Advertisement
Books

Top 5 spooky books for Halloween, chosen by children’s author Swapna Haddow

There are gothic thrills and scary chills aplenty in our top spooky books

Swapna Haddow is the multi award-winning children’s author of the Dave Pigeon series. Here she picks five spooky books that’ll have you listening out for things that go bump in the night.

Undead Pets: Flight of the Battered Budgie by Sam Hay and Simon Cooper 

The Undead Pets series is packed full of adventure, animal zombies and laugh out loud moments. In this story, Joe, the protector of undead pets, must help Buddy the budgie who found his end thanks to a window. 

Dread Wood by Jennifer Killick 

Jennifer Killick is the master of funny horror for kids and Dread Wood is the hilarious scary series I recommend you get your hands on. If you thought sitting silently in a hall for detention was bad, you are about to read about the worst school detention ever. 

The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste 

Meet Corinne La Mer who isn’t afraid of anything. That is until Corinne has to learn ancient magic to save her island home. This is a book that mixes horror with gorgeous writing and Haitian folklore. 

Stitch Head by Guy Bass and Pete Williamson 

Stitch Head is the first book in this gothic children’s series and sees Stitch Head, a lonely half-human creature invented by a mad professor in the creepy Castle Grotteskew, trying to escape the evil clutches of Fulbert Freakfinder and his Travelling Circus. 

The Imaginary by AF Harrold and Emily Gravett 

As someone who had imaginary friends, and still does, this book is truly scary. Rudger, Amanda’s best imaginary friend, has to escape the sinister Mr Bunting who not only hunts imaginaries but eats them too. 

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertisement
Dave Pigeon (Zombies!)

Swapna Haddow’s Zombies! (Faber & Faber, £7.99), the latest in her Dave Pigeon series, is out now.

You can buy these titles from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about freedom fighters? Get in touch and tell us moreBig Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

READER-SUPPORTED SINCE 1991

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Recommended for you

Read All
Breaking by Mic Wright review – insider insights into the grubby world of right-wing media
Books

Breaking by Mic Wright review – insider insights into the grubby world of right-wing media

Robert Shaw, An Actor's Life on the Set of Jaws… by Christopher Shaw Myers review – a vivid family saga
Books

Robert Shaw, An Actor's Life on the Set of Jaws… by Christopher Shaw Myers review – a vivid family saga

Top 5 books on Scandinavia, chosen by polar geopolitics expert Elizabeth Buchanan
Books

Top 5 books on Scandinavia, chosen by polar geopolitics expert Elizabeth Buchanan

The Ha-Ha by Jennifer Dawson review – a spry and contemporary overlooked classic
Books

The Ha-Ha by Jennifer Dawson review – a spry and contemporary overlooked classic

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue