History Literature / TheMidnightLibrary

* ExtremelyProtectiveChild: Tim Barnett of "An Apple A Day" is a tragic deconstruction. Seeing his Grandma cowed by the bullying Bill Cole motivates him to vandalize Cole's orchard to teach the selfish old man a lesson, despite his grandma warning him not to. [[Spoiler:It ultimately causes his demise when he eats an apple and becomes a new tree, feeding Cole's goading and leaving his Grandmother all alone.]]

* ComicAdaptation: In 2008, Goma Books published a series that adapts the stories into short Manga, which weren't published in English. Notably, several stories have a cute Bishoujo style that contrasts to the disturbing and dark nature of the stories.

A series of British {{horror}} novels for young adults. They have all been written by different authors under the pen names "Damian Graves" and "Nick Shadow." Quite a few books have been published, but only eight have been published for the 2000s era. Each story revolves around the unfortunate tale of some kids who find themselves facing terrifying, supernatural threats, and each one leads up to a new ending that's bound to scar the reader's brains for quite some time. What makes the stories even more horrifying is that these are all ''kids'' suffering these fates. Eat your heart out, R.L. Stine.

** Liam's father from "Blind Witness" is a ruthless, murderous gangster whose often cold to Liam, but he cares enough for his son that he takes time off to help him after he's blinded in an accident,[[spoiler: and give him new eyes from a man he recently murdered.]]

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: So, so much. You'd think there'd be a lot of {{AssholeVictim}}s, but no, most of the characters who suffer horrible misfortune and death are very nice, well-meaning kids. It really serves to make the stories feel way more mean-spirited.

* TheTreesHaveFaces: "An Apple a Day" concerns a young boy steals an apple from a neighbour's orchard, turning out to belong to a local witch, then he starts his horrifically slow transformation into an apple tree with his face on it.

* JerkassGods: "Carnival Dance" features the Mayan GodOfDeath, [[Myth/MayanMythology Ah Puch]]. Unsurprisingly, he's not here to make friends.

** Miss Tibalt, the titular character of "The Cat Lady", genuinely loves and cares for the cats she keeps. Considering most of said cats are likely [[BalefulPolymorph children she's transformed]], that's saying a lot.

* KarmaHoudini: ''Every single villain''. Even if the antagonist is already dead, they still succeed in killing the protagonists and going on to enact more harm. Well, it wouldn't be the type of series it is if this wasn't constant, now would it?

** "CarnivalDance":[[spoiler: Martina's friend Simon turns out to be possessed by Ah Puch at the parade. He unleashes his power on the crowds, sucking the life from everyone and preparing to conquer the world.]]

* ShootTheShaggyDog: Every single ''effing story'' is this. No one ever escapes their grisly fate, the villain always lives to claim more innocents, and quite often their family and friends get pulled down with them. It really is a bleak series. The few endings with a smidgen of hope were edited from their original UK release, which are just as hopeless as most of the stories.

A series of {{horror}} novels for young adults. They have all been written by different authors under the pen names "Damian Graves" and "Nick Shadow." Quite a few books have been published, but only eight have been published for the 2000s era. Each story revolves around the unfortunate tale of some kids who find themselves facing terrifying, supernatural threats, and each one leads up to a new ending that's bound to scar the reader's brains for quite some time. What makes the stories even more horrifying is that these are all ''kids'' suffering these fates. Eat your heart out, R.L. Stine.