Halloween Books post written by the Ent and the Elf on 10/13/2019 (Updated on 10/15/21) Also, this post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Halloween is just around the corner!
Want to find some new books to read for Halloween?! We’ve got halloween books for every age group covered here! You know yourself (and your child) best, this list contains basic reading levels and age suggestions but you know what level of scary you can handle. Personally, I wouldn’t go above the 12 yr old books and that’s why I did not come up with this list alone! There are SO many books that are great Halloween reads- what is your favorite?!?
7 Halloween Books for Ages 0-3yrs:
1- Eek Halloween by Sandra Boynton- The chickens are noticing weird things. Don’t worry chickens- it’s just Halloween! A fun introduction to the holiday season for little ones. Also check out her book Spookie Pookie that goes over trick or treating in an entertaining way.
2- Five Little Pumpkins (A Fingers and Toes Nursery Rhyme Book) by Natalie Marshall- A fun book with easy to open tabs. Plus fun interactive finger and toe directions. Five little pumpkins is a great fall classic.
3- The Itsy Bitsy Pumpkin by Sonali Fry and Sanja Rescek- A fun, holiday, retelling of the Itsy Bitsy Spider.
4- Where is Babys Pumpkin? By Karen Katz- Karen Katz lift the flap books are favorites in our house! The holiday ones are fun and the illustrations are always adorable.
5- Baby Lit Books (Wuthering Heights, Dracula, Jane Eyre, Sherlock Holmes) I love BabyLit books because they give you the gist of what the novel that they’re parodying with just a few words, while also teaching lessons like counting, colors or the weather.
6- Boo, Boo I Love You by Sandra Magsamen a sweet little lift the flap board books that goes through some non-scary Halloween images while telling kiddos how loved they are.
7- Good Night, Little Monsters by Kara LaReau goes through what bedtime routines for the monsters look like.
Other Suggestions: (Biscuits Pet and Play Halloween, Cliffords First Halloween, Little Blue Trucks Halloween Lift the Flap, Llama llama Trick or Treats, It’s Pumpkin Day Mouse, We’re Going on a Spooky Ghost Hunt)
7 Halloween Books for Kids Ages 3-6
1- Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson- Everyone needs help sometimes, even if you have a magic broom. This sweet book has been adapted into a short movie as well.
2- Ghosts in the House by Ammi-Joan Paquette- Lift the flaps and count who all is in the house. You’ll be surprised by who the scariest creature in the house is!
3- There Was an Old Mummy Who Swallowed a Spider/ There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat– These rhyming books are always a hit! These are 2 Halloween themed ones.
4- Pete The Cat Trick or Treat and Pete The Cat: 5 Little Pumpkins by Kimberly and James Dean- We just love all the Pete the Cat books.
5- The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano- A Halloween book that reminds us that bullying isn’t ok and that our differences can be a wonderful thing.
6- Stumpkin by Lucy Ruth Cummins- A pumpkin dreams of being a jack-o-lantern, but no one will pick him without a stem, or will they?
7- Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas- Duck wants to surprise his friends with a jack-o-lantern but it doesn’t go quite as planned.
Other Suggestions: Happy Halloween, Daniel Tiger, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, Alpha Oops H is for Halloween, The Night Before Halloween, Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree, The Monster at the End of This Book [Sesame Street], Don’t Push the Button a Halloween Treat, Turkey Trick or Treat, Goodnight Goon, How Many Seeds in the Pumpkin?, Halloween Hustle, I’m not Scared Book, A Tiger Called Thomas, Skeleton Hiccups
7 Halloween Books for Kids Ages Ages 6-10
1- The Hallowiener by Dav Pilky (Dog Man & Captain Underpants)- Can a wiener dog be a real winner? Find out in this hilarious and endearing Halloween book.
2- Miss Smith and the Haunted Library by Michael Garland- Are they going on a field trip to a library or a haunted party? It’s always an adventure with Miss Smith’s class.
3- R.L. Stine Books: *Suggested for ages 8-12* Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask, Night of the Living Dummy and Scream and Scream Again – Goosebumps are classic scary stories for kids and young adults that have been haunting pages for 30 years!
