Scream Through The Past - A Collection Of Vintage Haunted House Advertisements

This post is "Halloween Zines-adjacent." I was perusing Instagram a week or so ago and came across a post about books for Halloween inspiration (I can't remember who posted it now, or I'd give a proper shout-out). One book, Scream Through The Past - A Collection Of Vintage Haunted House Advertisements, by author Jeremy Warlen, was one that I had never heard of before. And the cover art, featuring classic old haunted house ads from the newspaper IMMEDIATELY caught my attention.

I did a quick check at the evil empire (Amazon, of course) and was surprised to see it in stock, so I grabbed a copy. Two days later I had it in hand, ready to dive in!

Now I have to point out that one of my fondest Halloween memories growing up was coming home from school every Friday in October and grabbing the Friday insert from the local newspaper. It was a separate section listing all of the entertainment events going on for the weekend. I would fiendishly scour each page, obsessing over the black-and-white haunted house ads. I still remember the smell and feel of the ink as it transferred from the newsprint to my little fingers. I would mark the ads that had the creepiest names, boldest claims and scariest clip art and then beg my parents to take me and my friends. And living in northeast Ohio in the 80s meant that there were a TON of haunted houses to go to!

So imagine my surprise to find that this book, which appears to be a brand new October, 2026 release, is from Cleveland! And it references haunted house ads from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal, the two newspapers I used to scour every Friday in October. These ARE the ads from my youth!!! Was this book written just for me?!?!

The Haunted Schoolhouse & Laboratory, Bloodview Haunted House, Hudson Haunted House, and even Hinckley's Haunted Hollow (one of the first and most memorable haunted houses that I went to as a little kid!). It's all in here!

The book itself is bare bones and straightforward, and almost zine-like in its simplicity. Page after page of black-and-white haunted house ads, each referenced with which newspaper and year of publication. And that's it. A quick intro blurb and 80 pages of classic ads. But that's all you really need for this. A quick blast of Halloween nostalgia harkening back to a simpler time. And the simplicity of this book perfectly encapsulates that feel.

So if you're in the mood for a fun look back at Halloween haunted houses of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, give this book a read. It fills a very narrow niche, but it's still a worthy addition to your Halloween book collection.

Grab Scream Through The Past - A Collection Of Vintage Haunted House Advertisements from Amazon.