Books for Halloween Time

As a child I enjoyed the occasional spooky story, but the dark and haunting features did not capture my imagination until much later in life. Instead, I am not (entirely) afraid to admit that my favorite "Halloween" book as a young kid was Garfield's Halloween Adventure. A lover of lasagna? And sleeping? On a mission to collect all the candy, candy, candy, candy possible? Who wouldn't relate? So yes, I have fond memories of flipping through my comic adventure every year, the colorful and friendly illustrations carrying me through with humor into a haunting ghost story. Year after year, until that one pivotal moment when my family moved in high school and the box with nearly all my childhood books happened to disappear (that my mom won't admit to having donated them to this day remains a touchy subject).

Nevertheless the memory remains, and that shall suffice (until I end up buying it again out of nostalgia). For now, I will entertain myself with some of popular haunting/scary/Halloween-themed books compiled by the Kid You Not Podcast and BlogHer. These offer a delightful selection from rhyming, humorous picture books to spooky, macabre novels for older kids. In a time where the grotesque has really made its mark with the prevalence of zombies, end-of-the-world rhetoric and violence, turning to books that favor the "creepy" and "haunting" aspects of storytelling can be favorable and refreshing, especially for younger audiences. And who doesn't love a witch trying to find room on her broom for everything?