Best known for his roles such as Lotor in Voltron: Legendary Defender or Gambit in X-Men ’97, it goes without saying that voice actor AJ LoCascio is one of the best in the business. Besides voiceover, LoCascio has cultivated a following in crafting and selling tiny Halloween sculptures that he call ”Spoops.” After selling these adorable wares online, LoCascio is making the jump to the comics medium with SPOOPS: The Little Spirits of Halloween, a children’s graphic novel arriving September 2nd, 2025 from Top Shelf Productions just in time for Halloween. Illustrated by Laurie A Conley, this children’s graphic novel is the empowering story of Holly Hollowell, a little girl obsessed with Halloween as “It’s the time when I’m most me!”
Here’s how the publisher describes the graphic novel:
Young Holly Hollowell loves Halloween more than anything, but her dentist parents are totally against any event that promotes tooth-rotting sweets. While other kids trick-or-treat, Holly watches sadly from her window…until the Spoops arrive to turn things around! With their magical help, Holly can finally show her parents the true spirit of Halloween: not the candy, but the joy of expressing yourself, unleashing your imagination, and letting your spooky side soar!
Presented in rhyming verse that recalls Dr. Seuss and “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” along with nostalgic illustrations in black, white, and orange, Spoops is an instantly timeless classic that places Halloween right alongside other beloved holidays.
LoCascio expressed immense excitement about the project:
“I’m absolutely thrilled beyond words to have SPOOPS: The Little Spirits of Halloween finally coming out! Halloween is my absolute favorite time of year and Spoops have become a way of expressing that love all year round. I started sculpting them for myself, but when I posted pictures of them online, other people wanted Spoops of their own… and before I knew it I had hand-made thousands of little Spoops for fellow Halloween enthusiasts all over the world! So many adults and children wanted to know more about these little Halloween spirits, and that is how the book came to be!”
Illustrator Laurie Conley added:
“I was so excited when AJ asked me to draw the art for SPOOPS! Bringing the story to life with illustrations was an honor. I had so much fun creating each image and getting to draw both the Spoops and the main character Holly who (like me) feels most happy strolling through cemeteries! I hope readers enjoy this book as much as I loved making the illustrations for it.”
SPOOPS: The Little Spirits of Halloween will be available wherever books are sold, as a full-color hardcover children’s book (ISBN: 9781603095617) as well as a digital edition, on September 2, 2025. For more information please visit the Top Shelf web site.
About the Creator
AJ LoCascio is an American actor, writer, and creator known for his roles as Gambit in X-Men ’97, Prince Lotor in Voltron: Legendary Defender, Gizmo in Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Han Solo in various Star Wars projects, and Marty McFly in Back to the Future: The Game. AJ’s lifelong obsession with Halloween led him to wonder what exactly Halloween Spirit, or Spirits, might look like…so he began hatching his own: the Spoops! What started as little clay sculptures soon grew to countless new forms, as thousands of little Spoops flew off to haunt the homes of fellow Halloween obsessives and collectors across the globe! Now, at last, their story can be told.
Laurie A. Conley has been illustrating books for over 30 years, in addition to creating spooky personal art featuring cute ghosts, cemeteries and haunted houses. Her style harkens back to a bygone era of children’s book illustration, and that is why the Spoops chose Laurie to draw this story for them. She was last spotted in the sky over Maryland, being happily carried by bats.
