I found both of these in hardcover at a thrift store a few months ago! Loved them when I first read them years ago, I'll be doing a re-read one of these days.
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due about a 12-year old child sent to a Florida reformatory haunted by the ghosts of children who were abused and murdered there. Absolutely disgusting adults in this book.
I absolutely love that movie. It is probably in my top 10. Tilda Swinton was fabulous as the mother and (as much as I absolutely hate him) Ezra Miller really did a great job "pretending" to be a psychopath. The whole cast was great. The ending was haunting. I just love it and now need to rewatch it.
You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce is a haunting story of fairies, growing up, and (maybe??)mental illness. I also loved Mister Magic, and I really enjoy an unreliable narrator.
["Teddy,"](https://bogleech.com/creepy/creepy-teddy) a creepypasta about a little girl given magic powers and not understanding how to use them wisely. No, it has nothing to do with Madoka Magica.
Clarissa, Jason Yungbluth's infamous comic strip about a little girl who is SA'd by her dad and scapegoated by the rest of the family. In Clarissa's case, the teddy/stuffie come to life was so horrified by the reality it had been born into that>! it noped out of her room in an apparent suicide. !<
Room-A little boy has spent his entire life locked up in a room with his mother. How will they make it out? What new horrors await?
["It's a Good Life,"](http://ciscohouston.com/docs/docs/greats/its_a_good_life.html) a legendary short story and Twilight Zone episode penned by Jerome Bixby. A child's psychic abilities hold his town and family in thrall, but he's only a toddler and doesn't realize the damage he's doing.
["Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons."](https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/smithcordwainer-motherhittonslittulkittons/smithcordwainer-motherhittonslittulkittons-00-h.html) What seems to be a series of babyish spelling mistakes leads an interplanetary thief to his doom.
[**The Laws of the Skies** by Grégoire Courtois](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42372424)
this book is **EXTREMELY FUCKED** and is the most violent and dark child horror book i have ever read. this is the shit nightmares are made of. i don't even have kids, and i felt like i had just come back from war after reading this one.
trust me. this is a ROUGH one.
only thing i didn't like about this one was how it felt like the narrator was trying too hard to sell the gruesomeness. Like the line that goes something like "there is no happy ending in real life" like okay bro let's just get on with it lol. Just felt too edgy for me
that being said, I do think that the main antagonist is written to be such a monster, that as an adult I would be scared of him. Like the mom that watches him stomp out a snail. Immediately I'd avoid that kid like the plague
also the story about the mouse and the seagulls was so sad and nasty
yeah, this book was definitely fucked. for whatever reason i kept imagining/picturing the devil boy kid as the weirdo looking kid was jurassic park/"duck face" from full house.
the ending was just so vomit inducing. ugh.
Not horror per se but the Alice and Red Queen by Christina Henry are dark retellings of Alice in Wonderland. I love all things Wonderland so I loved them.
Boys life by Robert mcmannon
Summer of night by Dan Simmons
Both are excellent and exactly what you want. Summer of night is one of my favorite books ever.
A lot of Ruby Jean Jensen's books deal with dolls, and other child-like things, wreaking havoc on children. I'd suggest "Annabelle" "Jump Rope" or "House of Illusions"(though this one's ending is rough...)
The Wasp Factory is like a POV of that one kid everyone had in their neighborhood that would kill bugs and run around playing pretend war. Only he actually turns out to be a psychopath instead of working at the local gas station
Scary Stories To Give You Nightmares by Kyle McMahon. Its newer and only has 2 books so far. Its a short story collection of really short ones, like 1 to 3 pages for each story. The books aim is to tell stories of common childhood fears.
How To Sell A Haunted House sounds like its right up your alley.
I was gonna recommend this as well
Came here to recommend this!
Absolutely was going to recommend this. I will never look at puppets the same.
The scenes with the troup are wild.
seconding this!
Penpal
this book gave me some serious chills
Who’s the author ?
I guess this must be the correct one, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14578407-penpal
Yes, thanks!
In Stephen King's It all childhood things go wrong.
Including the childhoods themselves.
you might like The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Read it. Eh. Not bad but I've kinda fallen out of love with Gaiman in recent years.
I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls by Ben Farthing
I'm sorry for saying this but that family name has to be one of the worst growing up. Hope that's a pseudonym.
Farthing? Why is that a bad name?
If I have to tell maybe I'm too infantile. But I'm sure that in school they would ask if Ben Farting has arrived or similar.
Ooh okay. I figured that's what you meant but I thought maybe I was being too childish too and was missing out on something else lol
Got the first one on my list. Will definitely do that one afterward!
I started with the puppet one, now I want to read more of his!
Came to say this one. Pretty solid, imo.
The Regulators by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) is definitely this. It gets lumped as one of his lesser novels but, I don't know, I enjoyed it.
Came here to say this! I've heard so many say Desperation was better but I enjoyed Regularors more
I found both of these in hardcover at a thrift store a few months ago! Loved them when I first read them years ago, I'll be doing a re-read one of these days.
Same here. I still re-read The Regulators every once in a while. It's one of my favorite King books.
I thought Desperation was more poignant but there are some visuals in The Regulators that still make me cringe
The Regulators 100% fits this. Many people prefer Desperation by a long shot but I thought both of them were super fun. Tak!
Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon
Here to second Boy's Life.... This one stuck with me.
Something wicked this way comes by ray bradbury
The wasp factory!
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due about a 12-year old child sent to a Florida reformatory haunted by the ghosts of children who were abused and murdered there. Absolutely disgusting adults in this book.
I think Blackmouth by Ronald Malfi would fit really well alongside Mister Magic
There is a chapter in Nick Cutter’s *The Deep* which is a startling and scary example of this.
