Boo! Gotcha!
What happens when you hear something go bump? You get scared right? Then what? If you are the adventurous sort, you will go to investigate. But if you are the type that gets frightened, you might just curl up in bed and wait…
Here are some books and movies with kids who got scared…okay may be just a little bit.
The Haunting of Aveline Jones
Phil Hickes
Aveline’s greatest love is reading ghost stories. At half term, she is sent to stay with her Aunt Lillian in a small, creepy town called Malmouth. Resigned to a dull, boring holiday, imagine her joy when one day she discovers a spooky old book. The stories are spine-tingling. Then she discovers that the book belonged to a girl called Primrose Penberthy who vanished mysteriously and was never seen again. Aveline’s curiosity is piqued and she wants to know more about Primrose. She enlists the help of her new friend Harold. However, now something or someone is after Aveline.
The Puffin Book of Spooky Ghost Stories
Introduction by Jerry Pinto
Thirteen may be unlucky for some but, for readers of ghost stories, it is a godsend. Thirteen stories of hauntings, dreadful happenings and creatures that go bump at night. If you thought deserted bungalows were haunted, then you are right. Then there is the reincarnation of the goddess who only wants sacrifices of blood. Is your school haunted? Well, here is a story of one that will make you wish you studied there, or not. All the best writers of spooky stories are from Paro Anand and Subhadra Sen Gupta to Jerry Pinto and Ranjit Lal.
The Canterville Ghost
Oscar Wilde
An all-time favourite, The Canterville Ghost never get boring. Set in the late 19th century, the story is about an American family that moves into Lord Canterville’s old home. They do not believe in ghosts and hence pooh-pooh all the stories they hear about the Canterville ghost. They move into the house and the ghost swings into action. There are bloodstains on the carpet that will never go away, and the sounds of clanking chains echo through the house at night. But, the family is not bothered. The ghost is now offended. What is he going to do?
The Haunted Horse: Kipling’s Greatest Ghost Stories
Rudyard Kipling
The man who gave us Kim also gave us some classic horror stories. Set in the time of the Raj, it is a time traveller’s delight. If you are not a cat person, then the story about the Sahib who finds ghostly cats everywhere even around his bed will surely spook you out. What about the gentle horse that causes accidents wherever she goes and the ghostly hoof beats that accompany her? There are 16 stories in this book and you have everything you ever need to scare you: ghostly children, haunted ships, treacherous amulets and phantom rickshaws. It’s sure to keep you up at night.
Scoob
A young, lonely Shaggy Rogers meets and adopts a talking Great Dane. He names the dog Scooby-Doo. On Halloween night, Scooby and Shaggy meet three other children – Fred Jones, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley. In a haunted house, they apprehend a thief disguised as a ghost. They form Mysteries Inc. and they hope to solve more mysteries. After 10 years and they decide to go into business, but the investor is not impressed with Scooby and Shaggy. The duo quit the group. In Takamoto bowling alley, they are terrorised and captured by shape-shifting robots. Will their friends come to rescue them?
Goosebumps
When Zach’s father passes away, he and his mother, Gale, shift to a small town in Madison, Delaware. He becomes friends with his neighbour Hannah. Gale gets a job at the local high school. Zach meets Champ, a friendly student though a bit cowardly. When Hannah invites Zach to an abandoned amusement park, Hannah’s father warns Zach to stay away from Hannah or bad things would happen to him. Zach is convinced that Hannah is in danger. One night, he and Champ enter Hannah’s house. They find a bookshelf with numerous locked manuscripts from the Goosebumps franchise. Thus begins their adventure.
Frankenweenie
Victor Frankenstein is a young scientist and amateur filmmaker. He lives in New Holland, a quiet town. His greatest love is his dog Sparky. His father, concerned about his isolation, encourages him to take up baseball. In his first game, Victor hits a home run. But Sparky chases the ball and is hit by a car and killed. Victor is inconsolable. At school, the new science teacher demonstrates the effect of electricity on dead frogs. Victor decides to reanimate his old friend with a bolt of lightning. Though he succeeds with his experiment, things are never right again.
Twelve-year-old DJ Walters documents the strange behaviour of Horace Nebbercracker who lives in the house across the street. On the day he sees Nebbercracker take away a little girl’s cycle and scaring her away, his parents leave town. He is in the care of a teenage babysitter named Zee. When DJ’s friend Chowder loses his basketball in Nebbercracker’s garden and tries to get it back, Nebbercracker stops him. But things go awry when Nebbercracker suffers a heart attack and has to be taken to hospital. Another friend, Bones, appears and tells them stories he has heard about Nebbercracker. But it is not Nebbercracker that is strange, the house is also.