Monsters and Myths of Halloween

Sixteen of the world's most famous monsters - where each legend really comes from, and a spooky story to go with it.

Monsters and Myths of Halloween is an illustrated collection for readers ages 8-12 (grades 3-6) who want more than a fright. Every chapter works in two halves: first the real origin of the creature - the country, the century and the fear that invented it - and then a full original story, written to be read aloud by candlelight. Not one-paragraph encyclopedia entries, and not stories cut loose from the traditions that made them.

The sixteen creatures:

• The Witch - three healer sisters condemned by a village that feared what it did not understand.

• The Vampire - Luka, a 120-year-old vampire who would rather guard children than frighten them.

• The Leprechaun - Finn's pot of gold at the end of an Irish rainbow, and what it really tests.

• Frankenstein - Mary Shelley's 1818 creature reborn as Frankie, an inventor with a time machine.

• The Mummy - the priest Imhotep, the goddess Sekhmet, and a tomb no one should have opened.

• The Werewolf - Rafael's bargain with an ancient wolf spirit, and the full moon that comes to collect.

• The Ghost - the restless spirit of the Dreadmoor Hotel and the four friends who set it free.

• The Coco - the shadow Spanish and Latin American parents warn their children about after dark.

• The Black Cat - Midnight, a healer's cat who outlives her and forgets nothing.

• Jack O'Lantern - Stingy Jack, the turnip lantern, and why the pumpkin took its place.

• La Llorona - the Weeping Woman of the river, and the girl brave enough to ask her for the truth.

• The Sack Man - the vagabond with an empty sack, waiting for the child who breaks the rule.

• Slenderman - the faceless figure that stepped out of the internet and into a boy's bedroom.

• The Banshee - the Irish wail that tells a family a death is on its way.

• The Chupacabra - the goat-sucker of the Mexican countryside, and the farmer who kept watch.

• The Kraken - the Norse sea monster that took a Norwegian ship north of Greenland.

Folklore from Ireland, Norway, Egypt, Romania, Spain, Mexico and the modern internet stands side by side, so a reader who came for Halloween leaves knowing where these creatures were actually born. The book contains 24 full-page illustrations, a prologue, and sixteen self-contained chapters that can be read in any order, each carrying its own titled legend - from Frankie and the Time Machine to The Secret of La Llorona and The Monster of the Depths.

Genuinely spooky, never gory: chills, mystery and a little sadness, with endings that turn on courage, truth and mercy. A natural pick for October read-alouds, classroom and library Halloween displays, campfire and sleepover reading, world folklore and mythology units, and as a trick-or-treat, birthday or Halloween gift for a child who loves monsters, legends and scary stories from around the world.