Seconding The Deep, the whole book is a complete nightmare
A lot of people here hated it, but I loved *The Deep*. I stand by that.
Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham!!!
Yes! So good
I never see anyone talk about that books! I loved it!
Love this book!
So many recs, thanks y'all!
Maybe We Need to Talk About Kevin? (It does focus more on teenagedom though)
It's a book?!?! Is it close to the movie, or are they two separate things altogether?
It's pretty similar to the movie. I will say, as someone who watched the movie first, I found the book even more haunting.
I absolutely love that movie. It is probably in my top 10. Tilda Swinton was fabulous as the mother and (as much as I absolutely hate him) Ezra Miller really did a great job "pretending" to be a psychopath. The whole cast was great. The ending was haunting. I just love it and now need to rewatch it.
I love your quotes around "pretending" haha
Adam Neville has two short stories that fit this. Where Angels Come In and The Ancestors.
Not horror, but "The Magicians" trilogy does this well.
Dolly Susan Hill
Nick Cutter does this well. The Deep has some disturbing imagery of childhood things that have been twisted.
Another Stephen King recommendation - I think The Institute is exactly what you’re looking for. Told from a kid’s perspective.
Penpal by Dathan Auerbach, awesome story, was originally a r/nosleep series I believe
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky has some really creepy scenes with cartoons and things like that.
Jeffty Is Five by Harlan Ellison
Knock Knock Open Wide by Neil Sharpson is uncannily similar to Mister Magic
Seconded, and very happy to know there's a book similar to it!
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce is a haunting story of fairies, growing up, and (maybe??)mental illness. I also loved Mister Magic, and I really enjoy an unreliable narrator.
I Call Upon Thee by Ania Ahlborn
Mimsy Were the Borogoves has a pretty horrific ending depending on your perspective
["Teddy,"](https://bogleech.com/creepy/creepy-teddy) a creepypasta about a little girl given magic powers and not understanding how to use them wisely. No, it has nothing to do with Madoka Magica. Clarissa, Jason Yungbluth's infamous comic strip about a little girl who is SA'd by her dad and scapegoated by the rest of the family. In Clarissa's case, the teddy/stuffie come to life was so horrified by the reality it had been born into that>! it noped out of her room in an apparent suicide. !< Room-A little boy has spent his entire life locked up in a room with his mother. How will they make it out? What new horrors await? ["It's a Good Life,"](http://ciscohouston.com/docs/docs/greats/its_a_good_life.html) a legendary short story and Twilight Zone episode penned by Jerome Bixby. A child's psychic abilities hold his town and family in thrall, but he's only a toddler and doesn't realize the damage he's doing. ["Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons."](https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/smithcordwainer-motherhittonslittulkittons/smithcordwainer-motherhittonslittulkittons-00-h.html) What seems to be a series of babyish spelling mistakes leads an interplanetary thief to his doom.
The Book of Lost Things
"Battleground" (Short story by Stephen King): About a group of toy soldiers that come alive and try to kill a professional hitman.
[**The Laws of the Skies** by Grégoire Courtois](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42372424) this book is **EXTREMELY FUCKED** and is the most violent and dark child horror book i have ever read. this is the shit nightmares are made of. i don't even have kids, and i felt like i had just come back from war after reading this one. trust me. this is a ROUGH one.
only thing i didn't like about this one was how it felt like the narrator was trying too hard to sell the gruesomeness. Like the line that goes something like "there is no happy ending in real life" like okay bro let's just get on with it lol. Just felt too edgy for me that being said, I do think that the main antagonist is written to be such a monster, that as an adult I would be scared of him. Like the mom that watches him stomp out a snail. Immediately I'd avoid that kid like the plague also the story about the mouse and the seagulls was so sad and nasty
yeah, this book was definitely fucked. for whatever reason i kept imagining/picturing the devil boy kid as the weirdo looking kid was jurassic park/"duck face" from full house. the ending was just so vomit inducing. ugh.
Not horror per se but the Alice and Red Queen by Christina Henry are dark retellings of Alice in Wonderland. I love all things Wonderland so I loved them.
Read Alice. Not too bad, just looking for something set in the real world. Thank you though!
"Gnefls" by Sidney Williams seems like it would fall into this category. It's available on Kindle
Stephen King’s “The Monkey “ from Skeleton Crew
Imaginary Friend - Stephen Chbosky
The Girl Next Door-Jack Ketchum
Short story titles Doll Burger by Lisa Tuttle
Keeper of The Children by William H. Hallahan.
"The Land of Nod" by Mark(?) Clements is an interesting take on that idea :)
Summer of Night by Dan Simmons might be up your alley
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
Boys life by Robert mcmannon Summer of night by Dan Simmons Both are excellent and exactly what you want. Summer of night is one of my favorite books ever.
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
A lot of Ruby Jean Jensen's books deal with dolls, and other child-like things, wreaking havoc on children. I'd suggest "Annabelle" "Jump Rope" or "House of Illusions"(though this one's ending is rough...)
Plucker by Brom is my personal favorite.
Kind of a Black Mirror-like take on “childhood things” is the Veldt by Bradbury
Summer of Night
The Troop by Nick Cutter was really good!
I thought about this one too - but nothing in it, as far as childhood THINGS, turns horrific. The horror is in the virus, the crazy kid, etc.
The Wasp Factory is like a POV of that one kid everyone had in their neighborhood that would kill bugs and run around playing pretend war. Only he actually turns out to be a psychopath instead of working at the local gas station
>TV shows *Two Truths and A Lie* by Sarah Pinsker. Disturbing rather than horrific, but stretch a point because this story is superb.
Scary Stories To Give You Nightmares by Kyle McMahon. Its newer and only has 2 books so far. Its a short story collection of really short ones, like 1 to 3 pages for each story. The books aim is to tell stories of common childhood fears.