In honor of the 30th anniversary of the famed cartoonist's death on September 29, and his eerie work, we remember his life and art. 

Charles Samuel Addams (aka Chas Addams) was born January 7, 1912, in Westfield, New Jersey. Although he was a successful cartoonist for The New Yorker, producing 10 cartoon collections that have sold more than 460,000 copies, he is probably best known for the creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky series of cartoons that later became known as The Addams Family.

Addams died on September 29, 1988, at the age of 76, at St. Clare's Hospital and Health Center in New York City, having suffered a heart attack. He drew for The New Yorker until his death, and his work continues to inspire.

To honor Addams' memory, we highlight other kooky, spooky, and downright ooky stories guaranteed to chill and thrill fans of his work, with this post, a list of teen and adult recommendations, and picture-book suggestions for your littlest goblins. (Descriptions adapted from publisher summaries.)

Because it is never too early to teach your child how to pronounce "macabre," we’ve gathered 13 titles for elementary to middle-school readers, titles that embody the same dark, yet campy, fun of the original Addams Family cartoons and their many, many film adaptations. The beloved series continues with a new animated film, scheduled for release in October 2019. (Be sure to check out their original 1964 television show as well as the 1991 and 1993 films!) 

Like the Addams Family motto: Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc (pseudo-Latin: "We gladly feast on those who would subdue us"), we hope you gladly feast on these tales!

Creepy and kooky

Rare Beasts (Edgar & Ellen, Book 1) by Charles Ogden

Ages: 8+

Twins Edgar and Ellen live alone—their parents disappeared years ago, and who can blame them? —in the quaint, little town of Nod's Limbs, in a grim, gray house overlooking the cemetery and the junkyard. They spend their days avoiding Heimertz, the mysterious accordion-playing caretaker; pestering Pet, a hairy, one-eyed creature of indeterminate species and gender; and wreaking havoc on the hapless citizens of Nod's Limbs.

But wreaking havoc can incur expenses, so the twins come up with a unique fund-raising scheme: They'll nab the pets of Nod's Limbs and transform them into exotic animals they can sell for big bucks. Not a bad plan, if one of the purloined pets wasn't a lethargic python with a raging appetite…
 

Baba Yaga’s Assistant written by Marika McCoola, illustrated by Emily Carroll

Ages: 10+

Most children think twice before braving a haunted wood filled with terrifying beasties to match wits with a witch, but not Masha. Her beloved grandma taught her many things: that stories are useful, that magic is fickle, that nothing is too difficult or too dirty to clean.

The fearsome witch of folklore needs an assistant, and Masha needs an adventure. She may be clever enough to enter Baba Yaga's house-on-chicken-legs, but within its walls, deceit is the rule. To earn her place, Masha must pass a series of tests, outfox a territorial bear, and make dinner for her host. No easy task, with children on the menu!
 

Camp Midnight written by Steven T. Seagle, illustrated by Jason Adam Katzenstein

Ages: 9+

Reluctant Skye is accidentally sent to the wrong summer camp. Not wanting to please her 'step-monster,' Skye is dead-set on not fitting in. That won't be a problem, as everyone at Camp Midnight—with the exception of fellow camper and fast-friend Mia—is a full-fledged monster! The perfect book for fans of Raina Telgemeier's Smile, but who wish it had more bowls of gooey eyeballs!

 

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Ages: 11+

She’s twelve. He’s dead. But together they’re going to save the world. Hopefully.

Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil forces, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source—the wisecracking skeleton of a dead sorcerer…

 

 

Mysterious and spooky

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Ages: 13+

Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. A calliope’s shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained.

Two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes… and the stuff of nightmares.

 

The Witches written by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake

Ages: 9+

Grandmamma loves to tell about witches. Real witches are the most dangerous of all living creatures on earth. There's nothing they hate so much as children, and they work all kinds of terrifying spells to get rid of them. Her grandson listens closely to Grandmamma's stories—but nothing can prepare him for the day he comes face-to-face with The Grand High Witch herself!

 

The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter

Ages: 9+

Life in a small town can be pretty boring when everyone avoids you like the plague. But after their father unwittingly sends them to stay with an aunt who's away on holiday, the Hardscrabble children take off on an adventure that begins in the seedy streets of London and ends in a peculiar sea village where, according to legend, a monstrous half-beast boy roams the woods… 

 

 

Macabre mansions

Elizabeth and Zenobia by Jessica Miller

Ages: 9+

Abandoned by her mother and neglected by her scientist father, timid Elizabeth Murmur has only her fearless friend, Zenobia, for company. And Zenobia’s company can be very trying!

When Elizabeth’s father takes them to live in his family home, Witheringe House, Zenobia becomes obsessed with finding a ghost in the creepy old mansion and forces Elizabeth to hold séances and wander the rooms at night. With Zenobia’s constant pushing, Elizabeth investigates the history of the house and learns that it does hold a terrible secret: Her father’s younger sister disappeared from the grounds without a trace years ago.
 

The House with A Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs 

Ages: 9+

When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan, comes to stay with his uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, are both magicians! Lewis is thrilled.

At first, watching magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman named Serenna Izard. It seems that Serenna and her husband built a timepiece into the walls—a clock that could obliterate humankind. And only the Barnavelts can stop it! 

(Look for the film adaptation in theaters, September 2018.)
 

Ghostlight by Sonia Gensler

Ages: 8+

When her new friend, Julian,  wants to film a ghost story, Avery is thrilled to put her storytelling skills to the test. Unfortunately, Julian wants to film at Hilliard House, a looming, empty mansion that Avery’s Grandma has absolutely forbidden her to enter. As terrified as Avery is of her Grandma’s wrath, the allure of filmmaking is impossible to resist.

As the kids explore the secrets of Hilliard house, eerie things begin to happen, and the "imaginary" dangers in their movie threaten to become very real. Have Avery and Julian awakened a menacing presence? Can they turn back before they go too far?
 

Unconventional families

The Graveyard Book: Volume 1 by P. Craig Russell, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman; illustrated by: Kevin Nowlan, P. Craig Russell, Tony Harris, Scott Hampton, Galen Showman, Jill Thompson, Stephen B. Scott ; colorist: Lovern Kindzierski ; letterer: Rick Parker.

Ages: 11+

Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place—he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their ghostly teachings—such as the ability to fade so mere mortals cannot see him. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead?

 

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

Ages: 9+

After the sudden death of their parents, the three Baudelaire children must depend on each other and their wits when it turns out their distant relative who is appointed their guardian is determined to use any means necessary to get their fortune.

 

 

The Raven Mysteries: Flood and Fang by Marcus Sedgwick

Ages: 8+

Meet the wonderfully weird Otherhand family and their faithful guardian, Edgar the raven, and discover the dark secrets of Castle Otherhand. Edgar is alarmed when he sees a nasty looking black tail slinking under the castle walls. But his warnings to the inhabitants of the castle go unheeded: Lord Valevine Otherhand is too busy trying to invent the unthinkable and discover the unknowable; his wife, Minty, is too absorbed in her latest obsession—baking; and ten-year-old Cudweed is running riot with his infernal pet monkey.

Only Solstice, the black-haired, poetry-writing Otherhand daughter, seems to pay any attention. As the lower storeys of the castle begin mysteriously to flood, and kitchen maids continue to go missing, the family come ever closer to the owner of the black tail…
 

For any titles unavailable through our catalog, check out Interlibrary Loan!

For recommendations of other gothic titles, check out our Goth Day blog post!