When I was a kid the only spooky books I could find were the Goosebumps books by R.L. Stine. Thankfully there are more and more authors writing seriously spooky books for kids and one of those authors is Jack Heath. Jack Heath’s Scream series (published by Scholastic) is perfect for those kids who love R.L. Stine’s short and spooky stories. The covers of the Scream series even look a bit like Goosebumps books.
The Scream series is set in Axe Falls, where a cargo ship ran aground years ago. Ever since then the town has been plagued by ‘mysterious disappearances, terrifying visions and unusual events.’ The books follow four local kids who wonder what was the cargo? And will anyone survive long enough to find out? So far there are four books in the series: The Human Flytrap, The Spider Army, The Haunted Book and The Squid Slayer. You don’t have to read them in a particular order so start with whatever one you like. They are guaranteed to give you a fright.
Check out this video of Jack Heath talking about the series and check out his Seriously Spooky Guest Post here on the blog.
My Best Friends Are Books 
Goosebumps wasn’t around when I was a kid, Zac. The nearest we could find to anything that could vaguely be described as “horror” was Edgar Allan Poe. We possibly found Dennis Wheatley frightening too; we devoured every book of his we could lay our hands on. Publishers obviously hadn’t cottoned on to the fact that kids (normal ones anyway) love stories that are terrifying. We watched some of the Goosebumps on TV (and I did read one of the better ones) but mostly we found them funny rather than frightening. My story “Christmas Shopping Can Be Deadly” is a nod in Stine’s direction (even the title was inspired by Stine) but I haven’t even tried to get it published; I know it wouldn’t stand a chance.
Is it a children’s story Laraine? You could share it here on the blog if you’re keen 😊
Yes, it’s a children’s story, Zac. It’s on my web site: http://labarker.com/ShortStories/1st.html. Judging from the URL, it must be the first one I posted there.