Do You Remember ‘Michigan Chillers’, The Michigan-centric Horror Series?

The school library at my small-town elementary school had two hit book series that were always flying off the shelves, and, oddly, they were both horror series. The first was actually scary and disturbing illustrations that used to give me nightmares: Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark. 

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Then there was the horror-lite series that actually made sense for kids to read. American Chillers and Michigan Chillers by Johnathan Rand. As a kid, I did not realize how spoiled I was to be able to read a scary story set in cities across my state and to have an instant connection to the book series without even reading it.

Tommy McNeill, Townsquare Media

Did I know where Gaylord was as a kid? No, but I did know that there were apparently gargoyles haunting the night, and I knew that I should steer clear of Kalamazoo because of the Kreepy Klowns that lived there. The world Johnathan Rand (whose real name is Christopher Wright) created was one that got kids reading and slightly spooked, and one that also reached into the real world.

Michigan Chillers, American Chillers, and the Man with Three Names

The first book in the Chillers series, Mayhem on Mackinac Island, proved there was a hungry audience for this type of state-centric storytelling. In 2000 alone, Rand published 10 books and created the American Chillers the following year, expanding the horror to include states around the country. It was an immediate hit.

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Rand smartly linked each book to the next by having the main character meet the character for the next book, and then giving a few chapters of the next book, creating a loosely connected storyline across each book.

Tommy McNeill, Townsquare Media

In total, there have been 21 Michigan Chillers books and 45 American Chillers books (to this day, the only thing I associate Nebraska with his nightcrawler worms), with the series having sold over 7 million copies worldwide. All the while, the other half of what made the Chillers series so unique was his commitment to his readers,

Beyond The Books: Chillermania and Chillers In Real Life

Rand was frequently on the road, visiting schools across the country and sporting his signature round glasses, and he was quick to establish an active fan club. But the most unique part of the Chillers franchise was the creation of his retail store, Chillermania, in Indian River in 2005

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Through this store, Rand was able to connect directly with readers while also establishing a headquarters for his publishing. Rand was recently the subject of a 25th-anniversary documentary with WGVU, in which he gave a tour of the store and an introspective timeline of how Chillers came to be.

Overall, Michigan Chillers was such a unique part of growing up in the early 2000s, and we kids were incredibly spoiled to have a series as distinctive as this, highlighting Michigan and its history through easy-to-read books.