The Last Day of October

by Phil Hickes, Oriol Vidal (Illustrator)

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.

Genres: Middle Grade, Horror, Autumn, Halloween

96 pages, Paperback

Published October 9, 2025

About the author

I live in Oregon at the moment, though I hail from the UK. Growing up in a house overlooking a graveyard, on the edge of the bleak and foreboding Pennine Hills, seems to have instilled in me an obsession with all things dark and spooky. The complete Aveline Jones trilogy is available at all good bookstores and has been, or will be, translated into Spanish, German, Czech, French, Turkish, Polish and Russian. My latest effort is called Shadowhall Academy and follows the spooky adventures of the Aunt Lilian character from the Aveline books as a young girl in the 1980s. I also have a dyslexia-friendly ghost story coming out with Barrington Stoke at Halloween this year.

Favourite authors include Robert Aickman, Stephen King (his early stuff), M R James, Susan Cooper, H P Lovecraft, Philip Pullman, Shirley Jackson, James Herbert, Lindsey Barraclough, Alan Garner, Neil Gaiman, Dennis Wheatley, Andrew Michael Hurley, Penelope Lively, Alan Moore, Mervyn Peake, Bernard Cornwell, Arthur Machen, Jane Austen, Cormac McCarthy, Roald Dahl, Jeanette Winterson, George R R Martin, Chris Priestley, Graham Joyce, Dan Rhodes, Robin Spriggs and many more.

Reviews

[Fuzzy Buzzy]

Short but good! Glad I had a chance to read it.

Ps. BTW I still like the Aveline Jones' series the most! ;)

[dunkelgefunkel]

Ist das Ende ein Ende? Davon hätte ich gern mehr gehabt als den Vorlauf.
Ansonsten würde ich sagen ist es geeignet als erste englische Lektüre für Teenager die nicht native sind.

Ein klassischer Hickes Grusel.

[Ellen Khodakivska]

"The Last Day of October" by Phil Hickes


🎃What a fascinating and eerie Halloween story! The adventures that were meant to be merely thrilling and spooky turned into events that sent goosebumps galloping down my arms.

🏚️The Plot: We follow a boy named Cody, whose brother tells him a legend about a house that burned down a hundred years ago. The ghosts of the family who once lived there are said to return each year on the last day of October. Together with his two friends, Cody decides to visit the haunted house on the anniversary of the tragedy. What was meant to be a night of spooky fun soon turns into something far more terrifying than they ever expected.

🎃The Writing Style: I’ve read all of Phil Hickes’s books and adored every one of them, but this one exceeded my expectations. Yes, it’s a small book—but it’s even scarier than the others. I loved how the author wove in touches of folklore, making the story both eerie and enlightening. The light humor sprinkled throughout balanced the blood-freezing events perfectly. And the cherry on top? The ending! Without giving away any spoilers, I’ll just say it was unexpected, mind-blowing, and left my 10-year-old son arrowing me with questions. To sum it up, Phil Hickes’s writing style is growing more mature and addictive with every new release. Bravo!

👏🏻The Characters: There aren’t many characters in this adorably scary story. Yet the author succeeded in portraying them so vividly and realistically that my son kept asking whether they were real. Each character felt alive, standing out against a cinematic backdrop of haunting, fast-unfolding events.

👏🏻Would I read other books by this author: Absolutely yes!

⭐️My humble rating is: 5/5



⚡️P.S. “The Last Day of October" by Phil Hickes is not just a captivating, spooky story about Halloween adventures. Like Phil Hickes’s previous books, this one runs much deeper than it might seem at first glance. It carries lessons, morals, and illuminating moments that make it perfect for middle-grade readers.

🎃I sincerely hope you'll enjoy reading "The Last Day of October" by Phil Hickes as much as I did.

🙏🏼Anyway, thank you so much for dropping by and reading this review.

📖Stay safe, take care, and happy reading.

[Karen Barber]

A quick read, and I’m curious to see how some of my students find this.
A delicious blend of ghost story and horror. Scary enough to unsettle you, but not overly graphic.
The story focuses on Cody and his friends who, for a Halloween dare, decide to try and find the ruins of the old McBride house that burned down years earlier, killing the children left inside. What they find is not at all what they expect, and the ending was the perfect blend of horror/creepy.

[Steph]

Well, this was a bit terrifying. The ending in particular. A brilliant Halloween haunted house story! Definitely not one for younger kids - I’d say Y5/6+. Some spooky illustrations to add atmosphere too!

[Daniel Myatt]

A dark YA short story that involves a haunted house, deep in the woods...

[Ufuk]

Very Goosebumps-ish. Great for Halloween

[Snarhooked]

I am not usually a fan of scary stories but I really like Phil Hickes' writing. His stories are wonderfully creepy and atmospheric but the horror is at a suitable level for children to read. As well as nightmare-averse older readers like me.

This particular book is published by Barrington Stoke using a dyslexic-friendly font, on cream rather than white paper. It also has some lovely illustrations by Oriol Vidal which enhance the story.

It follows three friends who decide to put off trick-or-treating this Halloween, at least for a few hours, in favour of visiting the ruins of a real-life haunted house. It burned down years ago with tragic consequences and ghosts are said to be heard there each Halloween. The teenagers make it to the house and discover the terrifying truth for themselves.

Despite this being a short story there are still added extras to intrigue curious minds. One of the characters mentions the Korean folklore of their heritage, another the creepy Halloween costumes of yesteryear.

