Halloween is right around the corner, which means it’s time to make an important list… Halloween children’s books! This collection includes our picks of the best Halloween picture books that are sure to scare the hell out of your kids!
We’ve included 35 books in this list, which includes Halloween picture book suggestions for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners through lower elementary school. Many of these horror stories also explore important themes related to empathy, friendship, overcoming fear, and more.
Relevant: If you have older children, be sure to check out our collection Scary Halloween Chapter Books.
35 best Halloween children’s books
As with all lists in our Best Children’s Books series, each title in our Halloween Picture Books list links to an Amazon page (these are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you) where you can Find reviews there as well as age recommendations for people you may not be familiar with.
I Want to Eat Your Book by Karin Lefranc and Tyler Parker
In this hilarious rhyming Halloween book, a group of elementary school kids battle a zombie who just wants to eat… books! To save the school library, the kids try to stop zombies from eating their favorite books, with hilarious results!
Cambria Evans’ Bone Broth
In this Halloween twist on the traditional stone soup story, a cute little skeleton with a big appetite manages to get all kinds of scary ingredients from his fellow ghouls to make his magical “bone soup”!
The scariest story you’ve ever heard Ron Keres
The perfect horror story for fans of The Unpictured Book, this unpictured horror picture book will let children’s imaginations run wild all night long as they try to figure out what the bumps in the night are. What!
Gustavo, the Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago
Ghost Gustavo is a genius spy who plays the violin. But when it comes to making friends, he’s so shy! And it’s still a little bit invisible. Being brave, he decides to hold a violin concert and invites all the monsters he wishes to be his friends. Will his risk pay off?
Stump by Lucy Roth Cummins
Stupkin is a wonderful but stemless pumpkin who looks forward to the day when someone takes him home and makes him a jack-o’-lantern for Halloween. But as the other pumpkins were sold one by one, he slowly began to lose hope. Time is running out, can Stupkin find a home in time for the holidays?
“The Kid in the Quilt” by Riel Nason
It’s hard to be a ghost when you’re the quilt instead of the sheets! A little ghost who’s just learned how to be a ghost is haunted by his quilt – it makes him feel hot, hard to handle, and heavy to move, and he can’t wander around like his quilt ghost friends. But come Halloween, everything changes. The little ghost has an experience that other ghosts cannot have, an experience that only he can have if he is a quilt! A great Halloween book to remind kids that it’s okay to be different.
For more books that celebrate differences, check out our list of 65 children’s books about diversity.
Ethan Long’s “Horror Club”
One night, on the eve of their busy Halloween event, a cute bunny knocks on the horror club’s door hoping to join. Vladimir, the vampire leader of the Fear Club, says that only monsters scare people. But this determined rabbit, with an army of cute critters by his side, sets out to prove Vladimir wrong!
Piggy Monster by Aaron Blabey
Piggy is the world’s greediest pug and he’s going crazy for treats! A treat! A treat! But don’t be tempted to skimp on the goodies, because this candy-fueled glutton has some scary tricks up his sleeve.
A Feast for Beasts by Emma Jarrett
A super fun, entertaining and interactive story with real letters to open! The Beast found a delicious dinner and invited all his friends to a feast. Unfortunately, dinner came to a child who really didn’t want to be eaten! When Beast’s friends send instructions for cooking dinner, is there any way Dinner can convince Beast to change his menu?
Poultry Spirit by Eric Geron
This is a very fun and creative chicken crossing story, with an engaging chicken hero, a clever premise, witty puns…and road kill!
Harper Bubble Granny Trouble by Tracey Corderoy
The first in a series of wonderful picture books, Harper’s Bubble Granny Trouble asks if your grandma is a little different from other grandmas (even if she’s actually a witch!) and would you want to change her? Or would you love her for who she is?
Alison McGee “A Very Brave Witch”
A little witch who is afraid of humans decides to spy on humans on Halloween (from a safe distance!) to discover more about the horrific sightings, but when her broomstick falls and she finds herself face to face with a human, everything goes wrong!
Meg and Mog by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski
This is the first in a series of classic simple stories about the good witch Meg and her faithful companion cat Mog, and there’s a reason why they’ve been popular for over 40 years.
Goodnight Monster by Helen Ketman
Super cute and fun to read, little ones will love reading about the little monster and how he gets ready for bed… which may be a little different from their own habits, like howling at the moon, scrubbing his scales, and enjoying the squirm Beetle’s bedtime snack of juice and toasted beetle bread!
Monsters on the Block by Sue Ganz-Schmidt
The monster is excited to see what kind of creatures will move into the vampire’s old house. But when the moving truck comes to a stop, what steps out is not a ravenous goblin, an ogre, or a dastardly dragon. Instead, the monster’s new neighbor is scarier than the monster imagined!
Monster Trouble by Ryan Fredrickson
Nothing scares Winifred Schnitzel – but she needs sleep, and the neighbor monster won’t let her! They slink in, growling, burping, and making noise. Not even Winifred’s clever traps can stop these cunning creatures. What should a girl do?
Mold and Three Fears: Lynn Marie’s Zombie Story
Scary Daddy, Scary Mommy and Scary Baby live in a spooky haunted house. One night, they go out for a walk with their dogs to cool off their Alpha Bat Soup, but while they’re out, the zombie Modiloc is taking a walk! An eerie twist on a hauntingly familiar story.
“There’s a Ghost in This House” by Oliver Jeffers
Jeffers created a fun, interactive Halloween picture book about a haunted house. A little girl leads you through the rooms of the house in search of the ghost she is convinced lives there. Using clever clear pages between each page, ghosts can be seen appearing on every page! Look carefully at the narrator, she also has a ghostly spirit about her!
More Halloween Learning Resources
Do you like this Halloween children’s book list? Check out these related Halloween learning tools and resources;
