Ghosts book series in reading order

by Tite Kubo

by Marcia Thornton Jones

by Dori Hillestad Butler

by Nancy Atherton

by Jonathan Stroud

by R.L. Stine

by Walter Wick

by Casey Daniels

by Karen White

by Elisabetta Dami

by R.L. Stine

by Christopher Pike

by Terry Deary

by Marcia Thornton Jones

by Franklin W. Dixon

by Eve Bunting

by Eve Bunting

by Ben M. Baglio

by Peter Lerangis

R.L. Stine

589 books• 64 series

Robert Lawrence Stine, born October 8, 1943, is an American novelist who writes horror fiction for children. Goosebumps, the series Stine created, sold more than 400 million copies in 35 languages and grew into a franchise of two television series, video games, comics and two feature films. Fear Street, Stine's horror sequence for teenagers, passed 80 million copies and was adapted for film. Stine has been called the Stephen King of children's literature. The listing runs to 590 titles, from How to Be Funny (1978), published as Jovial Bob Stine, to How to Train Your Dummy, scheduled for 2027.

Tite Kubo is the professional name of Noriaki Kubo, a Japanese manga artist and character designer born 26 June 1977. Bleach, serialised from 2001 to 2016, is his central work and had more than 130 million copies in circulation as of 2022; Ichigo Kurosaki leads it. Zombie Powder and Burn the Witch sit alongside, and light novels, official character books and non-fiction volumes extend the Bleach line. The listing holds 92 books dated 2000 to 2020.

Marcia Thornton Jones, born July 15, 1958, is an American writer of children's books and the author or co-author of more than 135 elementary chapter books, picture books and mid-grade novels. Named among them is The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids; other work was co-written with Debbie Dadey, who carries a credit on 7 of the 125 catalogued titles. The listing opens with Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots (1990) and ends with Writing for Kids (2019). Further series include Ghostville Elementary, Bailey City Monsters, Barkley's School for Dogs and Keyholders. The books are short, at a median of 75 pages, and subjects name monsters, ghosts, teachers and humorous stories.

Heather Graham is the name under which Heather Graham Pozzessere, an American writer born on 15 March 1953, publishes mainly romance fiction; Shannon Drake is a further pen name. Graham's work has been published in about 25 languages, with more than 75 million copies printed. The catalogue records 311 books from Tender Taming (1983) to Destiny Rising (2026). Krewe of Hunters, Harrison Investigation, Cafferty & Quinn, Alliance Vampires, Keepers: L.A., New York Confidential and Finnegan Connection are among the Graham series. Subjects span historical, paranormal, contemporary and suspense romance.

Gertrude Chandler Warner (April 16, 1890 to August 30, 1979) was an American author who wrote mostly for children. Warner wrote the original book of The Boxcar Children, published in 1942, and the next 18 books in the series. Earlier catalogued titles include The House of Delight (1916) and The World in a Barn (1927), and Surprise Island (1949) and The Yellow House Mystery (1952) came after The Boxcar Children. Orphans, brothers and sisters, and mystery stories are among the subjects. The catalogue also carries Boxcar Children lines such as Adventures of Benny and Watch and Boxcar Children Great Adventure under Warner's name.

Joan Aiken

125 books• 12 series

Joan Aiken (Joan Delano Aiken, 4 September 1924 to 4 January 2004) was an English writer of supernatural fiction and alternative history novels for children. The Whispering Mountain (1968) won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and was commended for the Carnegie Medal, and Night Fall won an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1972. Aiken received an MBE in 1999 for services to children's literature. The catalogue lists 125 books from All You've Ever Wanted (1953) to 2020, including The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962) and the Wolves Chronicles, Arabel and Mortimer and Felix Brooke series.

Mary Downing Hahn writes ghost stories and mysteries for young readers. Born in 1937 and once a school librarian, Hahn published The Sara Summer in 1979 and has 41 catalogued books through The Old Willis Place (2024). Wait Till Helen Comes and Stepping On The Cracks are among the best known titles, and the Gordy Smith books form the one named series. Ghosts, witches, stepfamilies and family life recur as subjects.

