8 Spookiest Scary Stories for Kids
Instilling a love of reading books in your kids is a task of every responsible parent. Technology makes our parenthood easier. You just give your child a laptop, a smartphone or a tablet and do your own business while your little one is busy with their gadget. There’s nothing wrong with that, yet there’s one ‘but’ here. Technology doesn’t make your child smarter. It shows them that it’s quicker to find something online than look for it in the books.
As it turns out, Halloween is a perfect opportunity to make your little one fall in love with books. Reading scary stories online doesn’t bring that mysterious effect, after all. The ideas and thoughts that pop up in their mind when they read a Halloween-themed book make them believe that a book is a little magic world where they can see different places, meet different characters and just have fun without torturing their parents.
Whether you child can read or they are too little for this, carve out a few hours of the eve of All Saint’s Day to read some of these kid-friendly scary stories together. Your child will be happy to spend some time with you, not with your laptop.
1 The Canterville Ghost
A short story by Oscar Wilde that many of us love and watch can become your child’s favorite tale. I read some other variations of this story too so no matter what you choose, this incredibly scary story will be exciting for your child and funny for you and your husband. You will discover the haunted house, a mysterious family and a ghost that makes the whole story truly spooky.
2 Shadows in the Mirror
If you have an older child, this scary story is right for them. Older kids aren’t afraid of those not-so-scary short stories that younger children enjoy reading, so to get them in the Halloween spirit you need to read something spookier. The Shadows in the Mirror is a story about a woman who saw a movement of shadows when she passed the mirror and suddenly disappeared in a couple of days. Many years this house was empty but then a small family moved into it and a little girl disappeared.
3 Haunted
The Haunted by Harris Tobias is for children of all ages. This lovely scary story is about a haunted house where ghosts lived however they wanted, and even when a new family moved into the house they did whatever they wished – they had parties and baked breads. But one day, a small event changed everything.
4 Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich
If short stories are too short for you, grab a book by Adam Rex called Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. Scary poems and illustrations will make your Halloween family time unforgettable. Plus, your child will find out more about popular characters such as Frankenstein, Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Phantom of the Opera.
Read also – 9 Fun Halloween Activities for the Whole Family
5 The Green Ribbon
Or The Girl With The Green Ribbon Around Her Neck, or The Red Ribbon (there are different colors of the ribbon, including yellow and velvet) is another kid-friendly scary story that your child can read on Halloween. It’s about a girl who always wore a ribbon around her neck and never took it off. She wore it with every dress and her husband didn’t know the truth until he took it off. The end isn’t funny though. Her husband made a huge mistake.
6 The Hairy Toe
The Hairy Toe is a fantastic excerpt from the more fantastic book Spooky Maryland by S.E. Schlosser. This story is lightly scary so don’t worry if your child is very little. This is about an old, spooky woman who found and ate a hairy toe in the woods behind her cottage when picking beans. The owner of the hairy toe started looking for it and… find out what happens next in the book.
7 The Scarecrow
This short scary story is about an old farmer who creates the scariest scarecrows to protect his farm. He spent months creating them to be sure that his scarecrow is as creepy as possible. The scariest thing is the scarecrow’s head. Read the story to find out what was so frightening about the scarecrow’s head and who stole a farmer’s prized scarecrow and what happened to it. The end of the story can be scary even to adults.
8 White Dog
Children love ghost stories, especially on Halloween. The White Dog is rather fun than spooky story about a brave boy, a loyal big white dog and a bit lovely ghost. Maybe this scary story is actually scary for kids, but make sure you pretend that you are afraid too so that your child couldn’t find out that it’s just a fun story. If you don’t find the White Dog, opt for The Little White Dog – another creepy story about an old woman and her little white dog.
Read also – 5 Educational Ways to Keep Your Little Monsters Entertained This Halloween
When writing this post, I read all of these stories once again to make sure I didn’t miss any detail. The most impressive and mysterious to me was The Green Ribbon. I think that these scary stories will be interesting to both child and parent so don’t just give your little one a book, sit and read it together. These moments are precious and I still remember how my mom spent hours reading ghost stories with me and my brother. She had a terribly busy schedule at that time but she knew that Halloween’s a family holiday. What’s your favorite scary story from your childhood?
