All young ghouls and boils need for a hauntingly good Halloween celebration is a comfy reading spot and one of these spooky stories (costumes and sweet treats optional).
Read on for our favourite books to read during spooky season - or use the buttons below to navigate through the list!
0-5s
What could be spookier than a skeleton walking along a dark dark street? Three skeletons! A big, small and dog skeleton venture out of their dark dark cellar to explore the dark dark town. They play in the park, visit the skeleton zoo animals and look for someone to frighten. The problem is everyone is asleep! So, that leaves them having to frighten each other. It wouldn’t be Halloween without Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s classic Funnybones
It's Halloween and Peter Rabbit is going to a party in the forest! As Peter ventures through the woods, who will surprise him with a spooky peek-a-BOO at every turn? Peep through the flaps to guess who's on the other side then turn over to see! This brand-new board book is the perfect Halloween peekaboo story for all Peter Rabbit fans.
Danny and Dino are back and this time they are trick or treating. It’s Halloween, of course, and as they are hunting for candy the pair stumble across a haunted house. Inside they find themselves ambushed by witches, ghosts, vampires, and all other kinds of spooks. Luckily, something brown and smelly is brewing inside Dino’s tummy…
Go on a Halloween adventure with The Very Hungry Caterpillar and friends in this chunky lift-and-find board book! Each page of this board book has been thoughtfully designed with a gatefold on each page that encourages little ones to join in and read aloud. Perfect for getting very little ones excited for the spooky season of Halloween.
It's Halloween and Spot is getting ready for a spooky party! Toddlers will love pulling the tabs to help Spot find the perfect costume, hang up decorations and bake tasty treats for his friends!
Everyone's heard of the Grizzlygrim. They say it has terrifying talons and fiendish fangs. They say it likes to eat children up in one giant bite. But when, one fateful night, a child finally meets the Grizzlygrim, they realise that not everything is as it seems...
An epic tale with an unexpected ending from incredible picture-talent Rachel Morrisroe, with gorgeously detailed illustrations from Richard Merritt.
BOO! There's a little ghost in your book... Tap, slide, and jiggle the pages to help Little Ghost give his friends Monster and Witch a fright! Toddlers will love this interactive board book, full of fun novelties that encourage curiosity and exploration and a playful narrative that is perfect to read aloud.
Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble – there’s a cheeky witch causing a lot of trouble in this story from the Who’s in Your Book? series . She’s hellbent on making a mess, so it’s up to you, the reader, to use your own magic to keep your book tidy. But watch out: she can get cross and might try and turn you into a toad! This is a wonderful story to read together during the witching season.
Peter cannot wait to wear his radish costume and show all his friends when they go on their Halloween trail. But first, Peter must help his sisters decide what they will dress as - there's so many choices! However Peter soon worries that he's running out of time to get his own costume ready...
In this new lift-the-flap story, it's Halloween - and Spot is ready to celebrate! Join him and his friends as they dress up in spooky costumes - but just as the party is about to start, Spot disappears. Where did he go? With interactive flaps to train fine motor skills, and an adventure that sparks curiosity and imagination, Find Spot at Halloween is perfect for early learning and play.
Celebrate Halloween with search-and-find fun in this pumpkin-shaped board book perfect for fans of The Very Hungry Caterpillar ! Featuring the classic character The Very Hungry Caterpillar, this pumpkin-shaped book is a celebration of all things Halloween. See if you can spot The Very Hungry Caterpillar among jack-o'-lanterns, candy baskets, bats, and more! With Eric Carle's bright, colorful illustrations, this is the perfect addition to every child's library!
It’s time to go to bed, and whether you are a phantom, a vampire, a Dark Lord or a yeti, you still must brush your teeth, put on your pyjamas, and settle down with a cosy story.
Full of warmth and humour (and slime!) this rhyming bedtime book will disgust and delight sleepy little monsters everywhere.
