Everyone loves a good scary story, and with Halloween only two weeks away, what better time than to read about the paranormal and things that go bump in the night? Here are five essential reads to get you in the classic Halloween spirit.
1. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
This is the original haunted house story. Four strangers are invited by an occult scholar to find evidence of psychic phenomenon in an old, abandoned mansion. The movie adaptations don't do it justice, so give this one a try. With a dark atmosphere and surrealistic language, the prose style alone is sure to give you goosebumps.
“…silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”
2. The Murder of Rodger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
This is literally one of the best-selling authors of all time, second only to Shakespeare. From the Queen of Mystery comes the novel that made her an instant success in 1926. The book’s controversial ending is considered one of the most groundbreaking twists of all time and nearly got Christie kicked out of the Detection Club for “not playing fair." If you aren’t yet aware of the twist, I urge you to dive into this one with as little knowledge about the story as possible.
“Mrs. Ferrars died on the night of the 16th-17th September—a Thursday. I was sent for at eight o’clock on the morning of Friday the 17th. There was nothing to be done. She had been dead some hours.”
3. The Complete Stories and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
With works like The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Raven, this guy was the original Gothic Writer. His extensive repertoire centers mainly around death and its many unanswered questions. It need not bare repeating that any one of his works be experienced in the late nights leading up to Halloween.
“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore…” – The Raven
4. The Call of Chtulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
Another classic from the late 1920’s, The Call of Cthulhu has one of the best opening paragraphs I’ve ever read. While the writer himself was not a particular fan of the story, history has held this as one of the greatest achievements in the horror genre.
“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.”
5. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz, Stephen Gammell (Illustrator)
Most of us remember these from elementary school, and there’s a reason why: the illustrations. The stories themselves aren't the scariest in the world, but Stephen Gammell's drawings are what makes this an essential in any fear-lover’s library. Disturbing in the best possible sense of the word, the grotesque artwork and violent language earns its spot among the most consistently challenged books since it’s publication in 1981.
“A boy was digging at the edge of the garden when he saw a big toe. He tried to pick it up, but it was stuck to something. So he gave it a good hard jerk, and it came off in his hand. Then he heard something groan and scamper away.” – The Big Toe
