The Spook's Apprentice

This book (and the rest of the Wardstone Chronicles) genuinely scared the absolute shit out of me when I first read it. It's the story of a young boy being apprenticed to a 'Spook', or exorcist/witch-hunter, and how he is utterly, pants-shittingly unprepared for what he encounters. It's a YA book, but still worth reading for anyone older. It's such a small-scale, folksy story. There's no 'fate of the kingdom' battle, and the protagonist remains a young, terrified boy, and that's the charm of the book. It's like a fairy tale gone wrong, and a single witch provides enough scares to keep a dozen kids under their covers for a year. Rather than relying on violence and gore, Delaney succeeds in getting inside your head and reminding you why you were once afraid of the dark. I think that letting younger teenagers read this technically qualifies as child abuse in seven states. Spooks Apprentice leans more towards horror than a lot of other entries on this list, and it features staples of that genre like a haunted house. Nevertheless, it's still definitely a coming of age fantasy tale. Read this book to your kids if: you want them to be severely traumatised. Or read it yourself if you like fast-paced YA dark fantasy. Either way.