I didn't immediately take to this book as the writing felt a little stilted at the start. But I can see that being purposeful as part of writing it for weaker and/or reluctant readers, not just those who are dyslexic. By Chapter 2 I no longer noticed it and was really warming to the story. It only improved from there and it builds to a fantastic ending.

A great story to read and any time of year and definitely one I will be recommending.

[Tracy Lander]

Well, Aveline Jones pretty much scared me totally. Shadowhall is scary but not as terrifying and this is just full on creepy! Really nice illustrations included throughout.

Cody loves Halloween - it is the one day of the year to "scare yourself silly".
Cody persuades his friends Sean and Duri to try to find a house in teh woods that burnt down killing two children inside - on Halloween 100 years ago. Sean and Duri aren't that happy to do it but go along with Cody as he promises they'll be there and back in the afternoon daylight, leaving plenty of time for trick or treating.
The friends find the house - but it is a house not ruins and there's a light on inside. They go inside...

These are the stories to give you nightmares! But it is so good. Brilliant shorter book to introduce the less resilient reader to Phil Hickes books - once hooked they'll definitely want more!
Thanks to Barrington stoke for the advance copy.

[Rozanne Visagie]

This book wasn't even on my radar, but I saw someone else reading it and thought I should give it a try. I found the audiobook on Everand and immediately started listening to it. Yes, one of my guilty pleasures is reading middle-grade books :) Don't judge me! They are fun, uncomplicated, and you can simply enjoy them without thinking.

The Last Day of October delivered on the spooky vibes and that ending! I was listening to this while working, so I didn't see the progress of the book. When that ending hit and the credits rolled in, I was like what! Now that is a cliffhanger at its best.

Be sure to give this a try if you're looking for a short Halloween read - something spooky but not too scary to keep you up at night. You might be thinking about this ending for a while tho ;)

I'm going to let my son listen to this next :)

[Megan Wintrip]

Literally clinging onto October...

First of all I want to say thank you because I have dyslexia and this was a lovely refreshing book to be able to read as it is a dyslexia friendly novel. Then secondly the illustrations are beautiful.

Cody and his two friends Sean and Duri decide to go and visit the old burned down house of the McBride family, who's dilapidated house is all that remains in the creepy forest. History says you see the ghosts of the McBride family every Halloween night since the day they died in the fire on the early 1900s. But what will happen when the trio reach the house?

I really enjoyed this one, it's fun, creepy, spooky and gave me a few shivers.

[Rhea Nathan]

A really classically chilling ghost tale to introduce kids to the genre.
A gang of teens, halloween, creepy kids in a creepy house in a creepy wooded area, and a fun halloween turnip fact as well!
This edition also has really cool illustrations which break up the story and are a beautiful visual aid, and is printed in an easy font on cream paper to make the reading experience better for those with dyslexia.

[Chloe Booth-Dobson]

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

As always Hickes has constructed a spooky and atmospheric story with the perfect Halloween vibes! It’s short, snappy and spooky making it a wonderful autumn evening read. The illustrations throughout really add to the experience and being a Barrington Stoke book it’s dyslexia friendly too! I’d 100% recommend.

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[Bev]

Creepy, slow building suspense and a surprise shock ending, great for middle grade readers not of a nervous disposition!

[bhagyasbookcase]

perfect halloween vibes

[Alice]

3.5 stars. A bit too abrupt of an ending for me.

[Hollie Toft]

I love a Phil Hickes story!

[Maki]

Wow i did not see that coming! I love Phil Hickes writing💕

[Prerana Shah]

Fun little audio book about halloween and children

[L]

It is short, but it does a good job of building up the tension and horror. A decent horror story for those who struggle with their reading.

[Camilla Chester]

Short but scary!

[Fiona]

What a dark and scary story! Glad I read it in daylight …not for the more faint hearted children.

[V.plum]

What the hell that was scary 😭😭

[Eva]

meh

[Cameron Cross]

This was a lot scarier than I thought it would be but I liked it.

[Frankie Spence]

Dyslexia friendly.

[Mehsi]

Happy Halloween, are you sure you want to go in that haunted house?


A new Phil Hickes and I didn’t even know it was out until I saw a blogger friend of mine talk about it! Sadly I couldn’t read it for Halloween, but I did read it in November not long after Halloween, so I guess it is still all good.

In this one we meet three friends. They are looking forward to Halloween, though one is a bit bored with the normal stuff and wants to do something exciting. And that is the cue for the spooky house in the forest. Or well, the ruins. The house itself burned down years and years ago. But people have always avoided the place. There are tales of spooky atmosphere, giggling kids, and other things. I could definitely understand our MC wanting to go for something more exciting and wanting to go and look at the place. I would have done the same. Urban exploring/going to a site of something spooky? Sign me up. Though haha, I wouldn’t go in. Nope.

The kids figure out how to get to the house but as they get closer they hear voices, mist appears, and then suddenly there is the house. Yup. I say the house. Because it is all there. Would you go in? I would be like, HECK nah. I mean that thing was supposed to have burned down, right? Not just be like this again? NOPE. I did like that the kids went in though otherwise we would have had an even shorter story, haha. The things happening in the house were spooky and things got more and more spooky as time went on. That is all I will tell you. You will have to read it to find out what things happen.

The ending though, GASP, I didn’t expect it to go that route. Even when things seemed to point that way I was just like, nah, it won’t do that. Oh. It does. Oh. Oh. OHHHHH.

The illustrations were a nice extra touch!

So I would highly recommend this spooky tale! It is a short one but oh so well written and it will spook you~

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Cathy]

I love this authors books and this one didn't disappoint. A good plot that has some creepy twists and turns, a perfect Halloween tale for young horror fans.