Mr Midnight is Asia's answer to Harry Potter

Singapore:  Young Asian readers seeking the thrill of ghouls and haunted houses no longer turn only to Western favorites to satisfy their itch.

Asia's answer to the record-selling British boy wizard "Harry Potter" is the "Mr Midnight" series of books.

It has sold more than one million copies in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

 Full of ghosts, dark closets, witches and creepy things, "Mr Midnight" is a heartbeat racing hit that has been translated into several different languages.

The appeal, says "Mr Midnight" author Jim Aitchison, is the books' ability to address an Asian child's values and sensibilities.

"Asian kids are very different from American kids. They have different values," says Aitchison. "The kids in Asia are a lot more innocent ... what would shock an Asian kid in a book, an American kid will think, 'That's it?'," he adds chuckling.

Having spent 20 years in Singapore, the youthful looking Australian deems himself qualified to write about Asian children.

"I lived here long enough and I have seen enough kids and I have talked to enough people," Aitchison says.

 Mysterious about his own age, he says "you sort of  understand the (child's) mindset after a while, but it comes with age".