Phantom Rider Books in Order

The Phantom Rider books are middle grade horse adventures with a supernatural streak. The series follows Callie Fern, a twelve-year-old who is unhappy after moving to Arizona and is not at all convinced the desert will ever feel like home. Then a ghost horse enters her life, and the dry landscape she has been resisting suddenly fills with mystery.

In Ghost Horse, Callie glimpses the phantom horse Star and gets pulled into the problem that keeps the animal from resting. The first book is part haunting, part friendship story, and part settling-in tale. Callie's love of horses gives her a way into this new world, but it also puts her close to danger, because helping Star means following clues into places adults do not fully understand.

Arizona matters here. The series uses stables, desert trails, mountain weather, and wide open spaces to create a setting that feels both beautiful and a little eerie. Simner does not treat the landscape like scenery pasted behind the action. The heat, storms, distance, and sense of isolation all help shape what Callie sees and how exposed she feels when the uncanny starts to press in.

The later books build on Callie's connection to Star instead of starting over from scratch. The Haunted Trail strands Callie, her friend Amy, and her sister Melissa on a trail ride just as a storm rolls in and a stranger begins following them. Ghost Vision turns quieter and stranger, following the strain on Callie's secret bond with Star when ordinary school life pulls them apart and the ghost horse becomes ill.

Star is not just a spooky gimmick.

The bond between Callie and the ghost horse gives the series its emotional center. Because of that bond, these books are about more than quick scares. They are also about loyalty, letting go, and trusting what you know even when the adults around you cannot see the whole picture. The stakes stay age-appropriate, but they feel real.

Overall, Phantom Rider sits in the sweet spot between gentle scare and earnest horse story. Readers who like animals, brave girls, and a little supernatural suspense should feel at home here. Because Callie and Star's relationship changes from book to book, the series is best read in order, starting with Ghost Horse.