The stories were short and some left us wondering what’s next. They were entertaining for my young kids. Each day they asked to read more stories from the book. The illustrations were good as well.

I can’t entirely complain, this book mostly delivers what it says. I don’t think one illustrated page makes a book “fully illustrated” but other than that, this book delivers 31 very short stories with some sort of creepy/spooky vibe. Most of them were pretty obvious what the ending was going to be and since they were so short there wasn’t a lot of build up.

Perfect if you are looking for a short story to read once a day leading up to Halloween.

I went in really excited for this. I love spooky middle grade/younger YA books, and this had vibes of a modern “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”. My disappointment was quick.

There are 31 short stories inside, some literally only a page or two. Which is fine, that matches the theme of one supposedly spooky story per day. Problem is, this is definitely quantity over quality. Of the 31, I didn’t actually enjoy any of them. They were all trite, poorly written, and incredibly predictable. Even when there was the occasional twist I didn’t see coming, it wasn’t really that entertaining.

The highlight is the artwork. The style conveys the spooky atmosphere they were going for, though some of the artwork really isn’t that inspired. Not that the illustrator had much to work with. Cover and interior art was done by Neil Evans. The book itself is written by...who knows!

Harper Celebrate, an imprint of harperCollins, is really adamant about plastering their name all over this, but oddly any author of these terrible short stories is not included anywhere. I actually researched to see if I could find any information. Nothing. I’m going to go ahead and assume this was written by AI because the quality is so abysmal. I’ve seen novice child writers come up with more creative, spookier stories!

That’s another thing, most stories aren’t even that spooky, even as a concept. There are vague things that happen, but it all seems pointless. It’s all very shallow.

Something I cannot get over is in one story, a character is named Zach. However in the artwork it is spelled as Zack. What an oversight! That’s actually inexcusable in a big publisher book. Did no one bother to edit? To give one quick overview? This is so poorly put together all around. It’s honestly amateurish and I don’t know how anyone thought this would be acceptable.

If I wasn’t reviewing this specifically for NetGalley I would have DNF’d it. I had to bribe myself to keep going. This felt like literary torture.

This was such a cute way to get into the mood for spooky season. The stories were fun and the included artwork was the perfect addition.

A book of 31 Halloween-esque, spooky stories that I felt weren't really spooky/scary. I think it should be geared towards middle grade or lower. I did enjoy the pictures/art that each story had. Some stories felt unfinished and left me wondering if there was more to the story.

Overall, it could have been better if the stories had more art and it the stories were longer.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

This is a quick read comprising 31 very short stories. While there are a few good stories, I particularly enjoyed Down with the Ship, Beware the Reaper, and Man's Best Friend, most of them were okay at best. I didn't find any of them particularly spooky or unnerving, and a lot of them followed the same lines of ghost haunts someone or something, making them predictable.

The illustrations were good. However, with only one illustration per story, for me, it doesn't meet the description of being "fully illustrated" and instead feels like the illustrations are just there as decoration.

If you're looking for an easy read to fill some time, maybe give this book a go, but if you're looking for something spooky, give it a miss.

My overall rating is an average of my ratings for each individual story.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a review copy of this book.

This book was okay, though definitely not what I would usually read. Some of the stories were good, but often with the short form of them it felt like they were cut off too soon, before anything could actually happen, or that the main outcome of the story just suddenly happened without appropriate build up. I read them all at once, but perhaps they would have been better one at a time? Not sure I would have carried on reading if I had done it that way though in all honesty!

Some of the stories did work really well though, and I would say it is worth a read if this is the sort of book you enjoy!

Loved this book! The stories were engaging, and the illustrations are a nice feature. Even the length of each story was perfect. My favorite one was "Summer Party". Definitely a must read for those who enjoy spooky tales!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed all these stories!! They were super short and kind of almost leave off on cliff-hangers, and I really really enjoyed that format.
I really loved the overall look of this book. I read an e-book of it so I can’t even speak for the physical book copy, but I really enjoyed the different fonts and illustrations throughout the book; it was very pleasing to my eyes and super fun to read!
I read this book in the summer so it is absolutely perfect for Summerween 🎃👻 but I think it would be even more fun reading one spooky story a day leading up to Halloween 😈😈
These are not children’s stories!!! They are dark and. little bit gruesome; they very much remind me of Grady Hendrix’s writing style.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Harper Celebrate for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review 💕💕

Overall the book was pretty good and easy to read, but a few stories were pretty predictable. I did enjoy having older main characters in some of the stories and the illustrations were nice. For many stories I wished they were longer so the events could unfold at a slower pace and so the characters could have a bit more depth.