Join The Very Hungry Caterpillar on his spookiest adventure yet! The Very Hungry Caterpillar is out after dark, exploring the woods by the light of the moon. But what other creatures are out at night? Keep little hands busy with lift the flap tabs on every page and bold illustrations. The perfect interactive bedtime story for younger readers, The Very Hungry Caterpillar continues to delight generation after generation of children.
It’s been over 50 years since we were first introduced to Meg the witch and her mischievous moggy, Mog. In this very first book it’s Halloween, and the pair are off to a party with all their friends. They’re planning to do a spell together, so everyone has brought an ingredient to add to the cauldron. However, things don’t quite go to plan...
Welcome to the Spookermarket, where ghouls and frights shop by night. But when a mischievous genie escapes to cause chaos in the supermarket aisles, can everybody work together to outwit this troublesome customer? A frighteningly funny picture book, perfect for sharing at Halloween and beyond!
Are you ready to play a game of trick or treat? In this book for young chiddlers, under each flap you’ll find either a gloriumptous treat or a disgusterous trick. From snozzcumbers to scrumptious treats, little ones will have lots of fun lifting each of the flaps and this is a great book to read together on Halloween night.
6-8s
Even though she’s a ghost, Boo has never liked being scary – not like her brothers Shock and Shriek. But when a witch’s hat finds its way onto her head, Boo learns that not all ghosts have to be scary. Some ghosts can be... witchy. Follow Witchy Boo on her magical journey, as she learns to accept herself—with the help of some very cute friends.
Bea is getting ready for Halloween - the costumes, the parties, trick-or-treating, it's all so much fun. The tiny dogs are excited about the spooky celebration too. But when Bea's attempt to decorate a pumpkin and win a competition goes wrong, it looks like Halloween might be ruined. Can the tiny dogs help Bea with her pumpkin?
When all the trick-or-treating is done and children are tucked in, ghosts are drawn to one special place: the Haunted Playground! Ruled by Rex Magnificus, ghosts arrive not to haunt but to play. But will the appearance of two human children interrupt their revelry?
From two master storytellers, this Halloween story is a modern classic!
When Mr Pottifer tries to teach Sarah’s class how to grow magical beanstalks, some mischievous garden gnomes cause havoc and suddenly Enchantment Primary has a giant beanstalk in their school garden!
Join Sarah and her friends on an adventure full of imagination and wonder with a GIANT surprise is in store...!
Daisy doesn’t like vampires. She’s not scared of them or anything, but it’s nearly Halloween and that’s all people like Jack Beechwhistle seem to be talking about – as well as zombies, ghosts and werewolves! And after a while, these things can play on your mind and get a bit scary-ish, which isn’t fun when night comes along and it starts to get very dark… A funny and spooktacular tale for fans of the Daisy series .
This compendium of laugh-out-loud stories is perfect for tricksters this Halloween. From acclaimed author Terry Pratchett, The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner features 14 hilariously chaotic stories, combining everything from wizards, pirates, and errr… a mysterious vacuum cleaner!? With fantastic illustrations and a little bit of magic and mayhem, this is a light-hearted but ghoulishly delightful collection that will delight Pratchett fans as well as newcomers to the author’s work.
Halloween is not the only time of the year you should be avoiding witches, but it’s a good start. As we find out in Roald Dahl ’s iconic tale, witches HATE human children. They’re always plotting and scheming to rid the world of children permanently. And when a young boy and his grandmother stumble across the most wicked plot devised by the Grand High Witch, they do everything in their power to stop her.
Mildred Hubble is a trainee witch, and she’s got a lot of work to do. She always manages to land herself in a spot of bother – from disastrously mixing up spells and potions, to crashing her broomstick. Written and illustrated by Jill Murphy, this classic – and often shambolic – boarding school tale is perfect for fans of all things mystical and magical. This spellbinding 50th anniversary clothbound edition makes for a perfect gift.
Strange bumps! Spooky Shadows! Odd noises! No wonder Tina and Tuck think that Boone School is haunted!
But when the two mice spot burglars prowling in the school corridors, they wonder if maybe the school “ghost” might not be so bad after all. And that perhaps the Boone School spook can even help them scare off the crooks...?
