We get it. You’re practicing social distancing (or you should be). The kids are home from school. The libraries are closed. You’re looking for some books the kids can read (or that you can read to them)… preferably with repeat reading value. We’ve got you covered.

In this series, we’ll round up and quickly recommend some books that either (a) come cheap on Amazon and are well worth the price or (b) have ebook versions you can quickly and easily download.

Today we’re looking at a trio of books that all have “spooky” settings and are meant to instill a sense of unease. Yes, I know. We all have enough of that in the real world right now, but all three of these books also star a group of young protagonists who step up and overcome their fears.

Ronald L. Smith has quickly become one of my favorite middle grade authors, and I look forward to each new release with great relish. Along with his newest, Gloom Town, you really should seek out Hoodoo, The Mesmerist, The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away (and even his Marvel book, Black Panther: The Young Prince, which we reviewed here). All are available in ebook versions.

Smith’s books are perfect for young readers interested in exploring the world of horror or the paranormal – but within relatively “safe” parameters. Gloom Town centers on 12-year-old Rory who lives in the sleepy seaside village of Gloom. Almost as soon as he finds a too-good-to-be-true job working at the creepy local mansion (Foxglove Manor), he becomes embroiled in a nefarious supernatural plot involving magic and animal-human hybrids.

But Rory and his best friend Isabella have families – and all of Gloom – to protect from Lord Foxglove’s evil shenanigans. Magic and mayhem ensue!

Listen to our conversation with Ronald L. Smith on the GBBP here.

As the author of well over 200 books on the best-selling Goosebumps series, R.L. Stine is synonymous with kids’ horror. He’s the Stephen King of the elementary and middle school crowd. And now he’s got his eyes set on graphic novels. Just Beyond: The Scare School is the first in a series of all-new stories from Boom! Studios (part of their kid-friendly KaBOOM! imprint).

Written by Stine and illustrated by Kelly and Nichole Matthews, The Scare School follows two groups of kids in alternate realities – but both attend the same school run by Dr. George P. Scare (or the Master Dean, depending on the reality). One group is trying to escape to the other reality; one group accidentally fell through the portal between realities. But they’re all trying to stop Scare and restore order to their respective schools.

Book 2 in the series, The Horror at Happy Landings, is due out in May.

Another book from Boom! Studios’ KaBOOM! imprint, Hotel Dare is written by Terry Blas and illustrated by Claudia Aguirre. The story centers on Olive and her adopted siblings Darwin and Charlotte as they visit their grandmother Mamá Lupe in Mexico. Except Mamá Lupe lives in an old, run-down, super-creepy hotel. And that hotel happens to be the portal to an unlimited number of other worlds and realities. And the secret to closing the rift, healing old wounds, and uniting their fractured family is… an Aztec warrior? This is a great book about what defines (or what can’t truly define) a family.