The Best Halloween Picture Books of 2024
And we’re back with another Halloween list - the best Halloween picture books of 2024 to be exact! It’s been a while since we’ve published on article, but I couldn’t very well miss the most important list of the entire year!
Halloween is my favorite holiday, and scary books for kids are my favorite books - so this annual list of the 13 (get it?) best Halloween picture books is a meaningful tradition for us to keep alive. It’s a lot of fun to bring in every single Halloween and Halloween adjacent picture book we can get our hands on, and sort through them choosing our favorites, and now we’re ready to pass our findings on to you!
Literally being about Halloween - and by that I mean mentioning the holiday by name, talking about trick or treating, or getting the house decorated - is obviously worth bonus points to me, but it’s not exactly a prerequisite for this list. If it’s a book about ghosts or monsters or just generally a bit spooky or creepy, then it’s going to qualify. I basically follow a “I know it when I see it” rule for Halloween books.
The funny thing about this year is that we’re extremely light on picture books that are genuinely scary. I think that’s a shame, because I like being scared, and I liked being scared as a kid too. I often give bonus points for being genuinely spooky, and there wasn’t much of that going on this year, but that’s not to say we don’t have some great books this year. In fact there’s at least one in consideration for best picture books of the year, and it’s not very common for those books to come from our holiday lists!
I hope you enjoy looking through our favorite Halloween picture books of 2024, and I hope you and yours have a very spooktacular Halloween. It’s the best day of the year after all!
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links that will lead you to view the books on Bookshop.org. On Bookshop.org, your purchase can directly support a chosen independent bookstore like ours - with more than 30% of the sale passed along to stores.
13. Trick-or-Treating in the City
Written by Tiffany D. Jackson and Illustrated by Sawyer Cloud
As is the case every year, there were several books in the running for this final spot on our Halloween list. Trick-or-Treating in the City got the nod because of the bonus of being purely Halloween focused. The whole thing is about Trick-or-Treating and costumes, and different ways to celebrate the big night - and that put it over the top.
In particular I really enjoy the festive illustrations going on here. Every page is full of detailed decorations - at school, on the street, at home - and that makes for a great Halloween atmosphere. I’m nothing if not a sucker for a good illustration of trick-or-treating on Halloween night.
The little girl in this book is basically collecting ideas for different ways to celebrate on Halloween in the city - and she struggles a bit with choosing which one to do. In the end I think it’s a very nice reflection on the kind people in our lives who go through the trouble to organize events that make holidays like Halloween special and available to everyone.
12. 5 More Sleeps ‘Til Halloween
Written by Jimmy Fallon and Illustrated by Rich Deas
The first of two celebrity books on this list belongs to Jimmy Fallon. And believe me I don’t go easy on the celebrities - if anything I approach them with hesitation. But it seems like all the Jimmy Fallon books have a pretty good team behind them to me.
This one is the second in a series now I suppose, because we had a very similar one for last Christmas. And ultimately I feel just about the same way about this book. The illustrations are great, and generally speaking that’s the highlight of the book. It’s well constructed and looks great - and that means it gets the vibes of the holiday right.
I do enjoy the concept of the anticipation of the big day. I think kids can relate to that, because I certainly remember that feeling. So the countdown is a nice frame for the book, but the real highlights here are the haunted houses, the costumes, the spooky creatures in the shadows, the pumpkins, the cats, and more.
11. M is for Monsters
Written and Illustrated by Greg Paprocki
These Babylit board books by Greg Paprocki are really spectacular. I love every single one of them. They’re all alphabet books with an amazing illustration for each letter, and I just think they’re fantastic.
There’s no story to speak of since it’s really just an alphabet book, but the art is just so good, and they really capture the spirit of whatever holiday they’re made for. And since spooky things make me so happy, this is one of my favorite books from Paprocki yet.
This is naturally a good example of how important art is for picture books. And I think it’s interesting how much time we can spend on a book with very few words. There’s so much detail in the art that I might take longer reading this than other books on this list!
A few of my favorite pages including B is for Boogeyman, M is for Monsters, T is for Troll, and Z is for Zombie. Just great Halloween feelings all around!
10. Skeletown: Más. ¡Menos!
Written and Illustrated by Rhode Montijo
Rhode Montijo is one of our favorite artists, particularly because he shares a similar affinity for Halloween culture! He’s the author of one of our favorite Halloween books of all time - The Halloween Kid, and he always has a store open for Halloween art and goodies.
Skeletown is a new series for him, and this is book 2 in the series. It’s a town of skeletons inspired by the Day of the Dead - and it’s full of some great atmosphere. It’s not exactly spooky - because it’s so delightful and cheery. But of course a town of skeletons has a certain Halloweeny ambiance to it.
