It’s almost Halloween and for all you naysayers out there, here’s a timely reminder of why we love this holiday!

1. Lots of kids love the giddy thrill of being scared, and Halloween really is the best time for spooky fun.

2. Halloween, which is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, is a holiday with a long history of fascinating stories and strange traditions to delve into.

3. If you spent hours making a costume for Book Week with your child, Halloween is a brilliant opportunity to bring it out for a second outing. There’s no rule saying your costume has to be scary.

4. Because ultimately, this holiday is all about being creative – whether by creating a costume, experimenting in the kitchen, or coming up with your spooky story.

5. Plus, it’s also a great excuse to eat sweet treats.

If you’re looking for some Halloween appropriate reading material, we’ve put together a collection of some spooky books for children – including a ‘spooktacular’ collection of jokes – as well as some terrifying reads for teens – including Peadar Ó Guilín’s YA novel that even gave us adults nightmares.

And if you have a child at home who wants to celebrate Halloween, but isn’t a fan of being scared, here is a collection of our best recommendations for non-scary scary stories for impressionable kids.

We’re also celebrating Halloween here at Readings with a spooky story time at our St Kilda shop on Saturday October, and some spine-tingling fun with James Lee at our Kids shop on Monday 31 October. This latter event is suitable for ages 6–12, and the best costume will win a complete pack of all Lee’s books, signed by the author.

And adult Halloween fans might be tempted to attend our Death Salon at St Kilda on Thursday 27 October. Join writers Gerard Elson and Leah Kaminsky over a glass of wine as they discuss depictions of death in popular culture and literature.