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Designed by: Lucas Anderson, Bum Lee, Daniel King, Jack Weighill, Jonathan Swadley, Aaryan Balu, Sebastian Yūe

How do you make a Halloween-themed monster supplement for D&D 5e when so many of the appropriate creatures already exist in the official Monster Manual? Ghouls, zombies, skeletons, vampires, scarecrows, crawling claws, mummies, and all manner of demons and devils.

13 Horrors of Halloween draws inspiration from classic monster movies, cultural folklore, and the holiday itself to provide another seasonal monster supplement from the Holidanger crew.

If you were to ask me for a collection of Halloween-inspired D&D monsters, I probably wouldn’t have settled on The Blob, Slenderman, The Moon, or Literally Godzilla. Yet you’ll find all of them here, and more.

Godrago is a terrifying CR 30 that makes the Tarrasque look like, well, lacking in a photon breath attack that deals 20d10 damage!

The Headless Horseman (CR 10) includes two statblocks, the Dullahan and his Black Steed, along with a powerful spine whip attack that can paralyze, reduce max hit points, and drag targets behind him as he rides.

The Moon (CR 23) features all kinds of hilariously appropriate abilities, including bestowing lycanthropy, controlling gravity and tidal waves, blinding with radiance, and flinging crescent boomerangs. Eat your heart out, Moon Knight!

Several creatures are inspired by terrifying folk legends from around the world, including the gargantuan (yet stealthy) skeleton, Gashadokuro, and the fiendish, skinless horse, Nuckalavee.

My personal favorite is the Spindleman, which I assume is a fun take on the Slenderman. Spindleman is a fiendish tailor with the ability to teleport with a +11 stealth check as a free action, restrain enemies with a cross stitch, and auto-crit them using his painful needle point.

Each monster entry, from the headless horseman to the animated wax figures, features original artwork and multiple adventure hooks, an excellent quality I’ve come to expect from these seasonal monster books. Spindleman includes fun ideas such as using him as a merchant in a mysterious store, or featuring him as the personal tailor of a recently-summoned demon. Delightful!

I wish the Halloween/horror theme were exploited a bit more, however. We get a race of Pump-kin plants, but they’re mostly boring. I do like the hilariously messed up Pantomine Horse, however, which is capable of harmlessly bisecting player characters! Fun take on the classic two-person horse costume.

But where’s my seasonal golem that shoots candy? Or masked slasher with a machete? What about a creepy undead girl with long hair, or a killer doll, or a grim reaper? I don’t mind any of the included monsters; most feature interesting statblocks and neat ideas (with a particular focus on higher tier threats), but there’s so many more options to explore using this very DnD-friendly theme. Perhaps next year we’ll get Horrors of Halloween: Resurrection?

Pros:

  • Clever new statblocks inspired by classic horror movies and folklore.
  • Focus on higher-level monsters and Legendary Actions.
  • Adventure hooks and original artwork for each monster.

Cons:

  • Missing some obvious horror entries.

The Verdict: With the easiest theme of the holidanger supplements, 13 Horrors of HAlloween focuses on large, terrifying threats while maintaining the high quality of the monster series.

This review has been sponsored by the publisher Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

Support my work by using affiliate links for shopping and pledging via Patreon.