For his Halloween “Dîner à Deux,” George Booth started with the pillars and stones in the background. “And I either had to put in a pussycat or a dog, and a spook—and did you see that guy on the right? He’s a case.”

“The cat is a playing a major role here,” Booth went on. “He’s about to drink his milk. At one point, I had them drinking the milk and the blood with straws, but that seemed a little rough somehow. A boss told me years ago what good art was. He said, ‘Draw everything with very little color and put one spot of red in it.’ ”

Since he knows so much about art, we asked George Booth to choose eight of his favorite Halloween covers.