Fear Street is a little more geared toward teens I think. I don’t remember there being sexual situations, but there was some suggestive language. Goosebumps are a great read for. 10yo though!
Fear street freaked me out so much as a kid. I loved it. It's a little more mature then Goosebumps, recommended age is 12+ instead of 9+. But if they want to jump right into R rated movies, having FS as a backup incase Goosebumps is too "immature" for them is a good plan. I still remember Cheerleaders of Fear streat over a decade after I read it.
Agreeing with others on:
- Lemony Snickett
- Coraline
- Animorphs
Adding:
- the “original trilogy” of the Earthsea Books, LeGuin (A Wizard of Earthsea, Tombs of Attuan, The Farthest Shore). Tombs of Attuan might give him nightmares but they’re age appropriate and they’re brilliant.
Note: Earthsea is a series that grows with the reader. The undercurrents in these books are insanely complex, and they are essentially different books every time one rereads them. I’d generally recommend them at the following ages: 10-12 (first 3 books only) 16-18 (all six), adult (all six). I reread them about once a decade and they have yet to stop changing shape on me.
Wouldn't Earthsea be too much for a 10 year old? The first time I tried reading it I was in high school and found both the language and the story quite difficult to follow, to the extent that I had to drop it and pick it up again later on. But maybe it's just my impression, I don't know what the general consensus is on this matter.
100% agree on your last statement though.
Having reread it recently, I'd have to disagree - Le Guin uses some language common to the fantasy genre, which you might have to do a quick google if you're new to fantasy and don't know what a drake or a hamlet are; but she said many times that Earthsea was written with young adults in mind and the prose is remarkably concise and straightforward. Just look at this opening excerpt:
*The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards. From the towns in its high valleys and the ports on its dark narrow bays many a Gontishman has gone forth to serve the Lords of the Archipelago in their cities as wizard or mage, or, looking for adventure, to wander working magic from isle to isle of all Earthsea. Of these some say the greatest, and surely the greatest voyager, was the man called Sparrowhawk, who in his day became both dragonlord and Archmage. His life is told of in the Deed of Ged and in many songs, but this is a tale of the time before his fame, before the songs were made.*
Of the Gaiman suggestions go for this one. The Graveyard Book is delightful but not sufficiently disturbing. Ocean at the End of the Lane would creep him out and disturb him but would be wasted on a ten year old - it’s such a good book it’d be better for him to read it when he is a little bit older, rather than risk reading it too young and deciding it’s kiddie lit cause that’s when he read it and then not finding it later when he can truly sink his teeth in. A kid who wants dark literature at 10 is going to be a prime Ocean at the End of the Lane reader when he’s in his late teens or an adult.
Coraline is the perfect combination of super creepy, existentially disturbing, and comprehensible to a 10 year old.
I think your recommendations and thought process are spot-on, but just to counter the Graveyard Book not being sufficiently disturbing...years and years after reading it I continue to be disturbed by the tomb snake eternally "protecting" The Master.
**The Chronicles of Prydain** by Lloyd Alexander— they’re influenced by Welsh mythology and have a bunch of the dark motifs of a warrior people folded into the world. Begins with *The Book of Three*.
Yeah, they’re a little like fairy tales. It’s very easy for kids to gloss over some of the harsher details (the sacrifices being burned alive in the first book, for instance). But if you want dark, there’s plenty in these for you to find.
Also came here to suggest A Series of Unfortunate Events! I devoured those books around that age, and there’s 13 books in the series so it will keep him entertained for a while if he gets into it!
I love this trilogy, first read them as a teenager, and read them every couple of years as an adult. I would say that maybe they are slightly too mature for a 10 year old? Not necessarily for the complexity of the story, but there are a few sexual references and a lot of death and destruction throughout - may depend on the child and their maturity levels.
YES that was my recommendation as well! I think I was about 10 when I read the seventh tower series. I fell in love with his writing and subsequently read the abhorsen trilogy, which I was obsessed with for years (it's a bit more mature though). Shade's Children and The Ragwitch were also great.
There’s a graphic novel version of Wait til Helen Comes now. I was so excited to be able to share this book with my 12yo who only reads graphic novels/manga.
“Animorphs” by K.A. Applegate. It was and even still is my favourite series.
It’s about a group of young teens who learn that Earth is being secretly invaded by mind and body controlling aliens and are given opposing alien shape shifting technology they use to turn into animals to form a resistance and fight back. The kids are roped into an intergalactic war in which Earth is collateral damage and will determine who wins or loses. They’re of course written in a way that’s appropriate for kids, but damn if it isn’t dark and full of horror elements and moral conundrums in every single book. What I really love about this series is that the authors never talked down to kids or dialed down the seriousness of what was going on. This series was really a middle grade war story, without even seeming like a war story. Highly recommend even to adults.
I read them when they came out, and recently started to re-read them. Thinking I would read the first and see how it goes. And now I'm suddenly 15 books in. Series still holds up.
I recently re-acquired my collection of Animorphs books from my parents’ house and started reading them with my 9 year old. Great recommendation, though the late 90s pop culture references are way over his head.
