THE HAUNTED MASK: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by R.L. Stine, Maddi Gonzalez | THE HAUNTED MASK II by R.L. Stine

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Tired of the pranks her classmates are always playing on her for being the school’s scaredy-cat, Carly Beth vows to get the scariest costume she can for Halloween, intent on frightening all her friends right back. The mask she finds at the mysterious new store in town is indeed terrifying, and once she puts it on, it feels almost alive. The longer Carly Beth wears the mask, the less she feels like herself, but now she can’t seem to take it off…

A year later, Steve still remembers Carly Beth’s frightening mask. This Halloween, he wants to have the scariest costume around, especially if he hopes to get back at the first-graders he’s forced to coach after school, who seem to delight in making his life miserable. The store where Carly Beth got her mask seems to have shut down, but Steve manages to break in, grabbing the first mask he finds among the discarded merchandise before he’s caught. His Old Man mask is truly revolting, and he’s convinced it will frighten everyone around him. But once he puts it on, he starts feeling like an old, weak man himself. Worse still, the mask won’t come off…

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I had a lot of fun with Maddi Gonzalez’s graphic novel adaptation of The Haunted Mask by R.L. Stine. She brought a modern, anime-inspired sensibility that I would never have thought would work for this most nineties of stories, but it really does. She did a great job with the Mask itself, which was suitably monstrous and wonderfully, grotesquely expressive (the bit with Carly Beth running around on all fours while scaring the kids around the neighborhood was particularly, delightfully unhinged). It’s also full of very funny visuals: there’s a bit with a mask resembling the Goosebumps author that genuinely made me laugh out loud (Stine has a very distinctive face what can I tell you). I liked this a great deal, and it made me want to pick up the other Gonzalez Goosebumps graphic novel adaptations.

R.L. Stine’s The Haunted Mask II is, admittedly, a considerable step down from the first book, but also I ended up liking it quite a bit? I just thought it was hilarious, and while I understand that the (perfectly predictable) twist of the Old Man mask transforming the main character into an actual frail old man would be a slightly disappointing twist for this series, I found it to be mostly an amusing and terribly relatable ride (I, too, wake up with aches and pains in my old age). Most Goosebumps caveats still apply, naturally: the plot is mostly goofy and very contrived blah blah blah, but I actually found Stine’s writing fairly strong here, refreshingly free of slightly condescending prose that tended to creep into most of the later books. Good stuff. 

Anyway, I did not re-watch the TV adaptation for The Haunted Mask this time around, but I did catch the episode based on The Haunted Mask II, which I’m not sure I ever saw as a kid. I may have liked it better than the book, partly because the show still had some stellar production (the Old Man mask looks great and gross), partly because it ignores some of the book’s sillier elements, but mainly because I watched a VHS rip of the original broadcast, complete with commercial breaks, that someone put up on YouTube. You know. The way god intended. 🎃

THE BELLWOODS GAME by Celia Krampien

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Every year, on Halloween, the children of Fall Hollow enter the Bellwoods to play a game: they must brave the darkness beneath the trees in order to find a bell that must be rung before midnight, or else the restless ghost of Abigail Snook is free to torment the town. Bailee’s not sure she believes in all the stories she’s heard about Abigail or the Bellwoods, but they also say that the first person who gets to ring the bell is granted a wish, and after a particularly dismal year full of social and personal turmoil, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make things the way they used to be. But Bailee and her fellow players enter the woods, they’ll discover that all the stories are not only true, but far more sinister than any of them could have ever imagined.

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The Bellwoods Game by Celia Krampien had pretty much everything I look for in a story—for children or otherwise: a touching and deeply sincere plot; quirky and resilient characters; strong themes of friendship, courage, and acceptance—even stories and storytelling figured into the plot, because Krampien is clearly a spooky scribe after my own heart. I’ve long been an admirer of her artwork, and the illustrations included here add so much atmosphere to an already atmospheric sort of book. Chock-full of impeccably creepy imagery and creative, genuinely spooky set pieces, this was a sheer delight to read. I liked this book a lot. 🎃

CHASING THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN by J.W. Ocker

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I’ve long been a fan of J.W. Ocker. Many of his spooky sensibilities have always seemed to align with my own (his opinions on writing scary books for kids in particular, but also his deeply personal, almost ritualistic approach to Halloween). Mostly, though, his writing is always a treat. I read A Season with the Witch, that passionate portrait of Salem, Massachusetts, a couple of years ago, and had such a blast with it that I’ve revisited it a couple of times since. So when I learned that he was giving the same treatment to the village of Sleepy Hollow, the setting of one of my favorite stories and one of the places I most wish to visit—well, I couldn’t not be excited. Chasing the Headless Horseman: The History, Hijinks, and Halloweens of the Real Sleepy Hollow is, as I’d hoped, every bit as exhaustive and enthusiastic as its witchy predecessor, and I had a great time with it. 

