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Haunted House
Revisit – if you dare! – one of the best-loved pop-up books of all time, now more gleefully ghoulish then ever with the addition of several spooky surprises.
Come in, Doctor. Yes, it is a quaint old place - chilly, though...
The owner of the Haunted House is unwell, and it's not surprising. There's a ghoul in the cupboard, an octopus in the sink, a crocodile in the bath, and in every room, a sinister black cat watching it all with roving eyes. Every page of this thrilling pop-up book is packed with spine-tingling surprises, culminating in a spectacular final spread complete with a creepy creaking saw.
Since 1979, hundreds of thousands of readers have taken this scared-silly tour of one of the best-selling pop-up books of all time. This is one Haunted House that remains as innovative and exciting today as it was twenty-six years ago-but now offers even more tantalizing twists.
Come in, Doctor. Yes, it is a quaint old place - chilly, though...
The owner of the Haunted House is unwell, and it's not surprising. There's a ghoul in the cupboard, an octopus in the sink, a crocodile in the bath, and in every room, a sinister black cat watching it all with roving eyes. Every page of this thrilling pop-up book is packed with spine-tingling surprises, culminating in a spectacular final spread complete with a creepy creaking saw.
Since 1979, hundreds of thousands of readers have taken this scared-silly tour of one of the best-selling pop-up books of all time. This is one Haunted House that remains as innovative and exciting today as it was twenty-six years ago-but now offers even more tantalizing twists.
12 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1979
10 people are currently reading
708 people want to read
About the author
Jan Pieńkowski
221 books49 followersJan Michel Pieńkowski is a Polish-born British illustrator and author of children's books. He is probably best known for his Meg and Mog books with writer Helen Nicoll and for his pop-up books, including Haunted House (winner of the 1980 Kate Greenaway Medal), Robot, Dinner Time, Good Night and seventeen others.
Pieńkowski illustrated his first book at the age of eight, as a present for his father. During World War II, Pieńkowski's family moved about Europe, finally settling in Herefordshire, England in 1946. He attended the Cardinal Vaughan School in London, and later read English and Classics at King's College, Cambridge.
After leaving university Pieńkowski founded the Gallery Five greeting cards company. He began illustrating children's books in his spare time, but soon found the work taking over all his time. He began working with children's author Joan Aiken in 1968; he later won the first of two Kate Greenaway Medals in 1972 for his illustrations for Aiken's The Kingdom Under the Sea.
Pieńkowski has had a life-long interest in stage design. He was commissioned to provide designs for Theatre de Complicite, Beauty and the Beast for the Royal Ballet, and Sleeping Beauty at Disneyland Paris.
In 2005 Pienkowski contracted a civil partnership with David Walser, with whom he has been in a relationship for over forty years.
Pienkowski suffers from bipolar disorder.
Pieńkowski illustrated his first book at the age of eight, as a present for his father. During World War II, Pieńkowski's family moved about Europe, finally settling in Herefordshire, England in 1946. He attended the Cardinal Vaughan School in London, and later read English and Classics at King's College, Cambridge.
After leaving university Pieńkowski founded the Gallery Five greeting cards company. He began illustrating children's books in his spare time, but soon found the work taking over all his time. He began working with children's author Joan Aiken in 1968; he later won the first of two Kate Greenaway Medals in 1972 for his illustrations for Aiken's The Kingdom Under the Sea.
Pieńkowski has had a life-long interest in stage design. He was commissioned to provide designs for Theatre de Complicite, Beauty and the Beast for the Royal Ballet, and Sleeping Beauty at Disneyland Paris.
In 2005 Pienkowski contracted a civil partnership with David Walser, with whom he has been in a relationship for over forty years.
Pienkowski suffers from bipolar disorder.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
June 12, 2023
Flaps, pop-ups and sliders... this book has lots for kids to do. Guess that's why it's still popular 40 years after initial publication. There isn't a story, just one spooky-funny sentence per page.
September 16, 2022
I got this book out of the library again and again when I was small. I hadn't seen this for about 40 years but had the chance to read this yesterday. It's so good to see something beloved from your childhood, this was so much fun, tabs to pull cats and paintings eyes back and forth so they look like they're looking around the room, loads of lift the flaps on cupboards, dangling spiders, a personal favourite, which was lifting up the lid of a toilet to see a black cat and a grid that changes from a four poster bed cover to a ghost. Really fun paper mechanisms.
