Branching Out: Books for Fans of Goosebumps

This is the start of a new gothic adventure series, in which three cousins who are descendants of Dracula form a vampire healing company.

In true Emma Carroll fashion, this story has the reader on tenterhooks throughout, with chases through the dark streets of Temstown, the spine-tingling threat of attack from vengeful creatures and the need for the three brave heroines to complete their dangerous mission before the new moon deadline.

It’s all the more gripping because the identity of trustworthy good guys and shifty villains is obscured. What’s more, as the plot thickens, the readers’ perception only gradually clears, spotting connections between different characters. The way Carroll weaves numerous strands together is extremely satisfying: there’s the scene-setting, which has the reader picturing London in the late 19th Century; the kinship felt by the main characters; the power plays of ambitious, dangerous men; and the knowledge that might lead to both cure and restoration for the wronged.

This is a book that will be devoured by those with an appetite for gruesome fantasy with a historical flavour. Librarians will not need to recommend it for copies to quickly fly off the ‘horror’ shelf.

This book reminded me of reading my first Goosebumps book all those decades ago.

Finnegan Quick has nightmares, but these are no ordinary nightmares- they can change the real world. They first started with a creepy lady in his nightmares taking his dog, then mum and finally his dad. Finn now lives with his grandmother, but the creepy lady wants to take her, too.

Finnegan has a sliver of hope when the new girl, Cass, from his dreams turns up at his school in real life and clearly knows him too. Finnegan has never, ever told anyone about his dreams, but it’s time to tell his best friend, Squid.

This book is the first in the series. It would be perfect for fans of the Aveline Jones, Crater Lake and Dread Wood series. I whizzed through the book in a few sittings because I was engrossed. The story is funny, scary and sad. It covers death, bereavement, friendship and anger. Finnegan’s situation seems dire, but his friends are there to help him. 5/5 stars.

This story makes you rethink the simple game from your childhood (even adulthood) of ‘Hide and Seek’- who knew it could be so frightening?

You are greeted immediately with the suspense in this book with the sharing of the category ratings for the Fear Files. The one you are about to read is deemed as a Level 4 Rated File-which is a ‘Beyond Fear’ category. This is enough to make you realise that you are in for a thrill. The layout of the book is a mixture of written case notes and short chapters. You will find phrases circled and notes made for evidence, making it feel like you are investigating this case yourself.

Who thought the phrase ‘Ready or not, here I come.’ would instil such terror in someone? This is a book that I did not dare to read at bedtime, yet I loved being terrified by the storyline. In particular, a statue is found with its hands covering its eyes, which reminded me of an episode of Doctor Who, in which statues move when you are not looking-a shiver certainly went down my spine! I cannot wait for the next instalment…

What a brilliant book! I had such a laugh reading this book as well as goosebumps.

Things take a sinister turn when Joe Bones spies a cloaked figure leaving his gran’s house and discovers her dead. He, of course, thinks she’s been murdered and tries to get his mother, who’s a forensic pathologist, to investigate. She’s having none of it, given Joe’s gran was over a hundred years old.

Joe and his friends discover that Joe’s gran was part of a group called Fright Club, and the town where they live (Grim) is built upon the gateways to supernatural worlds. You can visit towns where vampires, skeletons, ghosts and demons live through gateways in Grim. In this mystery, you get to choose which character’s storyline to follow. However, I read the mystery from cover to cover because I couldn’t resist, but I can imagine how exciting children will be to follow either Joe, Hal, Rose or Debbie.

I give this book a 11/10! I’m so excited to read the rest of the series, and this is going to be one of my favourite series, along with Jennifer Killick’s Dread Wood series.

The Invasion of Crooked Oak is a fast-paced adventure that will appeal to older KS2 children. It is the first instalment of the stories set in the town of Crooked Oak. Children who love horror stories like Crater Lake or Goosebumps will be thrilled to discover this quick and accessible read.

Strange things are happening in the town of Crooked Oak. People have started to behave oddly and the zombie-like symptoms seem to be spreading through the town. As Nancy and her friends Pete and Krish get stuck into the mystery, something scary is spreading its tendrils across the town. Can the friends get to the root of the mystery before time runs out?

