Will B. loves him some spooky reads! Here are a couple that he recommends for the best month of the year…
The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz
It can be hard to live up to family expectations, but it gets a thousand times harder when you’re living up to the expectations of a Dark Lord! All the responsibilities, the terrorizing villagers under your rule, committing the correct amount of dastardly deeds to keep The Council of Evil Overlords off your back…even just perfecting a good evil laugh! Clementine has a lot of work cut out for her–and that was before her dad was cursed and she had to take on more and more of the duties around the farm and castle. But Clementine is smart and with her trusty Gricken (her grimoire turned chicken, don’t ask) and some new friends along the way she will be the Dark Lord she was meant to be! I really enjoyed this read! It really captured the feeling of being young and living up to parental expectations–and the stress and isolation we can sometimes feel because of it–all couched in a very fun, very tongue-in-cheek fantastical air that keeps you speeding through the pages. I highly suggest this to those looking for a good fantasy read for young readers or young-at-heart readers looking for a wholesome fantasy read.
The Curse of the Werepenguin by Allan Woodrow
I feel as if I were fated to read this, as I can’t imagine myself overlooking a book with 
“werepenguin” in the title. This was a very entertaining read that called to mind some of my favorite silly-horror stories as a child and captures the fun that the best of these books have. In this book you will find the titular werepenguins alongside a mysterious whale themed secret society, a group of forest bandits with an extensive code, and even a cackling fortune teller. We follow our protagonist Humboldt Wattle (although he really prefers Bolt) all the way from the Orphanage to a dilapidated manor in far away Brugaria with nothing but some too-tight clothes and a partially burned stuffed penguin. Told with a lot of humor to balance out the creepy atmosphere, this is great for introducing horror elements to younger readers without smothering them with it. I think fans of Goosebumps and A Series of Unfortunate Events would love this.
What’s on YOUR spooky reading list this month?
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