Book picks similar to
Pumpkins by Kevin Miller


halloween
guilty-pleasure
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Trick or Treat Free For All!: A Halloween Kids Book


M.K. RadicanScott Peters - 2020
    BowmanA GOOD TRICKA Haunted Library StoryBy Dori Hillestad ButlerHALLOWEENINGA Tales of the Spooky Folk StoryBy J.K. CampbellSTICKY FINGERSFeaturing characters from The Boy Who Cried GhostBy Richard ClarkA KANDY BRAINZ HALLOWEENFeaturing characters from Books Make Brainz Taste BadBy Eli CranorSIDE QUESTA Magic Eaters StoryBy Connor GraysonA TRICKSTER HALLOWEENA Prentiss Twins StoryBy Deb LoganTHE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED EGYPTIAN KITCHENA Kid Detective Zet StoryBy Scott PetersFLYING SOLOBy D.M. PotterAuthor of the You Say Which Way SeriesTRICKING THE TREAT WITCHA Zombie Reconstruction Squad StoryBy M.K. Radican

The Teacher's Tales of Terror


Chris Priestley - 2011
    But, of course, with a very surprising ending that resounds like a slamming door on a quiet night!

Don't Let the Doll In


Mike Ford - 2019
    one-stop shopping for all your fears!The perfect dollhouse needs the perfect doll.When Mara hears about a new store called Frightville, she can't wait to check it out. On its shelves are strange and unusual gifts of all kinds. It's there that she comes face-to-face with Charlotte, a small figurine of a friendly-looking girl.Mara instantly feels that Charlotte is meant to live with her. But once Charlotte is in the dollhouse, strange things start to happen. There are odd noises in the night, and objects from Mara's room start to go missing. Is Mara imagining things, or is this doll actually haunted?

Boris and Bella


Carolyn Crimi - 2004
    Her slime is the slimiest and her grime is the grimiest. Alas, she is neighbors with Boris Kleanitoff, a persnickety ghoul so tidy he vacuums his vampire bats. What could ever bring these two together? Why, a hoppin' Halloween party, of course!

Count Karlstein


Philip Pullman - 1982
    But the evil Count Karlstein has struck a terrible bargain with Zamiel, and so the lives of his two young nieces, Lucy and Charlotte, are in danger. Their only hope lies with Hildi, a castle maidservant, and her fearless brother Peter. Can they save the girls from their dreadful fate? Only one thing is certain—the Demon Huntsman will not return to his dark wood unsatisfied!

Ghost Girl


Ally Malinenko - 2021
    She just never expected to be living one.It all starts with a dark and stormy night. When the skies clear, everything is different. People are missing. There’s a creepy new principal who seems to know everyone’s darkest dreams. And Zee is seeing frightening things: large, scary dogs that talk and maybe even . . . a ghost.When she tells her classmates, only her best friend, Elijah, believes her. Worse, mean girl Nellie gives Zee a cruel nickname: Ghost Girl.But whatever the storm washed up isn’t going away. Everyone’s most selfish wishes start coming true in creepy ways.To fight for what’s right, Zee will have to embrace what makes her different and what makes her Ghost Girl. And all three of them—Zee, Elijah, and Nellie—will have to work together if they want to give their ghost story a happy ending.

Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel


A.W. Jantha - 2018
    Diving once more into the world of witches, this electrifying two-part young adult novel, released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1993 film, marks a new era of Hocus Pocus. Fans will be spellbound by a fresh retelling of the original film, followed by the all-new sequel that continues the story with the next generation of Salem teens.Shortly after moving from California to Salem, Massachusetts, Max Dennison finds himself in hot water when he accidentally releases a coven of witches, the Sanderson sisters, from the afterlife. Max, his sister, and his new friends (human and otherwise) must find a way to stop the witches from carrying out their evil plan and remaining on earth to torment Salem for all eternity.Twenty-five years later, Max and Allison's seventeen-year-old daughter, Poppy, finds herself face-to-face with the Sanderson sisters in all their sinister glory. When Halloween celebrations don't quite go as planned, it's a race against time as Poppy and her friends fight to save her family and all of Salem from the witches' latest death-defying scheme.

