scary and funny, and he's done some very witty early comic book stories about two sloths going on adventures too.

Elephant and Piggie series books or Cece Bell's are great early reader options. Or more James Marshall (the Miss Nelson series)

Graphic novels are absolutely beloved for a reason - check out your library's selection:
Casey's Cases by Kay Healy
Detective Beans by Li Chen
Dog Man

Betsy Bird posts reviews of great funny books for kids (fuse 8 column at school library journal), esp the kind of sharp funny that Miss Nelson was. And there are many varieties in picture books, early reader, illustrated chapter books (Harriet the Invincible series by Ursula Vernon, aka T. Kingfisher)

I bet your local library has a kids book librarian who knows this kind of challenge and is amped to concierge suggest some options for you - they are on TOP of this.
posted by Geameade at 8:44 PM on March 18

One that hasn't been mentioned yet that my 6yo granddaughter enjoys is the Desmond Cole, Ghost Patrol series by Andres Miedoso.
posted by stormyteal at 8:56 PM on March 18

How about Shel Silverstein? Plenty of his poems are creepy and come with good illustrations.
posted by LittleLadybug at 10:44 PM on March 18

And here’s an intriguing booklist from a librarian Scary Stories for K-3

Some kids’nonfiction about monsters and supernatural creatures could be good, like books about El Cucuy, werewolves, ghouls, etc. Like this series Ghouls, etc.
posted by LittleLadybug at 11:06 PM on March 18

The Monster at the End of This Book may be a little too easy for her at six, but easy practice books she can tackle at her own is practice reading for fluency.
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:17 AM on March 19 [1 favorite]

Inside the Villains by Clotilde Perrin

“In delicate interactive paper flaps within a wonderfully oversize book, Perrin explores the true characters of three archetypal villains: a wolf, a giant, and a witch.” —Publishers Weekly

Here’s a peep inside the book & a short video. Just the right amount of scary!
posted by The Patron Saint of Spices at 1:25 PM on March 19 [1 favorite]