How to Create a Monster

By: John Ward

Narrated by: Michelle Stull

Halloween has always been a huge deal in Buford, Georgia. The whole town really gets behind decorating and celebrating the spirit of Halloween. For Emily and her family, it always meant more. From competing in the home decorating contest, to being sure to attend all the city’s festivities. Halloween and horror were a way of life for Emily’s artistic family growing up. But over the years, Emily began to notice that Halloween started to change. People weren’t using scary decorations or dressing up in frightening costumes anymore. It was all just silly or cute stuff these days. She wanted nothing more than for Halloween to be scary again…she would soon find out that the mind is a powerful thing.

©2023 John Ward (P)2025 John Ward

Creepy Nostalgia

This Story reminds me of the children series of the 1990s called Goosebumps. The Novella is creepy with a edge factor. It makes a great spooky read for both younger teens and their parents. i recommend this series.

good, creepy fun

this book will keep you on your toes. it reminded me of when I was a kid. definitely check it out. it's lots of good, creepy fun.

Trying To Make Halloween Scary Again Goes Too Far

The magic of Halloween is an incredible thing. The exhilarating feeling when you get scared, the frightening sights of decorations, the creativity that goes into making scary costumes. Emily and her family are obsessed with Halloween, and so is their town of Buford, Georgia. There's a yard decoration contest, a parade, a largest pumpkin contest/chucking, and everyone goes all out trick or treating.

Emily gets disappointed as her childhood years go on. Less and less people seem to enjoy the scariness of Halloween, trading it out for the more cutesy qualities. All she wants is for people to go back to creepy Halloween. She thinks about it and ends up drawing what she think the spirit of Halloween would look like - creepy pumpkin head, sharp candy corn teeth, swirling lollipop eyes, long pumpkin stem fingers, flannel shirt. Her parents see her drawing, love it, and decide to make Johnny Rotten a reality as a yard decoration. Emily is ecstatic, excited to have a chance at winning the yard decorating contest over her neighbors.

But Emily's joy quickly disappears as the days go on. Reports of a pumpkin masked vandal are reported nightly on the news, one that looks in children's windows to scare them. One with a flannel shirt and a terrifying face. One that sounds an awful lot like her drawing... But it can't be Johnny Rotten, can it?

The entire book was such a fun experience. The story was done so well, the cover art is creepy as heck, and the narrator did an incredible job.

Like the first in the Scareville series, I got a TON of nostalgic Goosebumps feelings when reading this book. The story intrigued me and kept me interested. It was creepy enough for an older elementary/early middle school book, and I think kids and adults wanting to relive their childhood reads will love it!

My daughter and I both loved it

I listened to this one with my 11 yr old daughter and we both loved it. Had just enough dread and built up scary tension to keep us both interested and wanting to hear more but not too scary for smaller children. Will be great to relisten to this Halloween with her. Definitely recommend to anyone who has kids who love all things scary but not old enough for adult horror. Very reminiscent of goosebumps and other like stories. We will definitely be looking forward to other stories from Mr ward to listen together. My girl wants to be a horror writer too when she grows up and she has loved all his stories she has read so far. The only thing I noticed with this audio was I just wished the narrator paused a second longer between announcing the next chapter number and starting new chapter as it was spoken a little quickly. Which made it sound like the chapter number was part of opening sentence to next chapter. But other than that everything was on point with emotions and characters etc.

Creepy Middle Grade Horror!

I just finished the audiobook version of Scareville: How to Create a Monster by John Ward! The Scareville books are standalone stories, so no need to read Welcome to Scareville first (although it’s a GREAT read).

I enjoyed the main character, Emily, and her passion for all things Halloween. As an adult, I enjoyed the nostalgic factor and I think most middle grade horror readers will appreciate the yearning for a creepier Halloween. There were plenty of creepy moments in the story that will thrill young readers. Although I’m sure the story is still good as a physical book or ebook, I HAVE to recommend listening to the audio…the second half of the story had a couple of moments that spooked me as I drove to work in the dark!