8 Spooky Halloween Books for Kids

Is Halloween your favorite holiday? Do your kids like books? Do you want your kids to appreciate your aesthetic, without being traumatized for life? You’ve come to the right place! I’ve got eight spooky, scary, monster-themed book recommendations for Halloween, starting with an adorable picture book and working up to a legitimately scary middle-grade choice. And if you charming adults like spoopy kids’ books yourselves, all the better!

 

P.T.A. Night by Jeremy Scott: A wordless picture book.

Little Vampire by Joann Sfar: A cute, simple graphic novel originally from France.

You Smell Dead and the rest of the Pretty Freakin Scary series by Chris P. Flesh: A simple, pun-filled chapter-book series, but absolutely hilarious, genuine, and adorable.

Demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham: Fast-paced horror for tweens, with cute monsters, jump-scares, gross-outs, and a co-protagonist who’s a Junior Assistant Librarian.

The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French: A chapter-book choice for those of us with a more goth-inclined aesthetic, with some fairy-tale influences.

The Monsters of Morley Manor by Bruce Coville: A genre-bender from one of my favorite childrens’ authors, it starts off ghosty-horror when five monsters are brought to life, then progresses through fantasy and sci-fi and back to ghosty-horror. The style is simple, but the plot and themes more complex, so it’s great for those transitioning to middle grade.

The Monster Garden by Vivien Alcock: A childhood favorite, loosely inspired by Frankenstein. I always cry at the end.

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier: For advanced middle-graders or beginning YA-ers. The only one on the list that I think is genuinely scary, but it’s awesome and highly recommended for the older kids.

Goodreads links (from easiest to most-advanced reading):

• P.T.A. Night by Jeremy Scott
• Little Vampire by Joann Sfar
• You Smell Dead by Chris P. Flesh
• Demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham
• The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French
• The Monsters of Morley Manor by Bruce Coville
• The Monster Garden by Vivien Alcock
• The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

Got a spooky kids’ book to recommend? Drop it in the comments, I’d love some titles to read before Halloween!