If you prefer to spend Halloween indoors then this list of books about monsters, the scary or the peculiar might be the perfect way for you to avoid trick or treating and hide under the covers with a good book!

A Monster in My House by The Umbilical Brothers, illustrated by Johan Potma

There’s a Monster in my Bedroom. Keep very, very still. Tell me you can see it. It’s giving me a chill . . .

A funny, charming rhyming picture book about a house full of monsters with an unexpected twist from internationally acclaimed comedy duo The Umbilical Brothers. With gorgeous, rich illustrations by Berlin artist, Johan Potma.

Monster Party by The children of Rawa Community School, Alison Lester and Jane Godwin

Monster Party is an explosion of fun and pure joy. Children will love the hilarious, naughty desert monsters who come out of the ground to have a party on Dora Lake.

Eating chips and monster cake, they go ‘galumphing’ all over the place with a drum and a bass! Of all shapes and sizes, these monsters create havoc for the children at Rawa Community School who live on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert – ‘dancing and stomping’, ‘crashing and crunching’, ‘prowling and growling’, ‘happy and smiling’! Jeepers creepers! The monster cut-out illustrations created by the students are delightful. Monster Party will capture the hearts of the very young and the young at heart.

The Unbelievably Scary Thing that Happened in Huggabie Falls by Adam Cece

Kipp Kindle, Tobias Treachery and Cymphany Chan live in Huggabie Falls, the weirdest town on Earth, so weirdness is pretty normal for them. But when unbelievably scary things start to happen, even Kipp, Tobias and Cymphany have trouble believing what’s going on. Why is everyone running away from their worst fears and where did those fears suddenly appear from? How can a dinosaur that doesn’t even exist be about to chomp Cymphany in two? And is the evil Felonious Dark reformed like he says he is or is he the one behind the unbelievably scary happenings?

With all the madcap humour and breakneck adventure of The Extremely Weird Thing that Happened in Huggabie Falls, this hilarious sequel will have young readers laughing out loud and asking for more.

Goosebumps #33: The Headless Ghost by R.L.Stine

Everyone knows about Hill House. It’s the biggest tourist attraction in town. That’s because it’s haunted. Haunted by the ghost of a thirteen-year-old boy. A boy with no head! Duane and Stephanie love Hill House. It’s dark. And creepy. And totally scary. Still, they’ve never actually seen the ghost. Until the night they decide to go on a search. A search for his head…

A Map of Days: The Fourth Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Having defeated the monstrous threat that nearly destroyed the peculiar world, Jacob Portman is back where his story began, in Florida. Except now Miss Peregrine, Emma, and their peculiar friends are with him, and doing their best to blend in. But carefree days of beach visits and normalling lessons are soon interrupted by a discovery – a subterranean bunker that belonged to Jacob’s grandfather, Abe.

Clues to Abe’s double-life as a peculiar operative start to emerge, secrets long hidden in plain sight. And Jacob begins to learn about the dangerous legacy he has inherited – truths that were part of him long before he walked into Miss Peregrine’s time loop.

Now, the stakes are higher than ever as Jacob and his friends are thrust into the untamed landscape of American peculiardom – a world with few ymbrynes, or rules – that none of them understand. New wonders, and dangers, await in this brilliant next chapter for Miss Peregrine’speculiar children. Their story is again fully illustrated by haunting vintage photographs, but with a striking addition for this all-new, multi-era American adventure – full colour.

The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars by Jaclyn Moriarty

I was taken by Whisperers at 2pm, so I never pulled the lever for the laundry chute.
That’s what bothered me most. 
This is way ahead in the story, though. A lot happened before that.

The town of Spindrift is frequented by pirates, Shadow Mages and charlatans. It’s also home to the Orphanage School, where Finlay lives with Glim, Taya and Eli. Just outside town is the painfully posh Brathelthwaite Boarding School, home to Honey Bee, Hamish and Victor, Duke of Ainsley. When the two schools compete at the Spindrift Tournament, stakes are high, tensions are higher, and some people are out to win at any cost. Before long, the orphans and the boarding school are in an all-out war.

And then Whispering Wars break out, and Spindrift is thrust onto the front lines. Children are being stolen, Witches, Sirens and a deadly magical flu invade the town, and all attempts to fight back are met with defeat.

Finlay, Honey Bee and their friends must join forces to outwit the encroaching forces of darkness, rescue the stolen children, and turn the tide of the war. But how can one bickering troupe outwit the insidious power of the Whisperers? And who are the two mysterious figures watching them from the shadows?

From the award-winning Jaclyn Moriarty comes a spellbinding tale of unlikely friendship, unexpected magic and competitive athletics.