BOOK MARKED
Frights for Your Bookshelf
9 Halloween Tales for October
BY ERIKA KERR AND JOANNA HARRIS, DC PUBLIC LIBRARY
No matter what reading level you are, the library has a book
to get you in the Halloween spirit. Check out our recommendations
for some spooky, or not-so-spooky, reads.

PICTURE BOOKS
“Frankenstein Doesn’t Wear
Earmuffs!” by John Loren
On a stormy Halloween night, a young boy
struggles to keep his costume scary while
his parents keep him warm and dry. Perfect
for family read-aloud, this hilarious and
heartwarming book is a good reminder that
bad weather can’t dampen Halloween spirit.

“The Ghosts Went Floating”
by Kim Norman
A lightly spooky twist on a classic song, this
book will have toddlers and preschoolers
marching and singing along while building
early math concepts.

EARLY READERS
“Chicken on a Broom”
by Adam Lehrhaupt
When a friend’s mask goes missing in the
haunted barn just before the Halloween
party, can Zoey the Chicken show her pals
that there’s nothing to be afraid of? This
book is perfect for younger kids who are
starting to read on their own and might not
be ready for scarier stories.

“Battle of the Bad-Breath Bats”
by David Bowles
Three cousins accidentally step onto 13th
Street, a mysterious other world filled with
creepy beasts! Will they manage to get back
home? Filled with fun art, progress markers
and encouraging affirmations, books in this
series are designed to smooth the transition
to chapter books.

MIDDLE GRADE
“The Graveyard Book”
by Neil Gaiman
Left in a graveyard when he was a baby,
Nobody “Bod” Owens is being raised by
ghosts. Through a series of tales, we see
Bod grow up and encounter spirits and
supernatural beings, both fearful and
friendly. But maybe none of these are
as scary as his first day at school. Bod’s
adventures cover a lot of supernatural
territory and have as much charm as
they do chills.

“Jumbies” by Tracey Baptiste
Corinne never believed stories about the
“jumbies”, monsters that live in the woods.

Then, one fateful Hallow’s Eve she runs into
the woods and does not come back alone. A
gripping tale based on Haitian folklore for
an adventure-seeking reader who doesn’t
mind a scare or two.

YOUNG ADULT
“White Smoke”
by Tiffany D. Jackson
Mari is set on forgetting her past when
her family moves into an old house in
a rundown town. Strange things begin
happening around the house, but no one
believes her because of her past mistakes
and her neurodivergence. A thriller
that combines classic haunted house
elements with the equally chilling issues of
gentrification and systemic racism.

“Through the Woods”
by Emily Carroll
Two brothers go into the woods, but only
one comes back. A girl moves in with her
brother and his fiancé, but something
isn’t quite right. Three sisters are visited
by a man in a wide-brimmed hat. No one
wields the power of suggestion quite like
Emily Carroll, though there are several
fantastically scary images in this graphic
novel of short, creepy tales.

“Hell Followed With Us”
by Andrew Joseph White:
Teenage trans boy Benji finds shelter from
the apocalypse with the survivors from an
LGBT Youth Center. Their leader Nick,
who is autistic, knows the truth: Benji is
an escapee of the cult that unleashed the
bioweapon now devastating humanity;
the bioweapon that’s mutating Benji
from within. An escatalogical nightmare
of a story, contrasted by the resiliency of
queer youth. P
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