CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Horrors, hauntings and hilarious romps for Halloween reading

Monsters, ghosts, vampires, werewolves and witches... the spooky season is looming like a dark and delicious shadow so prepare to indulge your children’s Halloween dreams – and nightmares! – with this chilling, thrilling selection of
super-scary and frighteningly funny books

Age 9 plus
Midnight Treasure
Piers Torday 

IF there is one thing vampirs crave as much as blood,
it’s ... treasure! As Halloween approaches, soak up the ghostly atmospherics and immerse yourself in a thrilling world of werwolves and vampirs with award-winning author Piers Torday. Torday, whose first book for children, The Last Wild, was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Award and nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, stuns his fans once again with Midnight Treasure, this talented storyteller’s first foray into the ever-popular fantasy genre. And what an adventure it is as we are swept away to a breathtakingly imagined world full of marvels, myths and magic where readers will be mesmerised by a maze of clues, spells, imprisonments and escapes, fights and betrayals... and, perhaps most importantly, the inspirational courage and hope of two youngsters on a terrifying quest.

In an empire of vampirs and werwolves, Tibor is a werwolf, adopted from an orphanage by his guardian, Baron Ambrus, a powerful vampir. Tibor and his best friend Roza, once a vampire but now transformed into a black Alsatian dog, are living in the Age of Darkness, a time when immortals are supreme beings, and they are on the deadliest of quests, a race against time that will test their own immortality. But they’re not the only ones hunting for the Midnight Treasure. They face battling with bears, wrestling with vampirs and a host of other amazing characters with supernatural powers. Tibor and Roza must decide who to trust... and whether they will dare reveal the secrets of the Midnight Treasure. Midnight Treasure is the perfect balance between spooks and scares and fun and laughter as our two plucky friends summon up the blood for a fantastical treasure hunt that delights with its blend of vampirs and werwolves, high stakes drama, stunning world-building, and bold, unforgettable characters. Don’t miss the ride!
(Quercus Children’s Books, hardback, £14.99)

Age 12 plus
Escape Castle Dracula: A Gothic Puzzle Adventure
Sam Fern and Adam Allori

THE bloodthirsty Count Dracula has trapped you inside his castle! Can you escape his clutches? Youngsters will be locking themselves away to solve the fiendishly wicked challenges in this stunningly illustrated gothic puzzle adventure... perfectly created for the Halloween season! With devilishly good fun guaranteed on every page, readers are transported into the pages of fourteen classic horror stories in the quest to escape from Count Dracula’s castle. Help Victor Frankenstein create his monster, deduce the correct chemical formula to rescue Dr Jekyll from the murderous Mr Hyde, join forces with Sherlock Holmes to reveal the mastermind behind the murder of Sir Charles Baskerville and lay to rest forever the vicious ghost of the headless horseman. To vanquish the final villain and escape Count Dracula, readers must race their way through labyrinthine mazes and solve intricate puzzles, learning about some of the most terrifying tales in literature as they go. Illustrated in astonishing detail by concept artist and designer Adam Allori, and inspired by the works of Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Mary Shelley, Arthur Conan Doyle and Gaston Leroux, this stylish and entertaining book is the perfect introduction to the ever-popular genre of horror stories.
(Big Picture Press, hardback, £14.99)

Age 9 plus
Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull
Martin Howard and Pete Williamson

