With editors looking for shorter, more plot-driven middle grade projects these days, agents have seen an uptick in the horror genre for younger readers.

In 2023, the Bram Stoker Awards, presented annually by the Horror Writers Association, added a middle grade novel category, which Regina Brooks, president of Serendipity Literary Agency, cites as “clear recognition from the industry that this space is thriving.” She adds, “We’re definitely seeing more horror submissions. The strongest projects deliver age-appropriate scares, often blending horror with mystery, humor, or fantasy. They feature relatable characters, fresh concepts, and offer thrills that still feel safe and satisfying for young readers.”

Brooks points to Tony Jones’s “Essential YA and Middle Grade Horror” online roundup from earlier this year as a source spotlighting fresh titles in the genre, including Alice Nuttall’s debut The Zombie Project and Larry Hayes’s The Nightmares of Finnegan Quick.

Kelly Sonnack, president and owner of Andrea Brown Literary Agency, calls this trend “horror lite” and says it’s been building steam for a few years. “The creepy-crawly kind of things that are not going as dark as something might in the YA space definitely seem to still be working,” she says.

Haunted house–type stories are something that Allison Hellegers at Stimola Literary Studio is encountering more often, too. “In middle grade horror, a lot of it starts off feeling like a ghost story, and then goes into scarier ideas,” she says. “But it isn’t as gory and descriptive as what you might see or read in a YA novel.”

Hellegers believes that this kind of book does double duty as an entertaining read and a way for kids to explore their own fears and anxieties. “A story that might be a bit scary but a way for them to feel something safely is always what I’m looking for,” she says. “But it’s a challenge to find it done well.”

“There’s obviously a happier ending to a middle grade horror novel,” says Sara Crowe of Sara Crowe Literary, describing one of the hallmarks of the genre. “And the best ones really focus on how the characters are coming together to figure something out. You’ve still got family and friendships, but with a slightly scary element.” She mentions two projects from her client Erin Entrada Kelly: The Last Resort, which plays with format and includes interactive components, and the forthcoming “Black Mirror meets Goosebumps” series Fatal Glitch, cowritten with Eliot Schrefer, as fitting the bill.

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