Dori Hillestad Butler is an American children's author, born in Fairmont, Minnesota in 1965, who has also written magazine stories, plays and educational material. Her first book, The Great Tooth Fairy Rip-Off, appeared in 1997, and the catalogue now holds 55 titles through to Rabbit Rabbit (2025). Series include Haunted Library, King & Kayla, Buddy Files, Dear Beast and Treasure Troop. The Truth about Truman School (2008) addresses cyber bullying, and My Mom's Having a Baby reached the American Library Association's 2011 list of most challenged books. Books run to a median 115 pages.

Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin Christopher McFadden, an American author born on November 12, 1955. Pike writes mystery-thrillers, supernatural horror and children's fiction, mostly for young adults, with some adult fiction too. The catalogue lists 86 books from Getting Even and Slumber Party (both 1985) to Strange Girl (2015), with Chain Letter (1986), The Tachyon Web (1986) and Spellbound (1988) among the early titles. Series include Spooksville, Last Vampire, Remember Me, Final Friends, Alosha, Chain Letter and Witch World, and vampires, monsters and witches all appear among the subjects.

Ann M. Martin

446 books• 24 series

Ann Matthews Martin, born August 12, 1955, is an American writer of children's and young adult fiction and a Smith College graduate. The Baby-Sitters Club, first published in 1986, is the series Martin is known best for, and Martin remains involved with the series and its spin-offs. The catalogue lists 446 books, beginning with Inside Out and Bummer Summer in 1983. Related lines include Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries, California Diaries, Kids in Ms. Colman's Class, Main Street and Doll People. Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter: A Graphic Novel (2025) is the newest listed title.

Jonathan Stroud

28 books• 4 series

Jonathan Stroud is a British fantasy writer, born 27 October 1970, known for the Bartimaeus young adult sequence and the Lockwood & Co. children's series. The Bartimaeus sequence received the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire and Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, and Stroud's books have appeared on ALA Notable lists. Netflix announced a Lockwood & Co. television series in 2020, and filming began in July 2021. The catalogue lists 28 Stroud books from The Lost Treasure of Captain Blood (1996) to The Legendary Scarlett and Browne (2025), with The Amulet of Samarkand dated 2003.

Bruce Coville

132 books• 20 series

Bruce Coville has 132 books catalogued from The Foolish Giant (1978) to Aliens, Underwear, and Monsters (2022). Sarah's Unicorn (1979), Operation Sherlock (1986) and The Ghost in the Third Row (1987) are among the early titles. Series include My Teacher Is an Alien, Magic Shop, Unicorn Chronicles, I Was a 6th Grade Alien, Space Brat, Moongobble and Me, Nina Tanleven and A.I. Gang. Extraterrestrials, unicorns, monsters and humour fill the subjects. Coville, born May 16, 1950, writes young adult fiction and first published in 1977.

Celia Rees

30 books• 5 series

Celia Rees is an English author, born in Solihull in 1949. Rees studied History and Politics at Warwick University, taught English in Coventry comprehensive schools for sixteen years, and began writing during those years with the aim of writing for teenagers; teaching ended in 1989. Ghosts, witches, horror and historical adventure run through the work, and Witch Child, H.A.U.N.T.S., Colour Her Dead and the Supernatural Trilogy are the listed series. The catalogue holds 30 titles published between 1993 and 2020, from Every Step You Take (1993) to Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook (2020). The 1990s are the busiest decade.

Ghost stories crossed with murder investigation are Simone St. James's form. The Haunting of Maddy Clare (2012) opens a catalogue of 11 books that reaches A Box Full of Darkness in 2026, taking in The Broken Girls (2018), The Sun Down Motel (2020), The Book of Cold Cases (2022) and Murder Road (2024). The First World War, veterans and nurses appear among the earlier subjects. Every title stands alone.

Penelope Lively

65 books• 3 series

Penelope Lively, born in 1933, is a British writer of fiction for children and for adults, and holds the title Dame. Moon Tiger took the Booker Prize in 1987, and The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (1973) won the Carnegie Medal for British children's books. Her catalogue runs to 65 titles published between 1970 and 2021, from Astercote (1970) to Metamorphosis (2021), taking in The Whispering Knights (1971), The Driftway (1972), The House in Norham Gardens (1974) and A Stitch in Time (1976). Ghost stories, English social life, the Second World War, and space and time recur as subjects.

