All Hallow’s Read: Give a scary book this Halloween

Have you heard of All Hallow’s Read? This is the fourth year of All Hallow’s Read, a tradition to give someone a scary book for Halloween. All Hallow’s Read was thought up by professional thinker-upper (and author) Neil Gaiman. In a a 2010 blog post Gaiman wrote:

I propose that, on Hallowe’en or during the week of Hallowe’en, we give each other scary books. Give children scary books they’ll like and can handle. Give adults scary books they’ll enjoy.

The idea of All Hallow’s Read is not to give books to trick-or-treaters instead of candy. For those of us who get a lot of trick-or-treaters giving books instead of candy would quickly become an expensive venture. Plus, as is suggested in the All Hallow’s Read FAQ, giving books instead of candy could put you at risk of having your house egged.

All Hallow’s Read is simply meant to give one or more people one or more scary books as another part of your Halloween celebration. The book can be used or new. The specific book or books you choose to give should be specific to whomever you plan to give them.

Here is Neil Gaiman explaining more about All Hallow’s Read.

I love this tradition. I love giving books, particularly to my children, and scary books are a lot of fun. My 3 year old loves Neil Gaiman’s The Wolves in the Walls, so we can definitely handle some spooky stuff. I just need to decide what books to get this year.

What do you think of All Hallow’s Read? Have you ever participated? Will you give someone a scary book this year? What book will you choose?

All Hallow’s Read poster images by the Introverted Wife, used with permission.

For the month of October, Listing Beyond Forty is Listing Toward Halloween, featuring posts related to or inspired by Halloween. Read all the previous posts here, including

• 13 of the best scary books for Halloween or anytime
• “Halloween Scare in Chicago” book has scary little to do with Chicago
• ‘Twas the Night Before Halloween
• 3 classic scary stories ruined by modern twists

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