THERE will be gruesome giggles, spooky sniggers and creepy cackles when youngsters get their hands on this hilarious ‘horror’ story from the top team of comedy king and author Martin Howard, and creative illustrator Pete Williamson. With deliciously dark humour, hellish hags, a gloriously ghoulish girl, a wig-loving skull and a spine-chilling, fast-paced adventure to devour, this spectacular spooky season romp (rightly!) comes with a warning that readers might just die of laughter! Mallory Vayle would list her interests as being normal... books about ponies and very definitely NOT talking to dead people. But when her parents’ carriage takes a leap off Gibbett Bridge – an accident for which there appears to be no explanation – she is taken in by a strange aunt that the family disowned years ago and brought to her new, and very spooky, home. The ghosts of her parents also take up residence in the house but are cruelly snatched away by the shadow of Hellysh Spatzl, the grimmest, wickedest necromancer in all of history. To get them back, Mallory will have to learn how to use the talents she hates and raise the old hag from the dead. And her teacher will be a talking skull called Maggoty who wants some favours in return for his help... not just a gorgeous blond wig and some sparkly earrings, but also for Mallory to break the curse that has left his spirit locked inside his own skull for 500 years. Mallory will have to plug into who she is and what she can do, make a pact with the evil Hellysh Spatzl... and put on a sensational Halloween spectacular at Nightmare Castle! Budding horror fans will love Howard’s gleefully spooky and very, very funny adventure which stars the chattiest, wig-wearing skull in the whole of Halloween history, and is brought to hilarious pictorial life through the creative power of master illustrator Pete Williamson’s prodigious imagination. Dangerously good!
(Nosy Crow, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
A Girl Called Corpse
The Lonely Lighthouse
of Elston-Fright
Reece Carter and Eleonora Asparuhova

WELCOME to Elston-Fright, a forgotten town where witches lurk, sea monsters roam and a girl is on the hunt for answers! A high-profile Australian nutritionist, Reece Carter has always had an appetite to write children’s fiction so – abracadabra – he cooked up the magical Elston-Fright books and their gloriously spooky tales of ghost-girls and ghouls. The first of the series – which is illustrated by Eleonora Asparuhova – is A Girl Called Corpse and stars a ‘kid ghost’ who has no memory of who she was before she was taken by the Witches. 

Corpse is bound to haunt the rock-that-doesn’t-exist forever... until she learns of a treasure, one that can reunite her with her family and her name. She sets off for answers, on a journey across the stormy sea, battling magic, zombie-skeletons and monsters but the Witches want the treasure too, and they will do anything to get to it first. And in the second book in the series, The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright, we meet Flip Little whose family have always been Lightkeepers, guardians sworn to protect the town of Elston-Fright from magical, monstrous threats. And Flip is no stranger to magic... only he knows about the two ghost-girls haunting a rock out at sea. When their spider friend, Simon, is spider-napped by ancient Poltergusts, weather ghouls out to cause mayhem, Flip, Girl and Corpse set out to rescue him. But first they must find and return the missing Light to the lighthouse, restoring its magic. Only nothing in Elston-Fright is quite as it seems. Questions bubble up from the deep, dark secrets emerge and soon, Flip and his friends learn that in order to beat the Poltergusts they need to understand what happened in the past. With spooks, spectres, mystery and ghostly goings-on, these deliciously dark adventures are filled with thrills, chills, fun, a big helping of heart and larger-than-life characters as the mysteries of Elston-Fright are slowly but surely revealed. The most bewitching stories you’ll read this Halloween! 
A Girl Called Corpse was previously published in
the UK as The Girl, the Ghost and the Lost Name.
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
Spooksmiths Investigate: The Cinderman
Alex Atkinson

WHEN you’ve grown up loving scary books filled with oddball characters, enjoyed playing murder-in-the-dark and listening to your dad’s blood-curdling bedtime stories, it seems a natural progression to make your debut novel a spooky (but funny) spine-chiller! The Cinderman is the first book of Spooksmiths Investigate, a brilliantly spooky new horror-mystery series from Alex Atkinson who says she still dreams of ghost and zombies. Indigo and Rusty might live in a funeral parlour in the seaside town of Greyscar but they don’t believe in ghosts. That is, until Indigo knocks over an old urn, accidentally releasing the Cinderman, a terrifying ash monster who will smother their town in ashes and turn everyone into zombies unless they can stop him by sunset. Using their newly awakened Spooksmith skills, Indigo and Rusty set out to enlist the help of other ghosts. But can the Blasted Banshee and Chuckles the Phantom Toddler really help them find the Cinderman’s true name and put him in his grave for good before Ashmageddon strikes? Inspired by visits to Saltburn on the North East coast and the gothic vibes of nearby Whitby, Atkinson lets loose her dynamic imagination on this super-spooky and fun-filled adventure which reminds us about the importance of family and friends, finding your true self and not giving up even when you’re scared. A treat for your Halloween tricksters!
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
We Do Not Welcome Our
Ten-Year-Old Overlord
Garth Nix

