Spooks

Anyone following this blog should know by now that I not only read books written for adults but also some written for "young adults" and children.  (I'm thinking the term "juvenile fiction" is probably going out of style because of the connotations of the word "juvenile.")  I just finished reading The Spook's Tale and Other Horrors by Joseph Delaney, one of the series (for older children, not quite young adults?) titled The Last Apprentice.  This series concerns the supernatural adventures of a young man, hundreds of years ago, who is apprenticed to a "spook", someone who battles witches and demons and evil creatures of many kinds.  The books in this series are all dark in mood and setting, but the stories are all compelling and chilling.

Somehow I'm reminded of the series of horror/supernatural/mystery novels for children written by John Bellairs.  When our daughter was growing up it was a family tradition for several years to get every new John Bellairs book that came out, and each member of the family would read it.  In contrast to the Last Apprentice series, the books by John Bellairs are set in present day, and are not as grisly, but there is plenty to capture the imagination.