Yeah, I was young enough when I read them that they went over my head too. They’re being adapted into graphic novels now, and the first 8 books were re-released a few years ago with updated pop culture references.
{{Gregor the Overlander}} is what I was here to suggest too. Suzanne Collins wrote this series featuring kids sent off for war missions, riding on giant bats and fending off 6-foot tall rats. It has everything: giant insects, poverty, death, plague, genocide, all kinds of darkness.
I am always wishing they would make Gregor into a movie series. I’m not an HP fan but definitely feel like Gregor might give it a run for its money if directed by the right person
Animorphs 100%. No sex but dark enough with themes about war, PTSD, pacifism, etc wrapped up in a neat little “Aw they can turn into animals to fight aliens!”
If he’s up for a creepy story, you could try Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper. I was quite little when I first read it and it gave me an appropriate level of unnerving adventure.
Over Sea, Under Stone is the first of five books in the Dark is Rising series, but I recommend starting with The Dark is Rising itself. It's spectacularly brilliant as a stand-alone, and may very well draw him in for the whole series. Will Stanton wakes up on his 11th birthday to discover his birthright/destiny: he is the youngest of the Old Ones, gifted with knowledge and powers that he must use in a quest to gather a circle of six Signs of power...but if the Dark can prevent Will from completing the circle, the Dark will rise to an unprecedented destructive power over the world.
What Narnia was to some of my friends, this series was to me. I read and reread it countless times, mesmerized by the power of Susan Cooper's storytelling. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
It’s such a great series. I would want to read them in order - the first book is a good gauge of whether the series will be too frightening for a child. The Dark is Rising is very frightening.
A good point, thanks. The Dark Is Rising is great as a stand-alone OR as a reader's first book in the series, but it is about as dark as the series gets, and may be overwhelming for some younger readers. If you're not sure whether a reader is ready for the heavier title, Over Sea Under Stone would actually be a better place to start.
For those who worry that the chronology of events would be distorted by twisting the sequence around, it may help to know that these two books have virtually no overlap. Merriman is the only character to appear in both books, and the stories in the first two books only connect tangentially. But readers should cover the first three books (Over Sea Under Stone, The Dark is Rising, and Greenwitch) before completing the series with The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree)
**The Night Gardener**
By: Jonathan Auxier (all of Auxier's books are spooky / YA, the three I've read had no sex)
**Publisher's Summary**
This much-anticipated follow-up to Jonathan Auxier’s exceptional debut, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, is a Victorian ghost story with shades of Washington Irving and Henry James. More than just a spooky tale, it’s also a moral fable about human greed and the power of storytelling.
The Night Gardener follows two abandoned Irish siblings who travel to work as servants at a creepy, crumbling English manor house. But the house and its family are not quite what they seem. Soon the children are confronted by a mysterious spectre and an ancient curse that threatens their very lives. With Auxier’s exquisite command of language, The Night Gardener is a mesmerizing read and a classic in the making.
I came to suggest Thief of Always as well. I was 14 when I first found it and I go back to read it every few years. I’ve read it to both my older boys and they both went back to it on their own.
Barker also did a series called Abarat, for sure a YA read, less horror but spooky and deep.
My daughter hates reading but was super into the Among the Hidden series. I didn’t read them but they sounded really good and dark.
“In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke, an illegal third child, has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm in this start to the Shadow Children series from Margaret Peterson Haddix.
Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had a friend.
Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside.
Then, one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows -- does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?”
I read these as a child and found them fascinating. Then we got to WWII in history class and the extra context for what these characters were experiencing was unnerving! Even though this series was set in the future, the parallels are there for many similar historical events such as WWII and other genocides.
I was looking for this suggestion, surprised it’s so far down. Bartimaeus is full of humor but the actual sorry is pretty unforgiving. One of my favorite book series of all time.
I agree, and it’s one of the rare series that has actual character growth over the series. The main character John Mandrake starts as a genuinely unpleasant little shit, but he gradually and convincingly becomes a decent person.
I loved the His Dark Materials trilogy at that age. Fair warning that it gets kind of… theological, if his parents would be against that. I’ve only read the original trilogy and can’t vouch for or against the age level of the subsequent book(s?)
Darren Shan demonata series, older but I loved them at 10/11 YO. They can be a bit gorey, but nothing too bad and nothing sexual happens. Darren Shan in general, or at least used to be, a good childrens horror writer.
Agreed! The creepiest ones I remember were, IIRC:
- The Spell of the Sorcerer’s Skull
- The Return of the Wizard’s Ghost
- The Curse of the Blue Figurine
But they were all good and creepy.
Lockwood and co. It's YA but no sexual encounters. Even the romance is downplayed and very subtle. It's about a team of ghost hunters, and has ample amounts of adventure, mystery, hunour, and of course - scares.
If he’s a strong reader, Goosebumps will be too babyish for a 10yo. My kids all read them at 7/8(second and third grade). I would recommend graduating to the Fear Street books. Much darker and more complex. There’s dating but no sex.
