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The Halloween season is the perfect time to share spooky titles with your readers. Included here are high-interest titles that kids want to read -- and when kids connect with the books they’re reading, they’re more likely to want to continue, setting them up to be stronger readers and more successful students. Add these titles, each with an element of mystery, humor or the bizarre, to your classroom library!
1. Creepy Carrots!
by Aaron Reynolds
Interest level: P-2
Jasper Rabbit loves carrots, especially Crackenhopper Field carrots. He eats them constantly. One day, the carrots start following him! Students will laugh out loud at this hilarious illustrated story with a lesson about greed.
2. Los Gatos Black on Halloween
by Marisa Montes
Interest level: P-3
Introduce young readers to Spanish and strengthen native Spanish-speakers’ English reading comprehension when you share this spooky and fun bilingual Halloween poem. Students will gasp at the beautiful yet creepy illustrations of ghosts and ghouls while building comprehension skills in two languages.
3. The Doll in the Hall and Other Scary Stories
by Max Brallier
Interest level: K-2
This scary story collection from New York Times bestselling author Max Brallier is perfect for readers looking to get spooked but not terrified. With simple text and creepy full-color artwork on every page, readers won’t be able to put down this book of hair-raising tales.
4. Lola Levine and the Halloween Scream
by Monica Brown
Interest level: 1-5
Lola can’t wait to dress up as something scary for Halloween! When she plays a scary trick on her super best friends, however, it backfires. How will Lola make things right so everyone can enjoy Halloween? Expand the diversity of your classroom library and support Social Emotional Learning with this tender read. Students will gain insight as to how different cultures celebrate autumn and learn how to respect their friends’ boundaries.
5. Ghost Squad
by Claribel A. Ortega
Interest level: 3-7
Fans of Coco, Stranger Things and even Ghostbusters will relish this adrenaline-fueled supernatural fantasy! Lucely and her best friend Syd cast a spell that awakens evil spirits intent on wreaking havoc in St. Augustine. They partner with Syd’s witch grandmother to fight the haunting and reverse the curse. This book is perfect for readers who are just dipping their toes into suspenseful reads.
6. The Girl in the Lake
by India Hill Brown
Interest level: 3-7
Celeste is not looking forward to spending two weeks at her grandparents’ lake house with her family. She hates being off the grid and is scared of the water since she can’t swim. Celeste’s grandma is adamant Celeste learns how, as grandma’s sister drowned in childhood. Spooky stuff starts happening to Celeste, including constant nightmares about drowning and seeing a strange girl in the mirror.
7. Bunnicula: the Graphic Novel
by James Howe and Andrew Donkin
Interest level: 3-7
Treat students to the modern classic Bunnicula in fang-tastic graphic novel form. What’s up with the newest pet at the Monroes’ house? He’s got weird habits and fangs! Could this cute little rabbit be a vampire? Harold the dog and Chester the cat must find out.
8. Scary Stories for Young Foxes
by Christian McKay Heidicker
Interest level: 4-7
Fox kits Mia and Uly are separated from their litters. They soon discover a world full of monsters and other threats that dwell in the darkness. Join the young foxes in their dangerous search for a new den to call home. Animal lovers will appreciate this fantastical twist on the real-life challenges young foxes face in the wild.
9. Haunted Hospital
by Marty Chan
Interest level: 4-7
Xander wants to find evidence of paranormal activity in the legendary George Wickerman Hospital. Rumor has it tuberculosis patients were a part of unethical tests gone wrong, so now disfigured ghosts walk the hallways of the abandoned building. Fans of mystery and a good plot twist will love this chilling story.
10. The Stitchers (Fright Watch series #1)
by Lorien Lawrence
Interest level: 5-9
Thirteen-year-old Quinn Parker’s neighbors, “the Oldies,” have lived on Goodie Lane for as long as anyone can remember, but they never seem to age. Quinn has a lot of theories, but none seem to add up. Quinn recruits her neighbor, Mike, to help solve the mystery while trying to avoid the Oldies noticing. This engaging, age-appropriate horror novel will intrigue Goosebumps fans.
11. The Bone Houses
by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Interest level: 7-12
Tough-as-nails teenager Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about her family and their graveyard. Following her parents’ deaths, both are in poor shape. Working as gravediggers in a mystical mountain range to make ends meet, Ryn and her siblings soon discover the dead don’t stay dead. They become cursed “bone houses.” The Bone Houses is a heart-pounding read for teens who want more grit than the generic coming-of-age novel.
12. Creep
by Eireann Corrigan
Interest level: 7-12
The last residents of 16 Olcott Place moved out in the middle of the night. The new residents, the Donahues, have no clue as to why. When Olivia quickly becomes friends with Janie Donahue, she’s there when the first threatening letter arrives from the Sentry of Glennon Heights. Can Olivia and Janie uncover their town’s hidden history and keep the Sentry at bay? Creep is an ideal introduction to a lifelong love of mystery novels.
13. Man Made Monsters
by Andrea L. Rogers
Interest level: 7-12
This heartwarming, funny and scary illustrated novel by Cherokee writer Andrea L. Rogers has it all: vampires, zombies and Cherokee legends! Following one extended family across centuries and into the future, each story delivers a slice of a particular time period that will leave readers longing for more.
14. White Smoke
by Tiffany D. Jackson
Interest level: 9-12
Marigold hopes moving is a fresh start. The family’s new picture-perfect house on Maple Street sits between rundown homes and wary neighbors. But the seemingly perfect house has secrets: household items vanish unexpectedly, doors move on their own and voices can be heard in the walls. Older teens who love watching The Haunting of Hill House and Get Out will be locked into this chilling YA psychological thriller with a modern spin on the classic haunted house story.
What spooky titles do your students love reading? Tell us in the comments below.