Spooky Star Wars Stories

In the past few years there have been plenty of options for young Star Wars readers to enjoy all aspects of the saga. Whether you prefer funny adventures like C-3PO Does Not Like Sand! or serious tales of the galactic struggle like Spark of the Resistance, there is a Star Wars story for everyone. 

Even fans of the SPOOKY side of the Force can find plenty to give them nightmares!

Here's a few of our favourite chilling tales in a galaxy far, far away... (Click on each for our original review)

Dark Legends by George Mann is a spine-tingling set of spooky tales has much in common with Myths & Fables as the stories are generally cautionary tales set in-universe in the Star Wars galaxy. Perhaps these are the stories that kept young padawans up at night?

The Mighty Chewbacca in the Forest of Fear! by Tom Angleberger is a middle-grade adventure novel featuring creepy chills and thrills hiding around every corner, or lurking in the next tree. Wookiees may not be afraid of the dangers that lurk ahead, but will you be?

Are You Scared, Darth Vader? by Adam Rex is a fun picture book where New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Adam Rex tries to answer the question of what could possibly scare the most terrifying villain in the galaxy. Spoiler alert: not much!

Tales from Vader's Castle are comics from IDW and part of the Star Wars Adventures series. These creepy comics have an over-riding story but also short stories within, featuring many familiar Star Wars characters facing horrors and frights! A follow up series called Return to Vader's Castle was also released. Both have been collected as graphic novels from IDW books.

Adventures in Wild Space is a series of middle-grade chapter books featuring all sorts of creepy crawlies and chilling brushes with danger. Exciting and fun, if you are brave enough!

And of course for those of you who are willing to dig deep and hunt them down, the original Galaxy of Fear chapter book series from 1997-98 is a must-read for terror and suspense in the Star Wars galaxy. The Adventures in Wild Space books and The Mighty Chewbacca

both owe a bit of debt to these Goosebumps-inspired thrillers! 

And while it's not a story, exactly, fans of the hairy, scary, scaly and creepy creatures of the Star Wars galaxy will want to check out DK Adventures' What Makes a Monster? by Adam Bray. This collection is recommended for any detail-oriented reader who’s enthusiastic to learn more about the furry, slimy or slithery beasts in the Star Wars saga.

What's the scariest Star Wars story you remember? Comment below!

Read, Dare You? Dark Legends

The creative team behind 2019's Myths & Fables returns with another collection of stories for younglings, but this time not for the easily frightened!

Star Wars: Dark Legends (Disney-Lucasfilm Press) is a 200+ page middle-grade hardcover collection of stories from author George Mann with eerily wonderful illustrations by Grant Griffin.

This spine-tingling set of spooky tales has much in common with Myths & Fables as the stories are generally cautionary tales set in-universe in the Star Wars galaxy. Perhaps these are the stories that kept young padawans up at night?

Continue on...if you dare!

If you enjoyed the creepier stories in Myths & Fables you'll love Dark Legends too. The stories are all Star Wars, but certainly some resemble horror stories of earth. Featured among these tales are the Star Wars equivalent of vampires, werewolves and witches. There's a few that have a strong "be careful what you wish for" message, and twist endings right out of the Twilight Zone.

Like Myths & Fables, everything about the Dark Legends presentation is like an old-fashioned book of tales for children, from the look of the book, the cut of the paper, the style of the artwork and the language of the narratives. It is a real treat to see these kinds of books and the attention to detail that goes into them.

Also available!

The "Legends" within Dark Legends are not connected to each other, cross the Star Wars timeline in interesting ways, and can be enjoyed in any order.

The only thing close to a complaint would be that this book is much smaller than Myths & Fables. It's digest size is dwarfed by the previous collection. Together they don't really look like the set they appeared to be.

That aside, Dark Legends is another great collection in a fun new direction in Star Wars publishing!

Publisher's recommendation: 8 - 12 years

Don't Be Scared of Are You Scared, Darth Vader?

Don't be scared of some silliness in your Star Wars!

Since Halloween itself is not really a thing in the Star Wars Galaxy (that we know of), there hasn't really been a lot of Halloweeny Star Wars storytelling over the years. There have been spooky Star Wars stories, like the 90's Galaxy of Fear book series, but Disney/Lucasfilm Press has now released what is arguably the first Star Wars Halloween picture book.

Are You Scared, Darth Vader? by New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Adam Rex tries to answer the question of what could possibly scare the most terrifying villain in the galaxy.

Spoiler alert: not much!

Darth Vader lurks in a dark, gloomy, Dagobah-like swamp while the narrator taunts him with various not-very-scary things, trying to find the one thing that may frighten the Dark Lord of the Sith. Then others join in, more from the world of classic horror movies than from Star Wars, to try to scare him.


Things get really silly and fun but it's difficult to describe without revealing a few of the surprises that await the reader. 

On a quick flip-through this appears to be a bleak, even dismal, looking book. However, the escalating attempts to scare Vader, along with his deadpan responses, are really enjoyable in contrast to the darkness. Clearly it would help if someone in your household can talk like Vader when reading this one aloud! 

Rex's not-very-scary monster artwork is reminiscent of early MAD magazine cartoonists like Harvey Kurtzman and Jack Davis. High praise indeed!

Forget about this book fitting into the rest of Star Wars. It doesn't. Are You Scared, Darth Vader? exists in its own little world. It almost feels like it could be dialogue from brave kids meeting Darth Vader at Disneyland. 

This book is the Star Wars equivalent to a "Fractured Fairy Tale".

Have a laugh and enjoy this twisted take on classic characters. Happy (early) Halloween!

Since we always like to remember Star Wars books from the past, here's a few items that could also almost be considered Star Wars Halloween books...

Galaxy of Fear: Star Wars Horror Stories for Kids?

"Fear is the path to the Dark Side." - Yoda

It may seem like an odd combination to create a creepy line of Star Wars books, and maybe even weirder to make them stories for kids. However in a galaxy full of aliens, creatures and Dark Side users there is plenty to give younglings nightmares!

Spooky stories for kids have long been a staple of children's storytelling dating back to oral traditions, folklore and fairy tales. In the 1990's though, one particular series of scary books for kids became a publishing phenomenon: R.L. Stine's Goosebumps. With page-turning stories of thrills and chills, dozens upon dozens of Goosebumps books were published in a very short time period as millions of copies sold.

Young readers obviously had a big interest in horror stories so unsurprisingly many publishers tried to appeal to that audience. Bantam publishing (then the publisher of Star Wars novels) launched Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear, a series of twelve chapter books all written by John Whitman. 

Thrawn!

Just in case it wasn't clear that these were meant to be creepy tales, the books had titles like Eaten Alive, City of the Dead, and Army of Terror.

Published from 1997-1998, the series are really more adventure books than horror, but there certainly are some scary moments! The books focus on a young sister and brother Tash and Zak and their travels with their Uncle Hoole. The curious kids usually go places they're not supposed to go and open doors that should be left closed. Trouble and mystery are around many dark corners and these two are great at finding it!

The series was short-lived and has yet to be revisited. It seems unlikely that Disney/Lucasfilm Press will be creating a new line of horror-based Star Wars kids' books anytime soon. However, there's certainly plenty of creepy elements in the recent book Star Wars Aliens vol. 1. 

Since the series ended, the galaxy has expanded to include creatures like acklays, reeks, rathtars, zillo beasts, not to mention the witches of Dathomir or the brain-controlling worms seen in The Clone Wars. Surely there's plenty of horrifying material to work with if a new series is created!

The Galaxy of Fear books are long out of print but they sometimes appear in used book stores, or you can likely find them online...if you dare!