February 17, 2010
Was thrown out of a bookshop as a child for screaming at the monsters.
February 20, 2022
Much loved book in our house.
Sadly Jan Pienkowski has died, aged 85. There is an excellent obituary in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddes...
Sadly Jan Pienkowski has died, aged 85. There is an excellent obituary in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddes...
July 8, 2020
This book...Ahh this book...I don't know what is about it, but our family and friends find very entertaining , funny and interesting to look at. This book does not contain the most amazing pop up mechanisms you will find in other very engineered pop up books , but the illustrations are excellent and there are many funny hidden surprises that you need to look for and find. The creatour really captures your imagination and takes you into the creepy world of the haunted house where you will find yourself part of the scenario and entertainingly reveals your inner fears. This is my favorite Pop-up book!
November 1, 2019
Along with The Great Green Mouse Disaster, this was one of the few books that I would hunt down in my local library as a child. I am sure it is synonymous to almost every child's reading history from the 80s (it was published in 1979) and has, fortunately, recently been reprinted.
From the green door (the book is shaped like a door too) cover with its cheeky 'Let yourself in' message left lodged on the door knob to the boarded up window and padlock on the back door, this pop-up book with pull tabs is a visual delight. It finds the perfect balance for the young reader between that snippet of fear of not knowing what's behind a flap or at the turn of the page and the humour in a tentacled creature casually washing up in the sink. How much the reader wants to reveal is cleverly, and thoughtfully, left in their hands.
Although the narrative is lacking it is almost not needed as the huge spreads full of rich colours and thick black lines are more than enough to engage us. For the most observant, a game of cat and mouse occurs on most pages, a nod perhaps, to the play between the illustrator and the reader themselves.
From the green door (the book is shaped like a door too) cover with its cheeky 'Let yourself in' message left lodged on the door knob to the boarded up window and padlock on the back door, this pop-up book with pull tabs is a visual delight. It finds the perfect balance for the young reader between that snippet of fear of not knowing what's behind a flap or at the turn of the page and the humour in a tentacled creature casually washing up in the sink. How much the reader wants to reveal is cleverly, and thoughtfully, left in their hands.
Although the narrative is lacking it is almost not needed as the huge spreads full of rich colours and thick black lines are more than enough to engage us. For the most observant, a game of cat and mouse occurs on most pages, a nod perhaps, to the play between the illustrator and the reader themselves.
August 17, 2011
27months - this book belonged to my step-son who was very much into spooky things. I read to him a lot but I don't ever remember cracking this book open. Today my daughter and I sat down to read this and two things really hit me about this book. First wow very cool pop-ups! Secondly there is no story. This one would have been better if the words were excluded. Very fun to look at and talk about, skip the text. If I could I'd rate illustrations 5 stars and story 0.
August 8, 2015
I just randomly found this book buried in my closet. Okay, this book was amazing! Not only were the pop-ups so much fun, but the story... omg the story! At first its just like "okay whatever, there's a haunted house and a doctor, okay." But after reading it several times it started to get creepy. Seriously, that cat was stalking the doctor. And yes, he most likely ate him!! I don't know why, but I love this book! One million stars! :)
Read
December 19, 2024Very creative & cool. Much too intricate to be in libraries. Definitely though, for me, the excellent youtube video was plenty.
October 19, 2019
Just as I have Christmas books that I break out and read every year in November and December, I have this one book that I read every year as part of my All Hallow's Read/Halloween Bingo/spoopy-months celebration (spooky-adjacent sorts of things that aren't scary but are amusing).
This is something I picked up lo! these many years ago, because of course part of the Halloween observance is giving seasonally-appropriate books. They lost interest in it ages ago, but the mix of expected (skeleton in the closet) and unexpected (octopus washing dishes) still it delights me every year. And amazingly, hardly any of the moving bits came off or tore. Some of my September and October reads are re-reads, but the only other piece I return to very often is Click-Clack the Rattlebag, the audio version read by Neil Himself.