Although born a witch’s cat with magical powers, Gobbolino would much rather be a humble kitchen cat with a loving family. After failing all the tasks set by his witchy owner, Gobbolino sets off and pursues his dream of finding a human family. But his magical powers land him in a bit of trouble at a farm, an orphanage and the mayor’s house! Will Gobbolino ever find his happy ending?
Ever wondered what it's like to be a vampire? To be super strong, super fast and super naughty? To sleep all day and party all night? Cool, right?
But what if you're only half-vampire? Super awkward, super anxious and super allergic to garlic dip? I'm Moth, and this is the story of how my sucky life got kinda better thanks to a girl called Mina, a plant called Gary and my best friend Biscuit (who is a bat).
9+
Ever since their mum died, free-spirit Elfie and her teen sister, Magda, have been stuck living with their extremely grumpy aunt in boring suburbia. That is until their older sister, Louette, arrives to rescue them in her London bus-come-travelling-bookshop, and whisks them away to freedom, and adventures travelling around France!
Elfie is delighted to be reunited with all her sisters - especially when Louette reveals that their mother left them all special gifts. Elfie's is a notebook, which she fills with stories - just like her mum used to do. Only it turns out, the notebook isn't a notebook. It's a grimoire - a witch's spellbook! And when Elfie writes her stories in it, magic comes to life...!
Discover the ‘spooktacular’ new collection of real-life ghost stories for readers aged 9-12 from the award-winning writer, creator and host of the hit BBC podcast and TV series Uncanny . Award-winning writer Danny Robins is on a mission to inspire a new generation of ghost-hunters in his thrilling first book for children. Join Danny on an adventure into the world of the paranormal, exploring bizarre and intriguing mysteries from poltergeists and apparitions, to messages from the spirit world, ghostly photos, and even a haunted toilet! This is a journey of discovery for anyone curious about the paranormal, exploring the science and history behind these incredible stories. As Danny says, “it's spooky not scary”!
Lilac Black does not believe in ghosts. So she’s rather surprised to learn she comes from a long line of gifted Seers, all of whom attended Spindlewood: a top-secret boarding school for children with the power to see, hear and communicate with spirits. And now, Lilac has an invitation to Spindlewood herself. The only problem? There's been a huge misunderstanding. Lilac does not have the gift. Reluctant to disappoint her proud uncles, and curious to see this mysterious school for herself, she decides to play along. But as Lilac’s web of lies becomes more tangled, one thing is clear: there is something wrong at Spindlewood. Something ancient and sinister, hidden beneath the library. Something connected to the long-ago disappearance of Lilac's parents.
Full of rich, atmospheric writing, haunting tales of murder and madness, and mysteries that baffle the mind, this is a fabulously unsettling selection for any horror fan aged 10+.
Revel in thirteen tales of horror, suspense and the supernatural by the inimitable Edgar Allen Poe. Featuring some of his most famous stories, including 'The Tell-Tale Heart', 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and 'The Masque of the Red Death', this chilling collection of short stories is the perfect way to introduce new readers to the long-lasting thrills and chills of outstanding horror writing – or indulge in them yourself!
Once, the great house of Skulkmoor stood proudly on its hillside, commanding the attention of anyone who came by. Now, it is a curious puzzle of a place - not least thanks to the giant wall which cuts it straight in half, separating the two warring families that live inside it. For you see, many years ago, the Fox family was torn apart by a question of murder - and of inheritance. With no clear heir, the vast family fortune - and the house - has been literally divided in two. But now, two young cousins, one from rival sides of Skulkmoor, must race to solve the crime - or face losing their home forever. Can Ted and Iris put their differences aside and save their family fortune - or will they play their part in destroying everything?
