Hey there everybody. I know, I know: Halloween is just around the corner, and I should have posted this list a hell of a long time ago so that y'all can get these books and read them. But the way I see it All Hallows Read is supposed to promote reading not just for Halloween, but all year long. So here goes: these are some books you can pick up to get into the spirit of Halloween.
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| Coraline - Neil Gaiman |
First up, two Neil Gaiman books. Why yes, I am a fan! This one is the ultra creepy nightmare fuel inducing trauma causing Coraline, which has been made into an admittedly not that less creepy film version. This particular edition has some crazy illustrations that I really did not need to see in it, thus making the book a great gift to any kid you want to traumatise for life.
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| The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman |
The second Neil Gaiman book on this list is The Graveyard Book. Basically, Neil Gaiman has said that his favorite book as a kid was The Jungle Book, and was kind of disappointed kids nowadays only know the Disney version and not the original version he read. So he set out to write a similar book to both help show kids what they're missing, and as a shout-out to Rudyard Kipling. So while Mowgli was abandoned in the jungle to be raised by wolves, Nobody Owens was abandoned in a graveyard to be raised by ghosts. This is awesome stuff.
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| Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk |
Okay Haunted isn't actually scary. Nope, not scary at all. The feeling you'd most likely experience reading this is probably nausea and disgust. I'll say no more lest I spoil things. To be honest I get why a book that causes disgust would be associated with fear; they're both related. They're caused by things that are shocking, that are beyond what we know, and things that we reject in our normal everyday life. But to me that seems kind of cheap. It's like having a crush on a hot girl but fucking her less attractive cousin instead. It's still worth a read, though.
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| American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis |
Scary? American Psycho? Well, yes. Reading this, you get the sense that nothing is real. The characters have no sense of time, place, and person. They don't know whether something has or has not happened. And neither do you. Since the story is told from the main titular character's point of view, you get a sense of what it's like inside a psycho's head; or maybe just somebody who wishes he was a psycho. Uh, what?
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| Anything by H.P Lovecraft |
I'll admit to being a Lovecraft fan. I absolutely love stuff from the Cthulhu Mythos, and everything else Lovecraft has written. There's something not entirely explainable hidden behind every story that gets to me, and once I'm done with a story I'll start to wonder why exactly it was that I felt not so safe sitting in my room. Very highly recommended.
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| House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski |
House of Leaves is the most discussed book on this list. Some are arguing that it isn't horror at all. Some are arguing about the meaning behind all the lists and bibliographic references in the book, and even more are arguing that the book is the
house. Whatever it is, the events and descriptions described in this book (
house?)
especially with regards to the minotaur, are brick-shittingly scary. And the moment the book's formatting goes crazy (you'll know it when you see it), the shit
really hits the fan. Seriously, get this one, if nothing else.
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| World War Z: An Oral History of The Zombie War - Max Brooks |
To be honest I'm not scared at all by zombies. Especially the slow ones. Oh no, I'll have to shuffle along faster if I want to escape! And what about the fast ones? Now there's a threat, but not really anything to shiver under your blanket about. Still, if you love zombie stories this is worth a read.
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| Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King |
I actually wanted to post IT, since it was the first book I read that scared me shitless, but for the life of me I can't find it. This is
not IT, but rather a collection of Stephen King's short stories but hey this works too. There are a few stories in here that are genuinely scary, and quite a lot that aren't, but the recommendation stands: find a Stephen King horror novel. You'll be glad you did (or not).
I guess that's it. I hope I'll have more material to post for next year's All Hallows Read. So what do you think, scary enough, too lighweight? Have suggestions of your own? Let me know in the comments below! Until then goodnight out there...whatever you are.
