1 yr. ago • 89%

Does anyone else do Halloween reads?

I've been reading something spooky/creepy/horrific around this time for a few years now. Does anyone else do this? Any recommendations?

My reads:

2023: Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan
2022: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
2021: Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
2020: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2019: Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
2018: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders & Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
2017: Carrie by Stephen King
2016: Jekyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
2015: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
2014: The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft
2012: The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft
2009: Dracula by Bram Stoker
2008: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

25 comments

You should check out Hell House by Richard Matheson. Stephen King called it "The scariest haunted house novel ever written" and that's coming from the guy who wrote The Shining. (Also read The Shining if you haven't already)

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- It very much is. The movie isn't bad either.
  
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I do Halloween reads all year! I also just really like horror in general so I tend to pick them up a lot. There are a lot of different subgenres of horror as well so it’s hard to recommend stuff without knowing your specific preferences, but here are some that I’ve read recently and liked.

If you want creepy occult you can try:

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

If you want creepy atmospheric:

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

The Hollow Places by T Kingfisher

If you want messed up horror:

Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman

If you want classic horror:

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
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- Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman
  
  Messed up sounds good, I'll add that to the list, cheers.
  
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Every Single Year: A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
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- Looks like a great suggestion, thanks.
  
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Classics are a bit hard on my ADHD but I love to read a good Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or Gillain Flynn thriller/horror in October. I've even found some decently spooky YA for when I need a really easy read. This year, I'm on the hunt for some kind of sci-fi horror. I find that googling subgenres is a great way to find recommendations because people tend to be more passionate about a smaller niche

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You should try Night of the Living Dummy by R. L. Stine!

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- YA books are definitely a good call for when I'm short on time. Normally I only read one fiction and one non-fiction - I don't understand those people who have dozens of books on the go!
  
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Yes! I've also been doing a Spooky Season last month and this one with some of the same classics - Frankenstein, Dracula, The Invisible Man, and now Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

I had never read any of them before! Based on the popular conceptions versus the reality of the text, I'd say Frankenstein was the most interesting.

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- I liked the format* of Dracula, that was a welcome surprise.
  
  * I looked up the term: "epistolary".
  
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The older 80s-90s versions of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books, the ones illustrated by Stephen Gammel, are evergreen reads. If you have a good narration voice, ideal for campfire telling or other all-ages sharing.

Warning if you look them up: the Stephen Gammel illustrations are very creepy.

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- The complete collection is on Kindle for £0.99, so I have that now, thanks. It includes the Gammel illustrations, and they look great!
  
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One of the best to add to the pile, Let the Right One In.

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- Then watch both movies; the original and then the US remake.
  
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  I thoroughly agree. The original film is what got me into the book.
  
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- Huh, that one's already in my to-read list, I'll add that to the top of my Halloween to-read list
  
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I was going to mention The Road but I think you’re talking about scary, not suicidally grim.

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- I do like my post apocalyptic stuff, but I don't feel it's very halloweeny. I did enjoy The Road when I read it five years ago.
  
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Has anyone read Woom by Duncan Ralston? My friend said it was extreme horror. I was going to read it this month.

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- No, but please report back :)
  
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  Well, I read it. It was a weird sexual story with a good twist. A solid 3 out of 5 stars. It pales in comparison to the Marquis de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom which was a truly horrific and depravied story.
  
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Yes and no: I don't on purpose, but sometimes I end up doing them because of Halloween related releases :)

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- I think most of those books are older than I am! New releases go into the to-read list, to settle in and get comfy alongside the ~600 others.
  
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  Hahaha that's fair! I'm a big mood reader and happy to ignore my TBR (which I keep small) so reading new releases does happen sometimes :)
  
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