It’s a book of very few words - two words in fact. And it’s a very fun and simple structure, as two little skeletons run through the town and experience a string of ups and downs - alternating the words más and menos. It’s very chaotic and funny, and of course extremely cute. Naturally lots of the story is told through the art, so it’s a great one for reading together with little ones and talking about what you see.
9. How to Be a Witch
Written by Gabrielle Balkan & Shana Gozansky and Illustrated by Carmen Saldaña
This one is a very interesting one, because it really caught me off guard. I ordered it thinking it was just a handsome looking Halloween book - and didn’t anticipate it being anything more than a cute book about pretending to be a witch for Halloween. Boy was I wrong!
This picture book is actually presented more like a non-fiction book, and talks about being a witch not in the Halloween sense, but in the literal/metaphysical kind of sense. And while that surprised me, I actually think that’s pretty cool. I’ve definitely never seen anything like it, and I think it will be of interesting to plenty of adults and kids out there.
It’s a very sweet and thoughtful tribute to being a witch too - focusing on connections with nature and helping others. It also talks about casting spells with poems, songs, and potions. And you know full well that potion talk is going to intrigue kids. There’s even a potion recipe in the back. And I haven’t even mentioned the section on animal familiars - certain to be a big hit.
8. Feeling Boo
Written by Alex Boniello & April Lavalle and Illustrated by Olivia Chin Mueller
It’s pretty obvious why this new Halloween book caught my eye - just look at that amazing cover art! Very cute ghosts, wonderful overall design, and a cat! This is going to be great, right? Right!
I’m happy to report there are also wonderful endpapers inside as well. This is really just a very thoughtfully constructed book. And the illustrations are incredibly endearing - I’m going to have to keep an eye out for Olivia Chin Mueller’s work!
The story is about two ghost friends, and one of them is basically feeling down and depressed. Ollie is feeling boo, and Ellie wants to help him feel better. In the end it’s very similar to the big question in “The Rabbit Listened” - where friends struggle with how to help. But the whole thing is set on a backdrop of a haunted house, which is definitely my kind of setting!
7. Trick or Treat on Scary Street
Written by Lance Bass and Illustrated by Roland Garrigue
No offense to all the celebrities out there, but it’s not incredibly often I enjoy their books. But this Halloween picture book from NSYNC’s Lance Bass is pretty cool! It actually focuses a bit on the scary side of Halloween, and you know I love that!
And I absolutely ADORE this art style from Roland Garrigue. It’s full of tons of details and it’s so unique and special. What a beautiful looking book. It truly captures the Halloween spirit.
The text is rhyming and it tells of a trip down scary street and all the spooky houses you’re going to visit. One looks like a gingerbread house, one is a pumpkin, one is a witch, and one is a run down haunted hotel. It’s all great and of course they’re all full of monsters. I’m not usually a huge fan of rhyming at all, but I’ll forgive it because of the insanely good atmosphere going on here.
6. Griselda Snook’s Spectacular Books
Written by Barry Timms and Illustrated by Laura Borio
I have a very big soft spot for illustrations full of details to discover, and this book is the most detailed of all the books on this list. It’s glorious.
Griselda Snooks is opening a bookstore - a bookstore for monsters it seems. And a little boy named Henry is on the hunt for a special book just for him. It’s a a celebration of both Halloween and bookstores, and what’s not to like about that?
Laura Borio’s art style is amazing and Barry Timms has built a wonderful new world here. It’s incredible what a sense of place is developed in such a short book. The characters and the scenery are all great, and the celebration of spooky things and bookstores at the same time makes me very happy.
5. Spooky Poems Aloud: 25 Poems to Frighten and Delight
Written by Joseph Coelho and Illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett
Joseph Coelho and Daniel Gray-Barnett is a pretty great combination, and I’m a real big fan of poetry collections for kids - so of course I’m extremely excited about a Halloween-themed collection!
In a way this book reminds me of the book It’s Halloween by poet Jack Prelutsky, because that one did a great job of celebrating Halloween too and genuinely had some spooky moments.
Inside you’ll find skeletons, vampires, werewolves, and more - but most importantly you’ll find lots of originality and imagination. One of my favorites is Down the Deep Dark which starts out like an homage to In a Dark, Dark House but ends in a sudden and unexpected twist. And another is definitely It Woke Me from a Dream - which describes a creepy thing sitting in the corner of a bedroom, and has perhaps the scariest illustration. Truly I’m just so happy that this collection of spook poems exists now.