Cornelia Funke

51 books• 9 series

Cornelia Funke (Cornelia Maria Funke, born 10 December 1958 in Dorsten) is a German author of children's fiction, called Germany's bestselling author for children. Funke worked as a social worker and then a book illustrator, began writing novels in the late 1980s and writes mostly fantasy about children facing adversity. The catalogue lists 51 books from Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost (1993) to The Green Kingdom (2025), including Dragon Rider (1997) and The Thief Lord (2000). Inkheart/Inkworld and MirrorWorld are series.

Angie Sage, born 20 June 1952, is an English author of children's books. Septimus Heap, the TodHunter Moon trilogy and Araminta Spook (published as Araminta Spookie in the United States) are Sage's series. The catalogue lists 42 books, starting with Monkeys in the Jungle (1989) and ending with Midnight Train (2021). Subjects include magic, wizards, apprentices, ghosts, haunted houses and picture books.

Terry Deary

340 books• 41 series

Terry Deary is a British children's author, born in 1946, best known as the writer of the Horrible Histories series. Deary has written 351 books, which have sold more than 38 million copies in over 45 languages, and has ranked among Britain's best-selling authors since 1994. In 2012 Deary was the tenth most-borrowed author in British libraries, and Books for Keeps magazine named Deary the Outstanding Children's Non-Fiction Author of the 20th Century. The catalogue lists 340 titles from Teaching Through Theatre (1977) onward, including the True Stories and Tudor Terror series.

Elisabetta Dami

309 books• 22 series

Elisabetta Dami, born 1 January 1958, is an Italian children's author known for the Geronimo Stilton book series. The catalogue credits Dami with 309 books from 1998 to 2026. Titles from 2000 include Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye, Attack Of The Bandit Cats and Four Mice Deep in the Jungle. Other listings include Geronimo Stilton: Thea Stilton, Mouseford Academy, Kingdom Of Fantasy, Geronimo Stilton Cavemice, Geronimo Stilton Spacemice and Creepella von Cacklefur. Subjects include mice, journalists, time travel and humorous stories. The Legend of Chocolate Hills (2026) is the newest title.

Louise Cooper (1952–2009) was a British fantasy writer, born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, who lived in Cornwall with husband Cas Sandall. Cooper's first full-length novel appeared at age twenty, and after working in London publishing from 1975, Cooper wrote full time from 1977. The Time Master trilogy was a bestseller, and the total output exceeded eighty fantasy and supernatural novels for adults and children. The catalogue records 67 books from The Book of Paradox (1973) to The Bad Seed (2008), with series such as Indigo, Chaos Gate and Daughter of Storms.

Sport drives Rich Wallace's fiction for young readers. Basketball and soccer supply most of the plots, with teamwork, sportsmanship, competition and self-confidence among the listed subjects, across the Winning Season, Kickers, Game Face and Up2u series. Wallace's 43 catalogued books start at Riding Time and Wrestling Sturbridge in 1996 and end with Race Against Time: The Untold Story of Scipio Jones and the Battle to Save Twelve Innocent Men (2021). Volumes are short, at a median of 117 pages.

Nancy Atherton wrote one series and stayed with it: the Aunt Dimity mysteries, traditional English detective stories with a ghost inside them. Aunt Dimity is dead and still consulted, and inheritance, ghosts and a woman sleuth are the recurring subjects. Atherton's 25 catalogued books run from Aunt Dimity's Death (1992) to Aunt Dimity and the Enchanted Cottage in 2022, with nothing published since.

Avi is the pen name of Edward Irving Wortis, an American author of children's and young adult books born December 23, 1937. Avi won the 2003 Newbery Medal for Crispin: The Cross of Lead and was a Newbery runner-up in 1991 and 1992. The catalogue records 87 books from Things That Sometimes Happen (1970) to The Road From Nowhere (2026), and Rat Race is set for 2027. Series include Crispin, Dimwood Forest and Beyond the Western Sea. Ghosts, animals, adventure and mysteries appear among the subjects.

Phil Rickman wrote supernatural and mystery novels, publishing under the pen names Will Kingdom and Thom Madley as well as his own. Merrily Watkins, a woman priest in England, is the recurring figure, and exorcism, ghosts and the occult run through those books. 30 catalogued titles span Candlenight (1991) to The Echo of Crows (2026), among them The Wine of Angels (1998), Midwinter of the Spirit (1999) and A Crown of Lights (2001). The John Dee Papers and the Grayle Underhill and Bobby Maiden novels sit alongside. Rickman, born in 1950, died in 2024.