Halloween Hauntings!

Halloween is fast approaching!  This week I'm going to share some of my favorite Halloween picture books for young kids.  These are perfect for those kids who don't want too scary of a book . . .

Ten Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage
In this Halloween countdown book, ten orange pumpkins are each carried off by a witch, a ghost, a spider, and other Halloween creatures until there's just one.

Jungle Halloween by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Rhyming verses tell the story of jungle animals which decorate for Halloween, dress up for the occasion, and participate in the night's festivities.

The Hallo-Wiener by Dav Pilkey
All the other dogs make fun of Oscar the dachshund until one Halloween when, dressed as a hot dog, Oscar bravely rescues the others.

Six Creepy Sheep by Judith Ross Enderle
Out trick-or-treating on Halloween, the six sheep meet a passel of pirates, a gaggle of goblins, and other trick-or-treaters who scare the wool off them.

Dare to Be Scared (Part 5)

On the night before Halloween, I'm going to share my all-time favorite horror books for teens . . .

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
For three years, seventeen-year-old Cas Lowood has carried on his father's work of dispatching the murderous dead, traveling with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat, but everything changes when he meets Anna, a girl unlike any ghost he has faced before.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
Sam LaCroix, a Seattle fast-food worker and college dropout, discovers that he is a necromancer, part of a world of harbingers, werewolves, satyrs, and one particular necromancer who sees Sam as a threat to his lucrative business of raising the dead.

Lord Loss by Darren Shan
Presumably the only witness to the horrific and bloody murder of his entire family, a teenage boy must outwit not only the mental health professionals determined to cure his delusion, but also the demonic forces only he can see.

Unspoken by Sarah Brennan
Loving a boy she has never met but with whom she has communicated telepathically all of her life, Kami Glass investigates screams heard in the nearby woods and sees lights in a long-empty manor house only to discover that her hometown has been hiding a murderer.

The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle
Eleven-year-old Tabby Aykroyd, who would later serve as housekeeper for thirty years to the Brönte sisters, is taken from an orphanage to a ghost-filled house, where she and a wild young boy are needed for a pagan ritual.

Happy Halloween!

With Halloween coming up at the end of the week, I thought I would share my favorite Halloween picture books . . . .

The Hallo-Wiener by Dav Pilkey
All the other dogs make fun of Oscar the dachshund until one Halloween when, dressed as a hot dog, Oscar bravely rescues the others.

Jungle Halloween by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Rhyming verses tell the story of jungle animals which decorate for Halloween, dress up for the occasion, and participate in the night's festivities.

Six Creepy Sheep by Judith Ross Enderle
Out trick-or-treating on Halloween, the six sheep meet a passel of pirates, a gaggle of goblins, and other trick-or-treaters who scare the wool off them.

We're Off to Find the Witch's House by Richard Krieb
Simple, rhyming text follows a group of children as they creep down the street, passing ever more frightening creatures, on their way to pay a holiday call on a witch.

Ten Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage
In this Halloween countdown book, ten orange pumpkins are each carried off by a witch, a ghost, a spider, and other Halloween creatures until there's just one.

Happy Hauntings!

With Halloween less than a week away -- here are my favorite horror books for kids . . .

Seer of Shadows by Avi

In New York City in 1872, fourteen-year-old Horace, a photographer's apprentice, becomes entangled in a plot to create fraudulent spirit photographs, but when Horace accidentally frees the real ghost of a dead girl bent on revenge, his life takes a frightening turn.

Zombie Chasers by John Kloepfer

When zombies take over Phoenix, Arizona, Zack Clarke, his best friend Rice, and his older sister's mean friend Madison Miller team up to try to defeat the undead, or at least survive one another.

Curse of the Winter Moon by Mary Casanova

In sixteenth-century France, ruled by a Church that overtaxes peasants and burns heretics, Marius must postpone his apprenticeship to care for his six-year-old brother, whose birth took their mother's life, and who the villagers, backed by the Church, believe will become a "loup garou" -- a werewolf.

