Kid tested, librarian approved: Scary stories

It's time for camp outs, sleepovers and scary stories! My favorite scary stories are short, not so sweet, a little bit funny with an all-important BOO GOTCHA! Why a short fast read you ask? So, you can read another and another and still want to read another and scare yourself, fellow campers or slumber party guests. I'm recommending books with collections of short stories or one-story quick reads.

Mirrored, #3 in The Nightmare Club series by Annie Graves

Abbey’s best friend is her reflection – Bee, the mysterious girl who looks just like her and lives on the other side of her mirror. Bee understands Abbey better than anyone else. Unfortunately, Abbey trusts Bee too much – enough to switch places. Hmmm, not such a great idea. I enjoyed getting to know Abbey’s quirky nature and her tiny but mighty sense of adventure. Definitely camp/sleepover worthy! The intro to the book about Annie Graves is hilarious.

More The Nightmare Club books by Annie Graves

• A Dogs Breakfast #1 in the series
• Help! My Brother’s A Zombie #2 in the series
• Guinea Pig Killer #4 in the series

Rise of the Balloon Goons, #1 in The Notebook of Doom series by Troy Cummings

Alexander just move into the town of Stermont. The elementary school is being torn down and his new classroom is in the hospital morgue. He finds a notebook full of information about monsters and everywhere he turns there are spooky balloon men determined to attack him. I enjoyed Alexander's crazy, great imagination.

This series has easy-to-read text, interesting content, fast-paced plots and illustrations on every page. I know kids fly through these books and become voracious little monster readers. Camp/sleepover approved!

There are 14 The Notebook of Doom books by Troy Cummings you can check out.

Check Out the Library Weenies by David Lubar

This is a fun, outrageous collection of warped and creepy tales for young readers. There are 30 hilarious and harrowing stories for avid and reluctant readers.

My favorite story in this book is How to Slay Vampires for Fun and Profit. Johann never liked to read. His parents dragged him to the library so they could hear a local author speak. He found a book in the poetry section, obviously mis-shelved, How to Slay Vampires for Fun and Profit. Johann and his friends decide to try it out. I can’t tell you anymore, it would give too much away but it is really, really, 5 pages of really good!

At the end of all David Lubar’s books he tells you how he was inspired to write every story. Great short stories! Camp/sleepover approved!

There are 8 Weenies books at the library. I just had to put Library Weenies first because, well, library. The Curse of the Campfire Weenies is also great!