WHEN a strange and powerful object falls into the wrong hands, a deadly danger is released in a chilling new adventure from master storyteller Garth Nix who lives in Sydney and whose books include the award-winning Old Kingdom fantasy novels. It’s not fair. Twelve-year-old Kim Basalt has always lived in the shadow of his younger sister, Eila... which is not how it’s supposed to be. Ten-year-old Eila is a prodigy and everyone talks about how smart she is but, in Kim’s eyes, she has no common sense and still makes mistakes. One day Kim and Eila are walking in the woods, and Eila finds an enigmatic, otherworldly glowing globe floating in the lake. Kim thinks it’s bad news but Eila is irresistibly drawn to it, especially when the spirit, which calls itself Aster, starts communicating with her and she decides to take it home. Soon Eila is calling the strange object her friend and is able to control the minds of everyone around her... in ways she says is the best for everyone. Kim has every reason to be worried now and needs to put his problem-solving mind to the ultimate test. Can Kim and his friends save Eila from herself before it’s too late, and also save the world from the forces she has unleashed? The stakes are high in this intriguing and spine-tingling sci-fi mystery which is set in what Nix calls ‘an alternate version of Canberra, Australia’ and centres on an object so perilous that it has the potential to destroy the world. With lots of addictive scary vibes throughout, and an exploration of the age-old theme of sibling conflict, this is fantasy with a seductive and suspense-filled edge.
(Hot Key Books, paperback, £8.99)

Age 9 plus
Dread Wood: Terror Tower
Jennifer Killick

IMAGINE a book that serves up all those super-spooky vibes that kids love... horrors galore, a delicious dollop of black comedy and a bunch of spiky classmates with a killer moths mystery to solve. If that menu tickles your taste buds, then you’ll be dining out on queen of chills-and-thrills Jennifer Killick’s sixth and final brilliant adventure in a series which delivers horror and humour in perfect harmony. Perfectly pitched for middle grade readers, Dread Wood: Terror Tower stars the Club Loser team – Hallie, Angelo, Gus, Colette and Naira – and, as fans know, the friends have faced some truly fearsome foes, from mind-controlling parasites and deadly monsters of the deep to giant spiders and vampire birds. And their adventures aren’t quite over yet! Dread Wood High is suffering from an infestation of caterpillars, but these are no ordinary caterpillars. These creepy creatures will grow into giant, mutant, killer moths with a taste for flesh and blood! And on the night the school is ready to unveil its new tower, they start to hatch and will stop at nothing until everything – and everyone – is destroyed. It’s Club Loser’s toughest battle to date. It’s all to play for… and everything is at stake! Killick is a slick and sassy storyteller… she knows just how far to take her heart-stopping tales of cool comedy and scary horror as she pumps up the action and lets loose her rich imagination. The perfect spine-tingling finale for this gorgeously gigglesome chiller-thriller series!
(Farshore, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
Shiver Point: Under a Howling Moon
Gabriel Dylan

ENTER (if you dare!) Shiver Point... the home of spooks, screams and small-town horror! Under a Howling Moon is the third book of a thrilling, chilling and perfectly pitched series from Gabriel Dylan, a teacher and children’s author who is a self-confessed horror fan. So for all those who love having their spines tingled and their goosebumps raised, meet the plucky Shiver Squad and join them for a marvellously menacing new mystery. Oli can’t wait for his birthday camping trip to Howlmoor Forest with his friends. They’re going to toast marshmallows and tell scary stories under the full moon and it’ll be great... that is until the first night when Oli is woken by a terrifying beast slashing at the tent. And then his dad goes missing... All alone in the woods, it’s now up to the Shiver Squad to find him. But with a sense that something sinister is stalking them through the woods, will they succeed? And as the moon rises once again, will they even manage to get out alive? Expect red-eyed werewolves, and humans transformed into monsters... and don’t say you weren’t warned!
(Piccadilly Press, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
The Haunting of Fortune Farm
Sophie Kirtley

