The perfect mix of funny, foul and fearful' – Metro 'Brilliantly imagined … laugh-out-loud funny' – Sunday Expr.

In world-building for Amelia Fang, I was able to create a realm inhabited by many strange and spectacular creatures (including cute pumpkin pets), but also a place with LOTS of disgusting food! There’s a wonderfully eccentric Addams-family-esque cast of characters in Laura Ellen Anderson’s gorgeous new series, the special friendship between them giving these little stories real oomph. Slightly differently, BOOT by Shane Hegarty, illustrated by Ben Mantle, is about a group of loveable robots, and finally, in the Bad Mermaids series by Sibéal Pounder, illustrated by Jason Cockcroft, the mermaids chat to Steve the talking seahorse, water witches and crabs. She’s accompanied by friends Florence the Yeti, Grimaldi and Squashy, her pet pumpkin, as well as Tangine – the plan is to find his missing mother, Fairyweather, who disappeared when Tangine was just a baby.Theodora has been raised by a zombie and a vampire-cat, and now the secret that she’s human is about to be exposed! Then the King’s spoiled son Tangine captures Squashy, Amelia and her friends must escape the party to plan a daring rescue! Amelia Fang has a brilliant gang to join in her adventures – a yeti, a pumpkin and a reaper friend, no less! For further unusual friends, try The Nothing to See Here Hotel series by Steven Butler and Steven Lenton – it’s packed with mermaids, ogres and trolls to name but a few. Amelia is sure to be the star of the show for this year’s celebrations, but there’s also a whole colourful cast of other characters from the series who would also make for fantastic dress-up.

Add a top hat (a crooked one gets extra points) and a long dark coat and Mr Gum will be scaring squirrels left, right and centre this Halloween. The heroine of The Cradle of All Worlds has a unique talent: she can generate huge earthquakes when she gets angry, scared or upset.We love the charming and funny illustrations, ghoulish puns and jokes and the wonderfully inventive magical creatures from mischievous caticorns to unicorn lords and terrifying angel-kittens. Welcome to the world of Nocturnia, where darkness reigns supreme, glitter is terrifying, and unicorns are the stuff of nightmares!