Chills and Thrills

Children unlock bone-chilling fun with Mystery Manor: A Spooktacular 3-D Playset by Mark Saha, illus. by Phil Wilson, with paper engineering by Jose S. Seminario. Youngsters open the heavy cover to reveal a foldout haunted house, nearly two feet in height, looming above an overgrown graveyard. Pull-out tabs, turning wheels and flaps add frightful fun. Punch-out characters and a "blood curdling" sound chip help children act out the story, tucked in a tomb inside the back cover. (Piggy Toes, $19.95 16p ages 3-up ISBN 1-58117-108-0; Aug.)

Originally published more than 20 years ago, Jan Pienkowski's terrifically twisted Haunted House returns in a mini-edition. Creepy creatures and hidden surprises await readers bold enough to accept the invitation on the great green door of a cover: "Let yourself in." A snaggle-toothed monster with enormous tonsils presides over the kitchen; a King Kong—size gorilla dominates the living room. (Dutton, $9.99 12p ages 3-8 ISBN 0-525-46802-1; Aug.)

Magicians in the making will want to unpack the reclosable Wizard's Magic Box, with a Wizard's Handbook by Simon Mugford, illus. by Dan Green, that provides trick instructions. Beneath the glittering lid lie all the accouterments: invisible ink and decoder pens, magic glitter, star stickers, a glow-in-the-dark-spider and magic wand. (DK, $12.95 48p ages 5-8 ISBN 0-7894-7966-4; Sept.)

The caped man is on a date in Drac's Night Out, by Jocelyn Jamison, illus. by Bill Basso. Removable rubber Dracula dentures extend through the die-cut opening, adding an extra dimension to Basso's toothy illustrations. (PSS! $7.99 16p ages 3-8 ISBN 0-8431-4393-2; Aug.)

R.L. Stine tells 10 haunting tales in The Haunting Hour: Chills in the Dead of Night, including one about a baby-sitter who practices a crafty form of suburban voodoo. As with his Nightmare Hour, a different illustrator introduces each story, among them Charles Burns, Art Spiegelman and Roz Chast. (HarperCollins/Parachute, $11.95 160p ages 8-up ISBN 0-06-623604-5; Sept.)

Fun for Crafty Kids

Still stumped for a Halloween costume idea? Paint Yourself Wild!: An Animal Face-Painting Kit by Belinda Recio, photos by Lucy Gray, may be the answer. A spiral-bound book offers two spreads of simple instructions in digestible chunks before launching into 4-step demonstrations of how to transform into 16 different animals, including a mandrill, raccoon and tyrannosaurus rex. Six paints and a brush are bound into the back cover. (Dutton/Animal Planet, $19.99 40p ages 5-10 ISBN 0-525-46289-9; Sept.)

Young shutterbugs make their models appear headless and eight feet tall with Tricky Pix: Do-It-Yourself Trick Photography by Paula Weed and Carla Jimison. Another fun trick makes a person look as if he's holding two tiny people in his palms. A reusable 35-mm camera and spiralbound instructions are included. (Klutz, $17.95 52p ages 9-up ISBN 1-57054-652-5; Sept.)

The Solar Car Book delves into the history and science of both solar cars and solar power. But hotter than that are all the materials for youngsters to make sun-powered cars of their own, bound into the transparent cover of this spiralbound volume. (Klutz, $21.95 42p ages 9-12 ISBN 1-57054-646-0; Sept.)

Rachel Haab presents Fairies: Petal People You Make Yourself, with a tiny spiralbound guide featuring illustrations, photographs and easy-to-follow instructions for making the wee creatures. A handy craft kit contains all the necessary materials including fake flower petals, colored wire and embroidery floss. (Klutz, $15.95 40p ages 8-up ISBN 1-57054-649-5; Sept.)

Window Art demonstrates how to make decorative decals to stick on windows: squirt small bottles of "peel-off" paint onto plastic, wait for it to dry, then affix the design to any glass surface. Six non-toxic paints, sheets of plastic and more than 100 traceable patterns included. (Klutz, $19.95 62p ages 8-up ISBN 1-57054-643-6; Sept.) Kids can make "Hollywood Handbags," folksy robots out of tin cans, "funny putty" and "silly slime" with Cool Crafts for Creative Kids by Jennifer Knapp. Most elements are already in the kitchen cabinet. Bright photographs of finished crafts, funky illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions add to the appeal. (Chronicle, $14.95 64p ages 7-12 ISBN 0-8118-2498-5; Sept.).

The humblest of materials transform the pedestrian into the sublime in What Can You Do with a Paper Bag? by Judith Cressy, photos by Maria Quiroga and Christine A. Butler, illus. by Edward Heins. "Perseus' Winged Helmut," "George Washington's Hair" and a "Curly Baroque Wig" number among these 21 chic chapeaux, all inspired by paintings and sculptures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Chronicle, $14.95 64p ages 8-12 ISBN 0-8118-3220-1; Sept.)