Finding the right Halloween books to get your little goblins or big ghouls to read just got super easy! Along with all that candy to rot their teeth, why not give them something to expand their mind? Less guilt that way. The hand-picked collection below will delight Halloween book readers of all ages. I’ve picked silly and funny books for the little readers and progressively gotten a bit creepier and scarier as you go down the list and the age of the reader (teen readers) gets older. To give yourself a treat, you have to scroll to the end to see the last title I’ve chosen that everyone will enjoy. Seriously.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains”-S Grahame tinyurl.com/8bxwnya
— Leah Dossey (@CreativeWisdom) October 9, 2012
Halloween Books Your Kids Will Actually Want To Read
Books For The Little Goblins
Little Monsters by Jan Pienkowski
“This little monster plays with his food. This little monster’s very rude.”
Little Monsters has the most amazing pop-up features! It’s super funny and silly and is an awesome Halloween treat! You can send your kids to bed “tickled to death”. Ages 3 & Up
Can You See What I See? On A Scary Scary Night by Walter Wick
Mr. Walter Wick is a totally dishing out the awesome-sauce here. If you’ve never seen Can You See What I See?: On a Scary Scary Night you need to get this one and then proceed with self flagellation later. These books are so cool you’ll be fighting with your kids over who can find the next object first. Ages 4 & Up (Even the stodgiest of adults would have fun with these books)
Frankenstein Takes The Cake
It’s not easy being a monster. Poor Frankenstein. He just wants to marry his undead bride in peace, but his best man, Dracula, is freaking out about the garlic bread. Then there’s the Headless Horseman, who wishes everyone would stop drooling over his delicious pumpkin head. And can someone please tell Edgar Allan Poe to get the door already before the raven completely loses it? Sheesh.
In a wickedly funny tale, Frankenstein Takes the Cake, Adam Rex once again proves that monsters are just like you and me. (Well, sort of.) Ages 5 & up
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery by James Howe
James Howe’s classic Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery is the perfect bedtime reader. Pull up a chair or sit on the end of the bed as your kids wonder…Is he or isn’t he a vampire?
Harold the dog & Chester the cat must find out the truth about the newest pet in household — a suspicious-looking bunny with unusual habits…and big fangs! Ages 8 & Up
Books For The Ghostly Kids
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book
It takes a graveyard to raise a child. (Narf!)
Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard (or have a weird name like Nobody). There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy—an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, he will be in danger from the man Jack. Pull the covers up over your head for this not-too-scary (but totally a little bit creepy) tale. Perfect for the child who wants to read a scary story and the parent who wants to sleep through the night without interruption. Ages 9 & Up
The Halloween Tree by Rad Bradbury
“A fast-moving, eerie…tale set on Halloween night. Eight costumed boys running to meet their friend Pipkin at the haunted house outside town encounter instead the huge and cadaverous Mr. Moundshroud. As Pipkin scrambles to join them, he is swept away by a dark Something, and Moundshroud leads the boys on the tail of a kite through time and space to search the past for their friend and the meaning of Halloween. After witnessing a funeral procession in ancient Egypt, cavemen discovering fire, Druid rites, the persecution of witches in the Dark Ages, and the gargoyles of Notre Dame, they catch up with the elusive Pipkin in the catacombs of Mexico, where each boy gives one year from the end of his life to save Pipkin’s. Enhanced by appropriately haunting black-and-white drawings.”–Booklist
The Halloween Tree C’mon. It’s Ray Bradbury. You know it’s gonna be good. Ages 10 & Up
Books For The Ghoulish Teenager
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. Already sounds creepy, right?
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children mixes fiction and photography and combines them into a thrilling reading experience. Sixteen-year-old Jacob journeys to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he explores the abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And they may still be alive. How freakin’ freaky is that?This. Is. An. Awesome. Book. Ages 13 & Up
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance – Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Go re-read that title. Go on. I’ll wait.
Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem? Bring it on.
Did you see the cover? I mean, I know you aren’t suppose to judge a book by it’s cover…but, really. This smacks of zombie-awesome. Here. Let me help you….
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” -Seth Grahame
So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance – Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, sword fights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something your kids would actually want to read. Ages 13 & Up
More Halloween Stuff
DIY Pumpkin Carving & Jack-O-Laterns
Scary Halloween Decorations, Costumes and Treats