It is, admittedly, a bit drier than that previous book. A considerable portion of Chasing deals with what Ocker perceives as something of an identity crisis in Sleepy Hollow—both literally, with the village’s relatively recent name change (1996 is still recent do not @ me), and existentially, as a place that would like to capitalize on its reputation as a Halloween destination without letting its substantial historical significance be overshadowed by the holiday’s more kitschy, touristy trappings. It’s a tension Ocker explores throughout the book with his usual inquisitiveness and diligence, but one that he perhaps spends a little too much time trying to untangle, making for a somewhat less lively reading experience. Season, on the other hand, is all about a peculiar place that has fully embraced its peculiarity, which, to me, makes for a more entertaining read.

It makes for a fascinating contrast between the two books: one is about a city that has managed to balance a very real and very tragic history with the more frivolous aspect of its Halloween celebrations, while the other is about a small town with a literal work of literature as part of its foundations that is still struggling to find a more cohesive identity. Which maybe says something about the way America seems to capitalize on sensational violence much more readily than on its artistic endeavors. But that is, I’m afraid, an entirely different topic for another time.

Chasing is not without its share of fun, though. Ocker’s interactions with the locals are always as illuminating as they are amusing. The chapter exploring other, considerably less headless legends of Sleepy Hollow country is a standout, but the one in which Ocker subjects himself to endless hours of Headless Horseman media might be one of my favorite things he’s ever written (some of the adaptations sound so spectacularly absurd that I’ve already looked them up and hope to watch them before the season is over).

And for Ocker, it all goes back to that galloping goblin (the man has a Headless Horseman-themed bathroom, after all). His book on the Witch City may be more immediately fun and engaging, but the deep, abiding affection he has for “The Legend,” its celebrated author, and the quaint, quiet bit of land that inspired him is palpable, making this, in my opinion, the more earnest and heartfelt volume. 🎃

UNTIL THE LAST LIGHT GOES OUT by Courtney Gould

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This review first appeared in Booklist on October 1, 2026.

 

Paige Keller has spent her life trying to forget the Kaleidoscope, the infamous island resort where, years ago, most of her mother’s senior class died under mysterious circumstances. Casey Keller survived, but the hotel would continue to cast a shadow over those who got away. Shortly after Paige’s birth, Casey went back to the Kaleidoscope—and died there. Now Paige has returned home for the tragedy’s twenty-fifth anniversary, determined to pay her respects one last time before finally leaving the haunted past behind. But when KJ, her estranged best friend and the daughter of another Kaleidoscope survivor, disappears, Paige fears that yet another person she loves has been lured into the dark depths of the hotel. Following KJ into the ruinous resort, Paige discovers something far more frightening than the human horrors that unfolded there: a ravenous nightmare lurking beneath its once-luxurious facade. Gould deftly delves into themes of generational trauma, emotional neglect, and moral reckoning in this delirious, fluorescent fever dream. Recommend to readers who enjoyed Kate Alice Marshall’s These Fleeting Shadows (2022) and Linda Cheng’s Beautiful Brutal Bodies (2025).

 

THE CREEPS by Tehlor Mejia

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This review first appeared in Booklist on September 1, 2026.

After Dylan and his mother are unceremoniously kicked out of their apartment, they find themselves staying—temporarily, his mom swears—at the Good Night Motel. The sudden move is miserable enough, but the motel does precious little to raise their spirits. The place is crumbling; there’s a foul, rotten smell that hangs over everything. The small staff behaves in peculiar, unsettling ways, and the rules are as relentless as they are ridiculous. After meeting Ollie, one of the motel’s few guests, who shares some disturbing stories and theories about the place, Dylan starts to think that what first seemed like a brief, grim arrangement may actually be something stranger . . . and far more sinister. Dylan and his mother soon learn that, at the Good Night Motel, shelter comes with conditions—and breaking them may cost more than they could ever afford. Mejia delivers a story as creepy as it is compassionate, exploring themes of community, sanctuary, and care for those too often overlooked by the wider world. Perfect for readers of Lindsay Currie, Ally Malinenko, and Kaela Rivera.

ISLE OF TEETH by Tessa Barbosa

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This review first appeared in Booklist on September 1, 2026.