‘Don't panic. That's the first rule of survival. Never panic.’ Simple enough – until your school trip turns into a waking nightmare. After rescuing a book from the river, eleven-year-old Ollie discovers an unsettling ghost story about the sinister Smiling Man, a fiendish trickster who’ll grant any wish – for a price. Creepy, but it’s just a story. But when Ollie finds graves bearing the characters’ names on a school trip to a farm, that story begins to feel terrifyingly real. And then the bus breaks down on the way home. And darkness starts to fall. And the scarecrows are watching. But it’s the bus driver who sends Ollie and her friends, Coco and Brian, scrambling into the woods: ‘Best get moving,’ he said, ominously. ‘At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you.’ As they work to unravel a hundred-year-old mystery and save their classmates from the Smiling Man, they’ll need quick thinking and even quicker feet if they’re going to survive.
Inspired by the blood-spattered, gut-spilling, skull-drilling history of medicine, Kay’s Gruesome Games is packed to the (cauldron’s) brim with petrifying puzzles, bloodthirsty brainteasers, and eerie experiments. Featuring more than 350 creepy craft activities, revolting recipes and bone-crunching ‘True or Poo’ quiz questions, readers will need an eyeball for detail and a strong stomach as they pump blood out of homemade hearts, decode ancient cures for constipation and cook up maggot-infested cupcakes. So grab your leeches and prepare your potions, as we go back in time to a history that’s as hilarious* as it was horrifying. It won’t hurt a bit… unless your sides split.
The night Joe Bones spots a cloaked figure leaving his gran’s house, he's sure that something is afoot. So, when he hears that his gran has passed away he’s convinced the mysterious man has something to do with her death. Then Joe discovers that his gran was keeping a secret...she was part of an ancient society called Fright Club, investigators of crimes in supernatural hidden worlds – from Clinks, the world of skeletons, to the ghostly Veilooo and demon-filled Devilbend. So, Joe convinces his three best friends, Hal, Debbie and Rose to revive the club and track down the mysterious figure to find out what really happened to his gran. What Joe doesn’t know is that each of his friends has a supernatural secret of their own and starting their own Fright Club could unleash a whole heap of trouble...
Joe Bones and his friends, Hal, Rose and Debbie are back with another Fright Club case to solve! Mr Phantom’s Fairground has been rolling into Grim FOREVER, but no one knows much about the mysterious Mr Phantom himself, or how he always seems to look the same... So when Fright Club witness a strange “accident” at the fairground, they decide to investigate and find out what’s really going on.
The case will take them from the murky depths of Little Cackle to the heights of the Blood Peaks ski resort, but nothing will stop the friends from getting to the truth. Although, Debbie's in charge this time and they don't know she's a DEMON…
Gloucester, 1918. Nin and Lemon Esmond share a special bond. They're sisters - twins - whisperlings. Which means they have the power to speak with ghosts! When they see reports of missing whisperlings in the papers, the twins know they must work together to solve what's happening...before they're next. This adventurous sequel to The Whisperling is a spine-tingling and spooky read.
Kiki and the New Magic
It’s been a year since Kiki and her clever cat Jiji started up their flying delivery service in the town of Koriko. In that time the little witch has become famous. But fame comes with its own challenges and, when a delivery goes wrong, Kiki loses her confidence. Determined to overcome her fears, Kiki must summon all her courage, listen closely to those who love her, and perhaps even embrace a new kind of magic.
Kiki and the New Magic is the enchanting sequel to Kiki’s Delivery Service
Ivy and Maggie are the best of friends. Ever since they were born at exactly the same time 12 years ago, they’ve been thick as thieves. In the first book of The Double Trouble Society series, the pair defeated the Crowood Witch and saved all their friends. However, three new kids have now come to town and they’re all behaving very mysteriously… It seems Ivy and Maggie might have werewolves, vampires AND ghosts to contend with this time!
Who better to school us in the art of being a witch than Tiffany Aching? Our favourite no-longer-trainee witch has compiled a guide on everything you’ve ever wanted to know about being a witch in Discworld. From dealing with elves and demons to what type of jewellery you should wear, this book is a must-have for every aspiring witch as well as seasoned practitioners.
