What do you think?
Rate this book
Scare Me #1
Follow Me
When Tamal and his family moved into their new house, he thought his life was getting an upgrade. A manor, rather than his old small apartment? He could have many adventures, even if his family did move from the city to a tiny town. Except, he's started seeing the ghost of a young girl holding a teddy bear at the edge of his vision. Following him. Everywhere he turns, he sees her. Getting slowly closer. He's heard horror stories from his new friends of what will happen if she catches you. Can he escape her? Or will he become another ghost haunting the halls?
164 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2020
59 people are currently reading
937 people want to read
About the author
K.R. Alexander
17 books606 followersK.R. Alexander is the pseudonym for fantasy author Alex R. Kahler. Under this guise, K.R. writes creepy middle grade horror, perfect for young readers looking for a scare! His first book, The Collector, debuted from Scholastic in the Fall of '18.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
September 18, 2021
For a middle-grade horror story, it was pretty good. I really like Alexander's writing. It is fun and easy. The stories are spooky without being too scary. And when I'm done with it I let my nieces read them and then we can discuss them. Win-win. In fact, my daughter is almost old enough to read them too, and I think being able to read with my daughter, would be sooo amazing.
How I choose my rating:
1* Didn't like it at all. These are rare as I usually just don't finish any book I dislike this much.
2** Didn't like it. Again usually DNF if I dislike it this much, but occasionally I feel it still has potential and I try to stick with it to the end.
3*** I liked it. It wasn't great but it was enjoyable enough. It is unlikely I'll ever reread it but I might finish the series if it is a part of one.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this at some point, and I will almost always finish the series if part of one.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will probably reread this and possibly more than once. I will definitely finish the series if it's part of one.
How I choose my rating:
1* Didn't like it at all. These are rare as I usually just don't finish any book I dislike this much.
2** Didn't like it. Again usually DNF if I dislike it this much, but occasionally I feel it still has potential and I try to stick with it to the end.
3*** I liked it. It wasn't great but it was enjoyable enough. It is unlikely I'll ever reread it but I might finish the series if it is a part of one.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this at some point, and I will almost always finish the series if part of one.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will probably reread this and possibly more than once. I will definitely finish the series if it's part of one.
October 18, 2021
I must admit that middle school horror is not my usual fare. However, when my ten-year-old brought this home from the school book fair, I had this reaction:
Me, utterly horrified at the cover: "What is that?"
Her, utterly delighted at the cover: "I bought it at the book fair!"
Me, taking a firm parental stance: "Aren't you too young for that?"
Her, taking a firm tween stance: "No."
So I did what any good parent would do. I read it while she was at school the next day.
And it was creepy.
And it was good.
This was like the extra spooky R.L. Stine Goosebumps books of my childhood. Think more The Curse of Camp Cold Lake and less Why I'm Afraid of Bees.
I read this in one sitting, eager to know what was going to happen to Tamal and his friends and family. Although I was reading in broad daylight, I got the heebiejeebies several times. The spooky atmosphere (big old house built on top of a cemetery) and creepy characters (ghost girl with dark hair covering her face and a ratty teddy bear? GET OUTTA HERE!) should be just enough to make my daughter jump a couple times while reading but not jump into my bed in the middle of the night.
Don't tell anyone, but I may snag the other two K.R. Alexander books she bought, too.
Rating as a formerly concerned but now convinced (and totally cool) parent:
3.5 but Rounded to 4 Stars
Me, utterly horrified at the cover: "What is that?"
Her, utterly delighted at the cover: "I bought it at the book fair!"
Me, taking a firm parental stance: "Aren't you too young for that?"
Her, taking a firm tween stance: "No."
So I did what any good parent would do. I read it while she was at school the next day.
And it was creepy.
And it was good.
This was like the extra spooky R.L. Stine Goosebumps books of my childhood. Think more The Curse of Camp Cold Lake and less Why I'm Afraid of Bees.