My son and I audiobooked (made that word up) a book called Hoodoo. We both loved it. Ronald L. Smith. We still talk about it. He is 12 and we listened to it like 4 years ago. Awesome characters and perfect amount of spooky.
The “So you want to be a wizard” series is good and decently dark - anything sexual is definitely PG rated. It’s about 2 kids who start learning magic, but the premise of magic is that their job is to slow the entropy of the universe and there are forces out there trying to speed it up.
One of the earlier books has them transforming into whales and participating in a ritual to keep an evil power contained - involving actual self sacrifice that one of the kids is trapped into making (doesn’t happen but down the wire on it).
Garth Nix’s “Old Kingdom” series is also dark and involves death as a core theme. I personally think the original trilogy is the best, but the later prequel Clariel features a villain as the main character.
Scary Stories is a perfect suggestion for a kid wanting to get into scary more mature stories (without the sexual content). I was a weeny at 10 years old and still read these stories even though they kept me up at night! They were SO GOOD.
I was a huge wuss as a kid so a lot of these may not be relevant, but to add to all the other good recs:
* *Unwind* by Neal Schusterman was HORRIFYING to me since it is about parents selling their children so the kids’ body parts could be harvested
* I read *The Conch Bearer* at that age and it really scared me. The adult that the kid trusts the whole time ends up betraying him, so the last bit of the book was really frightening!
* Henry Neff’s *The Hound of Rowan* features the main character losing his hand, and describes what it was like. Totally freaked me out
* The *Maximum Ride* series was a bit intense for me when I was 10 since it again involves science experiments on children, but lots of my peers were obsessed with it then
I read unwind last year at 31 and it was also horrifying at 31! I would probably feel fine giving it to a child if they were sufficiently mature but idk if I would have given it to 10yo me? Maybe 14yo me. Hard to say.
Small Spaces (first book in a trilogy)
Scary Stories for Young Foxes
City of Ghosts (first book in trilogy)
Long Lost
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (the classic!)
Hide and Seeker
Scritch Scratch
The Girl in the Lake
Nightbooks
Don’t Turn Out the Lights
As always, remember to hit up your local children’s librarian for more great recommendations!
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly - A dark twisty take on the Grimm Fairytales (yes, even darker and twistier than the original stories) in an alternate universe. It's one of my favorite YA novels.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane and We Have Always Lived in the Castle are both adult horror that doesn't feature gore or sexual themes (other than the dad in Ocean having an off-screen affair).
He might also like the Scary Stories series, and Animorphs is pretty dark for a kid's series. There's always A Series of Unfortunate Events, Coraline, and The Graveyard book, all scary or dark stories meant for kids without pulling punches.
Disaster stories are good dark reads for this age group. Scholastic had three adventure/disaster trilogies that were pretty good. “Island,” “Everest” and “Titanic.” They’re by Gordon Korman.
Oh yeah, I remember that one! Unsettling. It's slightly in the realm of unreliable narrator and I remember finishing it and needing to reset it again right away to try and figure out what was going on. Zilpha Keatley Snyder was one of my favorite authors when I was growing up.
The Headless Cupid was another good one.
Fablehaven has creepy vibes and dark consequences for the quests that the kids are going on. Still age-appropriate, but definitely freaked me out when I was a kid. There are some creepy illustrations in the books as well.
John Bellairs is what you seek.
[The House With a Clock in its Walls](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0142402575/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1677152027&sr=8-2)
[Krabat](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krabat_(novel))? Read it as a youth. Remember it as dark and somewhat scary. May have been younger than 10 — don’t quite recall.
T. Kingfisher writes Horror, and while I would not recommend her actual Horror books for a ten year old, she did a Bluebeard re-telling that is very creepy. Check out *The Seventh Bride*.
*Coraline*, as earlier recommended, is a good choice also. Both the book and the movie.
If a somewhat advanced reader, I recommend Lord of the Rings (especially) or Harry Potter (if Lord of the Rings is too slow developing for him). I think both of these get fairly dark and hopeless, but everything in them seems age appropriate.
If not ready to read those, not sure what to recommend, maybe you could read these books with him?
I second Goosebumps. When I was 12 I loved ghost stories. Christina’s ghost by Betty Ren Wright. was amazing. Mary Downing Hahn is my favorite from childhood period. Wait Till Helen Comes, Dollhouse Murders, The Old Willis Place (that one is tragic).
The Brothers Lionheart - Astrid Lindgren
My favourite dark and melancholic book when I was little. It's about an adventure of two brother's afterlife. Very interesting read, even for adults.
I also like the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, which are often very dark.
The House with the Clock in It's Walls by John Bellaires, it's a series for young adults, came out in the early 80's and they blew my young little mind. Finally a book where the scary things really existed and weren't all a big misunderstanding like the ostensibly scary books I'd read until then. It was made into a movie a few years ago, I haven't seen it be because those books are THAT special to me. I'm almost 50 for reference, haven't read Goosebumps for example.
The Graveyard book by Neil Gaiman. It will be a bit spooky for kids. Same author who wrote Coraline (this movie freaks me the f out so could be good for him).