This is the book of 31 collected, so-called spooky stories. I like the concept of reading one a night in October. But most of these stories, the endings were very predictable, or didn’t make sense with the story. I found myself quite bored while reading these.

This is something I would recommend to my middle school aged siblings. It wasn’t as spooky as I thought it would be, I was expecting something similar to R.L.STINE books. Not bad but needs to be more spooky

*31 Days of Spooky* is a fun, fast-paced collection of 31 mini spooky tales—perfectly designed to be read one per day in the lead-up to Halloween. The stories are bite-sized and accessible, leaning more toward eerie or mysterious than truly scary, making this a good fit for younger readers or those new to spooky fiction.

While the writing itself felt simple and straightforward, at times bordering on underdeveloped, the standout aspect of this collection was definitely the illustrations—atmospheric, creepy, and surprisingly detailed, they added the extra chill that some of the stories lacked. From haunted libraries to ghostly thieves, the tales offer quirky morality plays and odd coincidences that suit the Halloween season well.

It didn’t quite deliver the spooky impact I’d hoped for as an adult reader, but I could absolutely see this becoming a seasonal staple for pre-teens or families looking for quick Halloween reads.

**3/5 stars** – atmospheric fun for spooky season, especially for younger readers or those wanting a quick October-themed escape.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Celebrate.**

The book states it is 31 spooky stories for teens and adults. However, after reading the book, I felt that the stories were too tame to amuse/frighten either age group. At best older children may enjoy and be frightened by the stories. The stories were mostly lukewarm with predictable outcomes. There were one or two in which this was not true, but overall, I have read better ghost/spooky stories that were sure to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. It is an okay book for the older children, but I cannot recommend it for older teens and adults.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love books like this. Books with spooky stories. The stories were interesting and I found them entertaining. I did very much like the illustrations that went along with the stories. It took me back to my childhood reading books such as Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I thought it was a good read,

Wow this gave some nostalgia that I wasn't expecting.

This book is a collection of very short horror stories for young readers. The kind that may be short but leave a haunting aftereffect. It reminded me of many short horror stories or tv shows episodes of shows I loved as a kid. Compelling and addictive.
I think this would be a good addition to the libraries of kids who love scary stories or Goosebumps OR those kids who are interested in writing scary stories, this would offer some great examples & insights on how they can style their writing.

The real added perk was the beautiful illustrations that came with each chapter, that showed the main horror or unnerving setting of the story.

Unfortunately this wasnt for me, i think it was aimed at a much younger audience. I didnt find the stories to be as scary as i hoped but the illustrations were really cool!

I received an ARC copy through NetGalley. I was pretty excited to read this because I was hoping for nostalgic vibes from books I read as a child in the 90’s. In my honest opinion, there were a few stories that were pretty good , but the rest left me feeling like what was actually going on wasn’t even explained. I will admit though, one story ( 20) was my favorite. I had to stop reading for a few because it legitimately made me cry. Because of that story alone I almost gave 3 stars , but weighing against all the rest , 2 stars would be more accurate. Great artwork and potential though!

Oh, another short story collection that was a win. This collection was a standout to me as I am not the biggest fan of the anthology format. This one however was actually good and I loved most of the stories for the most part. They are super short and the illustrations add another level of whimsy to it. My favourites were The Reaper, The Last Shot, the third story of the ship captain and the ghost ship and the one about the ghostly bride who still waits for her groom to come and marry her. These stories were certainly more emotional than scary but it was in a good way. Reminded me of the newly released Stinetinglers and the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark trilogy. A perfect read for Camp Netgalley.

Nothing groundbreaking but entertaining enough. If you want a fast read this is perfect. The art was super fun tho!