Spooky Tales in the Snow

As winter continues to get colder, there isn’t much else to do but cozy up with a good book. In my personal longing to be drawn into the other seasons I turn to mysteries, those over the spooky summer months, a time where the night feels extra alive with movement. Given all of these spooky, nostalgic things I found the following books. I hope they keep you in that cozy mood, with only the occasional tingle down your spine.

“The Girl in the Walls” by Meg Eden

Written out in lines of poetry this story follows V, a young girl with recently diagnosed autism spending the summer with her grandma Jojo. Jojo is particular, always worried about presentation, and V doesn’t quite fit into all the boxes that Jojo wants her to. V is stuck here for the summer, peeling wallpaper and hearing all of Jojo’s criticisms. Until one day she hears a girl whispering through the walls. This story takes a unique approach to storytelling and the intergenerational impact of mental health stigmas and masking. Across four generations, the women of the family must confront the past, present, and future of their family and what it means to be different. I loved this unique writing style, with lines broken up to create a quick but satisfying read.

“Gloam” by Jack Mackay

Across a bridge, only accessible during low tide, Gwen lives with her step-father Henry and three younger siblings on Gloam Island. Perhaps not the coziest or most inviting home left to them by their late grandmother, Gwen and her family don’t have much of a choice. Everyone is adjusting alright to the new environment until Henry hires a babysitter to watch the children while he leaves the island for work. With a spooky house, a troubled family and an evil babysitter, will Gwen be able to conquer all and keep her family together? This book is equal parts creepy and heart wrenching, showcasing the power of siblings sticking together. Though the individual members of a family may be separated in various ways, the love and hope they have for each other is more powerful than any other force. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop, this book kept me on the edge of my seat until the tearful end.

“The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall” by Charis Cotter

By all accounts, Bee is a strange kid; quiet, and awkward, with almost inhuman listening skills. Bee doesn’t fit in at school, and now she doesn’t fit in at summer camp either. Between herself, a new friend, and a new enemy a mystery is beginning to unfold, one that the three of them hope to solve together. Missing campers, fairy lights, dying batteries, could these all be clues in the secret nighttime rituals of the teenage campers? Bee isn’t used to the world of secrets, but in breaking some rules she may uncover a case unlike any other in the history of Camp Blue Heron. As someone who spent many summer days out at camp through my childhood this truly captures the comfort of summertime days, and the eerie night life in a secluded forest. Fun characters and a winding mystery to boot, The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall will leave you longing to tell spooky stories around a summer campfire.

By Grace Champion

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