I read this in one sitting, eager to know what was going to happen to Tamal and his friends and family. Although I was reading in broad daylight, I got the heebiejeebies several times. The spooky atmosphere (big old house built on top of a cemetery) and creepy characters (ghost girl with dark hair covering her face and a ratty teddy bear? GET OUTTA HERE!) should be just enough to make my daughter jump a couple times while reading but not jump into my bed in the middle of the night.
Don't tell anyone, but I may snag the other two K.R. Alexander books she bought, too.
Rating as a formerly concerned but now convinced (and totally cool) parent:
3.5 but Rounded to 4 Stars
July 27, 2022
K.R. Alexander has done it again with ANOTHER 5 Stars ghost story that made me cry!! The author of 'The Fear Zone: parts 1 and 2' is one YA (I do not understand what makes a book YA?) author that has not steered me wrong Yet!
My video review here:
https://youtu.be/tfrrBGRfpD0
I LISTENED to the audiobook version on my local libraries LIBBY App....the narration was INCREDIBLY well done! Sounded alot like PeeWee Herman (Paul Reubens) at times.
Tamal and his parents have moved to the county from New York City because they just could NOT pass up the HUGE mansion on the hill for the price of 1/2 of what they were paying for a small apartment in NYC. Sound familiar? Hmmmmm. After not ever having friends at his old school, Tamal makes friends with in the first 2 days of being in the new 'neighborhood' and this is when things start to get weird for Tamal....why did he make friends this quick? Both Lela and Max take to Tamal quickly upon when they hear where and into what house his family moved into. This was the house 'where the ghost girl disappeared a long time ago!'. What? Oh no. When Max starts seeing 'the ghost girl with the long black hair over her face and carrying a dirty OLD teddy bear' he thinks right away of all the scary movies and Paranormal shows that he watches on tv with his father, who SAYS he does not believe in ghosts, but he is OBSESSED with them.....he even hast tons of 'Ghost Finders' paraphernalia in the house! Yes.
With Tamal being extremely scared of the dark, he does not want to tell his Mother this, because she will no longer let him watch with his father.....and he loves being able to have this funtime in common with his Dad, but when he starts to see her daily?....he tells his Max and Lela about her, that is when they discover the cemetary next to the house!!!
For being a book that is supposedly for grades 4 to 8, this author can even creep me out with these books!!! HIGHLY recommended....and especially if you have kids who love to be scared by ghosts of children their same ages!
5 👻👻👻👻👻
My video review here:
https://youtu.be/tfrrBGRfpD0
I LISTENED to the audiobook version on my local libraries LIBBY App....the narration was INCREDIBLY well done! Sounded alot like PeeWee Herman (Paul Reubens) at times.
Tamal and his parents have moved to the county from New York City because they just could NOT pass up the HUGE mansion on the hill for the price of 1/2 of what they were paying for a small apartment in NYC. Sound familiar? Hmmmmm. After not ever having friends at his old school, Tamal makes friends with in the first 2 days of being in the new 'neighborhood' and this is when things start to get weird for Tamal....why did he make friends this quick? Both Lela and Max take to Tamal quickly upon when they hear where and into what house his family moved into. This was the house 'where the ghost girl disappeared a long time ago!'. What? Oh no. When Max starts seeing 'the ghost girl with the long black hair over her face and carrying a dirty OLD teddy bear' he thinks right away of all the scary movies and Paranormal shows that he watches on tv with his father, who SAYS he does not believe in ghosts, but he is OBSESSED with them.....he even hast tons of 'Ghost Finders' paraphernalia in the house! Yes.
With Tamal being extremely scared of the dark, he does not want to tell his Mother this, because she will no longer let him watch with his father.....and he loves being able to have this funtime in common with his Dad, but when he starts to see her daily?....he tells his Max and Lela about her, that is when they discover the cemetary next to the house!!!
