In the spirit of the season, we’re delighted to introduce you to two haunted house pop-up books worth haunting down!
Ever since I was a kid, I have loved pop-up books and haunted houses. I love pop-up books because they offer a three dimensional way of storytelling that takes true craftsmanship and skill to create. And I love haunted house because, well, because they’re haunted houses! I don’t need to explain why I love haunted houses to any of you readers. I bet most (if not ALL) of you wished you lived in one. I know I do.
With that said, here are two highly recommended haunted house pop-up books (for ages 5 and up) that are a lot cheaper (and scarier) than going out and buying a real haunted house. Enjoy!
Ghostorama: 3-D Diorama by Helen Balmer
Ghostorama is a pop-up book whose illustrations run the fine line (sometimes) between cute and downright creepy. A vampire lays sleeping in the attic, Frankenstein’s Monster takes a bath in the bathroom, and a headless phantom descends, with a perplexed expression, down the stairs! Chills and chuckles emerge from this pop-up book in equal measure. An attention to detail is also quite apparent, as is the creator’s (who I was unable to positively identify) penchant for gallows humor.
Find Ghostorama: 3-D Diorama on Amazon.
Spooky House of Horror by Ron Van Der Meer, Ian Craig, and Charles Fuge
Spooky House of Horror is a pop-up book whose illustrations are gruesome, but funny. Red ghouls hang from a strange looking chandelier in the foyer, a Venus flytrap menaces in one of the upstairs hallways, and creatures of various sizes, colors, and species, skitter about nervously from room to room. Like Ghostorama, attention to detail is very apparent in this pop-up book, as is a lack of written narrative, forcing kids to use their imaginations to create a narrative for themselves.
Where Ghostorama carries, at best, a sentence or two that prompts the readers imagination to spark, Spooky House of Horror caries no such textual prompts but instead lets its superb pop-up action and illustrations spark stories in its “readers” heads.
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