INSPIRED by the wild Irish landscape she knows and loves, and the unexpected discovery of her late grandmother’s mysterious dented locket, Sophie Kirtley’s new novel is a hauntingly beautiful tale is guaranteed to send shivers down readers’ spines. Exploring themes of memory, secrets, family love and the restless spirits that whisper on the wind, The Haunting of Fortune Farm stars a young girl on a thrilling, chilling journey to find a long-lost Viking hoard. Twelve-year-old Edie and her younger brother Pip are spending half-term at Fortune Farm, high in the Irish mountains, with their grandmother Lolly. They haven’t visited Fortune Farm for years and Edie has been dreading it for months. They spent all their holidays there when Dad was alive and Edie doesn’t like thinking about Dad... even the happy memories haunt her too much. When Edie uncovers a clue that could lead her to long-lost Viking treasure, it’s just the adventure she needs to take her mind off Dad. But the adventure soon takes an unnerving and dangerous turn, and Edie discovers that Fortune Farm has more secrets, mysteries and ghosts than she had ever dared to dream of. Kirtley’s choice of a remote farmhouse in the Irish wilderness delivers all the spooky vibes for a ghostly adventure full of powerful, heartfelt emotions and spine-tingling drama that will have youngsters racing to the final page. And with buried secrets waiting to be uncovered, and an ancient mystery to solve, this is a Halloween adventure with a big, big heart!
(Bloomsbury Children’s Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
Black Gables
Eibhlís Carcione

WELCOME to the world’s creepiest school! If gothic vibes are the thrills and chills you seek this Halloween, enter – if you dare! – the ghostly entrance of a dark and forbidding village school where the air is fetid, the trees are like witches’ fingers, and nothing seems right. Soak up the atmospherics in another spooky adventure from Eibhlís Carcione, a children's writer and poet from Cork city in Ireland, whose gothic debut, Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay, was a Times Summer read and a bestseller. Rosella’s mother has lost her memory after an accident and her family have returned to Black Gables, where she grew up, in the hope something will stir her memory. But all is not right at Black Gables... in fact everything is wrong. The headteacher, Mr Edge is beyond sinister and he seems to be communicating with the lake ghouls. The school lies at the edge of a dark lake in the village of Black Gables where the hills are haunted by the curlew’s call. The school and village take their name from two looming black gables, all that’s left of an old workhouse where many died. The walls between the gables are all gone and the gables form a ghostly entrance to the school, standing there like the backs of two stone beasts, all overgrown with brambles and with the wind whistling through dead windows. Beyond is the Stygian lake with its strange waters that change colours... and Rosella doesn’t like it one bit! Black Gables is a fantastical feast of gothic, a lush and descriptive mystery adventure perfect for tingling spines and raising goosebumps. At its dark heart is Rosella, thrown into a school full of menacing teachers, a positively ghoulish headteacher, and a host of strange creatures and apparitions. Truly a class act!
This book is published on October 24.
(Everything with Words, paperback, £8.99)

Age 8 plus
Ministry of Mischief
Alex Foulkes and Nikolas Ilic

MAGIC, friendship and some VERY naughty monsters! Alex Foulkes, whose debut series, Rules for Vampires, delighted a host of mischievous young readers, is back with more entertaining mayhem and misbehaviour as she invites youngsters to step into a land where being bad is one BIG adventure. This hilarious new adventure – the first of a new series – is filled with naughty magical creatures and unexpected friendships and comes with the anarchic illustrations of Nikolas Ilic. Joey and Harry do NOT like each other. Stuck together on a school trip to a museum, things couldn’t get any worse... until they meet some incorrigible monsters. The imps are on a field trip of their own, bringing bad luck to the human world. They quickly decide to take the children back to Impland, where they’ve come from, and feed them to their king. But what exactly lies ahead for Joey and Harry at the Ministry of Mischief? Will they make it back home in time for tea, or will they be stuck with these misbehaving imps forever?  Devilishly funny and simply brimming with naughtiness, this is the perfect read for your own young mischief-makers!
(Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 7 plus
Kevin the Vampire:
A Fanged and Fearsome Fiend
Matt Brown and Flavia Sorrentino

