Ghosts and Legends for Kids
Are you scared of spooky specters? Afraid of apparitions and other things that go bump in the night? Maybe you like the chills and thrills of a good ghost story or a harrowing haunted house experience. Or you might find comfort in thinking about friendly spirits watching over you.
Whether you love all things unsettling and spine-tingling, or you would rather curl up with cup of cider and a not-too-scary story, this is a great time of year! The evenings are getting cooler and there are many fun and/or frightful events happening around town.
Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos
Maybe your family honors your ancestors by making a home altar or ofrenda for Día de los Muertos, Nov. 1–2. You might remember and celebrate a deceased loved one by visiting their grave and taking their favorite food. Maybe you share candy sugar skulls or pan de muerto with friends or family.
Many Tucsonans honor departed friends and family members by participating in the All Souls Procession in early November. This year the 37th Annual All Souls Weekend happens Nov. 6–8. The PROCESSION will gather at Speedway and Grande Avenue starting at 4 p.m. on Nov. 8 and will begin at 6 p.m. The procession route and other event information can be found at allsoulsprocession.org.
Curl Up with a Ghoulish Good Book—If You Dare!
Do you enjoy getting into the Halloween spirit with a spine-tingling monster tale? It’s easy to find a great book featuring vampires, werewolves, mummies and more at this time of year. But you may also enjoy a spooky ghost story around the campfire in the summer, or you might be one of the hundreds of fans who line up to see R.L. Stine when he visits the Tucson Festival of Books in the spring.
When the Goosebumps author visits TFOB, fans of all ages—kids, parents and grandparents—stand for hours in his autograph line clutching copies of his pulse-pounding paperbacks, notes Rebecca Ballenger. “It is something we share generationally, this love for horror, or scary stories, or creepy stories,” she says.
Ballenger is Associate Director of Worlds of Words Center at The University of Arizona. Worlds of Words has the nation’s largest collection of children’s and adolescent literature focusing on world cultures and indigenous peoples. Some of these stories share a different perspective on death and the afterlife.
“Xolo” by Donna Barba Higuera and illustrator Mariana Ruiz Johnson and “Popo the Xolo” by Paloma Angelina Lopez and illustrator Abraham Matias both feature Aztec mythology, notes Ballenger. Xolotl (pronounced shoh-loh-tul) is the god of lightning, fire and death. This dog-headed creature guides the dead through the underworld. While he is considered a monster, Higuera reveals Xolo to be an unsung hero whose character grows even as he’s bullied by other gods, says Ballenger.
WOW will be hosting Newbery winning author Higuera on Oct. 17. Higuera will talk about “Xolo” at 10 a.m. and about the Cuentista trilogy at 11:30 a.m. Find details or RSVP to this free event at wowlit.org.
Whether readers “feel like that monster is inside of us” or “feel like the monster is chasing us…I think we definitely enjoy VILLAIN origin stories,” says Ballenger. That is just one appealing thing about scary stories, she explains. As readers we can learn lessons, think about things that scare us, and see examples of characters being brave, Ballenger says, all from the comfort of our favorite reading nook!
“I would ADVOCATE for reading scary stories all year round,” she says. After all, “scary things happen to us all year round.”
So enjoy a thrill and curl up for some dreadtime reading any time, not necessarily at bedtime! Dreadtime reading can occur during the day, in a bright room, or with a parent or older sibling reading to you.
Dreadtime Reading List
Recommended (not-too-scary) picture books and middle grade novels suggested WOW staff:
Cicada by Shaun Tan
The Night Monster by Sushree Mishra and Sanket Pethkar
Bunnicula series by James Howe and Deborah Howe
Psssst! It’s Me…the Bogeyman by Barbara Park and Stephen Kroninger
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
Miss Peregrine series by Ransom Riggs
John the Skeleton by Triinu Laan, Marja-Liisa Plats (il) and Adam Cullen (translator)
Popo the Xolo by Paloma Angelina Lopez and Abraham Matias (il)
Xolo by Donna Barba Higuera and Mariana Ruiz Johnson (il)
The Skull by Jon Klassen
What There Is Before There Is Anything There by Liniers
The Shaman’s Apprentice by Zacharias Kunuk and Megan Kyak-Monteith (il)
The Visitor by Antje Damm
Various Books by Edward Gorey
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier and Patrick Arrasmith (il)
Pina by Elif Yemenici
Don’t series by Veronika Martenova and David Parkins
Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia
The Island of Forgotten Gods by Victor Piñeiro
Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Meet Author Donna Barba Higuera
October 17 • 10 am–12:30 pm at Worlds of Words
UA Education Building • wowlit.org
Ghosts in Tucson!
There are many places around Southern Arizona and Tucson that have their own ghost stories. El Tiradito, the Wishing Shrine, is one such spot. Visitors to haunted places in downtown Tucson have reported strange sights, spooky sounds, furniture and objects moving, and other unexplained phenomena.
You can learn about other Tucson ghosts at library.pima.gov/content/ghosts-in-tucson/