Personal copy
This is something I picked up lo! these many years ago, because of course part of the Halloween observance is giving seasonally-appropriate books. They lost interest in it ages ago, but the mix of expected (skeleton in the closet) and unexpected (octopus washing dishes) still it delights me every year. And amazingly, hardly any of the moving bits came off or tore. Some of my September and October reads are re-reads, but the only other piece I return to very often is Click-Clack the Rattlebag, the audio version read by Neil Himself.
Personal copy
October 31, 2022
I own a copy of this book and have read it many times with children of all ages. The younger ones need a bit of help following the story line, but all of them have been in awe of Tor Lokvig's paper engineering.
This pop out book takes us through different rooms in a haunted house. We follow a couple of mice as they make their way to the attic. Readers must depend on a lot of inference to follow the storyline as they integrate it with the fabulous artwork. A lot is going on, so it's easy to lose the narrative. I'm not sure it really matters.
The small groups I read it to on Friday appreciated it as much as every other group has.
This pop out book takes us through different rooms in a haunted house. We follow a couple of mice as they make their way to the attic. Readers must depend on a lot of inference to follow the storyline as they integrate it with the fabulous artwork. A lot is going on, so it's easy to lose the narrative. I'm not sure it really matters.
The small groups I read it to on Friday appreciated it as much as every other group has.
December 20, 2021
Un libro pop-up hermoso que amaba en mi niñez. Leerlo muchos años después me hizo sentir muy emocionada.
La historia es muy sencilla pero las ilustraciones y pop-ups son hermosamente tenebrosos.
Una belleza de libro.
La historia es muy sencilla pero las ilustraciones y pop-ups son hermosamente tenebrosos.
Una belleza de libro.
October 27, 2025
So cool!!! ❤️
September 9, 2020
I was just trying to remember another monster-related children's book from my youth, when memories of this one hit me out of nowhere. Oh the nostalgia! This was FANTASTIC.
February 9, 2011
Jan Pienkowski, Haunted House (Candlewick, 2005)
Fun pop-up with a few surprising/inventive uses of the technique (though when considering my use of “inventive”, also consider that I'm 42 and thus was most immersed in pop-up culture back in the early seventies). Would have preferred something a little closer to a story, but as a simple piece of art, it does its thing. Check it out of the library before deciding whether to add it to your permanent collection to see if the lack of story affects the kiddies' desire for repeated exposure. *** ½
Fun pop-up with a few surprising/inventive uses of the technique (though when considering my use of “inventive”, also consider that I'm 42 and thus was most immersed in pop-up culture back in the early seventies). Would have preferred something a little closer to a story, but as a simple piece of art, it does its thing. Check it out of the library before deciding whether to add it to your permanent collection to see if the lack of story affects the kiddies' desire for repeated exposure. *** ½
November 10, 2019
I feel certain I had this as a child, but I hardly remember any of it. It is amazing though. Right up my alley as a kid as well as I loved scary stuff. I found a copy at St. Vincent de Paul in great condition, which is so rare for pop-up books. It is still amazing -- the pop-ups, the interactive elements, the premise. It is all so great. I'm thrilled to have it again.
April 14, 2018
I absolutely loved this book as a kid. Somehow it survived my repeated readings and was passed along to my daughter. Each night at story time, for months we had to read this. We would always start by knocking on the front door on the cover and I always had to act surprised when the flaps opened. The book survives to this day, much loved but rather tattered.
July 1, 2007
I think I had this book in French. Think mom and dad bought it on a trip in Paris when I was a wee one. I can only imagine they bought it for the pop-up quality. However 10+ years later when I found it in English you can imagine my delight in being able to finally read the story!
April 10, 2017
This is just a fun Halloween book, full of colorful pop up pictures and little surprises. I loved this book when I was a kid and I still enjoy it today when I read it to my own kids. I recommend this book to anyone who finds humor in silly Halloween stories.
August 4, 2007
Jan Pienkowski's pop-up books are among my favorites. Think of them as toys for book-obsessed adults with poor control over the inner child.
June 22, 2009
This is one of the best pop-up books I have ever seen. My kids really love it! It is well worth buying, especially around Halloween!
March 6, 2012
1979 Kate Greenaway Medal
October 1, 2013
I loved this book so much when I was growing up, still do. Now my son loves it too :)
October 30, 2014
Three words....POP UP BOOK!!!!