IT'S Halloween so what better time to catch up with Kevin Aurelius, a vampire of the very nicest kind! Award-winning author Matt Brown and Italian illustrator Flavia Sorrentino fly in for the third book in their frightfully funny series starring the lovable Kevin who’s just like any other (almost) eleven-year-old... well, apart from his fangs and the fact that he’s immortal. And in his new adventure, the time has come for Kevin’s Gloaming. This is a test that every nearly eleven-year-old must pass to show they have all the necessary skills to be a vampire, including facing Bernard the Destroyer, the most fearsome vampire there ever was. Along the way, Kevin will have to show he can transform into a bat, mind-speak and melt into the darkness... which would be fine except he hasn’t quite mastered the melt yet. If Kevin doesn’t pass, he’ll be banished forever. Is there anyone who can help him? Youngsters love getting their teeth into a feast of fiendish fun with Kevin, a reassuring hero who brings with him important messages about empathy, understanding and celebrating our differences. Packed to the fangs with fabulous fantasy and monstrous fun, and brought to life by Sorrentino’s horribly hilarious illustrations, Kevin’s adventures ensure youngsters have the last – and longest – laugh.
(Nosy Crow, paperback, £7.99)

Age 2 plus
Witch’s New Trick
Caroline Crowe and Jess Pauwels

YOU'RE never too young to join in the fun of Halloween so dish up a delicious concoction of fun, fangs and friendships with this bewitching picture book from author Caroline Crowe and illustrator Jess Pauwels. The moon cast long shadows that crept through the park, Pumpkins grinned gruesomely lighting the dark, Inside her cottage, a witch cast a spell, And let out a gigantic hiccup as well! Hazel Broomstick is a witch in a fix because magic and hiccups are not a good mix...  and on the eve of Halloween that could be a disaster! Her hiccups are making her spells do some very funny things. Nobody wants a pink, fluffy witch’s cat, or a cute pumpkin. Luckily her friends are here to help... now what do witches find REALLY scary? Knock, knock... it’s a FAIRY! Crowe’s rhyming romp is a delight to read to little ones and Pauwels casts a spell with her richly detailed and colourful illustrations. Magical mayhem for readers of every age!
(Faber Children’s Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 2 plus
Old MacPumpkin Had a Farm
Katrina Charman and Georgie Birkett

A FAVOURITE old rhyme gets an adorably spooky Halloween twist in a terrific ‘trick or treat’ picture book from two award winners, writer Katrina Charman and illustrator Georgie Birkett. Old MacPumpkin had a farm. Eek! Ahh! Eek! Ahh! Ohhh! And on that farm she had... lots of spooky friends! A cat, a bat, a spider, a skeleton, a witch, a ghost and even a monster! Old MacPumpkin is too busy taking care of the farm animals to notice, until... Knock! Knock! Who’s that at the door? With Charman’s playful text, Birkett’s quirky illustrations and a fantastic fold-out trick-or-treat party ending, this is an ideal introduction to the fun season of Halloween.
(Nosy Crow, hardback, £12.99)

Age One plus
Guess Who? Boo to You!
Katie Woolley and Grasya Oliyko

WHAT youngster can resist a game of knock, knock... particularly when there’s Halloween fun behind every door! Meet Ghost and his spooky friends in this split-page picture book with intriguing ‘door’ flaps to lift, surprises at every turn, and a mirror ending that ensures little ones have the last laugh. Knock, knock! Guess who? Join in the Halloween adventure as the friendly characters deliver Halloween treats to one another. Just knock on the door and open it to reveal who has been booed! This not-so-spooky picture book – filled with friendly characters, Katie Woolley’s delightful rhyme and Ukrainian Grasya Oliyko’s bold and colourful illustrations – is the perfect introduction to Halloween for little children. Simply spooktacular!
(Nosy Crow, hardback, £12.99)