It’s FINALLY spooky season, the perfect time to curl up with a creepy book! If your middle school students are anything like mine, they love horror, paranormal fiction, and dark fantasy! This year, my students are even more obsessed than normal, so I am excited to take advantage of their love for spooky stories. In addition to my book recommendation brochures, board book display, and “Bookflix” categories, I will be featuring a variety of spooky books for Book Trailer Tuesday and First Chapter Friday. Thankfully, there are plenty of frightening, suspenseful book trailers for many of my favorite spooky middle grade titles!
If you’re unfamiliar with Book Trailer Tuesday, it’s my favorite hack for getting students hooked on books in less than 3 minutes! Book Trailer Tuesday is as simple as it sounds! Press play on an engaging book trailer, and then ask students to rate their interest in reading the text. To read more about why I love Book Trailer Tuesday and how I facilitate it in my classroom each week, head to this blog post.
Ready to get started with Book Trailer Tuesday this month? Here are links to 10 spooky book trailers that your middle school students will LOVE!
Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon
Your students will love this chilling tale about what happens when a childhood game becomes a living nightmare!
Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh
Written by the founder of We Need Diverse Books, this fast-paced paranormal mystery offers a refreshing take on the typical “haunted house” story.
Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty
If you want to get kids hooked on a haunting fantasy series, they will love this thrilling mystery about kids who begin to disappear from the Biltmore estate.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Although it begins as gruesomely as a Poe story, this is a delightful dark fantasy about a boy who grows up in a graveyard.
Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman
The first book in a crowd-pleasing series, this creepy mystery will wow students with its unique hybrid structure of journal entries and videos readers watch online!
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Set in a world with a ghost epidemic, your students will love this entertaining tale about teenage paranormal investigators working to solve a supernatural murder mystery.
The Nest by Kenneth Oppel
A seriously creepy blend of horror and magical realism, this is a twisted, dark tale about a boy whose life becomes a living nightmare when he is stung by a wasp.
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
Inspired by Caribbean folktales, The Jumbies is the story of a girl who doesn’t believe in the frightening creatures of fairy tales until a strange woman shows up in town.
The Darkdeep by Allie Condie & Brenden Reichs
Perfect for fans of Stranger Things, The Darkdeep is the thrilling tale of a mysterious island that can detect one’s deepest, darkest fears.
I hope these book trailers get your students hooked on some horror during SPOOKY SEASON! For more spooky book recommendations, check out my horror book brochure! This interactive brochure features a fun reader personality quiz that automatically gives students personalized book recs based on their interests!
These interactive book brochures are the perfect way to take your book advertising to the next level! You can check out the full collection of 12 different middle school genre brochures HERE. It’s magical, self-sustaining system that will help your students answer the question, “What do I read next?” With over 250 book recs within the brochures, your students will never run out of books to read!
Want more ideas to help your students fall in love with reading? Check out the following blog posts:
- 5 Ways to Help Your Students Fall in Love with Reading
- Book Trailer Tuesday: How to hook students on books in 3 minutes!
- Book Recommendation Brochures: FAQ
- 15 Ways to Use Book Recommendation Brochures
- 10 Reasons to Try First Chapter Friday
- First Chapter Friday: Frequently Asked Questions
- 15 Tips & Tricks for First Chapter Friday
- First Chapter Friday: Middle School Book List
- First Chapter Friday: Middle School Book List PART 2
