The Ottawa Public Library is back to share some great ghostly books with us, just in time for Halloween! This month’s post is by Rebecca Molina Sendybyl, Children's Programs and Public Service Assistant at the Beaverbrook Branch of the Ottawa Public Library

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty

Serafina lives in the Biltmore estate. It is a beautiful place with a huge mansion with beautiful people coming and going. She has one rule to follow while living in there: she must never be seen. Nobody knows that she and her father, a caretaker on the estate, live in a damp corner in the lowest part of the cellar.

Serafina is lonely but she tries to be helpful like other servants she sees. She comes out only at night creeping through the passageways, catching rats with her bare hands.

Until one day, she discovers that children who had visited the estate with their families have gone missing. It is a mystery to everyone except for Serafina. She knows it’s the man in the black cloak. She saw him do it. She teams up with the nephew and heir to the estate, Braeden. Together they mean to discover the identity of the man in the black cloak before any more children disappear.

Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon

Justin’s best friend Zee had been missing for a year. His family, friends and the police had been searching for him. Then one day, he was seen just walking down his street on the way to his house. Except for some scratches on his body, he seemed fine, but he could not explain where he had been.

At his welcome home party, Justin and their neighbourhood friends were waiting in the backyard for Zee to come out, when a girl from down the street whom they did not know well, suggested they all play hide and go seek. As they started the game, Zee came flying out of the house and attacked her. And that’s when it all went terribly wrong. One by one they start to disappear, now knowing where Zee had been all this time. They must work together quickly to escape the Seeker or be trapped in the game forever.

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

For the past 50 years the city of London has been plagued by ghosts, spirits and specters that are wreaking havoc on the city. The people know very little about the reason for the epidemic or how to deal with them. They only know that it’s the youth of London that can somehow sense these beings. Psychic Agencies are now a business on demand that hires youths to trap them using different methods based on the spirits.

Lucy Carlyle is a very talented young agent who arrives to London for a promising career. She is enlisted in the only agency in town run without any adult supervision. Lockwood & Co is run by the charming and talented Jonathan Lockwood. Together with their highly very clever friend George, they stalk and trap specters while solving the mysteries of the undead.

The Screaming Staircase in the first thriller in the epic series Lockwood & Co. The author gives us rich characters and that are, funny, sarcastic, intelligent, and brave. With a story that keeps us on the edge of our seat. This book is perfect for the middle school reader who loves a great mystery with spooky twists and turns that have you craving more.

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

It’s safe to say that Cassidy Blake’s parents are ghost obsessed. They have successfully managed a career in the study of spirits. They are well respected in the field, including having several books published. They have just been hired to host their own ghost hunting television show. Their first location is Edinburgh in Scotland. They are bringing their teenage daughter Cassidy along, much to Cassidy’s dismay as she was hoping for a relaxing summer on the beach.

Cassidy is a smart, funny, Harry Potter loving teenager and unlike her parents, she can see ghosts. It all started when Cassidy almost drowned in a lake. She was recued by a kind and sarcastic teenage ghost and now her best friend, named Jacob. Cassidy’s parents were right about one thing, Edinburgh is very haunted. While staying in an old castle, Cassidy learns that she is not the only person that can see ghosts and that not all ghosts are harmless.

City of Ghosts is the first book in this gripping page turning series.