I love a good ghost story. I mean, who doesn’t? Right? (At least in this crowd?) I got to write one ghost scene in my book Liberty Bound, and I’m writing a lot more of them in my upcoming series Brody Undead. There are so many different kinds of ghosts, and so much folklore, leaving so much room to explore!
Since it’s ghost month here on The Midnight Society, it’s the perfect time to explore some of those different ghosts. Here are some haunted reads for your shelves…
My Daylight Monsters was originally supposed to be a stand alone novella, but became the prequel to the Mary Hades series after the story became a bestseller in Horror on Amazon. The story takes place in an Asylum (spooky bonus points!) and has GHOSTS. Friendly ghosts, not friendly ghosts… ghosts! You can jump right in with Mary Hades, the actual first novel in the series, but I’ve always loved this prequel and recommend diving in there!
Book Description:
I always thought my demons came out in the day, rather than at night. I’ve never been scared of the dark. I’ve only ever been scared of real things: getting ill, having injections, physical pain… death. Those are my monsters, not ghosts or vampires or whatever else can hide under your bed at night.
I was wrong.
The dark makes everything worse.
When 17-year-old Mary Hades is admitted by her parents to a psychiatric unit, her worst nightmares are confirmed. How can she get better in a place that fills her with dread? Her friendships with the other patients — her wacky roommate Lacey, her protector Mo, and the mysterious, green-eyed Johnny — begin to fill her with hope, until she realizes that people in the hospital are dying without explanation. Something sinister stalks the corridors, and it’s up to Mary to stop it. But the closer she gets to the answer, the more perilous her situation becomes, and Mary discovers the only way to get out alive is to confront the things that scare her most.
Sarah Dalton is the author of the Blemished Series. Her fiction has appeared in Medulla Literary Review, PANK magazine and the British Fantasy Society publication Dark Horizons. She grew up in the countryside of Derbyshire.
Find it on Amazon.
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson has really great, unique ghosts! Also, London. And one of my all time favorite openings. Super creepy!
New York Times bestseller Maureen Johnson takes on Jack the Ripper in this captivating paranormal thriller!
The day that Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London to start a new life at boarding school is also the day a series of brutal murders breaks out over the city, killings mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper spree of more than a century ago. Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him–the only one who can see him. And now Rory has become his next target. In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.
Find it on Amazon.
A Magic Dark and Bright (The Asylum Saga Book 1)
Such a pretty, unique cover, right? The book description on this one jumps right in with “the woman in white”(which is one of my favorite ghost things) and, of course, “unspeakable evil”. I don’t feel like I need to tell you more than that.
Book Description:
She meant to help a ghost…not unleash a curse.
Amelia Dupree hasn’t seen the Woman in White since the night her brother died.
The ghost seems to have disappeared from the woods surrounding Asylum, Pennsylvania—that is, until Charlie Blue moves into the creepy old MacAllister House next door. Amelia can’t help liking him, even though she spent her childhood thinking his grandmother was a witch. And she definitely can’t ignore the connection between his arrival and the Woman in White’s return.
Then Amelia learns that the Woman in White is a prisoner, trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. Devastated by the idea that her brother could be suffering a similar fate, Amelia decides to do whatever it takes to help the Woman in White find peace–and Charlie agrees to help her.
But when Amelia’s classmates start to drown in the Susquehanna River, one right after another, rumors swirl as people begin to connect the timing of Charlie’s arrival with the unexplained deaths. As Charlie and Amelia uncover the dark history of Asylum, they realize they may have unleashed an unspeakable evil. One they have to stop before everything they love is destroyed.
Find it on Amazon.
My last pick is the only one on here that is NOT YA, but I don’t remember anything audience inappropriate. Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper is the first in a series by J.L. Bryan, and it’s FREE on Amazon. Also, since I noticed the “asylum” theme in this post, I thought I should mention there IS a scene in an abandoned asylum in this book, AND IT IS CREEPY.
Book Description:
Ellie Jordan’s job is to catch and remove unwanted ghosts. Part detective, part paranormal exterminator, Ellie operates out of Savannah, Georgia, the most haunted city in the United States.
When a family contacts her to deal with a disturbing presence in the old mansion they’ve recently purchased, Ellie first believes it to be a typical, by-the-book specter, a residual haunting by a restless spirit. Instead, she finds herself confronting an evil older and more powerful than she’d ever expected, rooted in the house’s long and sordid history of luxury, sin, and murder. The dangerous entity seems particularly interested in her clients’ ten-year-old daughter.
Soon her own life is in danger, and Ellie must find a way to exorcise the darkness of the house before it can kill her, her clients, or their frightened young child.
“A brilliantly addictive, insomnia-inducing story following Ellie Jordan, a ghost tracker, who works a hazardous job investigating hauntings. Read before bedtime at your own risk!” -Alexia Purdy, bestselling author of the Dark Faerie Tale and Reign of Blood series
“Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper is both really fun and really creepy. It’s Ghostbusters meets The Dresden Files.” -Daniel Arenson, bestselling author of the Song of Dragons and Moth series
Find it on Amazon.
Okay, that wraps up my contributions for your haunted shelves! Leave me some recommendations in the comments! I hope you’re loving ghost month here on The Midnight Society and reading creepy things! (Like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, our #MidnightBooks pick this month!)
Stay creepy, read books!
