I chose to include this Halloween-tinted juvenile mystery in lieu of R.L. Stine’s extensive portfolio of Halloween-y tales because, dare I say, it’s a bit more refined? It’s about a recently orphaned boy who goes to live with his uncle, who happens to be a warlock, and has a witch as a neighbor. There’s black magic-doing baddies and the threat of the end of time. I mean, you know the thing is creepy and cool if Edward Gorey did the illustrations for it. It features the occult, the supernatural, a dash of October, some excitement and it’s full of heart. The Eli Roth flick is pretty good, too! (Fun fact: the book inspired the 1979 TV anthology Once Upon a Midnight Scary,  hosted by the king, Vincent Price.) [24/31].