The Haunting of Stone Street Cemetery: A Halloween Haunting


Cat Knight - 2017
    It was a cemetery afterall. Now she’s paying for it. Perhaps the psychic was right about ghosts and Halloween. When television talk show host Monica Stanford goes out for a night of Halloween partying with her life-long friends, things begin to go awry when they take a short cut through the local cemetery on Stone Street. Charlie is convinced that they have unleashed an angry ghost, as bloodcurdling events begin to unfold with deadly consequences. Can they find a way to put to rest the tormented spirit they have provoked before they all wind up dead?If you love ghosts and Haunted houses, you really should be reading Cat Knight’s other books. List of Books The Haunting of Elleric LodgeThe Haunting of Grayson HouseThe Haunting of Fairview HouseThe Haunting of Weaver HouseThe Haunting of Keira O’ConnellThe Haunting of Ferncoombe ManorThe Haunting of Highcliff HallThe Haunting of Knoll HouseIf you read stories in the occult, occultism, horror, supernatural and paranormal genres then add these to your reading list.

The House of Lost Souls


F.G. Cottam - 2007
    At its heart was a beautiful, enigmatic woman called Pandora Gibson-Hoare, a photographer of genius whose only legacy is a handful of photographs and the clues to a mystery.Just weeks after four students cross the threshold of the derelict Fischer House, one of them has committed suicide and the other three are descending into madness.Nick Mason's sister is one of them. To save her, Nick must join ranks with Paul Seaton--the only person to have visited the house and survive. But Paul is a troubled man, haunted by otherworldly visions that even now threaten his sanity.Desperate, Nick forces Paul to go back into the past, to the secret journal of beautiful photographer Pandora Gibson-Hoare and a debauched gathering in the 1920s, and to the dark legacy of Klaus Fischer--master of the unspeakable crime and demonic proceedings that have haunted the mansion for decades.Because now, the Fischer House is beckoning, and some old friends have gathered to welcome Paul back. . . .

Death or Ice Cream


Gareth P. Jones - 2016
    Filled with odd tales, a wry wit, and creepy adventures this book will have you sleeping with the lights on, so grab a scythe and get ready for a frightful read.

The Cat, the Crow, and the Cauldron: A Halloween Anthology


Joe DeRouenJalpa Williby - 2015
     Joe DeRouen’s Good Fortune teaches us a valuable lesson about why you should be very careful when you hold someone’s fate in your hands. It may come back to haunt you, just as it does for Grimsley Harkness, who dares to wish for more than he deserves. Celia Kennedy’s Nothing Scares Me takes readers on a test of endurance. Lost in the Florida Everglades, Ardith Deblois, wife, mother and intrepid adventurer, fights for her life. Enveloped within the humid swamplands is a perilous maze full of obstacles and adversaries. Which is the greater impediment, the humans that hunt her or the deadly animals and poisonous plants she hides amongst? Can she fight through fatigue and dehydration to save herself? Nothing Scares Me. True or not? Zeece Lugo’s Five Stories Up finds us on October 31st, 1966, and night is falling over the city. Below, the groups of little ghosts and goblins stream in and out of the front stoops and basement bodegas, running, laughing, white blankets flapping in the wind, their candy treasures tightly held in hand. But above, in the dark rooftop of Sonia's building, something pale and evil watches her, and beckons... Angie Martin's "Sold" follows a paranormal team as they investigate the home of a serial killer for their live Halloween night televised show. In Heather Osborne's Will You Remember Me? past and present collide when ghosts from witch trials of long ago come to life. It's up to Sierra to lay things to rest. In Leonie Rogers' Roast Pumpkin, Anna discovers that going trick-or-treating in her new home town is more of an out-of-this-world experience than she'd ever imagined. CJ Rutherford's 'Treaters' tells the story of Jaz. Who would believe the world would end on Halloween night? Can Jaz, a retired U.S. Marine, battle loss, grief, demons, and loneliness, to survive the end of the world? In Jada Ryker’s Dead Eye, Alex takes Marisa to an unusual Halloween party in an isolated Kentucky community… with a murderer ready with deadly tricks, rather than treats. In Jalpa Williby’s Beauty and the Beast, Kelsey’s entire family perishes in a fire on a dreadful Halloween night. Overcome by grief and guilt, she decides to end her pain once and for all. Will the mysterious stranger be her savior, or will he ultimately cause her tragic demise?

