A Brief History
On July 8, 2025, Hour of the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas by Megan Shepherd was published by Random House/Disney, a sequel to the popular novel, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Digging Deeper
After recently seeing the uprated version of the iconic film, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, we were anxious to read the novels that continue the tale from the perspective of Sally, who becomes the Pumpkin Queen. Having thoroughly enjoyed the first Sally book, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen:, we were eagerly awaiting the second Sally story and were equally satisfied with another great fantasy novel, this time kind of a further adventures of Queen Sally as an heroic female saviour of Halloween Town and it neighboring holiday themed villages.
While it may well be the preferred route to see the movie, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, prior to reading the Sally books, we believe even just reading the books first would be an enjoyable reading experience, complete with the exhilarating satisfaction of an intrepid heroine performing effective heroics despite numerous obstacles. Darn good story and darn good storytelling for young and old readers in need of something different to enjoy.
We find Hour of the Pumpkin Queen to be excellent light reading and enthusiastically recommend the book to fans of the Nightmare story and to those not yet familiar with this modern rendition of the fairy tale genre. Enjoy!
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Did you enjoy this book?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Ernshaw, Shea. Long Live the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Disney Press, 2022.
Marsham, Liz. Long Live the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas – The Graphic Novel. Dynamite Entertainment, 2025.
Shepherd, Megan. Hour of the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. RH/Disney, 2025.
