Halloween Date From Hell:
A Funny Halloween Story for Kids
A Rhyming Halloween Picture Book Packed with Witches, Zombies and Grisly Giggles.
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Halloween Date From Hell is a funny rhyming Halloween story for kids about a lonely witch who is tired of brewing the same old gruesome recipes and decides it is time to find herself a date. After searching the Undead Times, she discovers a gorgeous, grotesque zombie who seems like the perfect match. Their Halloween romance is packed with bursting boils, falling body parts, grisly food and plenty of gruesome giggles. But this witch may have more than romance on her mind...
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What is Halloween Date From Hell About?
Tired of chopping up frogs and moths for her bubbling brews, one lonely witch decides she needs a change. She turns to the Undead Times in search of a Halloween date and works her way through a wonderfully strange collection of lonely hearts, from retired ghosts and confused werewolves to vampires and skeletons, before spotting a gorgeous, grotesque zombie who seems just her type.
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They meet on All Hallows Eve and what follows is a gloriously grisly romance involving falling body parts, bursting boils, a moonlit picnic on a tomb and some very unusual Halloween food. But as the evening unfolds, it becomes clear that this witch may have had more than romance in mind all along...
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Watch Halloween Date From Hell
Watch the full story of Halloween Date From Hell, a funny rhyming Halloween story for kids, written by Mark Bird and illustrated by Chris White.
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Meet one lonely witch, one gorgeous, grotesque zombie and a Halloween date filled with falling body parts, bursting boils, grisly food and gruesome giggles. Press play to discover whether this really is a match made in hell.
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Why Kids Enjoy Halloween Date From Hell
Halloween Date From Hell mixes rhyme, spooky characters and gloriously disgusting humour. From the witch’s search through the Undead Times to a Halloween date full of grisly mishaps, the story gets sillier as it goes.
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• playful rhyme and rhythm
• witches, zombies, ghosts and monsters
• falling arms, bursting boils and gruesome surprises
• Chris White’s bold, funny illustrations
• a wicked final twist
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Spooky without being truly scary, it is a fun Halloween read for children who like their stories silly, strange and grisly.
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A Halloween Picture Book for the Classroom
Halloween Date From Hell can be used as a fun Halloween read aloud, but it also opens up plenty of possibilities for creative classroom work. The Undead Times adverts, gruesome descriptions and rhyming story all give children something to play with.
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• invent a monster dating advert
• create a revolting Halloween menu
• collect and experiment with spooky vocabulary
• spot rhymes and explore rhythm
• predict what the witch really has planned
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It works especially well as a playful writing stimulus for KS1 and KS2, with enough silliness to make Halloween writing feel fun rather than frightening.
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The Story Behind Halloween Date From Hell
Perhaps spooky stories were always going to find their way into my writing. I was born at Cemetery House in Uttoxeter, where my grandfather maintained the cemetery and dug the graves, while my nan made the funeral wreaths.
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The cemetery was part of my family’s story long before I arrived. My mum and dad first met there as children, when they were about nine and ten, and it was where their own story began. Several members of our family would later be born at Cemetery House too.
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Growing up with such an unusual connection to a cemetery probably explains something of my lifelong affection for ghosts, witches, monsters and things that go bump in the night. Halloween Date From Hell mixes that love of the spooky with two other things I have always loved: rhyme and ridiculous humour.
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What Readers Said
Halloween Date From Hell has been praised for its humour, rhyme, illustrations and gloriously gruesome take on Halloween.
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“A spooktacular hit!” Brian Moses
“You’ll shriek with laughter!” Colin West
“Giggle riddled & spine tickling!” Ian Billings
“Off the wall, witty & wonderfully weird!” Suzy Davies
“The perfect Halloween read.” Ffion Jones
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“My daughter loved this picture book and it made us laugh out loud together.” Amazon reviewer​
“My 5yo enjoyed the rhymes and the ewwy gooey pictures.” Amazon reviewer
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“We received it today and we have already read it five times!”
Amazon reviewer
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About the Author and Illustrator
Mark Bird
Mark Bird is a children’s poet and picture book author and a former primary school teacher. He is the author of Halloween Date From Hell and The Klangaroo, and his poetry has appeared in several children’s poetry anthologies. After more than three decades in the classroom, he now spends his time writing poems and stories that mix humour, imagination and the things children sometimes find difficult to put into words.
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Chris White
Chris White is a writer, illustrator and performance poet whose wonderfully weird artwork brings the witch, zombie and gruesome world of Halloween Date From Hell to life. He has written and illustrated numerous children’s books and has taken his poetry, illustration and workshops to schools and festivals around the world.
Fancy a 22 second Halloween teaser?
​A witch looking for love. A gorgeous, grotesque zombie. One hellish Halloween date.
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Signed Copies of Halloween Date From Hell
Halloween Date From Hell is now out of print, but I still have a limited number of copies available at home. Copies are £5.99 + P&P and I’m happy to sign or personalise them for children, families, teachers or schools.
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If you’d like one, just get in touch and tell me who you would like it signed for.
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More Halloween Poems and Stories for Kids
If Halloween Date From Hell has put you in the mood for more spooky fun, you can discover more strange creatures, silly scares and Halloween poems across Dreambeast Poems.
Dracupuss and Frankenmouse
A funny Halloween poem about two monstrous pets and a very unlikely friendship.
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SkeleTom Cat
A spooky but surprisingly tender poem about a skeletal cat searching the night for his lost love.
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Timothy Grimothy
A gloriously gross poem about a boy so filthy that nature begins to take over.
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Oweynagat
A darker poem exploring Samhain, the origins of Halloween and Ireland’s mysterious Cave of the Cats.
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The Scaredy Cat
A funny, gently spooky poem about fear, difference and finding your courage.
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You can also read two of my Halloween poems over at the spooktastic Scaryness.com.
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The Creak
A chilling Halloween poem about one forbidden stair, something lurking beneath it and the terrible price of curiosity.
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Under Your Bed
A dark Halloween poem about the thing beneath your bed that waits all year for one night to return.
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Thirteen O’ Clock
A dark Halloween poem about an impossible hour, a splintering door and a nightmare that refuses to end.
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​Keep exploring for more funny, spooky poems and stories for children.
Thanks for stopping by.
I hope you found something here to make you smile, shiver or want to read one more poem.
