Happy Halloween!

When I was little, Halloween was my favorite holiday.  I loved Halloween more than Christmas and my brother and I began to prepare for it in August.  We spent hours making decorations (these were the days before gigantic blow-up lawn ornaments and foam tombstones) and planning costumes.  My mom would let us cover our entire front window with our handmade decorations.  She was such a cool mom. 

This is slightly embarrassing now, but my best friend and I trick or treated until our senior year of high school.  We were both short and young looking and always came up with cool costumes.  Still, that's pretty lame.  We just really liked dressing up and eating candy, ok?!

My intention was to post this list for Five Book Friday last week, but all I did Friday was recover from my Halloween storytimes by taking a yoga class and doing laundry.  Better late than never, so here are my favorite books that get me in the Halloween spirit.

1.  Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn.  This is the scariest book I've ever read.  I don't care if it's for kids, I still get scared just thinking about it.

2.  The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  Gaiman does spooky and creepy right.  The very first page sets the tone for an unsettling, macabre read.

3.  Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara.  A little girl and her cat move into a haunted house!  The ghosts don't know what they're in for, though.  This one is adorable and the perfect mild scary story for little ones.

4.  The Omen by David Seltzer.  This is actually a novelization of the movie, but I read this in seventh grade and didn't sleep for weeks.  I'm not even joking, I'm such a baby I had a hard time going to sleep. 

5.  Among the Shadows by L.M. Montgomery.  I've mentioned this book before, but these short stories are unlike anything you've ever read by Montgomery.  When I was a kid, I couldn't leave this laying around cover-side up.  It was too creepy. 

Do you have any scary story suggestions?  I love/hate creepy reads!  Happy Halloween!