4- Readers: Dirk Bones (level 1), Chicken on a Broom (level 1), Ghosts! (level 2), Scooby Doo Beginner Mysteries, The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches (level 4)
5- Skeleton and Ghost by Nathaniel James Dowell- Everyone needs a friend, especially a lonely skeleton. A sweet Halloween friendship story.
6- Creepy Carrots , Creepy Pair of Underwear , and Creepy Crayon by Aaron Reynolds- Funny bunny Halloween tales that are slightly creepy and very engaging
7- Yorick and Bones by Jeremy and Hermione Tankard -A father and daughter teamed up to bring you this fun Shakespearian cartoon skeleton story! Check out our full review here!
Other Suggestions: What Was I Scared Of- Dr Seuss, The Gauntlet, My Weird School Halloween Set, Nate the Great and the Halloween Hunt, Magic Tree House: A Good Night for Ghosts and Ghosts Fact Tracker, Lola Levine and the Halloween Scream, The Happy and Heinous Halloween of Classroom 13, Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol)
7 Halloween Books for Ages 10-14
1- The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury– Going to a haunted house on Halloween is not going to turn out how they expected it to in this story that takes you through time to save a friend.
2- Coraline by Neil Gaiman- Things always seem better on the other side, but Coraline discovers that things aren’t as marvelous as they seem in this engaging story that has been made into a movie.
3- Hangman’s Curse by Frank Peretti- Follow two teen detectives as they try to make sense of the supernatural. There’s a fun movie version of this that would be a great family watch (for kids 12+).
4- Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz- This a collection of short scary stories. Suggested for ages 12+ this is a really popular series.
5- The House with a Clock in It’s Walls by John Bellairs- We’ve reviewed the movie adaption of this here. Lewis comes to live with his uncle and things are not as they seem! Magicians, resurrected spirits, it’s a wildly creepy tale not to be missed.
6- Furthermore and Whichwood
by Tahereh Mafi- In this magical fairy tale series Laylee scrubs the souls of the dead and starts to loose herself in loneliness. Can friendship save the day?
7- A Small Zombie Problem by K.G. Campbell- August thinks his fortune is about to change and is excited about going to school with his cousins, but he runs into a small problem.
Other Suggestions: A Properly Unhaunted Place, Serafina and the Black Cloack, The Strange and Deadly Portraits of Byrony Gray-Latimer [This is inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray], Haunted Histories by J. H. Everett, Small Spaces, The Dark Deep, The Collector by K.R. Alexander, Nightbooks and Gravebooks by J.A. White
7 Halloween Books for young adults and adults (14+)
1- Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs- A strange island with peculiar children that might be more than just odd is a mystery not to miss. This book has been made into a movie as well.
2- The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand- Kids go into the home, but they don’t come out the same and now Victoria’s only friend is missing and she has to go into the home to get him back. Will friendship prevail against the supernatural?
3- The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe- Poe’s stories are perfect for Halloween! Our favorite is The Fall of the House of Usher, a family curse and haunted house make for a creepy read.
4- Carrie by Stephen King- Hell hath no fury like a women scorned, give that women powers and watch the horror that ensues. This was Stephen King’s first successful novel and not as scary as some of his other work.
5- Frankenstein by Marry Shelley– Horror, Suspense and Politics. Check out the book that gave life to the monster we know today.
6- The Diviners by Libba Bray- What if your powers could help you catch a murderer? This is a great series of supernatural historical mystery fiction.
7- Sleep No More by P.D. James- 6 tales of mystery and crime will dive into motives, passions, and methods behind these murders
Other Suggestions: And Then There Were None, The Devil Walks in Mattingly, The Shining, Pet Cemetery, Peril at End House, The Stranger Beside Me, Jane Eyre, The Passage
Graphic Novels for Halloween
Check These Posts Out Next!
–30+ Family Friendly Halloween Streaming Suggestions
–7 Halloween Books for Every Age Group
–Yorick and Bones Book Review– A Shakespearian skeleton adventure we recommend for ages 8+.
–Ghostwood Song Book Review! A supernatural mystery that we would recommend for ages 14+.
–The Unicorn Rescue Society Book Review! A fun fantastical journey we would recommend for readers age 7+.
–Ghostopolis Book Review. A dive into the afterlife in a graphic novel that we would suggest for ages 12+.
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What’s your favorite Halloween read???
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