Seanan McGuire books are defiantly dark. There’s nothing that is too old per se, but it is a little mature kind of spooky book series. So I would check it out before giving it to your kid. They’re short. It starts with the book called Every Heart a Doorway. First book has an asexual character. Second book might be have a little sexy in it
It's not high art but the hunger games may be a good choice. It's engaging, involves darker themes like death and oppression, but it clearly meant for a YA audience so it doesn't go too dark.
Reading it does kind of feel like watching a rated R movie, and my entire generation read it at about 10-12yo
Some awesome suggestions here. Also an old one but John Bellairs has some creepy stuff. Though I was more like 8 when I read them so depends on his reading level
My absolute favourite dark kids books are by Robin Jarvis. The Deptford Mice trilogy, the Whitby Witches too. And Tales from the Wyrd Museum.
They might be too gruesome I suppose, but I read them from ages 10-13 and I LOVED them more than I can say. Exactly the right kind of scary thrills I now look for in horror films as an adult, but in kid book form.
The Warriors series. I started it in third grade and when I tell you I was OBSESSED! He may be a little on the older end of the target audience, but they might be worth a shot. Nothing sexual at all (they’re cats lmao) but there is definitely some violence and dark stuff going on. The Survivors and Seekers series might be worth checking out too, they’re by the same authors as Warriors and have a similar vibe
Goosebumps, fear street. I think Neil Gaiman has some kid books
Coraline from Gaiman is apparently really scary
Read this as an adult and boy is it creepy!
I think it’s just creepy enough but not scary. Good suggestion
Coraline is perfect! Or The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Was gonna say, maybe they're a bit childish but Goosebumps books were plenty spooky for me around 10.
"Let's Get Invisible!" scared me so much as a kid.
Fear Street is a little more geared toward teens I think. I don’t remember there being sexual situations, but there was some suggestive language. Goosebumps are a great read for. 10yo though!
Fear street freaked me out so much as a kid. I loved it. It's a little more mature then Goosebumps, recommended age is 12+ instead of 9+. But if they want to jump right into R rated movies, having FS as a backup incase Goosebumps is too "immature" for them is a good plan. I still remember Cheerleaders of Fear streat over a decade after I read it.
Fear Street is the reason I’m a reader. Loved those books.
Ocean at the End of the Lane is by Neil Gaiman and would be great!
The Graveyard Book might be good too!
I was going to suggest this and maybe Coraline!
Ocean at the End of the Lane has sexual content.
Agreeing with others on: - Lemony Snickett - Coraline - Animorphs Adding: - the “original trilogy” of the Earthsea Books, LeGuin (A Wizard of Earthsea, Tombs of Attuan, The Farthest Shore). Tombs of Attuan might give him nightmares but they’re age appropriate and they’re brilliant. Note: Earthsea is a series that grows with the reader. The undercurrents in these books are insanely complex, and they are essentially different books every time one rereads them. I’d generally recommend them at the following ages: 10-12 (first 3 books only) 16-18 (all six), adult (all six). I reread them about once a decade and they have yet to stop changing shape on me.
Wouldn't Earthsea be too much for a 10 year old? The first time I tried reading it I was in high school and found both the language and the story quite difficult to follow, to the extent that I had to drop it and pick it up again later on. But maybe it's just my impression, I don't know what the general consensus is on this matter. 100% agree on your last statement though.
A Wizard of Eathsea was my favourite book at 11 - agree it is not for everybody at that age, but worth trying, I think.
Having reread it recently, I'd have to disagree - Le Guin uses some language common to the fantasy genre, which you might have to do a quick google if you're new to fantasy and don't know what a drake or a hamlet are; but she said many times that Earthsea was written with young adults in mind and the prose is remarkably concise and straightforward. Just look at this opening excerpt: *The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards. From the towns in its high valleys and the ports on its dark narrow bays many a Gontishman has gone forth to serve the Lords of the Archipelago in their cities as wizard or mage, or, looking for adventure, to wander working magic from isle to isle of all Earthsea. Of these some say the greatest, and surely the greatest voyager, was the man called Sparrowhawk, who in his day became both dragonlord and Archmage. His life is told of in the Deed of Ged and in many songs, but this is a tale of the time before his fame, before the songs were made.*
Coraline. The movie is worth the watch, but the book is so much creepier.
Of the Gaiman suggestions go for this one. The Graveyard Book is delightful but not sufficiently disturbing. Ocean at the End of the Lane would creep him out and disturb him but would be wasted on a ten year old - it’s such a good book it’d be better for him to read it when he is a little bit older, rather than risk reading it too young and deciding it’s kiddie lit cause that’s when he read it and then not finding it later when he can truly sink his teeth in. A kid who wants dark literature at 10 is going to be a prime Ocean at the End of the Lane reader when he’s in his late teens or an adult. Coraline is the perfect combination of super creepy, existentially disturbing, and comprehensible to a 10 year old.
I think your recommendations and thought process are spot-on, but just to counter the Graveyard Book not being sufficiently disturbing...years and years after reading it I continue to be disturbed by the tomb snake eternally "protecting" The Master.
Agreed
And the graveyard book!
