9 Unintentionally Terrifying Children’s Books

In retrospect, many of our beloved children’s books were a little creepy. Well — maybe we’ve watched Psycho a little too recently, but a missing page from Love You Forever could easily reveal some Norman Bates-type sentiments, don’t you think? And what’s with all these cheery books about characters drowning in food? Last month, we brought you ten terrifying children’s books from around the world, and now we’ve gathered a selection of creepy stories that weren’t intended to be interpreted as such. Check ‘em out after the jump, and hit the comments to suggest other popular kids’ books with unexpectedly eerie connotations.

No, David! by David Shannon

Every book from David Shannon’s No, David! series is a scary book. Why? David, as an illustrated character, is a terrifying little dude. Those sharp teeth, those beady eyes — imagine this demon running around your house, breaking your stuff and killing your pets.

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The very weirdest fairy tale ever is 'Salem and the Nail' - google it!

My niece and nephew adore the David books. They can't get enough of them. They seem to love the illustration the best!

The Giving Tree is terrifying in the amount of guilt/sadness it inspires. And I'll Love You Forever is an awful book even without re-imagining the characters as those from Psycho. Nothing like setting up your child from a young age with visuals of your inevitable death and the parent-child role reversal that comes with middle/old age.

And sorry for the terrible English!I'm Brazilian!

Awwwwww how sweet!You just put the "Strega Nona",a book I read when I was around 7 or 8 and then started loving books!Sure,the others are scary,but thanks for including that one!Great times then.

As a substitute teacher one of my duties was to read Jumanji for a certain length of time. This was before the movie. When time was up before the end of the story I wasn't about to stop reading and announced that we couldn't stop the story/game in the middle and kept. I finished the book in time for recess. The students applauded me.

Most terrifying children's book I've ever read - Astrid Lindgren's "The Brothers Lionheart".

@Jim: 'Struwwelpeter' is #1 on the link in the intro! Or else it'd definitely be on this list. That stuff is crazy. @Nicki/Blue: Just flipped through as much of that as allowed on Amazon. Ha! David Shannon strikes again! @Brie/KMarrs: Yeah, I suppose you're right... Aside from the fact that Neil Gaiman is absolutely awesome, I felt like throwing him in here because he's apparently married to Amanda Palmer (fun fact!), who just so happens to be doing a livestream from our office on Thursday (check it out! http://new.livestream.com/flavorpill/amandapalmer), so he's been on the brain as of late. Totally slipped my mind to mention that in the post! Also, when 'The Wolves in the Walls' came out, I was babysitting for some neighbor kids who INSISTED they didn't find it the least bit scary. I've been led astray.

Nicki, I think you're thinking of "A Bad Case of the Stripes" by David Shannon. :)

Yeah... Neil Gaiman is never "unintentionally" terrifying. He takes great honor in being wonderfully terrifying.

I don't remember the title of it, but there was one book that terrified me as a child. There was a girl who one day grew sick. Her skin changed colors until it eventually became rainbow. The parents had to keep her in her room and called the hospital. Eventually she had mutated into her whole room, with her face stretching across the wall. The story itself was just made worse by the uncanny valley induced illustrations.

I really feel like the German stories 'Struwwelpeter' should be on this list

creepy how these are ALL books i read as a child....

I'm pretty sure the creepiness in The Wolves in the Walls is 100% intentional.

You forgot to include every fairy tale ever.

I'm so glad you included I'll Love You Forever. That book is ridiculously creepy! When I worked in daycare, I would never put that book out for the children because I hated reading it to them. It's twisted.

People who don't spend a lot of time with kids don't realize how much they love twisted, scary stuff. I always laugh when one of these "children's" books gets out and people are shocked but he contents. Look up what a few authors have said about the so-called "children's" book industry. With all that said, I have always thought I'll Love You Forever to be a pretty sick book. Sneaking in each other's windows while the other slept? I don't love you that way.