What Are The Best Brooklyn 99 Halloween Costume Ideas?

Hands down, some picture books turn Halloween into a giggle-and-shiver party, and I love how simple choices can shape the whole vibe of a read-aloud. For little kids I always reach for 'Room on the Broom' — it's rhythmic, silly, and the rhymes let everyone chime in. 'The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything' is another favorite because the suspense builds with sound cues; I make every sock and shoe creak and the kids lose it laughing when the old lady outsmarts the spooky outfit. Both of those work great for 3–7 year olds. For slightly older listeners I like to mix in books that are eerie without being nightmare fuel: 'Creepy Carrots!' is delightfully absurd and perfect for practicing dramatic whispers, and 'Click, Clack, Boo!' brings farmyard fun to Halloween. If you want something that leans more toward eerie atmosphere, 'The Dark' by Lemony Snicket is gentle but haunting — great for kids who like mood over jump-scares. For a middle-grade, slightly creepier evening, 'Coraline' is absolutely stellar read-aloud material if you're willing to serialize it across a few nights. When I prepare, I pick one book as the opener, one as the silly palate-cleanser, and maybe a short spooky poem to close. I use a flashlight for shadow effects, a small prop like a witch hat, and I always pace with pauses so the kids can predict the next rhyme or participate in a chorus. If you pair reading with a tiny craft (decorate a paper broom or draw a goofy monster), the whole thing becomes a memory kids talk about for weeks — and that’s the real treat.

Hunting for free Halloween read-alouds online is easier than you'd think, and it can turn a chilly evening into a little theater of spooky fun. If I had to recommend a few reliable spots, I'd start with Storyberries — they have kid-friendly short stories with illustrations and some with audio that are perfect for younger listeners. For classic chills, Librivox is a treasure trove of public-domain audiobooks; you can find readings of 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and other older spooky tales that work great for older kids or teens. Project Gutenberg is my go-to when I want the text to adapt or print, and pairing that with a free LibriVox recording gives you both the script and a reading. Storynory offers whimsical narrated stories (often with original takes), and Storyline Online features professional actors reading picture books — the production values make those feel special. I also use my library's apps like Libby or Hoopla to borrow read-aloud audiobooks and sometimes video storytimes for free; many public libraries post recorded story hours on YouTube or their websites. For printable short tales and craft-based storytelling, sites like FreeKidsBooks.org and DLTK's Halloween pages are great. A quick tip from my own little experiments: preview everything first, check the reading level and run time, and add a few sound effects or a flashlight to sell the mood. It makes even a simple online read-aloud feel like a tiny event.

I get excited every October and love hunting down Halloween reads that actually show kids and families who look and live differently than the usual haunted-house crowd. For picture-book read-alouds that celebrate diversity, I often pull out 'Ghosts' by Raina Telgemeier — it’s a longer graphic novel but reads beautifully aloud in chunks, and it centers a Mexican-American family while weaving in Dia de los Muertos themes and sibling dynamics that feel real. Another favorite for younger listeners is 'Spookley the Square Pumpkin,' which uses a square pumpkin as a heartfelt metaphor for being different; it’s great for talking about inclusion, kindness, and celebrating quirks. For silly, empathy-forward reading, 'The Hallo-Wiener' by Dav Pilkey makes kids roar with laughter while also handling the bully-to-hero arc in a way that normalizes being different. Beyond those, I also reach for 'Room on the Broom' when I want communal, cozy vibes — the characters are animals from many backgrounds (so to speak), and the story is perfect for call-and-response read-aloud lines. If you want culturally specific spooky-season stories, look for bilingual 'Day of the Dead' picture books or folktales from Latin American, Caribbean, and West African traditions; these often naturally include diverse characters and rich contexts that open great classroom or family conversations. Whenever I read aloud, I add small discussion prompts like 'How would you feel if you were Spookley?' or 'What traditions does your family have in the fall?' — those little moments turn a storytime into something memorable.

Absolutely — Halloween read-aloud stories make a brilliant foundation for a podcast, and I get genuinely giddy thinking about how to bring them to life. The intimacy of voice alone can turn a simple reading into a shiver-inducing experience: pacing, breath, and well-timed silence do half the work. If I were planning one, I'd start with public-domain stories so licensing isn't a headache — think 'The Tell-Tale Heart' or 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' — and use them as practice for tone, pacing, and sound design. From there I’d decide the format: short anthology episodes (10–20 minutes) for bite-sized chills, or a serialized novel adaptation stretched over multiple weeks for building suspense. I love the idea of pairing a single narrator with subtle Foley — creaking doors, distant thunder, soft piano chords — rather than overproducing. For adult audiences you can keep the atmosphere dense; for kids, strip back intense elements, add friendly signposting, and offer content warnings. Don’t forget transcripts for accessibility and short teaser clips for social platforms to build hype. Starting small, focusing on clear narration and a few tasteful sound cues, then iterating as you get listener feedback feels like the most satisfying path, and it’s the way I’d teach myself the ropes before tackling more ambitious projects.

