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As the Halloween season begins, what are your favorite spooky reads?
I like to try and read seasonally-appropriate books during October and I'm curious what your favorites are. To qualify as "seasonally-appropriate", the book should have at least one of:
- ghost / vampire / werewolf / zombie / witch / haunting / etc
- Take place in the autumn / around Halloween itself
- be overall creepy or unsettling
- mysteries are generally acceptable, but it should be different from an any-time-of-year mystery
I usually end up reading Poe with my kids, especially The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-tale Heart, and The Black Cat. The Dream Quest of Randolph Carter by Lovecraft is fun too. Oh, and Something Wicked this way Comes by Bradbury!
Hey, can't be the classics. Thank you!
Danielewski, Mark Z: The 50-Year Sword. It's about 290 pages long and can be read in a single sitting of around 3 hours, thanks to Mr. Danielewski's signature typographic quirks. It takes place at a Halloween party.
Awesome, I'll check this out!
A couple of years ago I read and enjoyed A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. It's from the point of view of a canine familiar to someone who is involved in some strange happenings in London, and each chapter is one day (or night) in the month of October. It's good for a month-long readalong if you do a chapter a day, although the chapters are pretty short and I found it difficult not to read ahead because it was over so quickly. If you're used to long reading sessions like me, I suggest having another book to cut to after you've finished the daily chapter.
Oh fun! I like frame stories like that - I'll check it out.
I'm going to be reading "The Halloween Tree" by Ray Bradbury this year to start the month, then finish it with "The Witches of Eastwick" by John Updike. Though, I am not sure if the latter takes place during the fall season.
Nice! Seems appropriate. I've seen the Eastwick movie, but didn't realize it was a book.
Is it witchy and Halloweenesque?
Definitely witchy- they're running around doing magic and stuff. I actually don't remember loving the movie, but I think it would fit the season.
It may be cliche but I really like reading Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow around Halloween time. It's a fun short story.
And diverging from the "reads" topic, I also love listening to the local public radio station this time of year. It's a classical station and they play spooky selections throughout the month.
TIL! That's very cool.
The thief of always by Clive Barker.
I don't remember it being explicit in any way, but I don't think it is a story for children.
For younger children, I absolutely love Bone Soup or The Monsterator.
Bone Soup is a halloween version of the classic tale, stone soup.
I've read some of Lovecraft's pieces of the Cthulhu mythos, most of which I'd consider somewhere in the spooky/creepy/mystery range.
Definitely works of their time (or rather, reactionary even for their time), but can be nice reads