Gris Grimly | Dreadful Tales

Santa Claws tells the story of Mack and Zack, two monster brothers who are getting ready for Christmas. This clever rhyming tale takes you on a hilarious voyage, revealing the toys Mack and Zack are looking forward to (including potion kits and vampire bats), describing Santa Claws in all his gruesome glory, and walking you through the grisly monster versions of all your favourite Christmas traditions. From decorating to caroling to baking, these monsters do it all as they prepare for Santa Claws’ visit. The story is fantastic and creative, and combined with Gris Grimly’s dark yet somehow adorable illustrations, it’s a real winner.

If anything could push this even higher in our good books, it’s the little details in the book design. The inner covers are made up like old catalogue pages, featuring products like ‘Green Goo Fangpaste’ and companies such as “Marge’s Vampire Bats’. The back of our hardcover copy sports a full-page ad for ‘Vampbell’s Garbage Soup’. The gruesome cuteness adds a whole new layer of awesome to an already great read.

To put it ever so professionally, Santa Claws rocks our socks. Buy this book. Buy it now. It’s rare to find great horror-themed Christmas stuff for kids, and this stunning book is definitely an essential volume for your personal library. Little monster lovers will be clamoring to hear this every December for years to come!

There’s just nothing like howling along to a creepified, monsterized version of a classic song you know and love (or loathe). That’s why KinderScares put together this little guide to help you find the best parodies to spookify your next sing-along!

Sipping Spiders Through a Straw: Campfire Songs for Monsters by Kelly Dipucchio

Sipping Spiders Through a Straw boasts 18 awesome parodies including Home of the Strange (Home on the Range), My Delicious Frankenstein (Oh My Darling Clementine), Do Your Guts Hang Low (Do Your Ears Hang Low), and Slither and Stink (that’s right, folks…somebody actually successfully grossified ‘Skinnamarink’ – it’s fantastic!). This little volume is so much fun it’s earned a place on our ‘Absolutely Everybody Should Own This Book’ list.

13 Ghosts of Halloween by Robin Muller

If you enjoy annoying family and friends with long, off-key renditions of The 12 Days of Christmas (and really, who doesn’t enjoy annoying family and friends?), imagine how much MORE fun you’ll have with this spooky version! The 13 Ghosts of Halloween won’t let you down!

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus by Elizabeth Mills

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus is exactly what it looks like – a Halloween-friendly version of the classic irritating song.

There Was an Old Monster by Rebecca Emberley

There Was an Old Monster parodies ‘There Was an Old lady Who Swallowed a Fly’. Fun times! For another version you can check out There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swalowed a Bat by Lucille Colandro

Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex

Okay. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich is not a book of songs, but bear with me here. As you surely know if you own this book (which you, and everybody else, SHOULD), it’s a book of poetry…mostly. The Phantom of the Opera, who recurs throughout the book (and happens to be my personal favourite character), keeps getting well-known songs stuck in his head. As a result several of the poems about him are clever song parodies that will make you laugh out loud.

The Monsterologist: A Memoir in Rhyme by Bobbi Katz

This is another much-beloved book that’s not really about songs or parodies. The Monsterologist is also a book of (really awesome!) poems. It earned a place on this list for a single page (page 24, if you’re curious), which features a witchy parody of the song My Favorite Things (from The Sound of Music). Yes, I’m serious. Yes, it’s awesome. And yes, you definitely NEED to learn these alternative lyrics and sing them regularly.

Here’s hoping this post will inspire many a hilarious Halloween sing-along this year! Happy howling!