According to a 2022 article in Publishers Weekly, “shivery tales are proliferating.” Middle grade horror stories are having a moment, and for good reason. These books can do both things a great kids book sets out to do: entertain and enlighten. Horror stories keep kids engaged and turning the page. R.L. Stein, the king of middle grade horror, writes brilliant books that master engagement. But middle grade horror can also provide a metaphorical lens through which kid readers can deal with real life trauma. Books that do this well—Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls, Christian McKay Heideker’s Scary Stories for Young Foxes—have even won the coveted Newbery Award.

This market growth shows no signs of slowing down. If you’re a middle grade writer, how can you tap in?

Use the wealth that’s already there. With the rise of shows like Stranger Things and Wednesday, kids are already tuned in to the spooky, monstrous zeitgeist. Take something familiar and put your own twist on it. Want to write a ghost story? Check out City of Ghosts by V.E. Schwab, Ghost Girl by Ally Malinenko, and Ghost Squad by Claribel Ortega. All ghost stories with a unique twist. All very successful entries in the booming middle grade horror market.

Think school visits. From the beginning, perhaps even before you put pen to page, give thought as to how you can position yourself for school visits, both in person and virtually. The kids will love the adventures and the monsters in your story—but what about the teachers and librarians? Maybe your platform is one of pure engagement and excitement about reading. Maybe it’s tied in with something else like disability or mental health, or maybe you’ve included STEM elements.

My middle grade horror, The Nightmare House, is told in partial verse. I made sure to include all types of poetry—sonnet, haiku, limerick, abced-arians, shape poems, and more—with the explicit thought in mind that teachers can use this book as a resource. It came out in August, just in time for the school year to begin, and I’ve already scheduled school visits booked where we’ll talk about writing, reading, and poetry.

Know your audience. Be aware of reader expectations. Be aware of what current middle grade horror covers look like. Know the typical tropes—for example, that teams of friends and a strong humor element are very common and important in middle grade horror stories. Know that your middle grade readers are very discerning, and will want to know what makes your monsters unique.

For example, Adrianna Cuevas’ forthcoming Mari and the Curse of El Cocodrillo includes effigies, friend groups, and family curses with a particular Cuban flair. Small Spaces by Katherine Arden is hugely popular, perhaps in part because it uses the tropes of friend groups, school trips, and haunted mazes, adding specific and unique twists of grief, neurodiversity, and a villain with a very clear and creepy personality.

Be targeted with your online presence. The middle grade target audience is aged 8-12. They are too young to be your social media audience. (Yeah, smartphone and social media use is skewing younger and younger, of course, but still, even if your Instagram and TikTok followers are 8-12 year olds, you want to be careful about directly and privately communicating with them anyway.)

What does this all mean for your social media? It means that your real target audience is parents, teachers, and librarians. Spend some time every week interacting with and reaching out to library and bookseller accounts—look up your local independent bookstore and local public library on Instagram and TikTok, and see what they’re up to. Search hashtags like #teachertiktok and #librarianlife. Consider putting out free resources for teachers on your website—I have tried to do that on my website, because I believe educators deserve every break we can give them. As a middle grade author, your online presence is really targeted toward these middlemen.

Some of my favorite teacher and educator accounts online are Kathie Macisaac and Too Cool for Middle School on Instagram and The Snarky Librarian on TikTok. Start with a few, and they will lead you to others!

Personally, I don’t think there’s a better market and better audience to be writing for. These are the readers who will think of you as a rockstar, if you can reach them. These are the readers who will always remember you as the writer who kept them up way past their bedtime, reading under the covers with a flashlight.

BIO: Sarah Allen is a poet and author of books for young readers. Her latest middle grade horror, THE NIGHTMARE HOUSE, released in August of 2023, with her next, MONSTER TREE, coming out September 2024 and available for pre-order. Her first book, WHAT STARS ARE MADE OF, was an ALA Notable Book of 2020 and Whitney Award Winner, and her second, BREATHING UNDERWATER, was a Jr. Library Guild Selection for 2021. Born and raised in Utah, she received an MFA in creative writing from Brigham Young University, and now lives in Florida. She spends her non-writing time watching David Attenborough documentaries and singing show-tunes too loudly, and she’s a lover of leather jackets, grizzly bears, and Colin Firth. Find her online, subscribe to her newsletter, or follow her on all the socials @sarahallenbooks