It’s Halloween and that means it’s time to head to the kitchen and create the strangest and most marvellous dishes! In this recipe book inspired by Roald Dahl’s stories, you can learn how to make toffee apples that Willy Wonka would be proud of as well as bull’s eyes and dragon’s flesh. The step-by-step guides are super easy to follow so even the newest chefs will have no trouble whipping up something delicious (but also revolting).
Fans of ghost stories will enjoy this superhero story with a twist! Dr Extraordinary is a world-famous superhero but during a particularly epic showdown with his arch-nemesis Captain Chaos, the pair are blown up inside a giant robot! Twelve-year-old Sonny Nelson is devastated. He was Dr Extraordinary’s number-one fan! But things take a spooky turn when Dr Ex returns as a ghost and only Sonny can see him…
In this collection of ten FIENDISHLY FUNNY short stories, some of today’s best-loved storytellers have imagined what these infamous ROALD DAHL characters might be plotting. Dive in – but hold tight! These are definitely NOT cosy little bedtime stories. Expect schemes, tricks and villainy from some of the BIGGEST BADDIES around . . .Matilda ), Humza Arshad and Henry White (The BFG ), Kevin and Katie Tsang (Danny the Champion of the World ), Sara Pascoe (Fantastic Mr Fox ), Sharna Jackson (The Witches ), Alex T. Smith (James and the Giant Peach ), Sam Copeland (The Twits ), Rosie Jones (The Enormous Crocodile ), Sam Hay (George’s Marvellous Medicine ) and Swapna Haddow (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ).
Greta Woebegone is not one to believe in ghosts. All that supernatural stuff is just not real, right? But after she is in a car accident and almost dies, Greta finds she has acquired a spooky new gift – the ability to see ghosts! From her grumpy Grandfather and plague victim Percy to the sinister spook that lives in her cellar, Greta can see and speak to them all! As it turns out, the ghosts need Greta's help to avoid being exorcised and Greta needs to find a way to stop her Grandma from being put into a home. This hilarious ghostly tale is perfect for reading on Halloween.
There’s nothing better than some spooky stories to get you ready for Halloween, and with Rowley Jefferson’s collection, you are guaranteed to be spooked. But maybe you’ll just laugh out loud. Or both! Including tales about werewolves, zombies, and human heads, this compendium is great to read aloud at a Halloween sleepover. Or read a story a day in the run-up to the ghostliest day of the year.
Rowley Jefferson is back with another book in his Awesome Friendly series - which is even more hilariously terrifying than the first! Fans of Greg Heffley and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney get a chance to dive into the twisted, unexpectedly hilarious world of Rowley’s imagination, where you’ll meet monsters, ghouls, and oversized insects. Plus even more spooky surprises are in store for you in these comically terrifying tales. Don’t blame us if you can’t sleep after crawling into bed with this creepy collection - you’ve been warned!
When you move to a new town, you expect things to be a little weird whilst you adjust. But in Franky’s case, things get weird pretty quickly in the town of Freaky (yes, that’s really its name). After only just moving there, an unusual storm that smells like a dog’s bottom and emits green lightning sweeps over the town. Very weird. But things carry on as normal. Until one day at school, it appears that Franky and the other kids who live down his street have experienced some odd side effects from that very strange storm…
Mari is an eleven-year-old witch who loves her life. Indeed, what's not to love about spending time with her amazing mothers, hanging out with her clever friends, eating delicious food and experimenting with fashion? But, if you ask any of the other witches in town, Mari loves her life a little too much. After all, a wonderful witch puts the needs of others, before herself. Magic should be used to help humans - not (for example...) creating giant donuts for you and your classmates to scoff.
But Mari doesn't care what other people think of her - and when disaster strikes her town, she'll need to convince the other witches to have the courage to break free, too, and be just as wildly unwonderful as she is.
For older readers, there’s no better time of the year to dive into Mary Shelley’s timeless monster tale. Victor Frankenstein is an ambitious and talented doctor who manages to create a living being out of dead body parts. However, no sooner has his creation come alive than Frankenstein flees out of fear of what he has done. But is the creature really the monster? Or is it the man who created him? This 200-year-old horror story still has the power to send shivers down anyone’s spine.