The Tenth Ward


Rockwell Scott - 2019
    And he’s about to take on his most dangerous assignment. Rand has seen better days—his ex is getting remarried, and a persistent “non-believing” university auditor is threatening his job. The last thing Rand needs is to take on a new ghost hunting case. But when a desperate couple approaches him about their terminally-ill daughter, Georgia, who claims a ghost is visiting her hospital room at night, he can’t seem to turn them away. Rand figures that banishing Georgia’s ghostly intruder will be a routine matter. All he needs to do is guide the lingering ghost to the afterlife. But when the ghost returns with a vengeance, attacking Georgia and terrorizing other hospital wards, Rand realizes this is no benign spirit, but an evil demonic entity. He’s faced such monsters before, but never one so complex, so aggressive and violent. If he doesn’t unravel its ancient origins and discover how to banish it back to hell, a hospital full of people will fall victim to its destructive agenda. The Tenth Ward is a supernatural horror thriller for readers who love stories about hauntings and battles with the demonic—the truest form of evil that exists in our world.
 You are only one click away from joining Rand Casey in his terrifying battles against mankind’s oldest and most deadly enemy—the servants of the devil.

Ghoulia


Barbara Cantini - 2017
    But things aren’t as easy as they seem for this little zombie girl—all she wants is a real friend. She tries to venture past the manor’s walls, but she can’t hide her pale green skin or the deep purple circles under her eyes. The other children will be afraid of her, and no one will want to be her friend. But when Halloween rolls around, Ghoulia hatches a brilliant plan. All the other, ordinary children will be dressed up like monsters, so Ghoulia can go out into the town and be entirely herself. In the end, all the kids realize that Ghoulia is (almost) just like them and learn that friendship can come in many forms.

Blackwater: The Complete Caskey Family Saga


Michael McDowell - 1983
    Michael McDowell was proclaimed “the finest writer of paperback originals in America” by Stephen King, and “one of the best writers of horror in this country” by Peter Straub.Now, McDowell’s masterpiece—the serial novel, Blackwater—returns to thrill and terrify a new generation of readers, with all six volumes available for the first time as a single e-book.Featuring an insightful new introduction by John Langan, Blackwater traces more than fifty years in the lives of the powerful Caskey family of Perdido, Alabama, under the influence of the mysterious and beautiful—but not quite human—Elinor Dammert.The Flood heralds the arrival of a visitor who will change the Caskey family—and the town—forever…When the town builds The Levee, it proves a vain attempt to control a horrific power that can never be contained…The House hides terrible secrets that whisper in closed rooms and scrabble at locked doors…The War reveals family secrets more deadly and devastating than anything Perdido has ever dreamed in its deepest nightmares…The Fortune brings happiness and power—but even greater terror…And finally, the mysterious saga of the Caskey family ends the only way it can—in terrible judgment and fury delivered under the cover of a relentless, earth-shattering Rain.Will Errickson (Too Much Horror Fiction) writes, “Michael McDowell has written a rich, layered historical novel with many Southern Gothic touches, filled out with memorable characters and satisfying moments of death and shock.”

Wakenhyrst


Michelle Paver - 2019
    It is the home of Edmund Stearn and his family – a historian, scholar and land-owner, he's an upstanding member of the local community. But all is not well at Wake's End. Edmund dominates his family tyrannically, in particular daughter Maud. When Maud's mother dies in childbirth and she's left alone with her strict, disciplinarian father, Maud's isolation drives her to her father's study, where she happens upon his diary.During a walk through the local church yard, Edmund spots an eye in the undergrowth. His terror is only briefly abated when he discovers its actually a painting, a 'doom', taken from the church. It's horrifying in its depiction of hell, and Edmund wants nothing more to do with it despite his historical significance. But the doom keeps returning to his mind. The stench of the Fen permeates the house, even with the windows closed. And when he lies awake at night, he hears a scratching sound – like claws on the wooden floor...Wakenhyrst is a terrifying ghost story, an atmospheric slice of gothic, a brilliant exploration of the boundaries between the real and the supernatural, and a descent into the mind of a psychopath.