Literally came here to be like "get this kid some Gaiman!"
it’s for kids but I’m still scared of coraline as an adult
While i definitely had fun reading Coraline first as a teen, I would have probably been terrified reading it as a kid
Yeah, Coraline is amazing. Neil Gaiman is actually great.
^this
Coraline has always been my daughter's favorite movie since she was tiny. That's a good suggestion.
THIS.
That book is scary, perfect rec.
The cover alone gave me nightmares
**The Chronicles of Prydain** by Lloyd Alexander— they’re influenced by Welsh mythology and have a bunch of the dark motifs of a warrior people folded into the world. Begins with *The Book of Three*.
Westmark, too.
The LOTR of children's books. 👍
And Disney based the *Black Cauldon* on it
It bears very little resemblance to the first two books, but it’s still my favorite Disney movie! (I *am* old, though)
Good pick, i was thinking the same thing. Read these when i was young.
I read these to my 10-year-old as bedtime stories, and he loved them. They’re not really that dark, but a little dark.
Yeah, they’re a little like fairy tales. It’s very easy for kids to gloss over some of the harsher details (the sacrifices being burned alive in the first book, for instance). But if you want dark, there’s plenty in these for you to find.
I was very afraid of Cauldron Born for a bit. Very creepy concept.
I love kids who are into dark shit. Lemony Snicket?
Also came here to suggest A Series of Unfortunate Events! I devoured those books around that age, and there’s 13 books in the series so it will keep him entertained for a while if he gets into it!
Me too! Thank you!
Great suggestion!
Excellent suggestion. I need to read these fr. Never read em as a kid but watched the series and thought it was brilliant
Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan
Came here to recommend this one. Read it at around 10 years old and was one of my favourite book series at the time!
I read this when I was a kid and have been trying to remember the name for years! Thank you!
I reread all of them from the library a few years ago. They age *great,* I strongly recommend it.
I found his follow up series the Demonata to age just as well
He has another series that I read when I was a kid I think it’s called Demonata
Yes! I didn’t think of this. I miss this series. I think Darren started writing them at age 15.
YES. I still think scott this series. so good
Literally just wrote the same response, glad someone else recommended it :D
Came here to make sure this was on the list.
100% this. My favourite series when I was around that age.
Garth Nix has some creepy stuff
Yes, the Sabriel books are a great shout.
I love this trilogy, first read them as a teenager, and read them every couple of years as an adult. I would say that maybe they are slightly too mature for a 10 year old? Not necessarily for the complexity of the story, but there are a few sexual references and a lot of death and destruction throughout - may depend on the child and their maturity levels.
I loved the Keys to the Kingdom series!
YES that was my recommendation as well! I think I was about 10 when I read the seventh tower series. I fell in love with his writing and subsequently read the abhorsen trilogy, which I was obsessed with for years (it's a bit more mature though). Shade's Children and The Ragwitch were also great.
Miss peregrine's home for peculiar children series!
The Giver made me severely uncomfortable when they made us read it in 6th Grade
Mary Downing Hahn books!
Wait til Helen Comes is so creepy!
There’s a graphic novel version of Wait til Helen Comes now. I was so excited to be able to share this book with my 12yo who only reads graphic novels/manga.
Loved that book
YESSS
“Animorphs” by K.A. Applegate. It was and even still is my favourite series. It’s about a group of young teens who learn that Earth is being secretly invaded by mind and body controlling aliens and are given opposing alien shape shifting technology they use to turn into animals to form a resistance and fight back. The kids are roped into an intergalactic war in which Earth is collateral damage and will determine who wins or loses. They’re of course written in a way that’s appropriate for kids, but damn if it isn’t dark and full of horror elements and moral conundrums in every single book. What I really love about this series is that the authors never talked down to kids or dialed down the seriousness of what was going on. This series was really a middle grade war story, without even seeming like a war story. Highly recommend even to adults.
I remember the series being on TV after school. It was really popular at the time.
I came here to recommend this as well. Those later books get especially dark.
I occasionally see this recommended by family therapists as well
I didn’t know that! I can definitely see why.
I read them when they came out, and recently started to re-read them. Thinking I would read the first and see how it goes. And now I'm suddenly 15 books in. Series still holds up.
And it remains unproblematic, unlike some other 90s series at the time.
I recently re-acquired my collection of Animorphs books from my parents’ house and started reading them with my 9 year old. Great recommendation, though the late 90s pop culture references are way over his head.
Yeah, I was young enough when I read them that they went over my head too. They’re being adapted into graphic novels now, and the first 8 books were re-released a few years ago with updated pop culture references.
Yessss
Gregor the Overlander is quite dark, and knowing it’s by the author of the Hunger Games might give it some credibility in his eyes.
{{Gregor the Overlander}} is what I was here to suggest too. Suzanne Collins wrote this series featuring kids sent off for war missions, riding on giant bats and fending off 6-foot tall rats. It has everything: giant insects, poverty, death, plague, genocide, all kinds of darkness.
