Book picks similar to
The Scarecrows by Robert Westall
horror
young-adult
carnegie-medal
ya
The Quangle Wangle's Hat
Edward Lear - 1876
Climb to the top of the Crumppetty Tree and meet a Blue Baboon, a Fimble Fowl, a Dong with a luminous nose - and, of course, the Quangle Wangle in his huge and lovely Hat!
There Will Be Wolves
Karleen Bradford - 1969
Ursula, condemned as a witch because of her knowledge of healing, escapes being burned to death when she joins her father and thousands of others who follow Peter the Hermit on the first Crusade from Cologne to Jerusalem in 1096.
The Witches
Roald Dahl - 1983
This is about real witches. Real witches don't ride around on broomsticks. They don't even wear black cloaks and hats. They are vile, cunning, detestable creatures who disguise themselves as nice, ordinary ladies. So how can you tell when you're face to face with one? Well, if you don't know yet you'd better find out quickly-because there's nothing a witch loathes quite as much as children and she'll wield all kinds of terrifying powers to get rid of them.
Two Weeks with the Queen
Morris Gleitzman - 1991
He's got cancer and the doctors in Australia are being really slack. If I could borrow your top doctor for a few days I know he/she would fix things in no time. Of course Mum and Dad would pay his/her fares even if it meant selling the car or getting a loan. Please contact me at the above address urgently.Yours sincerely,Colin Mudford.P.S.This is not a hoax.Ring the above number and Aunty Iris will tell you.Hang up if a man answers.
The Swallow: A Ghost Story
Charis Cotter - 2014
Polly lives in a house bursting at the seams with people, while Rose is often left alone by her busy parents. Polly is a down-to-earth dreamer with a wild imagination and an obsession with ghosts; Rose is a quiet, ethereal waif with a sharp tongue. Despite their differences, both girls spend their days feeling invisible and seek solace in books and the cozy confines of their respective attics. But soon they discover they aren't alone--they're actually neighbors, sharing a wall. They develop an unlikely friendship, and Polly is ecstatic to learn that Rose can actually see and talk to ghosts. Maybe she will finally see one too! But is there more to Rose than it seems? Why does no one ever talk to her? And why does she look so... ghostly? When the girls find a tombstone with Rose's name on it in the cemetery and encounter an angry spirit in her house who seems intent on hurting Polly, they have to unravel the mystery of Rose and her strange family... before it's too late.
Nightmares!
Jason Segel - 2014
And now waking up is even worse!Charlie Laird has several problems:1. His dad married a woman he is sure moonlights as a witch.2. He had to move into her purple mansion, which is not a place you want to find yourself after dark.3. He can’t remember the last time sleeping wasn’t a nightmarish prospect. Like even a nap.What Charlie doesn’t know is that his problems are about to get a whole lot more real. Nightmares can ruin a good night’s sleep, but when they start slipping out of your dreams and into the waking world—that’s a line that should never be crossed. And when your worst nightmares start to come true . . . well, that’s something only Charlie can face. And he’s going to need all the help he can get, or it might just be lights-out for Charlie Laird. For good.[This is the first book in a trilogy.]
My Haunted House
Angie Sage - 1994
Aunt Tabby is determined to sell their house—Araminta "has" to stop her!With the help of a haunted suit of armor named Sir Horace, a ghost named Edmund, and a lot of imagination, Araminta hatches a plot for an Awful Ambush that is so ghoulish, it just might work!
The Ghost Next Door
Wylly Folk St. John - 1971
So when Sherry came to visit her Aunt Judith, no one could explain the odd things that started to happen. Who was the elusive friend Sherry said she saw in the garden? Was she an imaginary playmate - or could she be the ghost of Miranda who had drowned in the pond years ago? Uncanny reminders of Miranda began to turn up - a blue rose, a lost riding whip... Lindsey and Tammy, who lived next door, decided to delve into the meaning of the apparent psychic phenomena. They soon found themselves drawn deeper and deeper into an intriguing mystery.
Taronga
Victor Kelleher - 1986
Hopeful of a less brutal life, he escapes to Sydney - only to be further disillusioned. Then, at the heart of the city he comes upon Taronga Zoo, which has been strangely unaffected by the general chaos. Or has it? Is it an island of safety in the midst of so much danger? Or is it really the most sinister place of all?
The Book of Dead Days
Marcus Sedgwick - 2003
A magician called Valerian must save his own life within those few days or pay the price for the pact he made with evil so many years ago. But alchemy and sorcery are no match against the demonic power pursuing him. Helping him is his servant, Boy, a child with no name and no past. The quick-witted orphan girl, Willow, is with them as they dig in death fields at midnight, and as they are swept into the sprawling blackness of a subterranean city on a journey from which there is no escape.
Nightbooks
J.A. White - 2018
This thrilling contemporary fantasy from J. A. White, the acclaimed author of the Thickety series, brings to life the magic and craft of storytelling.Alex’s original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping the witch Natacha happy, but soon he’ll run out of pages to read from and be trapped forever. He’s loved scary stories his whole life, and he knows most don’t have a happily ever after. Now that Alex is trapped in a true terrifying tale, he’s desperate for a different ending—and a way out of this twisted place.This modern spin on the Scheherazade story is perfect for fans of Coraline and A Tale Dark and Grimm. With interwoven tips on writing with suspense, adding in plot twists, hooks, interior logic, and dealing with writer’s block, this is the ideal book for budding writers and all readers of delightfully just-dark-enough tales.
More Bones
Arielle North Olson - 2008
. . a corpse?! Or what about the magic school where one student in every class is never allowed to leave? Or the beautiful red-haired maiden whose hair is actually serpents? Many of these tales go back hundreds of years and to the farthest corners of the earth, but as diverse as they are, they also reveal one important truth: everyone loves a scary story. The authors have dug deeply?from Egypt to Iceland?to find the spookiest stories for More Bones. Listen! Can you hear the bones beginning to rattle?
Agnes Cecilia
Maria Gripe - 1978
After experiencing several inexplicable incidents, lonely Nora receives a strangely lifelike doll, which leads her to discover long-hidden secrets about her family.
Flambards
K.M. Peyton - 1967
Christina discovers a passion for horses and riding but finds herself part of a strange household, divided by emotional undercurrents and cruelty.
The 18th Emergency
Betsy Byars - 1973
When the toughest boy in school swears to kill him, twelve year-old Mouse finds little help from friends and must prepare for this emergency alone.