For being a book that is supposedly for grades 4 to 8, this author can even creep me out with these books!!! HIGHLY recommended....and especially if you have kids who love to be scared by ghosts of children their same ages!
5 👻👻👻👻👻
June 17, 2024
the villain that was revealed towards the end had the flimsiest motive for literally killing children from the other side. Also, the world building of the ghost children made no sense. Why was Tamal the only one that could talk or do anything?? The books says it is because he went willingly, but most of the ghost kids ALSO went to the haunted house willingly? Maybe the author wasn’t capable of supporting their own plot.
idk i am just left saying “huh????”
idk i am just left saying “huh????”
August 25, 2023
Recommended to my by my delightful son. I'm giving this book the rating that I think I would have given it had I read it when I was in the target demographic. It executes well on the haunted house tropes it's working with, and while I didn't find any of the twists and turns to be unexpected I think if I was in the 4-8th grade audience and it was one of my first novels in the genre it would have kept me in suspense throughout.
It's very well-paced and the prose is clean and impactful. It's less luridly over-the-top than something like an R.L. Stine (my nearest point of comparison from when I was a beginning horror reader), but it's also less hacky so you get a decent tradeoff. I also like that modern kids' books seem to be including more diversity in the characters than they did when I was younger.
It's very well-paced and the prose is clean and impactful. It's less luridly over-the-top than something like an R.L. Stine (my nearest point of comparison from when I was a beginning horror reader), but it's also less hacky so you get a decent tradeoff. I also like that modern kids' books seem to be including more diversity in the characters than they did when I was younger.
June 22, 2022
I actually rate it 4.5 stars. It was really good, at a lot of times something new and exciting would happen, and I really liked that. Its not to scary but its still thrilling. Overall, I wish there would have been a little more action in the story, but I still like it and recommend it for people looking for mildly scary books.
August 18, 2022
3.5 stars. I guess I wish I had known when I went into it that this was a middle school book. That being said I do actually read Middle School, because my philosophy is that if someone's a good writer they're a good writer regardless of who they're writing it for.
The story was pretty predictable being that it was the type of book that it was. I did listen to this on audio which I think kind of ruined the book for me because the entire book a grown man tried to do children's voices and it just made it sound like it was being dumbed down. I feel like if I had read it in a book form or on Kindle it would have been much better.
Was it spooky and scary? Not really but again maybe it would have been in book form. Was it entertaining, sure.
The story was pretty predictable being that it was the type of book that it was. I did listen to this on audio which I think kind of ruined the book for me because the entire book a grown man tried to do children's voices and it just made it sound like it was being dumbed down. I feel like if I had read it in a book form or on Kindle it would have been much better.
Was it spooky and scary? Not really but again maybe it would have been in book form. Was it entertaining, sure.
November 16, 2022
Library copy
Tamal and his parents move from the city to a small town, and buy a mansion because real estate prices are so much cheaper. It's a bit worn down, but an exciting place to live. Even though the community is close knit and not used to outsiders, Tamal is immediately befriended by Max and Lela. They come to his house to hang out and have dinner, and Tamal's father asks them if there are any ghost stories attached to the house. Reluctantly, Lela tells the harrowing story of the people who built the house and a local factory. The house was apparently built on top of a graveyard, and three children and the mother died soon after moving in. There are also local legends that anyone who comes in to the house is haunted, and many teens who are thought to have run away may have died after visiting it. Tamal's dad finds this amusing, since he is interested in ghost hunting, but Tamal is scared-- he's seen the ghost. It's a little girl clutching a teddy bear, and he's afraid that if she looks him in the face, he will disappear as well. When he tells Max about this, Max isn't as thrilled about hanging out, but the two make amends. When the ghost becomes more and more threatening, will Tamal be able to settle the angry spirits with the help of his new friends?