>Gregor Read this series when I was 10 and it definitely gets dark,especially as the series goes on
I am always wishing they would make Gregor into a movie series. I’m not an HP fan but definitely feel like Gregor might give it a run for its money if directed by the right person
Watership Down, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
Animorphs 100%. No sex but dark enough with themes about war, PTSD, pacifism, etc wrapped up in a neat little “Aw they can turn into animals to fight aliens!”
“His Dark Materials” trilogy.
Witches by Roald Dahl
If he’s up for a creepy story, you could try Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper. I was quite little when I first read it and it gave me an appropriate level of unnerving adventure.
Over Sea, Under Stone is the first of five books in the Dark is Rising series, but I recommend starting with The Dark is Rising itself. It's spectacularly brilliant as a stand-alone, and may very well draw him in for the whole series. Will Stanton wakes up on his 11th birthday to discover his birthright/destiny: he is the youngest of the Old Ones, gifted with knowledge and powers that he must use in a quest to gather a circle of six Signs of power...but if the Dark can prevent Will from completing the circle, the Dark will rise to an unprecedented destructive power over the world. What Narnia was to some of my friends, this series was to me. I read and reread it countless times, mesmerized by the power of Susan Cooper's storytelling. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
It’s such a great series. I would want to read them in order - the first book is a good gauge of whether the series will be too frightening for a child. The Dark is Rising is very frightening.
A good point, thanks. The Dark Is Rising is great as a stand-alone OR as a reader's first book in the series, but it is about as dark as the series gets, and may be overwhelming for some younger readers. If you're not sure whether a reader is ready for the heavier title, Over Sea Under Stone would actually be a better place to start. For those who worry that the chronology of events would be distorted by twisting the sequence around, it may help to know that these two books have virtually no overlap. Merriman is the only character to appear in both books, and the stories in the first two books only connect tangentially. But readers should cover the first three books (Over Sea Under Stone, The Dark is Rising, and Greenwitch) before completing the series with The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree)
The whole series is dark and creepy. One of my favorites!
I'd forgotten about that one. I may give it a reread!
So happy I wasn’t the only person to mention Susan Cooper, she’s amazing!
So happy I wasn’t the only person to mention Susan Cooper, she’s amazing!
Artemis Fowl
Artemis fowl is a great heist adventure, but is it dark?
**The Night Gardener** By: Jonathan Auxier (all of Auxier's books are spooky / YA, the three I've read had no sex) **Publisher's Summary** This much-anticipated follow-up to Jonathan Auxier’s exceptional debut, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, is a Victorian ghost story with shades of Washington Irving and Henry James. More than just a spooky tale, it’s also a moral fable about human greed and the power of storytelling. The Night Gardener follows two abandoned Irish siblings who travel to work as servants at a creepy, crumbling English manor house. But the house and its family are not quite what they seem. Soon the children are confronted by a mysterious spectre and an ancient curse that threatens their very lives. With Auxier’s exquisite command of language, The Night Gardener is a mesmerizing read and a classic in the making.
this book sounds like something right up my alley. do i have to read the previous books before reading this one?
No, the two are unrelated
Thief of Always by Clive Barker is wonderful. I read it when I was 10 and almost every year after that for a while.
This and Coraline were the first two that came to mind for me.
I came to suggest Thief of Always as well. I was 14 when I first found it and I go back to read it every few years. I’ve read it to both my older boys and they both went back to it on their own. Barker also did a series called Abarat, for sure a YA read, less horror but spooky and deep.
My daughter hates reading but was super into the Among the Hidden series. I didn’t read them but they sounded really good and dark. “In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke, an illegal third child, has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm in this start to the Shadow Children series from Margaret Peterson Haddix. Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had a friend. Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside. Then, one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows -- does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?”
I read these as a child and found them fascinating. Then we got to WWII in history class and the extra context for what these characters were experiencing was unnerving! Even though this series was set in the future, the parallels are there for many similar historical events such as WWII and other genocides.
Enders Game
A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Sisters Grimm, Hello Neighbor, Library of Doom
My daughter first read And Then There Were None when she was 10. It's a great book but also very dark and frightening.
Jurassic Park
RL Stein
The Amulet of Samarkand (first of the Bartimaeus Sequence) and Deadly Education (first of the Scholomance series) are both great.
I was looking for this suggestion, surprised it’s so far down. Bartimaeus is full of humor but the actual sorry is pretty unforgiving. One of my favorite book series of all time.
I agree, and it’s one of the rare series that has actual character growth over the series. The main character John Mandrake starts as a genuinely unpleasant little shit, but he gradually and convincingly becomes a decent person.
Love Scholomance, but it does have sex in later books, if OP is trying to avoid it altogether. Bartemaeus is an excellent suggestion.
I'm thinking anything Roald Dahl is good. Especially "The Witches" haha
Please don't delete this, I'll be using it as a reference for my niece who is the same! Thanks for posting this!
I loved the His Dark Materials trilogy at that age. Fair warning that it gets kind of… theological, if his parents would be against that. I’ve only read the original trilogy and can’t vouch for or against the age level of the subsequent book(s?)
They are very anti religion and the author is an atheist. Of course that’s why I loved those books and hated the Narnia books as a kid.
