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How (Not) to Be a Monster: A spooky-cute, heart-warming Halloween story about fear, friendship & finding yourself
Paperback
Series: The Monster Manual
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Oct 9 2025
Pages: 72
Weight: 0.42
Height: 0.15 Width: 8.50 Depth: 11.00
Language: English
A funny, illustrated story for anyone who has ever wondered if everyone else got the instructions for being a person.
Monster Academy has a problem.
Its newest recruit is terrible at being a monster.
He overthinks his boos.
His confidence has terrible attendance.
His fangs aren't particularly impressive.
Which is inconvenient when being scary is literally the curriculum.
How (Not) to Be a Monster follows one anxious little ghost through Monster Academy as he attempts to master haunting, survive spectacularly awkward failures and work out why everyone else seems to be better at this than he is.
There are disastrous assignments. Questionable advice. Social situations he'd rather evaporate than attend. A deeply unimpressed Professor Gloom. And rather a lot of evidence suggesting that perhaps being different isn't the catastrophe he thought it was.
But somewhere between trying too hard, getting things wonderfully wrong and discovering that even the most confident-looking monsters have their own fears, our reluctant haunter begins to understand something important:
Maybe becoming braver doesn't require becoming someone else.
Funny on the surface. Surprisingly relatable underneath.
Wrapped inside the chaos of Monster Academy are familiar experiences including:
- overthinking and anxiety
- feeling awkward or out of place
- comparing yourself with everyone else
- people-pleasing and learning to say no
- social anxiety and impostor feelings
- making mistakes without making them your identity
- finding confidence without pretending to be fearless
- discovering where you belong
The story is told through journal entries, Monster Academy records, field notes, illustrations, Professor Gloom's extremely questionable observations and the Monster Intern's increasingly chaotic attempts at personal growth.
And yes, grown-ups are allowed into Monster Academy too.
Written to be enjoyed across generations, How (Not) to Be a Monster is ideal for readers 10+ while deliberately leaving the Academy doors open to teenagers, parents, teachers and adults who recognise a little too much of themselves in an anxious ghost with crooked confidence.
Younger readers can enjoy the story and illustrations.
Older readers may notice that Monster Academy feels suspiciously like real life.
And adults?
Well... some of us are apparently still waiting for our Certificate of Imperfect Completion.
Inside you'll also find
Monster Academy extras, interactive pages, reflection prompts and the Monster Intern Starter Kit, plus a very official Certificate of Imperfect Completion for anyone who makes it through.
No perfect monsters required.
Just bring your overthinking. The Academy has seen worse.
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