Supernatural

Sometimes this genre is lumped in with fantasy and sometimes horror, but supernatural is its own distinct category, with stories usually including spirits, ghosts, seers and natural energies (general witchcraft/wiccan type stuff) – whether malevolent or friendly.  

All of these books are the first in a series.

Please click here to hear me talk to Jesse Mulligan about these books on Radio New Zealand on Tuesday 27 January 2026.

For Ages 10+

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Robert Beatty

Published in 2015

This is essentially historical fiction, but with a supernatural twist. Set at the end of the 19^th century in North Carolina in the US, the story takes place at the real Biltmore Estate, which was the home of the extremely wealthy Vanderbilt family. The author clearly knows and enjoys this period, specifically the house itself, which becomes another character in the story. The historical details of how the house was kept running, the staff, the guests, all add to the story and create great atmosphere.

12-year-old Serafina is her Pa’s secret. They both know there is something different and special about her so she must stay hidden and while he keeps all the machines and generators in the house running, she hides in their basement home and only comes out at night – she is the estate’s official rat catcher, except no one else knows about her important job but her. But when the children of the estate start to go missing and Serafina has an encounter with a dark and terrifying creature in the basement corridors of the house, all her secrets start to be revealed.

This is a well-paced, attention-grabbing story, aimed perfectly at this age group – it is suspenseful, has its creepy moments and quite a dark story line, but all done carefully with its intended audience in mind.

Spark Hunter

(Aotearoa Author)

Sonya Wilson

Published in 2021

Written by a New Zealander and set in and about New Zealand, this first in the series is 4 years old now, but the sequel was released last year, so both books should be easy to find in bookshops at the moment.

9-year-old Nissa lives surrounded by the beautiful native bush in Fiordland but has never understood why only she can see the little lights that often flit through the bush around her, but she has never managed to catch. During a school camp in the bush, she finally makes contact with these little ‘sparks’ and learns they are the spirits or essence of all the native flora and fauna of New Zealand – and as the human world has a bigger and bigger impact on the New Zealand landscape, they need her help.

This is a lovely book based around the author’s memories of a childhood growing up in Fiordland and enjoying the native landscape. It has a very strong environmental message and cleverly makes the target audience think about the way we treat the environment and the impact humans have. Wilson does a beautiful job of combining Mātauranga Māori into the story and looking at the history of humans in Aotearoa and the impact we have all had.  

For Ages 11-12+

Small Spaces

By Katherine Arden

Published in 2018

This book is the perfect illustration that middle grade books can be clever, complex and spine-tinglingly creepy but still suitable for tweens – as long as they don’t mind a bit of spookiness!

Ollie is 11 years old and her way of dealing with a great loss in her life is to dive into reading, so when she comes across a disturbed woman down by the river, trying to throw a book into the water, she doesn’t hesitate to rescue the book. It turns out the book is the history of a local family, and it does not make for happy reading. When Nissa goes on a school trip to a local farm on the eve of Halloween, she discovers that the story remains unresolved.

I found the story gripping and genuinely nail biting; it draws you in to keep reading to find out how it was all connected and how on earth Ollie is going to get herself and her classmates out of the supernatural trap they find themselves in. Well written and extremely atmospheric.  

For Ages 13+

The Raven Boys

By Maggie Stiefvater

Published in 2012

Stiefvater is the absolute master of unusual, inexplicable, mystical stories for young adults. This series probably isn’t for reluctant readers; it is an involved story entangling obscure characters from Welsh folklore and the world and rules of clairvoyants, mystics and fortune tellers. You have to really focus on the story and stick with the characters, but it is worth the effort.

Blue Sargent’s mother is a clairvoyant who can see the spirits of people who are soon to die – Blue did not inherit the power, but on the night she meets Gansey and his group of close knit friends from the posh private school, she realises she does have a connection to the spirits and the natural world, and it is all connected to the wrongs buried deep in time and mythology.

There are another 3 books in this series and so if you enjoy this one the story develops and resolves well, but Stiefvater doesn’t deal in neat endings and explanations, her writing is very ethereal and mystical so it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Click here to access some of my past chats with Jesse on Radio New Zealand.