More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark cover – Books Like Goosebumps

Books Like Goosebumps: The Best Scary Books for Kids and Young Readers

Updated September 2026

Books Like Goosebumps: The Short Answer

The best books like Goosebumps by other authors are Katherine Arden's Small Spaces, Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Mary Downing Hahn's ghost stories and Roald Dahl's The Witches, with Eerie Elementary for younger kids. Like Goosebumps, they have short chapters, cliffhangers and scares that feel real but never go too far.

These are the ones we recommend most often, ranked roughly from least to most scary:

  1. Eerie Elementary by Jack Chabert (ages 6–8): a school that's alive and hungry.
  2. The Notebook of Doom by Troy Cummings (ages 6–8): monster-of-the-week chapter books.
  3. Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe (ages 7–10): a funny vampire-bunny mystery.
  4. The Witches by Roald Dahl (ages 8–12): funny, but properly creepy.
  5. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz (ages 8–12): the campfire classic.
  6. Small Spaces by Katherine Arden (ages 9–13): the best modern pick for a Goosebumps graduate.
  7. Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn (ages 10–13): a real ghost story, and a scary one.

Below is the full list of thirteen, grouped by what your reader enjoyed about Goosebumps, with first books, years, ages and a content note for each. If your reader hasn't finished Stine's own books yet, our Goosebumps books in order guide sorts out the original series and its sub-series, and our R.L. Stine books in order guide covers his other series.

In this guide:

For Younger Readers Who Want "Goosebumps Lite"

A lot of kids want Goosebumps at six or seven because an older sibling reads it. These early chapter books have the same monsters and the same cliffhangers, with bigger print and scares a first grader can handle.

Eerie Elementary by Jack Chabert

Start with: The School Is Alive! (2014). Sam Graves finds out his school is a living creature that wants to eat its students, and he's the hall monitor who has to stop it. It's part of Scholastic's Branches line, so there are pictures on most pages and the chapters are short.
Ages: 6–8. Content note: spooky hallways and grabbing floors; nobody gets hurt.

The Notebook of Doom by Troy Cummings

Start with: Rise of the Balloon Goons (2013). New kid Alexander finds a notebook full of monster sketches, and then the monsters start showing up in town. Each book has a new creature and a new notebook page, which is a lot like Goosebumps' one-monster-per-book setup.
Ages: 6–8. Content note: goofy monsters, mild peril.

The Haunted Library by Dori Hillestad Butler

Start with: The Haunted Library (2014). A young ghost named Kaz gets separated from his family and teams up with a human girl to solve ghostly mysteries. The ghosts in this one are the heroes, and it's more mystery than horror, which suits sensitive readers. If clues appeal more than chills, our gentle mystery series for 9-year-olds list is the better next stop.
Ages: 6–9. Content note: very gentle.

Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown

Start with: Creepy Carrots! (2012). This is a picture book, not a chapter book, but it's the one to hand the little brother who feels left out while everyone else reads scary books. Jasper Rabbit is sure the carrots are following him. It won a Caldecott Honor for Peter Brown's shadowy black-and-orange art.
Ages: 4–7. Content note: spooky in a giggly way.

For Readers Who Liked the Funny Side of Goosebumps

R.L. Stine always keeps a joke close to the scare. These books do too.

Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe

Start with: Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery (1979). Harold the dog tells the story of the family's new rabbit, who has fangs, sleeps all day and drains vegetables white. Chester the cat is convinced it's a vampire. It's a funny book that makes fun of horror stories, and there are several sequels.
Ages: 7–10. Content note: none; the scariest thing that happens is a colorless zucchini.

The Witches by Roald Dahl

Start with: The Witches (1983). Real witches, the book warns, look like ordinary women and hate children. A boy and his cigar-smoking grandmother take on the Grand High Witch. It's funny, but there's a real chill to it, which is also true of the best Goosebumps books. Quentin Blake did the illustrations.
Ages: 8–12. Content note: the boy's parents die in the opening pages, and the ending is bittersweet. Our Roald Dahl reading guide covers his other books.

For Kids Who Want Short, Scary Stories

The Goosebumps books are standalones, so a kid can pick any one off the shelf. Short-story collections are even easier to pick up and put down, and they're good for reading aloud under a blanket.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

Start with: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1981), then its two sequels. These are folklore and urban legends retold in a page or two each, many with a "jump" line at the end meant to be shouted. Look for editions with Stephen Gammell's original illustrations if you can. Those drawings are the reason a generation of adults still remembers these books.
Ages: 8–12. Content note: the Gammell artwork is honestly disturbing for some kids; the stories themselves are short and mostly not gory. Flip through it before you hand it over.

