“The Midnight Club” by Christopher Pike

Here’s a book that’s creepy, thoughtful, and a lot of fun.

Ilonka is seventeen, and she’s a patient at the Rotterdam Home, a hospice for teens who are terminally ill. Every night at midnight, she meets four other patients in the library. They gather in a circle, and each takes a turn telling a scary story. They also make a pact: whoever dies first will try to send a sign from the other side.

The stories are spooky, and the book is a collection of them, with Ilonka’s story weaving through. It’s short and fast, and you can read it in a couple of sittings. Pike is a legend of teen horror, and he writes the kind of tales that make you check the lights. It also inspired the Netflix series of the same name, so you can read the original first.

It also deals with real things, like facing the end of life, so it’s heavier than most scary books. That’s part of why people remember it.

This is a paperback in acceptable condition, a well-read copy with visible wear but complete and readable. Find it at Dead Tree Dreams.