Ghosts and ghouls and vampires, oh my! But wait we’ve got monsters and zombies and witches too! This collection of scary graphic novels for tweens (age 9-12 years) is perfect for kids who love a little horror in the lead up to Halloween… and all the dark nights in between!
Just as a FYI, while some of the books on this list are dark and scary, others some are not-so-spooky despite featuring characters considered traditionally evil or feared (think witches and ghosts!), so be sure to look through our description and the associated reviews at Amazon and be selective if you want a more traditional horror graphic novel to read. Many of these titles, both those that are lighter and those that are scary, explore themes that are super relevant to pre-teens, including negotiating friendships, finding ones own true identity, anxiety, and even grief.
As with all of the lists in our Best Graphic Novels for Kids collection, each title in this list links to an Amazon page (these are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you) where you can find more information and reviews for titles you might not be personally familiar with.
Witches are real and very, very dangerous! They wear ordinary clothes and live in ordinary towns and there’s nothing they despise more than children! When an 8 year old boy and his grandmother come upon the Grand High Witch herself, they may be the only ones who can stop the witches’ plot to get rid of every last child in the country! Age 9+ years.
Fans of the popular game will love joining the comic book version of Nate Timely and Patrice Blazing as they fight the war to save Neighborville from brain hungry zombies. With a little help from Patrice’s Uncle Dave and an army of plants, they might just have a chance of winning the war against the Zomboss! Age 9+ years.
Coraline, feeling ignored by her overworked parents, finds an alternative world behind a previously locked door in her home where an alternative apartment just like hers exists. But in this other apartment she also finds an “other mother” and “other father” who promise her everything she wants from life as long as she stays with them forever. But is this other life just too good to be true? A classic, creepy story that will hook readers ages 9+ years.
Catrina and her family move to the coast of North California, Cat is told it is for her father’s work. But she know her sister, Maya, is very sick and that is the real reason for the move. As the sisters explore their new home and neighborhood they soon realise that there are ghosts in Bahia de la Luna. Whilst Maya is desperate to meet one, Cat must learn to overcome her fears for the sake of her sister, especially as the Day of the Dead fast approaches. Age 9+ years.
Each of the Goosebumps Graphix series combines three or four creepy classics from the popular Goosebumps stories and re-imagines them as graphic stories by various graphic novel illustrators, each with a distinctive illustrative style. The first collection, Creepy Creatures, includes the tales The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight and The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena. Age 9+ years.
Serafina lives in the basement of the magnificent Biltmore mansion, the home of the wealthy and influential Vanderbilt family. She’s lived there all of her life with her Pa taking care of her, but the Vanderbilts have no idea she’s even alive. With the entire estate to roam, she must take care never to be seen by the rich folks upstairs, and never to leave the estate grounds to venture into the forbidden forest nearby. But, when the children of the estate begin to vanish, only Serafina knows the truth. Her life is thrown into turmoil on the night that she witnessed the Man in the Black Cloak vaporize a child into thin air. And now, he wants her. With the help of Braeden Vanderbilt, the young master of Biltmore Estate, they must stop him before he strikes again. Age 10+ years.
Aster is the son of magic users and in his world women become witches who do magic and men shape shift. But Aster is fascinated by magic, and knows it is his destiny to be a witch like his mother and sister, not a shapeshifter. When the boys in his family begin to disappear it becomes clear that a dark and powerful evil force is preying upon his people. Aster believes he has magic that will help but his family objects to his using it. Will Aster find the courage to act against their wishes, to save his family and be truly himself? Age 10+ years.
Moth just doesn’t fit in. And this is certainly not going to get easier following her accidental discovery that she is actually a witch! Moth’s family has a long and complex history in the town of Founder’s Bluff, a place with a history of hunting witches. And now, Moth has to decide who she is going to be. Her mother stopped using magic to live a normal life, whilst her grandmother loved magic so much, she gave up the real world to protect it. Neither option really works for Moth. So as secrets continue to surface about her town, her family and herself, Moth finds herself on an adventure packed with heart as tries to figure out how to stay true to herself, her family and her friends. Age 10+ years.
Beetle, a young goblin witch, spends her days training under her Gran, trying to master goblin magic, learning how to ride a broom, and hanging out at the local mall with her BFF Blob Ghost (BG), who is cursed to never leave the mall! When Beetle’s old best friend, Kat, returns from magic boarding school where she’s earned her sorcery stone and has over 2,000 followers on Swarm, Beetle wonders how she’ll ever re-connect with her old friend. Which is exactly what she needs to do, as Beetle discovers that Kat’s cunning aunt is planning to buy the mall and knock it down. Can Beetle find a way to restore her friendship Kat in order to save BG? Age 10+ years.
Orphaned Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. He lives there following the brutal murder of his family. Granted the Privilege of the Graveyard and taught how to fade into the background, Bod spends his entire childhood playing among graves, learning his letters from the gravestones, running into trouble with ghouls, being tutored by a werewolf with a taste for Eastern European food, and dancing with Death. And all the while the evil that tried to murder him in the first place is still searching for him! A clever story that is both creepy and nostalgic with a bittersweet ending. Age 10+ years.
When Effie is orphaned and sent to live with her eccentric aunts she quickly realizes that things are not as they seem – Carlota and Selimene are actually witches…and Effie might be one too! With a new school, new friends and new abilities for Effie to manage, this is a story full of humor and heart, with a cast of unforgettable, (mainly) loveable characters. Age 10+ years.
