Spooky stories

The imminent arrival of Robin's uncle Charley during Robin's bout of chicken pox causes his mother to reminisce about the days she spent with Charley, Nick and the slightly mysterious Harriet.

A combination of ghost story and family fun.

Genres: Family, Humorous, Spooky

Peter and Mair Jenkins come to live in a village when their father becomes headmaster of the school there.

Intriguing, mixing semi-supernatural with modern superstition.

Genres: Coping with, Spooky

Timid 14-year-old Finn is recently orphaned and is staying with the elderly Meg & Bill.

Uninspired spooky story redeemed somewhat by the friendship between two different youngsters.

Genres: Friendship, Spooky

Bertie grows up in South Africa and befriends a lion cub which must go to a circus when he goes to school in England.

Genres: Growing-Up, Spooky, War

The galley-boy of the Flying Dutchman is set free when the Captain's blasphemy brings down God's wrath on him: while the ship and its crew must sail the seas forever, the boy and his dog are set free to roam the Earth, unageing, to do good.

Great premise, disappointing execution; Unobjectionable

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Spooky

Clare, a 14-year-old orphaned when young, is living with her great-aunts in the draughty big Victorian house her family has always owned when she finds the tribal tamburan her great-grandfather brought back from New Guinea.

A multi-layered book, exploring cultures which differ by place and by time. Clare's level-headedness and responsibility in the face of her elderly aunts' occasional inability to focus on the real world. The robust history and interests of Clare's aunts.

Genres: Growing-Up, Historical, Spooky, Thought-provoking

Nora Grey finds herself partnered for the Sex Education course in Biology by the dark and unknown Patch who seems to be able to tell her a lot about herself, making her uncomfortable in the process.

Dark and Light angelic beings closely akin to humans and who can possess humans to a limited extent. A very physical attitude to sex education although without anything explicit. Some self-sacrifice by friends and relatives for each others' good.

Genres: Romantic, Spooky

A hundred years ago, an inventor discovered a clock that could turn back time.

Genres: Adventure, SciFi, Spooky

A collection of short stories by different authors, each one having to do with mirrors.

Genres: Short, Spooky

Sir James Monmouth returns from 35 years abroad to England, the land of his birth, which he left when he was five.

Genres: Spooky

Bess Throckmorton attends a family reunion and meets the ghost of her ancestor Sir Walter Raleigh of cloak-over-puddle and tobacco fame.

Genres: Spooky

Three teenagers, a visting step-brother and sister and a local lad, find a dinner service decorated with a design which can be seen as owls or as flowers.

Genres: Magic, Spooky

In 1900 Australia, a part of teenage girls from a College for Young Ladies goes on a trip to Hanging Rock.

Genres: Classic, Historical, Spooky

Eliot's American mother dies in a mugging and he stays with his English cousins while his father comes to term with his grief.

Genres: Spooky

A mediaeval boy living at Green Knowe discovers that by going to the stones behind the house, he can meet the people who have lived and will live in the house.

Genres: Classic, Historical, Magic, Spooky

Lord Hunter travels on the Arctic Tern with a message of peace from Queen Elizabeth of England to the King of Spain.

Remorse at assisting in an evil act, however tempted; redemption by finding and punishing the person responsible.

Genres: Adventure, Historical, Seafaring, Spooky

Davy was always the submissive one in the gang, always happy to follow the more boisterous Chris and Paula, until the discovery of an old human skeleton in a chilling wood sparked off haunting and hallucinations for Davy.

Not too much character development and too abrupt an ending; Viking paganism and some ghostly and tragic events.

Genres: Magic, Spooky

12-year-old Lucy returns to Hagworthy to stay with her aunt.

Genres: Magic, Spooky

Rose, mother of Timothy (13) and Jane, is holidaying with her children on the Nortolk coast, partly to get away from her too-efficient businessman husband.

Genres: Family, Spooky