I get excited every fall thinking about how reviewers usually line up classic Halloween read-alouds, because their lists reveal what matters most: atmosphere, clarity, and the inevitable goosebumps. From my perspective, the usual top-tier picks are 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow', 'The Tell-Tale Heart', and 'The Monkey's Paw'. Reviewers love 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' because it practically begs to be performed—the narrator's cadence, Ichabod's comic fear, and that slow-building setting make it irresistible for a dramatic reading. 'The Tell-Tale Heart' sits high because it's short, intense, and the narrator's voice is a playground for vocal experimentation; every whisper and pounding heartbeat lands perfectly in a live reading. Beyond that triumvirate, reviewers often slot longer classics like 'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein' into a different category: revered but best presented as excerpts. Critics tend to rank excerpts higher for read-aloud events than full texts, simply because readers want to preserve tension without fatiguing an audience. 'The Monkey's Paw' gets praise for its moral punch and twist ending, making it a reliable closer when you want jaws to drop. Modern choices like 'Coraline' sometimes sneak into these lists because of accessibility and that eerie-yet-childlike tone that works across ages. What really colors rankings, in my experience, are practical criteria: length, language clarity, cultural staying power, and how easily a piece can be adapted for different age groups. Reviewers penalize stories that are too dated in phrasing unless the narrative voice is irresistible. So if you’re planning a read-aloud night, pick something with strong rhythm and clean scenes you can slip into—those are the ones that reviewers keep recommending to me at every Halloween playlist I scout.

Nothing sets the mood faster than a little theatricality — and props are the quickest way to turn a plain read-aloud into an experience people will still quote at the next family get-together. I love starting with lighting: a ring of LED tealights, a few battery-operated pillar candles, and a dimmable lamp aimed low creates those delicious shadowed faces. Add a handheld flashlight for the classic under-chin spooky voice, and you’ve already got half the atmosphere. For tactile and visual props, I swear by tactile boxes (mystery-feel items like faux moss, a rubber spider, or a silky scarf wrapped in tissue), a worn-looking scroll as the “map” to the story, and one key character prop that the reader can brandish—a battered hat, an old pocket watch, a button-eyed doll. Sound is underrated: cue ominous wind or a creaking door from your phone via a playlist, and use quick, soft sound effects (a single knock, distant howl) to punctuate beats. If you’re telling something like 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow', a silhouette of a horseman behind a projector goes a long way. For younger kids, swap anything scary for playful textures and silly masks, and use puppets to let them participate without scary surprises. Prep-wise, label props in order, keep safety in mind (no real candles near costumes), and rehearse transitions so the story doesn’t stall. I also like handing out small “souvenir” props at the end — a glow-in-the-dark sticker or a little badge — so the magic lingers. It’s a tiny effort for a big payoff: people lean in, laugh, shudder together, and remember it differently than just someone reading off the page.

Wow — if you’re in the mood for spooky storytelling, YouTube has a whole buffet. I tend to binge narrators on Halloween and here are the channels I revisit the most: Mr. Nightmare, MrCreepyPasta, Lazy Masquerade, and CreepsMcPasta for classic creepypasta-style readings; Chilling Tales for Dark Nights and The NoSleep Podcast for more produced, theatrical narrations; Being Scared and TheDarkSomnium for moody, atmospheric reads. MrBallen isn’t a pure horror channel but his strange true-story storytelling scratches the same itch when I want something creepy but grounded. I split my listening into playlists: one for hard horror (full-on jump-scare creepies), one for true-weird stories, and a kid-safe list with library/read-aloud channels if I want a lighter vibe. Pro tip — search keywords like "Halloween stories read aloud," "scary stories narration," or "NoSleep audio" and then filter by playlist or upload date to find seasonal uploads. Pay attention to video descriptions: many narrators link to longer audio versions on Spotify/Apple Podcasts, or to the original texts if you want to read along. Also beware of content warnings; some narrators label their videos as mature or recommend headphones for full effect. Personally, I love mixing an old 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' audiobook clip with a new Mr. Nightmare upload — it feels like Halloween came early.

I get a little giddy thinking about how a spooky story can turn a regular afternoon into something noisy and bright — without ever saying the actual job title. When I lead a Halloween read-aloud I start by tuning the room: dim lights, a simple soundscape (wind, distant footsteps), and a quick warm-up where students whisper predictions about the cover. That setup does half the work — attention spikes, imaginations wake up, and even reluctant listeners lean in. During the reading I use short, purposeful stops. I ask a prediction question, model a quick think-aloud about a character's choice, and highlight one juicy word (like 'mist' or 'creak') to build vocabulary. For younger groups I shadow-read, echoing lines or using puppets to give voice to smaller characters; with older kids I do deliberate pauses to let them annotate or jot down feelings and possible endings. I always fold in a tiny comprehension check — a quick thumbs-up/thumbs-down or a sticky-note exit — so I can adjust the next day's follow-up. Beyond the story itself I love turning the book into other experiences: a mini-drama where kids rehearse a scene, an art prompt to redesign the cover, or a science corner exploring why fog forms. For assessment I sometimes collect a short paragraph where kids rewrite the ending from a different character's view. It keeps things playful but purposeful, and somehow the room always smells faintly of glue and pumpkin afterward, which is half the fun.