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How to Scare Blue Monster by Petr Horácek

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 8 Sep 2026

Publisher: Otter-Barry Books
ISBN: 9781915659897

See also:
Blue Monster [ACHUKA Book of the Day 11 Sep 2024]
Little Chick [ACHUKA Book of the Day 5 Mar 2024]
The Star Whale [ACHUKA Book of the Day 19 Sep 2023]
The Perfect Present [ACHUKA Book of the Day 1 Sep 2022]
A Best Friend For Bear [ACHUKA Book of the Day 8 Apr 2022]
Mister Boo! [ACHUKA Book of the Day 28 May 2021]
The Last Tiger [ACHUKA Book of the Day 15 Oct 2019]

Look how many times we have selected books by Petr Horacek as our Book of the Day selection. That show how much we love his work. And here we have a sequel to last year’s original Blue Monster title. 

Don’t you just love the expressions in this opening spread?

When something HUGE comes clumping through the forest, all the animals are scared. But it’s only their friend, Blue Monster. Blue Monster is surprised – he doesn’t even know what it means to be scared and he asks the animals to teach him!

Fox, Wolf, Racoon and the Rabbits try lots of scary tricks but nothing scares Blue Monster. Then clever Fox has an idea…

Next time Blue Monster goes out he is all alone. He calls out for his friends but nobody replies. What’s happened to them? In his worry for his friends, now Blue Monster really is scared. But the animals have just been hiding and BOO!, they jump out, ready to play. 

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The Last Day of October by Phil Hickes ill. Oriol Vidal

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 31 Oct 2025

Waterstones
Bookshop

See also:
The Vanishing Of Aveline Jones [ACHUKA Book of the Day 26 Oct 2022]
The Bewitching Of Aveline Jones [ACHUKA Book of the Day 15 Sep 2021]
The Haunting Of Aveline Jones [ACHUKA Book of the Day 16 Sep 2020]

“Hickes is at his ghostly, gothic best in this Halloween horror story in which the past bleeds into the present with terrifying results and is brought to vibrant, visceral life by the atmospheric and haunting illustrations of Oriol Vidal. Packed with eerie, electrifying small town America vibes, this is a spectacular spine-chiller from a master of the macabre.” Lancashire Post
“Halloween chills and thrills throng through this gripping haunted house horror story … what unfolds is an entirely unexpected tale that rises to a gripping, gasp-inducing climax … A treat of haunted Halloween trickery … brilliantly inclusive, and sure to satisfy swathes of spooky-story fans as the nights draw in.” LoveReading4Kids
“Only the genuinely brave youngster should be dipping their toes in this scare-fest.” LetterpressProject

 

If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a nasty surprise …

Seeking creepy thrills instead of candy, Cody and his friends set out on Halloween to search for the ruins of the haunted McBride House in the woods near his home in Oregon.

The house has taken on a sinister legendary status after it burned down a hundred years ago with tragic consequences, and it’s said that the ghosts of the family who lived there return each year on the last day of October.

But when they find the house, the truth of what is happening on this eerie autumn night is more terrifying than the three teenagers could ever have imagined …

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A post shared by Phil Hickes (@philhickes)

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A post shared by Oriol Vidal (@oriol__vidal)

Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 3 Nov 2022

Waterstones
Amazon
Bookshop

“A spooktacular story that’s surprisingly insightful.” KIRKUS
“Ghostbusters meets Stranger Things…” Publishers Weekly

A fresh-and very scary-take on the ghost story.

Rebecca Strand was just sixteen when she and her father fell to their deaths from the top of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse in 1839. Just how they fell-or were they pushed?-remains a mystery. And their ghosts haunt the lighthouse to this day …

Gabe tells this story every day when he gives the ghost tour on Toronto Island. He tries to make it scary enough to satisfy the tourists, but he doesn’t actually believe in ghosts – until he finds himself face to face with Rebecca Strand. The true story of her death is far more terrifying than any ghost tale Gabe has told. Rebecca reveals that her father was a member of the Order, a secret society devoted to protecting the world from ‘the wakeful and wicked dead’ – malevolent spirits like Viker, the ghost responsible for their deaths. But the Order has disappeared, and Viker’s ghost is growing ever stronger. Now Gabe and his friends must find a way to stop Viker before they all become lost souls …

Awards won by the author:

The Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature
The Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award
The Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award (x4)
The Vicky Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature
The Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award (x5)

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