Matiu had no intention of ever setting foot back on the Isle of Teeth, the place of his birth—not after the rebel attack that killed his mother and left him for dead when he was a child. But fate, or perhaps Lady Death herself, seems to have other plans. Now a cadet in the imperial army, Matiu—born to a Lyssian father and Songi mother—is pulled into a power struggle between his father’s empire and his mother’s oppressed people. When he crosses paths with Calyx, one of the revenants created—and then abandoned—by his cold, callous father, their destinies become intertwined, forcing both to confront the monstrous systems that shaped them. Drawing on Philippine colonial history, Barbosa’s dark, Frankenstein-inspired fantasy stitches together anti-imperial resistance, ancestral magic, and body horror into a grimly compassionate story about identity, survival, and just who gets to be seen as human. The result is a thoughtful, melancholic fantasy that will appeal to readers interested in stories of rebellion, divided loyalties, and monsters who are more than the sum of their parts.

DEAD TEENAGER MOVIE by Cethan Leahy

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Advance reading copy courtesy of Little Island Books, via NetGalley.

A group of lustful adolescents plan to spend a few days in an isolated house deep in the Irish countryside. Soon enough, the masked, ominous figure that has been stalking them for the past few weeks makes its presence known, threatening to kill the teens one by one. 

Do stop me if you’ve heard this one before. 

But author Cethan Leahy knows when to lean into the tropes and clichés that make this particular facet of the slasher genre so entertaining, and when to gleefully subvert them. While the pacing and overall writing can at times leave something to be desired (with a handful of chapters feeling entirely rushed and an ending that, while true to its genre roots with its blood-soaked suddenness, is nonetheless a bit anticlimactic), I can always appreciate when fun is had with the material, and Leahy was clearly having a blast here. It’s hard not to get swept up. 

Additionally, the lush Irish woods and the country’s rich folklore are not elements often seen in this genre, giving this scary movie story a particularly interesting and refreshing angle.

THE WUMP by Tony DiTerlizzi

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This review first appeared in Booklist on August 1, 2026.

As an insect aficionado, Timothy Quibble understands the concept of metamorphosis better than most. Even so, he doesn’t expect adolescence—that time of transition and transformation—to be quite so agonizing. At home, his already shaky relationship with his dismissive, indifferent mother is further strained by her impending impulsive marriage. At school, he contends with bullying and the often humiliating social sidelining by junior-high cliques. And, of course, there’s the darkness growing within him, on the verge of violently erupting the moment everything gets to be too much. After a series of confrontations with both family and friends, this spreading shadow threatens to envelop Tim like a cocoon, and he must reckon with his turbulent emotions before he emerges as a monster. DiTerlizzi’s atmospheric illustrations help set the story’s moody tone as he delivers a haunting and heartfelt coming-of-age tale that refuses to shy away from the sorrow and uncertainty of leaving childhood behind, while also celebrating the messy, marvelous process of growing into oneself. A Kafkaesque offering for fans of Paul Tremblay’s Another (2025).

LEVEL UP by Daka Hermon

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This review first appeared in Booklist on August 1, 2026.

Keenan Reed is tired of monsters. He and his mother have just left one behind in the form of his abusive father, after all. Now they’ve moved back to his mother’s childhood home, hoping for a fresh start. But something seems to be off in the small southern town. There’s talk of shadowy figures and strange happenings. At school, the teachers behave in increasingly odd and erratic ways, while the students have become obsessed with a new mobile game that appears to be changing them into something frightening. As the danger creeps closer, Keenan realizes that monsters can come in many forms. With help from new friends who’ve had eerie experiences of their own, Keenan finds the courage to face this fearsome darkness in order to save his family and new home. Hermon smoothly weaves Keenan’s color-blindness into the narrative, adding welcome texture to his perspective. Hermon’s existing fans will appreciate callbacks to earlier books, but chills will come for all who encounter the menacing creatures and mettlesome monster hunters inhabiting this thoughtful, thrilling, and thoroughly creepy tale.

FUNERALS ARE FOR THE LIVING by Sami Ellis

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This review first appeared in Booklist on July 1, 2026.

Ever since the death of her sister, Jay, Junie Daniels has been holding things together through sheer stubbornness—paying the bills, planning her sister’s funeral, and caring for an increasingly withdrawn and depressed mother, which is more than any young person should have to handle. Then one day, Junie and her best friend, Omari, are in a less-welcoming corner of their southern county, tending to Jay’s grave, when they stumble upon something older and far more sinister than standard small-town prejudice: a cult of pale, ghostly women who follow the doctrine of the town’s slave-owning founder and who believe Junie possesses ancestral magic strong enough to raise the dead. What follows is a harrowing and unnerving ordeal rooted in the long, bloody history of racism in the U.S. Ellis delivers a distinctive creature feature told entirely through a Black lens that, despite its weighty themes, manages to retain a darkly humorous edge thanks to its sardonic, no-nonsense, unmistakably modern characters. Perfect for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson’s young adult horror novels.