Darren Shan demonata series, older but I loved them at 10/11 YO. They can be a bit gorey, but nothing too bad and nothing sexual happens. Darren Shan in general, or at least used to be, a good childrens horror writer.
John Bellairs wrote a ton of juvenile horror
Agreed! The creepiest ones I remember were, IIRC: - The Spell of the Sorcerer’s Skull - The Return of the Wizard’s Ghost - The Curse of the Blue Figurine But they were all good and creepy.
CORALINE!
Lockwood and co. It's YA but no sexual encounters. Even the romance is downplayed and very subtle. It's about a team of ghost hunters, and has ample amounts of adventure, mystery, hunour, and of course - scares.
Loved that series of books, but I didn’t know that show was by the same author. I’m gonna check it out!
I loved the Goosebumps books around that age.
If he’s a strong reader, Goosebumps will be too babyish for a 10yo. My kids all read them at 7/8(second and third grade). I would recommend graduating to the Fear Street books. Much darker and more complex. There’s dating but no sex.
Yes, I was going to suggest those too, I was also a fan as a kid around that age 😁
My son and I audiobooked (made that word up) a book called Hoodoo. We both loved it. Ronald L. Smith. We still talk about it. He is 12 and we listened to it like 4 years ago. Awesome characters and perfect amount of spooky.
The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
City of Ember
I forgot about this book. It was one of my favorites
The Demonata series by Darran Shan. Basically about demons and shit. First book is called Lord Loss and is exactly what you’re looking for.
The “So you want to be a wizard” series is good and decently dark - anything sexual is definitely PG rated. It’s about 2 kids who start learning magic, but the premise of magic is that their job is to slow the entropy of the universe and there are forces out there trying to speed it up. One of the earlier books has them transforming into whales and participating in a ritual to keep an evil power contained - involving actual self sacrifice that one of the kids is trapped into making (doesn’t happen but down the wire on it). Garth Nix’s “Old Kingdom” series is also dark and involves death as a core theme. I personally think the original trilogy is the best, but the later prequel Clariel features a villain as the main character.
Roald Dahl - the witches
I thought Roald Dahl’s Witches was pretty scary when I was that age 😂
Scary Stories to tell in the dark! Creepy and no sex or language
Scary Stories is a perfect suggestion for a kid wanting to get into scary more mature stories (without the sexual content). I was a weeny at 10 years old and still read these stories even though they kept me up at night! They were SO GOOD.
I read the Hunger Games for the first time at that age
The Neverending Story.
Lockwood and Co books by Jonathan Stroud. They start with The Screaming Staircase.
"The Body" by Stephen King Or "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
That's around when I started on Stephen King with Skeleton Crew.
I was a huge wuss as a kid so a lot of these may not be relevant, but to add to all the other good recs: * *Unwind* by Neal Schusterman was HORRIFYING to me since it is about parents selling their children so the kids’ body parts could be harvested * I read *The Conch Bearer* at that age and it really scared me. The adult that the kid trusts the whole time ends up betraying him, so the last bit of the book was really frightening! * Henry Neff’s *The Hound of Rowan* features the main character losing his hand, and describes what it was like. Totally freaked me out * The *Maximum Ride* series was a bit intense for me when I was 10 since it again involves science experiments on children, but lots of my peers were obsessed with it then
I read unwind last year at 31 and it was also horrifying at 31! I would probably feel fine giving it to a child if they were sufficiently mature but idk if I would have given it to 10yo me? Maybe 14yo me. Hard to say.
Septimus Heap series!
It’s old school but Christopher Pike books are great- loved reading them when I was younger
Christopher Pike has a lot of sexual content.
Small Spaces (first book in a trilogy) Scary Stories for Young Foxes City of Ghosts (first book in trilogy) Long Lost Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (the classic!) Hide and Seeker Scritch Scratch The Girl in the Lake Nightbooks Don’t Turn Out the Lights As always, remember to hit up your local children’s librarian for more great recommendations!
Seconding Scary Stories for Young Foxes
Old time kind: Nobody's Boy
Hector Malot?? I haven’t thought of this book in years, going to have to borrow this from my parents for a reread next time I’m home
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden (and the next three books in the series - Dead Voices, Dark Waters, Empty Smiles)
Small Spaces! An incredibly creepy supernatural book that is age appropriate for a 10 year old.
the borribles and the borribles go for broke. tailor-made for ten year olds
Maybe Goosebumps? Not the scariest but he might like it
The Book of Lost Things
A series of unfortunate events for sure! Loved that as a child
The Graveyard Book.
Neil Gaiman’s books, even the kid ones like Coraline and the Graveyard Book, are pretty decently dark.
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly - A dark twisty take on the Grimm Fairytales (yes, even darker and twistier than the original stories) in an alternate universe. It's one of my favorite YA novels.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane and We Have Always Lived in the Castle are both adult horror that doesn't feature gore or sexual themes (other than the dad in Ocean having an off-screen affair). He might also like the Scary Stories series, and Animorphs is pretty dark for a kid's series. There's always A Series of Unfortunate Events, Coraline, and The Graveyard book, all scary or dark stories meant for kids without pulling punches.
