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R.L. Stine’s Favorite Halloween Books Will Give Your Kids Goosebumps
As spooky season approaches, the master of children’s horror recommends creepy-crawly classics and modern thrills for young readers.
When you write scary stories for a living, everyone assumes that Halloween must be your favorite holiday. But when I think about Halloween, I often remember it as a day of heartbreaking disappointment.
My family was quite poor. I grew up in a tiny house in an Ohio suburb three doors down from the railroad tracks. We couldn’t afford any fancy, expensive Halloween costumes.
When I was 8 or 9, my parents went to the five-and-dime to buy a cheap costume for me. I was desperate to be something scary. A vampire or a monster. A mummy or a skeleton. Even a pirate.
My parents returned and handed me the box. My hands actually trembled as I lifted the lid. I was so excited … until I gazed at the costume they had bought.
It was a feathery yellow duck costume, with a fuzzy white cottontail.
When my friends saw me on trick-or-treating night, they burst out in cold, cruel laughter. I was mortified. And since we couldn’t afford a new costume, I remained a feathery yellow duck for the next three years.
Halloween is a terrible time to be mortified. That is why I’ve put together this list of Halloween books for all ages. I can’t pick your costume for you, but if you include these books in your Halloween celebration, I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