July 16, 2021
This is it. The Holy grail of spooky picture books to creep out and delight children all over the world. I borrowed this book so many times from the library when I was a child. It was the first time I saw a pop-up book and it’s combination of humor, scares and ingeniously designed pop-up features kept me entertained every time I opened the book.
Images like the monster in the Dishwasher, the giant ape in the sitting room never left my brain, cherished as the first in a very long line of monsters that fascinated me and kickstarted my obsession for the macabre and horrific. I realized all of this recently, when I saw a new copy in my favorite bookstore. Carefully flipping through the pages, it all came rushing back. I still knew all the secrets and pages by heart as I excitedly showed my girlfriend. “This was my favorite thing in the world as a kid” I squeaked in a totally adult way, while I made the eyes of the Portait in the entrance hall move.
I remember the day I got my own copy of the book. Like I said I used to borrow it from the library, but pop-up books aren’t great library books. There is always some asshole kid that has to ruin the fun for everyone, so this book came with some war wounds. Not my own copy though, that one I kept pristine. A tiny haunted house to visit every once in a while.
Images like the monster in the Dishwasher, the giant ape in the sitting room never left my brain, cherished as the first in a very long line of monsters that fascinated me and kickstarted my obsession for the macabre and horrific. I realized all of this recently, when I saw a new copy in my favorite bookstore. Carefully flipping through the pages, it all came rushing back. I still knew all the secrets and pages by heart as I excitedly showed my girlfriend. “This was my favorite thing in the world as a kid” I squeaked in a totally adult way, while I made the eyes of the Portait in the entrance hall move.
I remember the day I got my own copy of the book. Like I said I used to borrow it from the library, but pop-up books aren’t great library books. There is always some asshole kid that has to ruin the fun for everyone, so this book came with some war wounds. Not my own copy though, that one I kept pristine. A tiny haunted house to visit every once in a while.
December 6, 2022
My word this took me back!
This came through the library yesterday as a reservation and I thought to myself “This looks like fun! I’ll have a quick peek.”
I opened it up and there was a pang of nostalgia on the first page. I couldn’t entirely place it, but it was there. I made use of the surviving pull out strips and again felt a little hint of recognition.
Then I opened to the next page. This double spread featured a large monstrous frog-like creature that popped out of the centre of the page. It was like being hit by a truck of emotion and the world around me fell away. I did recognise this book!! My days, this was a blast from my past indeed!
It’s short, but it’s cute. It really tickled my nostalgic fancy, and even though so much of it was falling apart I felt I truly held a relic of my past - if not a copy I once held in eager child hands.
What a lovely memory to revisit!
This came through the library yesterday as a reservation and I thought to myself “This looks like fun! I’ll have a quick peek.”
I opened it up and there was a pang of nostalgia on the first page. I couldn’t entirely place it, but it was there. I made use of the surviving pull out strips and again felt a little hint of recognition.
Then I opened to the next page. This double spread featured a large monstrous frog-like creature that popped out of the centre of the page. It was like being hit by a truck of emotion and the world around me fell away. I did recognise this book!! My days, this was a blast from my past indeed!
It’s short, but it’s cute. It really tickled my nostalgic fancy, and even though so much of it was falling apart I felt I truly held a relic of my past - if not a copy I once held in eager child hands.
What a lovely memory to revisit!
June 9, 2017
This is a just-for-fun visual feast of a book for Hallowe'en. While there is minimal text, there is not really any story, but the pop-up thrills and spills are the real shine. A gorgeous, handle-with-care book to enjoy.
January 5, 2018
This book is so cool I love this book I have never read a book like it. What happened is the main character is locked up for twenty five years. 😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈. Kiding that never happened I just really like it haha
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2022
Giblin Eunson Libray / Melbourne Uni.
Children’s Literature Award Winners (upper ground)
Tor Lokvig’s paper engineering is incredibly creative and fun. No story - just amazing illustrations and paper craft.
Children’s Literature Award Winners (upper ground)
Tor Lokvig’s paper engineering is incredibly creative and fun. No story - just amazing illustrations and paper craft.
July 20, 2024
I can see why I had a hard time getting this book- and even the book I managed to ILLO was damaged in a few places. It’s such a fun, thoroughly detailed work of art with the flaps, pop ups and tabs! Very spooky and amazingly crafted.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews