Scary Stories | Ocean County Library

The Lakewood Branch will be closed starting Monday, October 6th, for roof repairs. Weather permitting, the branch will reopen Monday, October 13th.

Identikill

By K.R. Alexander (J Alex, eBook, eAudiobook)

Chelsea knows that her sister is dead. But she also knows that Angelica never really went away. Ever since that tragic day, Angelica has been around. Talking to her. Listening to her. Being her truest friend. No one else can see Angelica, and Chelsea has learned to lie about her existence, because nobody else would believe it. It's their secret...until Chelsea makes a new friend and Angelica becomes jealous. Jealous enough to hurt someone. Chelsea's biggest secret has become her biggest fear.
Nightmare Hunter

By Brady Smith (J Smit)

Twelve-year-old Maxwell, who can enter and battle other kids' nightmares, has helped countless dreamers--until he meets Sid, whose increasingly eerie and inescapable nightmares make Maxwell question if he is trapped in one himself.
Zombie Season

By Justin Weinberger (J Wein, hoopla)

Summer is zombie season in California and there are some kids who do not evacuate: Joule searches for her missing father, Regina worries about the secrecy surrounding the new anti-zombie technology her parents are developing, and Oliver is trying to convince the grownups that the zombies are becoming stronger.
Ghostly, Ghastly Tales

By Anastasia Garcia (J Garc)

Jam-packed with spine-tingling tales and haunting illustrations, this collection is inspired by cultures from around the world. Read them before bedtime or share them to spook your friends . . . Each tale in this . . . collection pulls you into a dark world of contemporary stories based on myths and legends from around the world. Haunted battlefields? Talking heads? Ghosts? Nefarious creatures in the night? Read all about spooky field trips, ghostly omens, cautionary tales, and more.
Hungry Bones

By Louise Hung (J Hung, hoopla)

Molly Teng sees things no one else can. By touching the belongings of people who have died, she gets brief glimpses into the lives they lived. Sometimes the "zaps" are funny or random, but often they leave her feeling sad, drained, and lonely. The last thing Jade remembers from life is dying. That was over one hundred years ago. Ever since then she's been trapped in the same house watching people move in and out. She's a 'hungry ghost' reliant on the livings' food scraps to survive. To most people she is only a shadow, a ghost story, a superstition. Molly is not most people. When she moves into Jade's house, nothing will ever be the same-for either of them.
Scream and Scream Again! Spooky Stories from Mystery Writers of America

By R.L. Stine (J Scre, eAudiobook)

Scream and Scream Again! is full of twists and turns, dark corners, and devilish revenge. Collected in conjunction with the Mystery Writers of America, this set includes works from New York Times bestselling authors telling tales of wicked ice-cream trucks, time-travelling heroes, witches and warlocks, and of course, haunted houses. Read it if you dare!
Nightmare Island

By Shakirah Bourne (J Bour)

Twelve-year-old Serenity has a recurring nightmare, but things get real when her parents take her brother, Peace, to Duppy Island for "treatment" and Serenity is confronted by the creepy Dr. Whisper and the faceless douen children who are trapped between the living and the dead.
Stories to Keep You Alive Despite Vampires

By Ben Acker (J Acke)

This fourth wall--breaking middle grade collection of spooky, scary, and spoopy stories for fans of Lemony Snicket and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark might just help you survive the night in a house full of vampires.
The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story

By Scott Peterson (J Hahn, J Pete, eBook)

Diana and her little brother Georgie have been living in the woods behind the old Willis place, a decaying Victorian mansion, for what already seems like forever. They aren't allowed to leave the property or show themselves to anyone. But when a new caretaker comes to live there with his young daughter, Lissa, Diana is tempted to break the mysterious rules they live by and reveal herself so she can finally have a friend. Somehow, Diana must get Lissa's help if she and Georgie ever hope to release themselves from the secret that has bound them to the old Willis place for so long.
The No-Brainer's Guide to Decomposition

By Adrianna Cuevas (J Cuev, Play J Cuev)

In Pura Belpré Honor–winning author Adrianna Cuevas's new spooky middle grade novel. Frani must fight to stop the undead from rising in her father’s body-farm laboratory—that is, if she can embrace the true nature of her brain and its ADHD.
The Screaming Staircase

By Jonathan Stroud (J Stro)

Follows three young operatives of a Psychic Detection Agency as they battle an epidemic of ghosts in London.
The Locker Ate Lucy

By Jack Chabert (J Chab)

Only a week into his job as hall monitor and class protector, Sam Graves and his friends Lucy and Antonio are trying to uncover the secrets of Eerie Elementary, their living and malevolent school--and then Lucy gets eaten by her locker.