Good Spooky Reads

[MauEvig]

Since Mike mentioned a book recommendation based off the fact that my washer and dryer came on by themselves, it made me think of what books would be good to read for the Halloween season.
I have a terrible bad habit of reading half way through a book and then not finishing it because I get distracted easily, but maybe a good scary book would hold my attention long enough until the end.
Ironically the scariest book I own is a book full of short stories called "Animal Ghost Stories" by Nancy Roberts, and this is more eerie and depressing than outright scary. Still, it's a good read if you're into ghosts because it takes a look at the ghosts we don't normally think about, animal ghosts. If ghosts themselves are real, and I believe them to be real, why wouldn't animals have ghosts either? But that's another topic.
I know Stephan King probably comes to mind. I did own a copy of Pet Sematary, but it got lost.
I do like a lot of fantasy/science fiction stuff, so maybe something like that but with a scary horror twist would be fun to read.
As a kid I did enjoy some Halloween stories such as Goose Bumps, but as a grown up I think they're a little too kid-ish for me now. Not that I don't enjoy a good children's story every once in a while. I actually think it's a warm inviting feeling when you walk into a library, and what do libraries typically do for Halloween? They get out Halloween themed kid's stories to display and maybe a few Halloween plushies here and there to go with the books, and some of the books are really cool because they have the glow in the dark pictures and such. It brings back a sort of nostalgia factor for me. I get the same feeling when I walk into a book store at Halloween. So there's something kind of inviting about seeing kid's stories that are Halloween themed.
I did read a book once in Highschool, I can't remember the name of it or even the Author, but it had to do with saving the planet and there were these feral dogs and these kids getting together to do some kind of ritual to fight evil spirits. But I can't remember the name of it. It said it was "similar" to Stephan King but it was by a different author.
So anyway, if anyone can think of any good Halloween or even just a good scary read, please post it here. Perhaps a good review of the book would be helpful too.
If I ever get around to it, maybe I'll drag myself to the library and see what they have and write my own reviews. At least that would give me the incentive to read.

[NeverMore]

Almost can't miss with Dean Koontz's Frankenstein books, 5 of them. Brings the man and the monster's stories up to date. The question is... who is the man and who is the monster?

Also in graphic novel if that's your thing.

[Andybev01]

' the lottery' by Shirley Jackson.

[Murfreesboro]

The Haunting of Hill House, also by Shirley Jackson. It's a novella, so not too long, and still one of the scariest reads out there.

Rear Window, a short story by Cornell Woolrich, is the basis of the various films of the same name and is still a scary read. It isn't supernatural, but rather about a crime witnessed by a man in a wheelchair. Very suspenseful.

The late Victorian era was kind of a golden age of supernatural stories, all of which are worth reading in the originals--things like Henry James' The Turn of the Screw; Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Grey; Bram Stoker's Dracula; R. L Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I once wrote a graduate paper on late Victorian ghost stories. It was strange that this sub-genre took off during the era of realistic fiction, but it seems that they were obsessed with religious doubts and the possibility that there might in fact be some spiritual world other than the surface, realistic world we see. Also, the emerging science of psychology found expression in many of these works. People were fascinated by something like the "supernatural within," if that makes any sense. Maybe we would think of it as the irrational , subconscious forces that drive much of human behavior.

[MauEvig]

I'll have to check some of those out the next time I get a chance and check out the local library.
I heard the classic books actually have very little to do with their movie counterparts. Some of the newer Movies are now trying to be closer to their book counter parts, such as the Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

[Murfreesboro]

It's true, the movie/TV versions change the source material a great deal. Depending on your POV, you might find the originals disappointing for that reason. However, I have always enjoyed going back to the source material.

If you have never read the original version, Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow is a delight. However, it is more comic than spooky. The best depiction of it (in the sense of closest to the original tone) is actually a Disney cartoon narrated by Bing Crosby.

I just finished reading a true-crime book about the serial killer Ted Bundy called The Stranger beside Me (1980). It was written by a well-known crime writer (Ann Rule), but the hook is that she actually knew Ted Bundy, was a good friend of his before he had murdered anyone, and stayed in touch with him throughout the period of accusation and trial, etc. This is not spooky fiction, of course; but the book, if you can find it in the library, is full of real-life horror.

[jadewik]

When I was a pre-teen, I really enjoyed Vivian Vande Velde's book "Companions in the Night". Let's see... Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a good collection-- but the old one with the scary pictures. I still can't believe they re-did it with cute-sy artwork. That was half the reason you'd READ that book. LOL.

[ramaries69]

I've just added that to my wish list, Midnite. It's got good reviews. Thanks!

[Kolchak]

This weekend I was sitting up in a treestand trying to get some venison for the year. I hunt all day and always take a book to read. I thought since it was Halloween I'd try a book for the season and read a book by Gerry O'Hara called "Sherlock Holmes and The Affair in Transylvania"

It was basically the worlds smartest and greatest consulting detective going mano-a-mano with the worlds most evil creature, Count Dracula!

I really liked it. It's written as if Doctor Watson is telling the story, and O'Hara uses a few similarities from Bram Stokers version, but by and large it stands on its own and with less than 250 pages, it's an easy weekend read.

Of course it would have been cooler if it had been Chuck Norris fighting it out with Dracula. But, if that had been the case, the book would have been two sentences long!


You can find it on Amazon as a book or for your Kindle.

[witchy]

I loved reading The Necroscope Series by Brian Lumley!!

I've read alot of books but have a hard time remembering who wrote them, isn't that aweful!!

[NeverMore]

I read the Necrosope series. A lot of mind images that really make me shiver. Best read on a dark stormy night next to a candle. From what I heard the rest of the books, after the first five, just weren't as good.

[witchy]

I read up to the 10th one, Bloodwars, I really liked all of them, but they were much harder to follow, the further you got into them.

[NeverMore]

Seems there's going to be a movie based on 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'. Looking forward to this. Be cool if it comes out at Halloween along with Trick 'r Treat 2.

• http://io9.com/hollywood-to-force-scary ... 1476424006

[NeverMore]

The King is now on Twitter. Had writer's block on his second post.

• http://mashable.com/2013/12/06/stephen-king-twitter/

[Kolchak]

Not really qualifies as spooky, but Tom Clancy's last book prior to his death came out recently. 'Command Authority' is the title, and so far is a pretty good read.