Top Ten Halloween Reads, Take Two!

Top Ten Halloween Reads, Take Two!

In an effort to secure my place as a Connoisseur of Creep, I have been losing myself in the creepiest novels I can get my twisted little fingers on. You’re welcome, in advance, for the psychological damage I have imparted on myself to make it worth your while.

It doesn’t just have to be approaching Halloween Time for me to enjoy a scary book or movie either, I indulge all year round. But one has to admit that there is just something about Halloween and the fall season that is undeniable.

The warm, long days we had gotten used to get a little cooler and a little crisper, and the night starts to stretch out a little longer.  Pumpkin EVERYTHING comes back into existence. Cinnamon is everywhere. Apple cider is a staple. The colors are vibrant and almost kind of magical and when the leaves fall it’s like something out of a storybook. You start thinking about the approaching holiday and trick or treat and then haunted houses start popping up all over.

That’s when it’s my time. As much as I adore the colors and the spices and all the flavors of fall, the creep factor is what brings me out. The clouds roll in to blot out the sun so the shadows seem to get a little darker, the trees start to look a little more like gnarled fingers reaching in the dark, and the sounds completely change. The skittering of summertime animals and songs of birds become replaced by rustling leaves in chill breezes and the air starts to hold the impending quiet of winter. There is mystery to be had in the October night. What’s around the corner? You’ll find me on a walk in the foggy evening air, that’s for sure.

So, without further ado, the list you’ve all been waiting for! My Top Ten Halloween Reads (in no particular order) to add some spooky into your pumpkin drenched world.

1. Harvest Home - Thomas Tryon

How I forgot this book on my first list, I will never know. I read this book about a decade ago but reread it specifically for this list and it made me just as uncomfortable. The Main Character moves his family to a remote country town in hopes of simpler life but the town hides a very dark secret. It’s full of fantastic suspense and an ending I don’t think you’ll see coming. It is unnerving in the best kind of way and makes you think twice about an idyllic life in the country. Written in 1973, it’s another one of those classic scary stories with staying power.

2. Hex - Thomas Olde Heuvelt

This book was ridiculous, in a good way. I couldn’t put it down. I read it in days, which is no easy feat for me. The picturesque town of Black Spring on the edge of the Hudson Valley in New York is plagued by a curse. A curse that involves a centuries-old woman known as the Black Rock Witch. But she isn’t some green woman with a wart on her nose… She’s a dusty, wrinkled, old woman with her eyes and mouth sewn shut. She wanders the town at will, spending hours (and sometimes days) wherever she pleases, from the corner of the street to the room in which you sleep. And the townspeople can do nothing about it. They adapt as best they can to living with her until a group of teenagers decides to mess with her, thus plunging the town into a series of dark days. This book was as powerful as it was creepy. The witch’s nightmarish face lingers in my mind’s eye still.

3. Bird Box - Josh Malerman

This book was incredibly unsettling. It didn’t scare as much as it scared some readers, but at its core, the idea is a solid one. Some phenomena is occurring in our modern day world where if you set eyes on these creatures outside, the sight of them makes you act out violently not only against anyone you might be with, but yourself also. These survivors of this new world, go outside blindfolded, if they have to go out at all. A woman, Malorie, has two children to care for while she tries to navigate this new world and make her way to a safe house.

4. Security - Gina Wohlsdorf

Mmkay, so I suggest this book, not because it’s some deep and philosophical read, but because it’s a good old-fashioned slasher read. Manderley is a swanky brand new hotel, getting the last of its items in order on the eve of its grand opening. However, someone in the hotel is systematically murdering all of the people in it, one by one. It’s enough to make you uncomfortable and a little spooked, with plenty of murder and solid twist at the ending.

5. A Stir of Echoes - Richard Matheson

This guy, I’m telling you. If his name is familiar, that’s because he made my list a couple years ago. I’m fairly certainly every one of his novels will make it into my list at some point or another.  The main character Tom Wallace, lives, by all accounts, a mostly normal life until a party trick grants him psychic abilities. A Stir of Echoes is a good old-fashioned ghost story fraught with psychological turmoil and all the uneasiness that entails. Hallucinations, whispers, and menacing messages from beyond. Plus, there’s a creepy child! Win, win, right?

6. Pet Sematary - Stephen King

Just. Wow. This book was more than just scary and unsettling. It was horrifying. It truly was. I think what makes King such a brilliant writer is how well he is able to make you sympathize with the characters. You become invested in them. This was no slow burn, either. Things get going a couple chapters in and you’re in the thick of it. The beautiful family, the beautiful home, the beautiful town, the tragic accidents, the gore, the horror…. This an excellently crafted book with Stephen King as his best. Powerful is not a strong enough word to describe this book.

7. The Last American Vampire - Seth Grahame-Smith

Oh, this was a solid sequel to his first novel, Abe Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. It follows in the same vein as the first, campy but scary in some parts too. As a general piece of fiction, this book is so good, weaving together tales of blood-thirsty vampires and actual American history to make a solidly plausible plot.

8. The Long Walk - Stephen King/Richard Bachman

So this book was unsettling more than it was creepy. It’s a different kind of scary. A group of a hundred teenage boys take part in a reality TV-esque contest in which they walk hundreds of miles. The last one standing receives whatever his heart desires for the rest of his natural born life. The catch? If you fail the Long Walk, you don’t just get eliminated. You’re shot dead on the road where you stand, or collapse. From torrential rains and bitter cold, to bloody feet and exhaustion-induced hallucinations, this book covers it all. Written in the 70’s, it’s virtually timeless and remains a classic King novel, solidifying its place as a remarkably relevant book.  

9. Johannes Cabal, Necromancer - Jonathan L. Howard

Time to shake up this list and add a little humor to your creep. Johannes Cabal is, as the title implies, a Necromancer, who is more or less trying to strike what will be his second deal with the Devil himself for his earthly soul. If he can steal a hundred souls via a traveling carnival, he can have his soul back. But let’s not forget, he’s dealing with the Devil here… There’s always fine print. This book is number one in the series and I have read the second which was also quite funny. This is campy horror at it’s finest. It also strikes a powerful nerve by addressing some of our base human instincts and what may or may not pave the road to Hell if the right person gives us the deal. It’s The Night Circus, meets Something Wicked This Way Comes, meets the Walking Dead with a whole lot of sass thrown in.  Highly recommend this as a way to get a mildly scary story dripping in sarcastic humor.

10. Earthbound - Richard Matheson

Ok, so hear me out on this one. This book falls under the category of erotica (we’re all adults here), but it is deeply horrifying. An angry ghost haunts the cabin that David and his wife Ellen are staying in as a way to save their crumbling marriage. Marianna, the cold and vindictive ghost sets her sights on David, tempting and baiting him, all the while stealing bits of his life and the life of his wife. This is a solid Matheson story that’s about more than sex. It plays at the animalistic nature of lust and the fragile willpower that exists in all of us. And Marianna, well, hell hath no fury...

You can also check out my first top ten list on my good friend Marissa's blog here for another ten solidly scary reads! Be sure to check out her other killer content too!

Have a Horrifying Halloween!!