A Taste for Red by Lewis Harris

When some of her classmates disappear, sixth-grader Svetlana, along with her new friends go in search of the missing students using her newfound ability as an Olfactive, one who has heightened smell, hearing, and the ability to detect vampires.

Scare Scape by Sam Fisher

Morton, James, Melissa, and their father have just moved into an old house in a new town, and when Morton finds a creepy gargoyle buried in the yard, he and his siblings each make a wish--and find out that they have unleashed chaos.

More Horror Chapter Books --

Curse of the Night Wolf by Paul Stewart

A Field Guide to Monsters by Johan Olander

Half-Minute Horrors by Susan Rich

The Improbable Cat by Allan Ahlberg

The Monstrous Memoirs of Mighty McFearless by Ahmet Zappa

The Paradise Trap by Catherine Jinks

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

The Stone Child by Dan Poblocki

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn

Monster-rific Books

Halloween is fast approaching which means that I am bombarded with requests for books for the holiday.  Here are my favorite monster picture books for young children . . . .

Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler
Ghost tries to help Skeleton get rid of the hiccups.

Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere
A hungry monster seeks a different type of bedtime snack.

The Skeleton in the Closet by Alice Schertle
A scary skeleton terrorizes a boy in his bedroom while it searches his closet for clothes to wear.

Zombie in Love by Kelly DiPucchio
Mortimer, a zombie, is looking for love, but when all of his attempts to locate a sweetheart fail, Mortimer decides to place an ad in the newspaper.

The Monsters' Monster by Patrick McDonnell
Grouch, Grump, and little Gloom 'n' Doom spend much of their time arguing over who is the "biggest and baddest" until they build a monster together that turns out to be very different that what they expect.

More Monster Books --
Big Bad Bubble by Adam Rubin
Boogie Knights by Lisa Wheeler
Dick and Jane and the Vampire by Laura Marchesani
Frankenstein: A Monstrous Parody by Rick Walton
Hush Little Monster by Denis Markell
Jumpy Jack and Googily by Meg Rosoff
The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone
Monster Mama by Liz Rosenberg
Sally and the Some-Thing by George O'Connor
Where's My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi

Books to Give You Goosebumps

Looking for a great horror book for Halloween night?  Here's some of the best for teens . . .

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
After a family tragedy, Jacob feels compelled to explore an abandoned orphanage on an island off the coast of Wales, discovering disturbing facts about the children who were kept there.

Dracula's Guest: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories edited by Michael Sims
A treasury of Victorian-era vampire stories includes Edgar Allan Poe's "The Oval Portrait" and Guy de Maupassant's "The Horla," in an anthology complemented by Transylvanian superstitions.

Asylum by Madeleine Roux
Three teens at a summer program for gifted students uncover shocking secets in the sanatorium-turned-dorm where they're staying--secrets that link them all to the asylum's dark past.

Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough
When Cora and her younger sister, Mimi, are sent to stay with their great Auntie Ida in an isolated village in 1958, they discover that they are in danger from a centuries-old evil and, along with village boys Roger and Peter, strive to uncover the horrifying truth before it is too late.

Trick or Treat! Books for Halloween

Looking for some great titles to get you and your kids in the Halloween spirit?  Try these books . . .

Ten Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage
In this Halloween countdown book, ten orange pumpkins are each carried off by a witch, a ghost, a spider, and other Halloween creatures until there's just one.

Minerva Louise on Halloween by Janet Morgan Stoeke
On her first Halloween, Minerva Louise the hen puzzles over costumes but enjoys her first taste of candy corn.

Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes
Easy to read, rhyming text about Halloween night incorporates Spanish words, from las brujas riding their broomsticks to los monstruos whose monstrous ball is interrupted by a true horror.

The Bumpy Little Pumpkin by Margery Cuyler
Little Nell chooses an unusual pumpkin for her Halloween jack-o-lantern, despite her big sisters' criticisms.