I recently ran across the Romanti-Goth Coloring Book (A is for Absinthe, F is for Fishnets…) and Baby’s First Mythos and was inspired to put together a list of amusingly gothy books that might appeal to children. (I can vouch for most of these personally, as they’ve already been run past the Shadowspawn.)

For very young kids, try:

Halloween Countdown – A great way to teach small children their numbers: A boy with a houseful of whimsical ghosts counts them down from 10 to 1.

Mommy? – A little boy wanders through a haunted house, looking for his mommy. Rather than being frightened by the monsters he encounters, he bests them all in amusing ways.

Bats at the Beach and its sequel Bats at the Library – Cute little bats cavort in the moonlight and engage in human activities that will tickle small kids.

Beneath the Ghost Moon – A beautifully illustrated poem by SF/fantasy author Jane Yolen about mice whose costume ball is disrupted by “Crawlies.”

Goodnight Goon – A parody of the old standard “Goodnight Moon,” this involves a little werewolf getting ready for bed in his haunted castle.

There’s a Nightmare in my Closet – A little boy decides to stand up to the thing in his closet, which turns out to be frightened of him.

Bunnicula – Slightly longer than the ones mentioned above (and a proper story instead of a picture book), this classic involves a dog and cat’s quest to unmask the family’s new pet bunny as a vampire.

The slightly older set might enjoy:

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