Lora is in no hurry to grow up. While other girls her age seem caught up in clothes and makeup and boys, she prefers the childhood activities she’s always known. A lover of all things spooky, she holds a seance and meets Alexa, the child ghost who died tragically young and haunts her house. While Lora is fearful of the future and growing up, Alexa has missed the opportunity to grow up, instead watching as generations of children have passed her by, tasking herself with being an imaginary friend to the countless youngsters who’ve come through the house, only to watch them grow up and forget her. This is a story of friendship and how good friends are everlasting, it’s about trying new things and about realizing that who you are changes as you grow. Age 10+ years.
Twelve year old Suee dresses in black, has no friends and likes it that way, even after starting at a new school. But when Suee starts hearing voices and discovers that her shadow has come to life, with seeming sinister plans for both herself and her classmates, Suee knows she has to act! One by one, her classmates are turning into zombie-like, hollow-eyed Zeroes, and her shadow is gaining power. Before long Suee understands that she must confront the secret that her shadow has been hiding under her own two feet, something very dark and sinister that could put all of the students, including some newfound friends, at risk. Age 10+ years.
Skye is a snarky teenager disappointed to be spending the summer with her dad and horrible step – mother (or step-monster!), only to discover that they are actually sending her away to summer camp. When she ends up on the wrong bus, Skye arrives at a camp full of real monsters, which – with her attitude – might just be the right camp for Skye! Along the way, she learns lessons bullying, about being herself, and that many monsters seem more human than the actual, regular people in her life. Age 10+ years.
It’s the start of a new school year and all AJ can think about is the amazing Nia Winters. But how can he get a girl as amazing as Nia is to notice him? Nia’s obsession with vampires leads AJ to an out-there plan: AJ will pretend to be a vampire himself. Little does he know, however, that Nia is not a vampire fan, but a committed slayer! Age 11+ years.
A magically unique story about friendship and family, and the importance of being kind, tolerant, loving and respectful. With a cast of wonderfully diverse characters, including Snapdragon who just doesn’t feel like she fits in, Jacks – who is called a witch by the townspeople but really just has a truly odd job, Lu – a transgender girl learning how to be herself, and a three legged puppy named Good Boy! Age 11+ years.
Matt and Judy are heartbroken when their beloved nanny, Ruby, passes away. When their new nanny Miss Swan arrives Matt immediately knows something isn’t quite right. Could she be the vicious local legend, the Witch of the Woods? Matt lives on the outskirts of the woods. The woods that no one goes into. Not even the police. The legend of the witch states that her family were accused of witchcraft and murdered many years ago and that she now seeks revenge by killing anyone who dares to enter the woods. When his friends arrive for a sleepover, ready to eat loads of junk food and watch scary movie after scary movie they do not realize that they are about to be starring in their very own horror movie!. Age 11+ years.
In this fun adventure, that is only a little scary despite all the ghosts, we meet July, a young girl whose mother died in childbirth. July can see ghosts. Not only that, July can also summon ghosts, and sometimes even converse with them. But this often gets her into trouble, especially with her dad who insists ghosts don’t exist! So July pretend ghosts don’t exist – which is incredibly difficult during Hungry Ghost month, when the Gates of the Underworld open and dangerous ghosts run amok in the living world! When July saves a boy ghost from being devoured by a Hungry Ghost, he becomes her first ever friend. Except William is not a ghost. He’s a wandering soul wavering between life and death, tethered to his living body by a red thread. As they embark on an journey to return William to his body, the two unearth a ghastly truth – they always been connected, and for William to live, July must die. Age 11+ years.
Hidden in the Nevada desert is a refuge for the Irregulars – super-powered men, women and children who belong to mythical, crytozoological, or alien species. It’s current occupants are six children – Omar is a tender-hearted Nepalese Yeti, Sylvie is a psychic will-o’-the-wisp, Jaali is a shapeshifting Nandi bear, Clarice is a newly-rescued selkie who rarely speaks, Newt is an alien lizard boy and Maggie is amphibious with cool tentacle-hair! When the kids’ safety is threatened by a corrupt agent working for The Collector who wants to keep the six as exhibits in his private collection, the children are forced to go on run with two goals – to protect each other and to find (or make) a home for themselves. During their thrilling adventures, they find allies in unexpected places, and discover that they’re far from alone in the world. Age 11+ years.
Marjorie recently lost her mom and her dad isn’t coping so well with his grief so Marjorie is handling a lot – school work, helping her younger brother Owen, and keep the family laundromat running. Wendell is a ghost who died too young and doesn’t have any friends in the ghost town he now resides in. Even death therapy isn’t helping, and in a desperate bid to find some purpose, he escapes to the human world. When Marjorie and Wendell meet, the initial encounter is as you might expect but with time respect based on mutual healing and helping develops between these two unlikely friends. Age 12+ years.
Thirteen year old Val and Lanie are the “others” in the small town of Bolingbroke. Val is autistic and Lanie is trans. Loneliness might have been what brought them together, but it’s their friendship and love of all things nerdy that has kept them together. When their history teacher offers Val the opportunity to complete a project based on her interest in parapsychology – aliens, ghosts, and the supernatural – the two start digging into local legends. What they don’t expect to find is that the supernatural is real, or that there’s a demon that has been part of their town’s history for centuries. A demon known as the Ojja-Wojja that they have accidentally set loose and now must stop before it destroys their small town, even if it means facing some of their worst fears in the process. Age 12+ years.
Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
One Comment
Hey there! ? Thanks for this awesome list of scary graphic novels for tweens! I’m always on the lookout for captivating reads for my kids. The variety here, from witches to ghosts, is fantastic. Can’t wait to dive into these spooky adventures with them. ?
Hey there! ? Thanks for this awesome list of scary graphic novels for tweens! I’m always on the lookout for captivating reads for my kids. The variety here, from witches to ghosts, is fantastic. Can’t wait to dive into these spooky adventures with them. ?