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The Last Day of October

Paperback

Bored with trick-or-treating, three friends venture into the woods on Halloween night to hunt for the haunted McBride House in this spine-tingling horror story from Phil Hickes.

If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a nasty surprise …

Seeking creepy thrills instead of candy, Cody and his friends set out on Halloween to search for the ruins of the haunted McBride House in the woods near his home in Oregon.

The house has taken on a sinister legendary status after it burned down a hundred years ago with tragic consequences, and it’s said that the ghosts of the family who lived there return each year on the last day of October.

But when they find the house, the truth of what is happening on this eerie autumn night is more terrifying than the three teenagers could ever have imagined …

Particularly suitable for readers aged 9+ with a reading age of 8.

RRP: £7.99

Imprint

Barrington Stoke

ISBN

978-0-00-874851-7

Interest age

9+

Reading age

8

Publication Date

09-10-2025

Format

Paperback

Pages

96 pages

Dimensions

129x198mm

Product Description

Bored with trick-or-treating, three friends venture into the woods on Halloween night to hunt for the haunted McBride House in this spine-tingling horror story from Phil Hickes.

If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a nasty surprise …

Seeking creepy thrills instead of candy, Cody and his friends set out on Halloween to search for the ruins of the haunted McBride House in the woods near his home in Oregon.

The house has taken on a sinister legendary status after it burned down a hundred years ago with tragic consequences, and it’s said that the ghosts of the family who lived there return each year on the last day of October.

But when they find the house, the truth of what is happening on this eerie autumn night is more terrifying than the three teenagers could ever have imagined …

Particularly suitable for readers aged 9+ with a reading age of 8.

Author

Phil Hickes, Illustrated by Oriol Vidal

Phil Hickes has a passion for horror, ghosts and all things that go bump in the night. His short stories have been published in adult horror anthologies, but Phil turned his hand to writing middle grade as he wanted to and emulate the same visceral thrill he got from reading authors like Alan Garner and Susan Cooper. The Haunting of Aveline Jones was his first middle grade novel and his most recent is Shadowhall Academy: Ghost Story Society, which is the second in a two-book series.

Imprint

Barrington Stoke

ISBN

978-0-00-874851-7

Reading age

8

Interest age

9+

Publication Date

09-10-2025

Format

Paperback

Pages

96 pages

Dimensions

129x198mm

Product Description

Bored with trick-or-treating, three friends venture into the woods on Halloween night to hunt for the haunted McBride House in this spine-tingling horror story from Phil Hickes.

If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a nasty surprise …

Seeking creepy thrills instead of candy, Cody and his friends set out on Halloween to search for the ruins of the haunted McBride House in the woods near his home in Oregon.

The house has taken on a sinister legendary status after it burned down a hundred years ago with tragic consequences, and it’s said that the ghosts of the family who lived there return each year on the last day of October.

But when they find the house, the truth of what is happening on this eerie autumn night is more terrifying than the three teenagers could ever have imagined …

Particularly suitable for readers aged 9+ with a reading age of 8.

Author

Phil Hickes, Illustrated by Oriol Vidal

Phil Hickes has a passion for horror, ghosts and all things that go bump in the night. His short stories have been published in adult horror anthologies, but Phil turned his hand to writing middle grade as he wanted to and emulate the same visceral thrill he got from reading authors like Alan Garner and Susan Cooper. The Haunting of Aveline Jones was his first middle grade novel and his most recent is Shadowhall Academy: Ghost Story Society, which is the second in a two-book series.