For Halloween this year, we’ve brought you some new reading recommendations to bring all the spooky fun indoors! Instead of trick-or-treating, why not get cosy and get the family together to read some thrilling scary stories? We recommend reading these spooky stories in mysterious candlelight, or for our braver readers, in the pitch-black with only a torch. Time to get the family together, curl up and lose yourselves in one of these chilling page-turners.
Older readers can check out our other reading list here.
Ages 0-5:
The Adventures of Paddington: First Halloween, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books
It’s Paddington’s first EVER Halloween! Instead of trick or treating, Paddington decides it would be nicer to go ‘treat or treating’ around Windsor Gardens, dressed up as a pigeon. His grumpy neighbour Mr Curry refuses to join in with the Halloween fun… or does he?
A hilarious Halloween-themed picture book based on the animated TV series, The Adventures of Paddington.
Oscar Seeks a Friend, by Paweł Pawlak, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones,
published by Lantana
What if you could turn the world the other way around and take a peek at what’s on the other
side? Perhaps you’ll find something you never expected. Such as friendship. When Oscar meets
a lonely little girl, it’s the start of an adventure for both of them. Together they make an
unusual journey to two very different worlds, each beautiful and necessary. And it all begins
when the little girl’s tooth falls out…
Mrs Blackhat and the ZoomBroom by Mick and Chloe Inkpen, published by Hodder Children’s Books
Mrs Blackhat returns in this hilarious rhyming picture book. Perfect for Halloween!
Mrs Blackhat has a new broom. And it’s not just any broom: it’s a whizzy new ZoomBroom, with buttons, bleeps and its very own app!
But what will Mrs Blackhat do when the battery runs low? Maybe it’s time for some old-fashioned magic …
Little Monsters, by David Walliams, illustrated by Adam Stower, published by
HarperCollins Children’s Books
Howl with laughter and squeal with delight at this monstrously exciting new picture book from number one bestselling author David Walliams, illustrated by the awesome Adam Stower!
Howler is a SMALL werewolf with a BIG problem.
He is just not SCARY! And that makes him the odd one out at Monster School…
But when Howler finds some new friends, he discovers that being the ODD one out might just make him the COOLEST one of all…
Love Monster and the Scary Something, written and illustrated by Rachel Bright, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books
A funny and reassuring story in this monster hit series!
It’s way past bedtime o’clock in Cutesville and Love Monster is the only one who’s wide awake…Or is he?
As the sounds of the night make his imagination run wild… will he be brave enough to stare his fears straight in the googly eye?
A heart-poppingly empowering, edge-of the-bed story, about how, sometimes, it’s only when we
face our fears, that we find out there was nothing to be scared of, after all.
Ages 5-8:
Lottie Luna and the Fang Fairy, by Vivian French, illustrated by Nathan Reed, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books
A brand new young fiction series by much-loved children’s author, Vivian French and illustrated by Nathan Reed.
Meet werewolf extraordinaire… Lottie Luna. Lottie Luna is a werewolf. She’s super-fast, super-strong and has X-ray vision. Lottie doesn’t really like to use her special skills, though – she just wants to be like everyone else.
But when Lottie and her friends go camping, she finds that she might just need to – if she’s going to find out the truth about the fang fairy…
On the Ghost Trail, by Chris Powling, illustrated by Loretta Schauer, published by Bloomsbury Education
A ghost has been haunting Ben’s grandpa’s house with cobweb trails and the TAP-TAP-TAP of its heartbeat. So when the clock strikes twelve, Ben’s brother dares him to go on a hunt for the ghost in the church graveyard. Will he be brave enough?
What Was I Scared Of?, by Dr. Seuss, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books
A very special, spooky story from Dr. Seuss – with a glow-in-the-dark cover!
Turn out the lights and say hello to Dr. Seuss’s spookiest character… the pair of empty trousers with nobody inside them!
The Pug Who Wanted to be a Pumpkin by Bella Swift published by Orchard Books
A perfectly sweet Halloween treat! Peggy the pug is back for a spooky adventure. But can she conquer her fear of the dark before Halloween night?
Peggy the pug’s family are getting ready for Halloween, but Peggy’s friend Chloe is too scared of monsters to look forward to trick-or-treating. Peggy can’t let her best friend miss out on all the Halloween fun. She’ll just have to conquer her own fears and go trick-or-treating with Chloe, to keep her safe. But first she needs the perfect costume . . .