4. Little Ghost Makes a Friend
Written and Illustrated by Maggie Edkins Willis
This is undoubtedly one of the best Halloween covers of the year. Just look at it! Little girl and a ghost sitting on a park bench, fall leaves, jack-o-lanterns, spider - this quite simply looks fantastic.
And the story inside doesn’t disappoint either. It’s a very sweet story about a shy ghost that doesn’t feel brave enough to say hello to the neighbors. But when a new girl moves in he writes her a letter inviting her over for a Halloween party.
The illustrations really are spectacular in this one. Little Ghost going through costumes and baking cookies and hanging decorations - all of the details are very cozy and soothing and beautiful. There’s also a wonderful two-page spread of trick-or-treating - which is one of my very favorite things to find in a Halloween book. Nothing captures the spirit of the season better.
3. Into the Goblin Market
If this book was just a little more overtly “Halloween”, it may have ended up in the number one spot. It does feature a witch, a wolf, and goblins - so it qualifies for the list, but was barely edged out by books just a touch more Halloweeny. But, with that being said, it may actually end up on our list of the best picture books of the whole year. That’s how much we like this one!
I love the old folk tale about the Goblin Market, and just read a great chapter book version last year where a sister was enchanted and stolen away to marry a goblin prince. This version features two sisters as well, and one of them wanders off into the goblin market, but it isn’t exactly the same story about what happens to the sister. And I don’t want to spoil it by telling you what happens to her!
Now I must admit that this story is written in rhyme, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wondered if that was necessary. But the tale itself and the art is so strong that my personal quarrel with rhyming a story is easily forgotten. It’s also the type of book with important details in the art you might miss on your first reading, so you need to go back to read it again, and I think that’s wonderful. It’s just a great book with a really classic fairy tale feel about it and a spooky atmosphere - and that all adds up to something pretty special.
2. ¡Vamos! Let’s Celebrate Halloween and Día de los Muertos
Written and Illustrated by Raúl the Third and Colored by Elaine Bay
First and foremost, this is an EXTREMELY good looking book. I’m obsessed with Raúl the Third’s art - and the ¡Vamos! series is spectacular. His attention to detail and his aesthetic really speak to me. I’m not sure the name of it, but it’s like the video game Cuphead in a way, and it’s just beautiful.
This book is basically split in two. First the kids celebrate Halloween for half the book, and then the celebrate Día de Los Muertos. Likewise the also flip a bit back and forth between English language and Spanish. The concept of the series has always been a great one, and this one is probably my favorite out of all of them.
Special shout out to the Happy Halloween endpapers in the front of the book, because that’s something I would purchase a giant poster of! And I think Raúl the Third has to win the award for best trick-or-treating two-page spread of the year as well (a very prestigious prize). There is so much detail in this art that you could easily spend 4 or 5 times longer than normal just staring at the pages together. And without a doubt the spirit of these two holidays was captured in a really beautiful way with a lot of love.
1. Wolfgang in the Meadow
Written and Illustrated by Lenny Wen
On top of being the best Halloween picture book of the year, Wolfgang in the Meadow definitely receives the award for best endpapers and secret cover on this list. Wonderful stuff! I love thoughtful details like that, and it always makes a picture book a little more special to me as a work of art.
Wolfgang reminds me of another favorite ghost book - Gustavo the Shy Ghost. That book really grew on me a lot and has true staying power, and I always regret not choosing it as our favorite Halloween book of its year - and I’m not going to make the same mistake again! Both are great examples of world-building, and both are full of SPOOKTACULAR little background characters that fill up the world and bring it to life.
I particularly like Wolfgang’s hero - The Mighty Hubert. He’s about to retire from haunting the dark castle and he’ll pick a successor - and Wolfgang hopes it will be him. The two-page spread where The Might Hubert is introduced is a great one, and it’s just one great example of the imagination on display here.
What you have here at the end of the day is a tale about being true to yourself, but the book doesn’t just bash you over the head with the moral. There’s enough story and detail here to make you care about Wolfgang and get invested in more than just a lesson. There are some magnificent two-page spreads in this book, great enough to hang on the wall, and I have no doubt this ghost book is going to have serious staying power in our Halloween collection.
Happy Halloween, everyone! Did you enjoy this list? Make sure to check out our past spooky lists as well:
The Best Halloween Picture Books of 2023
The Best Halloween Picture Books of 2022
The Best Halloween Picture Books of 2021
The Best Halloween Picture Books of 2020
The Best Halloween Picture Books of 2019
The Best Halloween Picture Books for Kids
And, if your kids really liked to scary stories, check out:
The Best Scary Picture Books for Kids
The Best Scary Stories for Kids
What was your favorite spooky book of the year? Let us know in the comments!
