Welcome to my fourth annual round-up of Halloween reading (even though I’ve been doing this column since 2009, I apparently didn’t get this idea until 2011). This isn’t hard-core horror – I can’t sleep if I read things like Stephen King. I prefer something with a creep factor. It’s not hard these days to find creepy literature, focusing on macabre or ghastly subjects. The proliferation of ghost hunter shows (some of which I’m a fan), the apparent zombie craze and a sudden uptick in interest in cemeteries attest to the public’s appetite. I don’t see the attraction to zombies, myself, but I do find many aspects of macabre subjects fascinating. My favorite TV shows are Grimm and Sleepy Hollow. And of course, I love Halloween. Check out my previous years’ posts from 2011, 2012 and 2013.

You might find something you like on this year’s Halloween Reads list. In the past, I had always included one classic, a couple fiction pieces, and maybe a kid’s book or two, or a middle grade if I could find one. This year, I’m grabbing whatever strikes me that might put someone in mind of a creepy time of year. It’s a bit of an eclectic mix, and includes my first nonfiction selection.

Nonfiction

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

My first nonfiction selection, this is not for the squeamish. And even though her later title, Spook, might seem more appropriate for Halloween, I got to this one first. On the surface, it is an examination of what happens to bodies after people die. The terminology is very explicit – they are cadavers, they are bodies, rarely people or corpses. From Victorian grave robbing (the “resurrectionists”) to uses for bodies donated to science (including decay measurement and surgical education), to use of human body parts for medical and culinary preparations – yes, a bit of a discussion of cannibalism – to a very interesting discussion of ecological funerary practices, Roach covers a lot of ground (and truth, makes me not want to end up buried under it). It’s less a grotesque look at dead bodies than it is a thoughtful, intelligent, and good-humored look at all the ways we have left to go once we’re gone. And the surprise? It’s funny – often laugh-out-loud funny. Roach is a good writer, and her explorations are always humane and comprehensive. I know, you may think this is just ooky. But in the hands of Roach, it’s fascinating.

Mystery

The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb

This was Wendy Webb’s first novel, and she nailed it. She is now being billed as the Queen of the Supernatural Mystery! A woman finds out after her father dies that her mother, whom she had thought was dead, was actually still alive until very recently. A very strange and mysterious trip follows, back to her childhood home on Lake Michigan. It’s a wild, old place, and she finds ghosts there of all types.  The townspeople think that she and her father died, so her reappearance is pretty surprising. The ghosts of the past don’t give up, though, and she must try to find out what really happened to put them to rest. That, however, proves not to be so simple. There are many ghosts who do not wish to rest. In the process of solving the mystery, she finds that she has special powers and talents. I loved the ending of this story, the setting, the atmosphere of it.
A great read for blustery fall days. Something to put you in the mood for Halloween!

YA Fiction

Series, The Hollow by Jessica Verday (The Hollow, The Haunted, The Hidden)

If you can get past the angsty and entitled teenager, this is a solid good story about death, dying, and being left behind. It’s also about first love, true love, honor and doing what’s right. I initially looked at this in preparation for a panel I was on about the TV show Sleepy Hollow at a Con. But I got hooked and read all three books. It’s not creepy, though – at least it didn’t feel that way to me. It’s imaginative about what we might encounter – what is really happening on the other side. From creepy Reverants to soul mates to death days, there is a whole world there. The hobby of our heroine was interesting, too – perfume making. Her dreams and hopes are understandable, and the loss of her best friend all-encompassing, which I can truly relate to. The story takes great liberties but also has a smooth reverence for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and I love that. It was, on the whole, a good story with a satisfying ending – not easy to do after three books. Just suspend disbelief, enjoy the twists and turns, fall into it for an hour or three.

Classics

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

I hadn’t really had Henry James on my radar before, had never read him. This title was brought to my attention through an article about Her Fearful Symmetry, one of my all-time favorite books. You know those You Might Also Like algorithms on GoodReads? Yes, that’s where I found this. Perhaps the success of this story dwells in the ominous sense of foreboding that permeates it. This was written, after all, in 1898, in gaslight days, when there were shadows everywhere. In fact, that is basically what the book is comprised of: foreboding. Governess takes over secluded manor with two children who appear to be haunted. Not the manor – the children. Seemingly by the ghosts of her predecessor and the old valet. This is a governess with one heck of an imagination. Were they having an affair? Are they trying to come for the children? And more importantly, do the children want them to? It was so creepy at first, that I actually didn’t want to read it when I was home alone at night. I found, too, that the language can be difficult for our modern sensibilities. This book was part of a huge Gothic tradition that included Bram Stoker and others (see below), and if you can wade through the syntax, it may just get your heart pumping. Just don’t ask me what actually happened.

Classics I couldn’t find anywhere

The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux
Said to be the perfect mystery story, this is the classic locked-room murder by the author of The Phantom of the Opera (last year’s classic). A young woman cries out and upon bashing the door in, her father and brother find her nearly expired. How did it happen? I love this classic motif, from The Orient Express to Sherlock Holmes. And I’m dying to read the prototype.

The Shadow of Ashlydyat by Mrs. Henry Wood
Also mentioned in the article about Her Fearful Symmetry, I am determined to find this one, too. I am also quite curious about the indomitable Mrs. Wood. It would seem that this was her own favorite of her 30 novels, and in a distinctly un-Victorian turn, “an unscrupulous woman is left unchecked at the end.” The description in the article was, in fact, so alluring that I am grasping for this one as well.

 

I know, Abe Books. I just haven’t gotten that far yet. I am afraid I can’t get enough of creepy reading. Earlier in the year, I was reading The Corpse Reader (about the ‘father of forensics’ in China), Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (highly recommended!), The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood, and We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger’s Daughter by Rachel Hanel. Anyone looking at my GoodReads Challenge page would sense a definite trend. Hope you find something you like that puts you in the appropriately creepy state of mind for this time of year. Let me know what works for you – or what your own favorite creepy read is!