Halloween is BIG here at Scholastic! Each year, our Trade division does a HUGE party – complete with a costume contest (guest judged last year by R.L. Stine!). The winners last year were a group dressed as Winter the Dolphin. Evidently, OOM’s own Lauren, won the ‘treats’ contest last year…I guess we should be expecting some samples at next week’s meeting?

So it’s no surprise that we also have a little ghoulish fun in The Scholastic Store too! In fact, the weekend before Halloween, there are 3 separate spooktacular events! On Saturday morning, we set sail with Circle Line and are doing a Halloween Kids Cruise on the Hudson. Saturday afternoon brings us back to land (and SoHo) with our Halloween Parade.

My very favorite, though, is the store’s Halloween Party atop Scholastic’s Not-So-Haunted Headquarters! The Greenhouse just comes alive with little princesses and superheroes making spider cupcakes and bowling for monsters!

But the spooky doesn’t stop in SoHo! I heard from bookstores across the country who are having their own not-so-scary Halloween events!

• The King’s English in Salt Lake City, UT is hosting a trio of authors – including Kristyn Crow, author of Skeleton Cat. Also included are author Rick Walton and illustrator Nathan Hale.
• RJ Julia Independent Booksellers in Madison, CT has a Halloween Costume Storytime where they say ‘not-so-spooky stories are the treats!’
• The Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, NH invites ‘creatures of all kinds’ to its Halloween Party! They’ll be pumpkin decorating, ‘gross snacks’ (that will still taste good I think!) and ghost bowling. For those of you unfamiliar with ghost bowling, it involves toilet paper. Thus, every child will LOVE IT!

Is anyone heading to these or any bookstore for a Halloween treat?