Plano Reads: Spooky Stories for Halloween
7 mins read

Plano Reads: Spooky Stories for Halloween

Trick or treat! Time to break out some scary stories for the whole family!

Halloween is around the corner! That means it’s time to curl up with a hot drink and a scary story. Make Plano Public Library part of your family’s alternative Halloween plans this year and check out some spooky, scary, and suspenseful stories. Gain a thrill safe at home by reading about wicked witches, gruesome ghouls, and spooky skeletons!

Looking for something less spooky? Check out our recommended reads for Autumn and Fall instead!

Picture Books

Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds Request | Video on Kanopy
Easy Collection
The carrots that grow in Crackenhopper Field are the fattest and crispiest around and Jasper Rabbit cannot resist pulling some to eat each time he passes by, until he begins hearing and seeing creepy carrots wherever he goes

There’s an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer Request
Easy Collection
The alligator under his bed makes a boy’s bedtime hazardous operation, until he lures it out of the house and into the garage

Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting Request
Easy Holiday Collection
A band of trick-or-treaters and a mother cat and her kittens spend a very scary Halloween

Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley Request
Easy Collection
Die-cut pages through which bits of a monster are revealed are designed to help a child control nighttime fears of monsters

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams Request | Video on Kanopy
Easy Holiday Collection
A little old lady who is not afraid of anything must deal with a pumpkin head, a tall black hat, and other spooky objects that follow her through the dark woods trying to scare her

The Dark by Lemony Snicket Request
Easy Collection
Laszlo is afraid of the dark which lives in the same big, creaky house as him, until one night the dark pays him a visit

The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches by Alice Low Request
Easy Holiday Collection
A little witch finds a way to out-witch her two bossy sisters

Early Readers

Have No Fear! Halloween is Here! by Tish Rabe Request
Early Reader Collection
A Halloween-themed story finds Sally and Nick frightened by a colony of tiny cave bats before learning that most bats are harmless

In a Dark, Dark Room, and Other Scary Stories by Alvin Schwartz Request
Early Reader Collection
Seven scary stories to tell at night in front of a fire or in the dark, based on traditional stories and folktales from various countries

Beneath the Bed and Other Scary Stories by Max Brallier Request
Early Reader Collection
The kids at school dare John to visit the old house on the hill at night, and when he and his sister go in they find dusty dishes set on the table, a book open like it is waiting for a reader, and something hiding under the bed in the attic–and that is only one of the five scary stories with unexpected twists that are included in this collection

Junior

Coraline by Neil Gaiman Request
Junior Fiction
Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others

The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag Request
Junior Graphic Novel
In thirteen-year-old Aster’s family, all the girls are raised to be witches, while boys grow up to be shapeshifters. When a mysterious danger threatens the other boys, Aster knows he can help–as a witch

Welcome to Dead House by R. L. Stine Request
Junior Fiction
The first book in the prolific Goosebumps series. Josh and Amanda just moved into the oldest and weirdest house on the block; it might even be haunted — but their parents don’t believe them

Bunnicula by James Howe Request
Junior Fiction
Though scoffed at by Harold the dog, Chester the cat tries to warn his human family that their foundling baby bunny must be a vampire

Tales From Beyond the Brain by Jeff Szpirglas Request
Junior Fiction
A collection of stories for middle readers that ranges from the hilarious to the horrifying

The Darkdeep by Ally Condie Request
Junior Fiction
Middle-schoolers Nico, Tyler, Ella, and Opal discover a hidden island in a forbidden cove that appears uninhabited, but something ancient has awakened knowing their wishes, dreams, and darkest secrets

Shadow House: The Gathering by Dan Poblocki Request
Junior Fiction
Poppy Caldwell is an orphan who keeps seeing a figure standing behind her in the mirror at the group home where she lives, but she does not associate this ghost with the letter that mysteriously appears in her file, claiming to be from a long-lost aunt, and inviting her to Larkspur House–and she is just one of five children who find themselves gathered in this strange house with a deadly past, and apparently no intention of letting the children escape

The Doomed Amusement Park by Michael Teitelbaum Request
Junior Fiction
In the amusement park’s Haunted Fun House, twelve-year-old Leo hears the sound of a voice pleading for help

Young Adult

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs Request
Young Adult Fiction
After a family tragedy, Jacob feels compelled to explore an abandoned orphanage on an island off the coast of Wales, discovering disturbing facts about the children who were kept there

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness Request
Young Adult Fiction
Pursued by power-hungry Prentiss and mad minister Aaron, young Todd and Viola set out across New World searching for answers about his colony’s true past and seeking a way to warn the ship bringing hopeful settlers from Old World

Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve Request
Young Adult Fiction
Genderqueer fourteen-year-old Z Chilworth has to adjust quickly to their new status as a zombie after waking from death from a car crash that killed their parents and sisters

The Great Unknowable End by Katie Ormsbee Request
Young Adult Fiction
Told in two voices, sixteen-year-old Galliard and seventeen-year-old Stella cross paths and realize they must determine their own futures as strange events occur in Slater, Kansas, and its neighboring commune in 1977

#MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil Request
Young Adult Fiction
Falsely accused of murdering her stepsister, seventeen-year-old Dee fights to survive paid assassins on Alcatraz 2.0, the most popular prison on social media

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White Request
Young Adult Fiction
Elizabeth Lavenza has been starved and beaten by her “caregiver” until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything– except a friend


Be sure to browse the library catalog online here, and use your library card number and PIN (last four digits of your phone number) to place a hold request. You can also browse our eBook collection through Overdrive and the Libby app.

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