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker

Start with: Scary Stories for Young Foxes (2019). Fox kits sneak off to hear scary stories from an old storyteller, and the stories turn out to be about foxes they know. It won a Newbery Honor in 2020, and it's the most literary book on this list. A companion book, The City, followed in 2021.
Ages: 10–13. Content note: animals die, some of them on the page, and there's rabies and cruel humans. This is intense, and it's better for an older Goosebumps reader than for a younger one.

For the Goosebumps Graduate: Real Ghost Stories

This is the next step for a child who's read forty Goosebumps books and says none of them are scary anymore. The books are longer, the characters are more developed, and the fear lasts past the end of the chapter.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

Start with: Small Spaces (2018). Eleven-year-old Ollie grabs a strange old book from a woman who is about to throw it in a river, and a school field trip to a farm full of scarecrows goes badly wrong. The advice she's given for surviving the night is simple and creepy: stay in small spaces. It's the closest modern book to a really good Goosebumps, but longer and better written. It's the first of four, one for each season.
Ages: 9–13. Content note: kids in real danger, grief over a parent's death.

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn

Start with: Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story (1986). Molly's family moves to a converted church beside a graveyard, and her strange little stepsister starts talking to a ghost named Helen. Hahn is the author librarians give to kids who want something properly frightening, and this is her best-known book.
Ages: 10–13. Content note: a child's death in the backstory, blended-family tension, a ghost that means harm. It's the scariest book on this list.

Doll Bones by Holly Black

Start with: Doll Bones (2013). Three friends set out on a road trip to bury an antique china doll that may be made from a dead girl's bones. It's as much about growing up and outgrowing childhood games as it is about the doll. It won a Newbery Honor.
Ages: 10–13. Content note: a creepy premise and a strained father-son relationship; not gory.

For Fans of the Monsters and Folklore

Nightbooks by J.A. White

Start with: Nightbooks (2018). Alex loves scary stories, and now he's trapped in a witch's apartment and has to tell her a new one every night to stay alive. It's a sort of Arabian Nights for horror fans, and his stories appear inside the book. Netflix turned it into a film in 2021.
Ages: 9–12. Content note: a scary witch, kids held captive, some unsettling imagery.

The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste

Start with: The Jumbies (2015). On a Caribbean island, Corinne follows an agouti into the forest and draws the attention of the jumbies, the island's folklore creatures. A beautiful stranger then sets her sights on Corinne's widowed father. It's good for readers who want something different from the usual American suburb.
Ages: 9–12. Content note: monsters threatening a family, a mother's death in the backstory.

How Scary Is Too Scary?

Kids vary a lot, and age isn't the only thing that decides it. A few things we've learned from parents over the years:

  • Monsters are easier than ghosts. A Balloon Goon or a hungry school is obviously made up. A ghost in the house next to a real graveyard can feel possible, so Hahn keeps some kids awake when Goosebumps didn't.
  • Illustrations matter. The Gammell art in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark bothers more children than the text does. Newer editions have milder art, and that can be a reasonable compromise.
  • Read the first one aloud. If you're not sure, reading the first chapter or two together lets you watch how they react, and it makes the scary book something you did together rather than alone.
  • Animal deaths hit hard. Scary Stories for Young Foxes is beautifully done, but kids who can take any monster sometimes can't handle a hurt fox kit.

Scary books have a real benefit, too. They let children practice being frightened and then being fine. For a reluctant reader, a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter often works better than any reading chart. Our list of books for sixth grade boys who don't like reading has more picks built on that same pull.

Find Scary Books on Our Shelves

Used paperbacks are the natural home for spooky series. They get passed around sleepovers and nobody minds a creased spine. Browse our kids' books, or search for any title linked above to see what's in stock today. Each copy is one of a kind, so what's here this week may be gone next week. Orders over $15 ship free.

Frequently Asked Questions

What books are like Goosebumps but by other authors?

Our top picks are Small Spaces by Katherine Arden, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz, Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn, Nightbooks by J.A. White and The Witches by Roald Dahl. For younger readers, try Eerie Elementary or The Notebook of Doom.

What should a 7-year-old read if Goosebumps is too scary?

Eerie Elementary, The Notebook of Doom and The Haunted Library are all early chapter books with a spooky theme and gentle scares. Bunnicula is a funny step up for strong readers.

What should older kids read after Goosebumps?

Katherine Arden's Small Spaces quartet and Mary Downing Hahn's ghost stories are the natural next step. Doll Bones and Scary Stories for Young Foxes are more literary options for readers around 10 to 13.

Is Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark too scary for kids?

The stories are short folk tales and are fine for most kids 8 and up. The original Stephen Gammell illustrations are the part that frightens some children, so look through the book first.

Does R.L. Stine have other scary series?

Yes. His best-known other series is Fear Street, which is aimed at teenagers and is noticeably more violent than Goosebumps. See our R.L. Stine reading guide for the details.

What age are Goosebumps books for?

Most readers are between about 8 and 12. Confident younger readers often start at 7, and the original books are still quick, nostalgic reads for teens.

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