Strengths: If kids move to a new house, there is a 60% chance in middle grade literature that it will be haunted, but a house built on top of a graveyard? THAT ups the creepy factor! I loved that Tamal was able to make friends so easily, and the fact that maybe they are only interested in him because of the house is even addressed, and he's reassured that Max and Lela think he's fun to be around and THAT'S why they are his friends. I loved that. I don't want to spoil the interesting ghost motivation, but it's top notch. Killer ghosts luring in victims for their own evil purposes? Exactly right.
Weaknesses: I might have treated myself to five mintues of Zillow after reading this, so there is now a house in Cincinnati that my daughter can never buy because it's completely connected to this book!
What I really think: I'm torn about the glowing eyes on the cover-- super creepy or too much like Five Nights at Freddie's? This ended up being a very solid addition to the Alexander Collection, not quite up there with Darkroom, but better than Fear Zone and any of the books with creepy dolls.
Tamal and his parents move from the city to a small town, and buy a mansion because real estate prices are so much cheaper. It's a bit worn down, but an exciting place to live. Even though the community is close knit and not used to outsiders, Tamal is immediately befriended by Max and Lela. They come to his house to hang out and have dinner, and Tamal's father asks them if there are any ghost stories attached to the house. Reluctantly, Lela tells the harrowing story of the people who built the house and a local factory. The house was apparently built on top of a graveyard, and three children and the mother died soon after moving in. There are also local legends that anyone who comes in to the house is haunted, and many teens who are thought to have run away may have died after visiting it. Tamal's dad finds this amusing, since he is interested in ghost hunting, but Tamal is scared-- he's seen the ghost. It's a little girl clutching a teddy bear, and he's afraid that if she looks him in the face, he will disappear as well. When he tells Max about this, Max isn't as thrilled about hanging out, but the two make amends. When the ghost becomes more and more threatening, will Tamal be able to settle the angry spirits with the help of his new friends?
Strengths: If kids move to a new house, there is a 60% chance in middle grade literature that it will be haunted, but a house built on top of a graveyard? THAT ups the creepy factor! I loved that Tamal was able to make friends so easily, and the fact that maybe they are only interested in him because of the house is even addressed, and he's reassured that Max and Lela think he's fun to be around and THAT'S why they are his friends. I loved that. I don't want to spoil the interesting ghost motivation, but it's top notch. Killer ghosts luring in victims for their own evil purposes? Exactly right.
Weaknesses: I might have treated myself to five mintues of Zillow after reading this, so there is now a house in Cincinnati that my daughter can never buy because it's completely connected to this book!
What I really think: I'm torn about the glowing eyes on the cover-- super creepy or too much like Five Nights at Freddie's? This ended up being a very solid addition to the Alexander Collection, not quite up there with Darkroom, but better than Fear Zone and any of the books with creepy dolls.
December 4, 2022
If you like staying in the shallow end of the thriller/horror genre or if you just enjoy reading preteen horror/thrillers, then, this book will be for you. I was surprised by this book, I went in not having read anything by this author, and did enjoy the writing style. The story started out slow, built a bit, and then, the last 60 or so pages was the best of it all. I don't normally read thriller or horror and wanted to dip my toes in the water, I thought getting something geared towards younger readers would be a good place to start. This was a light thriller geared to young teens. For an adult, it wouldn't be scarry, but, it was interesting to read.
November 8, 2024
Cute little ghost story. It's a quick read, and for a Middle-School horror book its not bad. It's a bit cliche, but I don't mind it. The ending was heartwarming, and the characters weren't bad for a kid-ish book. I will admit though, if you're looking for a scare, I didn't get any from this book. But, I don't think its meant for that. It's more of a tell-around-the-campfire story.
Overall, would recommend to kids or pre-teens who get scared easily but want a quick 'horror' story.
Pro Tip: Always read in the dark with a flashlight and spooky music, makes any book just a little more spooky :)
Overall, would recommend to kids or pre-teens who get scared easily but want a quick 'horror' story.
