Scary Campfire Stories for Kids Ages 8 – 12
Some of the best hours can be spent lounging around a flickering campfire as daylight fades. For tweens, books that are just the right amount of scary can set the mood — and keep them reading well past bedtime. From short tales to read aloud with their friends to graphic novels and chapter books for cozying up solo, young readers will get their fill of thrills and chills with these campfire stories for tweens.
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Add to BookshelfThe Dark-Thirty
by Patricia McKissack
Inspired by African-American history, these legends and ghostly tales center on the half-hour before nightfall: “The dark-thirty.” They’re perfect for sharing the delicious thrill of a spooky tale with family and friends.
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Rip Van Winkle & Other Stories
by Washington Irving
Introduce tweens to the classic creepiness of Ichabod Crane’s run-in with the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow and other tales by this legendary storyteller. These are best when read aloud in your most ominous voice.
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Mysteries in Our National Parks: Wolf Stalker
by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson
Tweens can work their way through this entire series of spooky tales set in iconic U.S. locations. They’re especially perfect for sharing with U.S. fourth graders, who get free entry to all National Parks through the Every Kid Outdoors program. In this installment, suspense mounts as three siblings trail a wounded wolf through Yellowstone National Park.
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Tales to Keep You Up at Night
by Dan Poblocki
When Amelia finds a mysterious collection of strange stories in her grandmother’s attic, she can’t help but read them. Each brief tale packs a hefty dose of fright and is linked to a family of witches — a detail that makes Amelia dig deeper into the spooky stories. Check out the sequel, More Tales to Keep You Up at Night, as well.
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The Night Librarian: A Graphic Novel
by Christopher Lincoln
Reluctant readers can’t resist this visually appealing graphic novel. Twins Paige and Turner set out on a clandestine mission to save the New York Public Library, only to be drawn into a dark adventure involving escaped characters from classic stories.
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Dread Detention
by Jennifer Killick
Detention turns terrifying for a group of classmates who must come to school on a Saturday. Can they join together to outsmart whatever creepy force is haunting the school? This title is celebrated as a cross between The Breakfast Club and Stranger Things.
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The Curious Vanishing of Beatrice Willoughby
by G. Z. Schmidt
Thirteen years after Beatrice Willoughby inexplicably disappears as a child, six households in the tiny town of Nevermore receive unsigned invitations asking them to return to the scene of the crime. This Halloween-themed scare-fest is deliciously readable for tweens year-round.
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Ravenfall
by Kalyn Josephson
At age thirteen, Anna is familiar with magic; her family uses it to run a magical bed-and-breakfast, the Ravenfall Inn. When she helps a guest search for his missing brother, though, things take a sinister turn. With Celtic mythology woven into the story, this spine-chilling tale will captivate tween readers.
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Small Spaces
by Katherine Arden
After experiencing a tragedy, eleven-year-old Ollie seeks comfort in books — especially ghost stories. She starts to wonder if they might even hold some truth. With a creepy school bus driver, mysterious messages, and dark, spooky farm fields, this tale is a pulse-pounding adventure.
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Graciela in the Abyss
by Meg Medina
If your campfire overlooks the water — or even if you wish it did — your tween needs to read this thrilling tale about an immortal ocean spirit and her landlubber counterpart. The narrator’s eerie tone creates the feeling of an old-world ghost story.
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The House with a Clock in Its Walls
by John Bellairs
Introduce a new generation of tweens to this timeless hair-raising classic. When orphan Lewis Barnavelt experiments with magic at his Uncle Jonathan’s house, he accidentally resurrects the home’s former owner — and the dangerous ticking clock she and her husband had hidden in the walls.
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