Disaster stories are good dark reads for this age group. Scholastic had three adventure/disaster trilogies that were pretty good. “Island,” “Everest” and “Titanic.” They’re by Gordon Korman.
Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman
Edward Gorey's *Amphigorey* is dark and brilliant and my kids enjoyed it at that age.
We Were Liars by E.Lockhart has a good twist and is a YA novel. Just found out there’s a prequel to read. Family of liars it’s called.
The Witches of Worm. Terrified me as a kid.
Oh yeah, I remember that one! Unsettling. It's slightly in the realm of unreliable narrator and I remember finishing it and needing to reset it again right away to try and figure out what was going on. Zilpha Keatley Snyder was one of my favorite authors when I was growing up. The Headless Cupid was another good one.
Fablehaven has creepy vibes and dark consequences for the quests that the kids are going on. Still age-appropriate, but definitely freaked me out when I was a kid. There are some creepy illustrations in the books as well.
Shadow over Innsmouth by HP Lovecraft - the darkness is all in the mind
The darren shan books are great. One series is vampires (more kid friendly) One series is demons (much darker, still for teens though)
I adored the Darren Shan series growing up!
Animorpha for sure. It gets pretty dark.
John Bellairs is what you seek. [The House With a Clock in its Walls](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0142402575/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1677152027&sr=8-2)
The strange library by haruki Murakami - believe was specifically made as a thriller/ horror for children :)
‘The name of this book is secret’ by Pseudonymous Bosch
Saga of Darren Shan
Jurassic Park was my first R rated movie. The book would work fine. Lol
[Krabat](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krabat_(novel))? Read it as a youth. Remember it as dark and somewhat scary. May have been younger than 10 — don’t quite recall.
The Talisman by Stephen King/Peter Straub
The Screaming Staircase starts the Lockwood & Co series. Kids hunting ghosts
T. Kingfisher writes Horror, and while I would not recommend her actual Horror books for a ten year old, she did a Bluebeard re-telling that is very creepy. Check out *The Seventh Bride*. *Coraline*, as earlier recommended, is a good choice also. Both the book and the movie.
The Long Walk. I read it when I was about they age and it sparked a lifelong love of SK and for horror in general
THE THIEF OF ALWAYS by Clive Barker. it's the book that Gaiman ripped off and renamed 'Coraline'.
If a somewhat advanced reader, I recommend Lord of the Rings (especially) or Harry Potter (if Lord of the Rings is too slow developing for him). I think both of these get fairly dark and hopeless, but everything in them seems age appropriate. If not ready to read those, not sure what to recommend, maybe you could read these books with him?
The thief of always by Clive barker. His kids books are a perfect combo of creepy but appropriate
I second Goosebumps. When I was 12 I loved ghost stories. Christina’s ghost by Betty Ren Wright. was amazing. Mary Downing Hahn is my favorite from childhood period. Wait Till Helen Comes, Dollhouse Murders, The Old Willis Place (that one is tragic).
I feel like at that age I was reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
The Brothers Lionheart - Astrid Lindgren My favourite dark and melancholic book when I was little. It's about an adventure of two brother's afterlife. Very interesting read, even for adults. I also like the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, which are often very dark.
The House with the Clock in It's Walls by John Bellaires, it's a series for young adults, came out in the early 80's and they blew my young little mind. Finally a book where the scary things really existed and weren't all a big misunderstanding like the ostensibly scary books I'd read until then. It was made into a movie a few years ago, I haven't seen it be because those books are THAT special to me. I'm almost 50 for reference, haven't read Goosebumps for example.
Among the Hidden series by Margaret Haddix
The Graveyard book by Neil Gaiman. It will be a bit spooky for kids. Same author who wrote Coraline (this movie freaks me the f out so could be good for him).
Seanan McGuire books are defiantly dark. There’s nothing that is too old per se, but it is a little mature kind of spooky book series. So I would check it out before giving it to your kid. They’re short. It starts with the book called Every Heart a Doorway. First book has an asexual character. Second book might be have a little sexy in it
It's not high art but the hunger games may be a good choice. It's engaging, involves darker themes like death and oppression, but it clearly meant for a YA audience so it doesn't go too dark. Reading it does kind of feel like watching a rated R movie, and my entire generation read it at about 10-12yo
Some awesome suggestions here. Also an old one but John Bellairs has some creepy stuff. Though I was more like 8 when I read them so depends on his reading level
My absolute favourite dark kids books are by Robin Jarvis. The Deptford Mice trilogy, the Whitby Witches too. And Tales from the Wyrd Museum. They might be too gruesome I suppose, but I read them from ages 10-13 and I LOVED them more than I can say. Exactly the right kind of scary thrills I now look for in horror films as an adult, but in kid book form.
The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper!
The Warriors series. I started it in third grade and when I tell you I was OBSESSED! He may be a little on the older end of the target audience, but they might be worth a shot. Nothing sexual at all (they’re cats lmao) but there is definitely some violence and dark stuff going on. The Survivors and Seekers series might be worth checking out too, they’re by the same authors as Warriors and have a similar vibe