Pro Tip: Always read in the dark with a flashlight and spooky music, makes any book just a little more spooky :)
May 29, 2021
This book was basically a middle grade book version of the 1999 film the haunting.
I’d like to rate this 3.5 stars mainly I think for nostalgic purposes. I LOVED Ritchie Tankersley Cusick, Dean Koontz, R.L. Stein, and Caroline B. Cooney when I was a kid and this book reminded me so much of these reads.
I read this in 2 days; a very easy read with short chapters making it easy to start and stop or just read a little at a time to make small progress. It was also pretty suspenseful making it easy to keep ready.
I’d like to rate this 3.5 stars mainly I think for nostalgic purposes. I LOVED Ritchie Tankersley Cusick, Dean Koontz, R.L. Stein, and Caroline B. Cooney when I was a kid and this book reminded me so much of these reads.
I read this in 2 days; a very easy read with short chapters making it easy to start and stop or just read a little at a time to make small progress. It was also pretty suspenseful making it easy to keep ready.
July 5, 2021
2.75 ⭐️ as a middle school librarian I read this for my students before I add it to the stacks. I think kids will like it. Quick easy chapters, enough suspense to keep you interested and reading. The difficult part was the believability. These kids are in 4th grade? I don’t think so. Not a typical 4th grader anyway. I could see maybe 12-16 to act and speak like theee characters. Since it was short there wasn’t any character development and I feel like I could skip whole paragraphs because of the redundancy. I would recommend this to my students that like a quick spooky book.
November 5, 2021
Was this a good book yes. Did I get scared or creeped out no. I did really enjoy this book. It is an excellent middle grade book. Some parts wasn’t as spooky or scary as I thought. But it was still good. Definitely a good spooky read. Towards the end there’s a really good cliff hanger for you to read the next book.
May 10, 2022
For a book meant for upper Elementary-Middle School students I was pleasantly surprised and creeped out at times. This was a recommendation from one of my students, so of course I had to read it. I am glad I did. I love when they recommend books and we can talk about them together. Can’t wait to for their next suggestion!
July 9, 2022
It was a quick and fun read. Creepy at times. I’d recommend it. I say it’s suitable for children, but it all depends on the kid. It ends nicely enough. I’d recommend this book for a fun quick read.
November 5, 2022
I was first drawn to this author because they share my initials/ last name, lol. It was definitely a plus that they write horror. I have read a few of their books and really enjoy the writing style.
I really liked the haunted house/ ghost dimension of this book.
I really liked the haunted house/ ghost dimension of this book.
October 14, 2024
Very reminiscent of Poltergeist with 2 major elements from the plot of that movie. I liked the characters and the premise wasn't really strong but it was acceptable. Spooky but not too scary for middle graders.
December 6, 2024
I really liked this book! I normally am not a fan of scary things, but this book was just the right amount of scary. It kept me wanting to keep reading. Definitely recommend if you love edge of your seat books!
September 25, 2020
I really enjoy this author's middle school horror books.
December 11, 2020
A super spooky ghost story, perfect for middle-grade readers who like a bit of a scare! Read my full review here: https://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2020/...
December 17, 2020
I LOVE ALL OF ALEXANDER'S BOOKS!
June 23, 2021
Very spooky but very good. I was terriffied at first and was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
August 5, 2021
I personally think that Alexander writes the best scary/thriller books for kids! They are on the edge of your seat scary. You can't put them down.
November 21, 2021
What in the world did I just read.
November 30, 2021
It was a really great book and the ending was the best part.
Want to read
December 15, 2021awsome so can I read it?
December 16, 2021
This was a really great book I I’ve the writing I love how he has some vocabulary and some metaphor and similes
Read
May 7, 2022loved
May 20, 2022
Follow Me was a fun book to read. I liked that I couldn't figure out where it was headed. I've read two books from the Scare Me series, and I enjoyed them both. Now it's time to read the next one!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews