…based on your favourite Halloween pastime?
Halloween is all about the spooky, the surreal, and the macabre. Which is why it’s the perfect time to add some spine-tingling horror to your Want to Read shelf.
But while the season necessitates a certain spookiness, one Halloween can look very different from another. And we think the way you choose to spend your Halloween says something about your taste in horror books.
So here, for your perusing pleasure, is our guide to the books you’ll love, based on your favourite Halloween pastimes.
Pumpkin Carving
Once you start carving a pumpkin you sign yourself up for several hours of focused Halloween-ing. Things get a little messy as you roll up your sleeves and go fishing for guts. But once that jack-o-lantern grin is lit up, nothing could be more satisfying.
For carvers of pumpkins, we recommend The Third Twin by John Rae. Intriguing and humming with suspense, once you start this book it isn’t easy to stop. But make it to the end, and a climax that strikes the perfect balance between logical and unexpected will leave you feeling totally satisfied.
Scary Movies
When it comes to Halloween, you’re not here for fun and games. You want to turn the lights out, lock the door, and get utterly spooked.
If your favourite Halloween pastime is a night of scary movies, we recommend Something’s Alive on the Titanic by Robert J. Sterling. A brilliantly dramatic paranormal suspense novel, this one is gripping, claustrophobic, and seriously chilling.
A Costume Party
When you go to a Halloween party you’ve got to expect the unexpected. Sure, people you love are there, and this is something you’ve done before. But there’s something about the costumes, the games, and the unrecognisable food that puts you slightly on edge.
For partygoers, we recommend Strange Toys by Patricia Geary. With its cast of lovable characters, a bittersweet tale about a girl’s coming of age in the sixties. But it’s not. Dark and otherworldly, it’ll make you feel super uneasy.
Sweets & Treats
Halloween treats are both comforting and a little strange. When the season strikes, you like to indulge in the familiarity of its gummy offerings and sweet surprises but tell me it’s not a little weird to eat foods shaped like eyeballs and spiders.
If the treats are your favourite part of Halloween, we recommend Apparitions by Noel Scanlon. Ireland’s answer to Stephen King, Scanlon uses a wonderfully familiar set-up: a deserted island, a disused church, a disappearance. But the mix of Indian mysticism and the Western Irish coast gives this book an undeniable edge.
A Spooky Seance
Unlike those who prefer a costume party or a bag of pick and mix, you genuinely don’t know what to expect from your Halloween night. On October 31st the world shifts, and you intend to harvest the power of the unreal and uncanny.
If Halloween reveals your spooky side, we recommend Ramsey Campbell’s Demons by Daylight. Known for his Lovecraftian mastery of the horror genre, here Campbell presents a gripping collection of supernatural horror tales, set in a disconcerting reality that isn’t what it seems. He searches the far reaches of the mind and reveals true horror.
How do you spend your Halloween? If you don’t see your favourite pastime on this list, find us on social media for your own spooky recommendation…