As ever with Barrington Stoke books, this is an accessible book, printed with clear text on a coloured background that is specially formatted to cater for dyslexic readers. The illustrations by Chris King really add to the atmospheric mood of the book and also draw upon the details contained in the descriptive writing.

The children we read this to absolutely loved the story and moaned at the end of each session when it was time to finish. Each chapter finished on a cliffhanger, so it left them eagerly anticipating the next instalment. This short and spooky read was a definite hit with Year 6!

Robert Swindell’s Room 13 is a spooky thriller story in which the main character is greeted with peculiar recurring nightmares whilst on a school trip to Whitby. The story follows Fliss, who along with her classmates, faces unusual red bite marks, a bout of sleepwalking, strange old women and Dracula himself. 

Room 13 has Upper KS2 classes on the edge of their seats and not wanting to put it down. We would recommend this gripping book for children aged 9+ who enjoy a bit of suspense.

This story is full of fantastical treasures to keep a reader enthralled: a villain in need of redemption, a mischievous girl and an insatiable bone-crunching beast.

Ebenezer Twitch is five hundred and eleven years old. He has reached this astounding age due to an elixir of youth provided to him by a magical beast, which lives on the top floor of his house. Ebenezer adopted the creature when it was tiny and was thrilled to find that it could magically vomit up any item he desired in exchange for food. As the beast grew larger, so did its demands for unusual dishes, until Ebenezer’s reliance on it to continue living caused him to sacrifice some of the world’s rarest (and subsequently extinct) creatures. Now, though, the beast wants to eat a child…

A laugh-out-loud tale with comic and sinister strands that Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket fans will love.

This is a deliciously dark and spine-chilling tale of mystery and ghosts. Phil Hickes’s descriptively spooky tale is much darker than I was expecting from this middle-grade novel, and is not for the sensitive reader!

When Aveline is left to spend half-term with her Auntie in a quiet coastal town, she never expected the mystery she would uncover or the danger she would find herself in. Atmospherically written, this absorbing storyline feels so realistic. The unfolding folklore throughout the story kept me intrigued – from the Lady in the water to her connection to the Malmouth scarecrows. In addition to this, I was completely invested in Aveline’s plight and the terror she felt. I loved the charming and unique cast of characters we were introduced to in Malmouth, especially Mr Lieberman and his quirky second-hand bookshop (which I have to admit had me wishing I owned a second-hand bookshop).

The idea that second-hand books could connect you to their previous owner I found fascinating, as well as the developing relationship and understanding between Aveline and Primrose (counteracting the horrifying Lady character and suggesting that not all ghosts have evil intentions).

The use of Keith Robinson’s illustrations within the book only enhance the eeriness of the story, especially the rather sinister-looking child scarecrows. Equally, the addition of the Book Club Questions (at the back of this book), would certainly be a useful tool if you were using this for a book club or as a guided reading text.

This is a spectacular, haunting tale that will be devoured by readers who love scary stories and who are not too easily spooked!

The Year Six class at Lance’s school are heading off for a residential trip that is supposed to create memories that will stay with them forever. Lance is happy to be alongside his friends Chet, Maksym and Katja and remains optimistic that they can ignore the mean taunts nemesis Trent. Excitement bubbles during the journey, but as soon as the coach draws near to Crater Lake, something feels amiss.

It’s never a good sign to run into a blood-stained figure who looks like a zombie just outside the gates of your destination. Nor does it bode well to find the activity centre spookily low on staff or to discover that despite the sweltering heat the only meal on offer is tomato soup, which appears disconcertingly similar to the blood covering the man at the entrance. Matters quickly spiral from bad to worse when a number of classmates and teachers transform into bug-eyed zombies and seem as though they have been hypnotised into working on a secret project out in the woods. Lance and the few remaining classmates must pull together to save the day, but their only chance of success relies on one catch; they must not fall asleep!

The horror-humour balance in the narrative is skilfully manufactured to give the chill factor without leaving anybody traumatised; it has just the right amount of scare to quicken your heartbeat and make you double-check under the bed before you climb in but is not likely to give you nightmares (unless you happen to be reading it while you are on a Year 6 residential).

Crater Lake is a super-fast read that will satisfy fans of Goosebumps or Point Horror as well as being likely to please Killick’s already loyal fanbase who expect easy humour, sharp dialogue, relatable themes and a turbo-paced plot.