What books are similar to Night Terrors?

The 10 closest matches to Night Terrors by Murphy, Jim on ReadingList include There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around, All the Lovely Bad Ones, Once They See You: 13 Stories to Shiver and Shock, The Ghost of Graylock, and The Ghost of Fossil Glen. Each is scored on shared themes (american ghost stories, ghosts, and short stories), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 6–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Night Terrors reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 6–8), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.

How does ReadingList choose similar books?

Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Books like Night Terrors

If you liked Night Terrors, read There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around or All the Lovely Bad Ones — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around by Vivian Vande Velde — shares ghosts

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Looking for books like Night Terrors by Murphy, Jim (Horror · grades 6–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of american ghost stories, ghosts, and short stories. The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.

These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades 6–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Aroundgrades 6–8: Shares themes of ghosts, both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, and same genre (Horror). Amazon → books like this →
All the Lovely Bad Onesgrades 5–8: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Once They See You: 13 Stories to Shiver and Shockgrades 4–8: Shares themes of short stories, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Ghost of Graylockgrades 5–8: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Ghost of Fossil Glengrades 3–8: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Ghost's Gravegrades 3–8: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Wait Till Helen Comesgrades 4–7: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →
Ghost in the Housegrades 4–6: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Horror at the Haunted Housegrades 4–6: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
The Hauntinggrades 6–9: Shares themes of ghosts and overlapping grades (6–9). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Night Terrors for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.

Ghost Cadet by Elaine Marie Alphin · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of ghosts and same genre (Horror).
A Haunting in Williamsburg by Lou Kassem · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of ghosts.
Earthquake Terror by Peg Kehret · grades 3–5 — Same genre (Horror) and the same era (1990s).
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of short stories and overlapping grades (4–8).
The Ghost on Saturday Night by Sid Fleischman · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–6).

Books like Night Terrors for middle school (grades 6–8)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 6–8— same scoring, different audience.

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of short stories and overlapping grades (4–8).
The Ghost on Saturday Night by Sid Fleischman · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Peppermints in the Parlor by Barbara Brooks Wallace · grades 4–8 — Same genre (Horror) and overlapping grades (4–8).
Something Upstairs by Avi · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of ghosts and overlapping grades (6–8).
The Doom Stone by Paul Zindel · grades 6–9 — Same genre (Horror) and overlapping grades (6–9).

Books like Night Terrors for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 9–12— same scoring, different audience.

Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman · grades 9–12 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list and same genre (Horror).
Macbeth by William Shakespeare · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of supernatural.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of supernatural.
The Doom Stone by Paul Zindel · grades 6–9 — Same genre (Horror) and overlapping grades (6–9).

Common questions

What books are similar to Night Terrors?: The 10 closest matches to Night Terrors by Murphy, Jim on ReadingList include There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around, All the Lovely Bad Ones, Once They See You: 13 Stories to Shiver and Shock, The Ghost of Graylock, and The Ghost of Fossil Glen. Each is scored on shared themes (american ghost stories, ghosts, and short stories), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 6–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Night Terrors reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 6–8), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.
How does ReadingList choose similar books?: Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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