My Favorite Halloween Reads!

It's almost Halloween!  These days, I'm not as much into costumes and candy, however, I do like the season and the atmosphere of Halloween (and because Autumn is my favorite season!)  And, since it's that time, I thought I'd do a special Halloween post and share some of my favorite spooky reads that I have read recently (I'll try to keep it to books I've read this year, otherwise this list would be way too long!).

Classic picks:

Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is a beautifully written haunted house story.  I just read and reviewed this and I think it's an excellent spooky read!

Read my review of The Haunting of Hill House


Bram Stoker's Dracula, of course!  I'm re-reading this right now.  What can I say, it's a Halloween classic!


 Horror (on the darker side..):

I'm a huge Stephen King fan.  This year, I read Full Dark, No Stars and reviewed it here on the blog.  It's a collection of four contemporary horror stories that will creep you out!  No vampires, ghosts, or monsters here - but that just makes it even more scary!

Read my review of Full Dark, No Stars

(Likewise, any of Stephen King's short story collections are sure to give its readers similar chills, like Everything's Eventual or Four Past Midnight, and of course his full-length novels like Pet Sematary many more..)

  
Horror (on the lighter side..):

Zombies!!  Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead-Tossed Waves were both great reads!  Creepy.. You get a little claustrophobic reading these.  The main characters are secluded in the forest, trapped by a mob of zombies who are closing it at every turn... I have yet to read the last book in this series, but I hear it's even better than the first two.

Read my reviews of The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead-Tossed Waves
 

 Paranormal picks (ghosts, spirits, things that go bump in the night..):

Ok, so technically this may be more of a thriller/suspense, but it's my blog and I'm including it here :)  Lis Wiehl's Waking Hours.  It's actually a mix of realistic and supernatural suspense.  The main character, a psychiatrist, is investigating a ritualistic murder in East Salem when she discovers there may be something more sinister (and supernatural) going on.  It's a Christian thriller, but I think it would be appealing to a lot of readers who don't normally read Christian fiction.  This would be a great choice for someone looking for a clean, adult read for Halloween!

Read my review of Waking Hours

I'm a big fan of Heather Graham.  Her Harrison Investigation series, including Haunted and Unhallowed Ground, would be great choices if you're in the mood for a ghost story (and a little romance too).

 Read my review of Haunted

Non-fiction:

 I guess you know by now that I love ghost stories, especially true accounts of haunted places.  Here's one of my favorites, Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places by Brad Steiger.  His 50 years of paranormal research has led to this compilation of all kinds of haunted places and true accounts.

Looking for more true ghost stories?  Leslie Rule's When the Ghost Screams, Coast to Coast Ghosts, and Ghosts Among Us are ones I have added to my collection and would be great choices too!
Read my review of When the Ghost Screams


Thanks for reading!  Happy Halloween and Happy Autumn! :)

Review: The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson


This is, of course, a classic haunted house story. I must say, I love Jackson's writing style. Every sentence is captivating and the narrative and dialogue flows nicely.

This novel begins with, what I think, is perhaps one of the best openings I've read in a long time:

"...Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone."

Some random notes I gathered while reading this:
* It's interesting that Eleanor seems conflicted between wanting to be alone (dreaming of a life in solitude) and the need to be with others (she seems very attached to Theo)..She is unsure of herself, unsure of how she perceives herself, yet seems very perceptive of the others..She dreams of adventure and loves the mystery about the house, yet she is afraid.. She's a very interesting character with all her eccentricities.

* If the house is under the conditions of "absolute reality" (Laura Miller, intro); Eleanor, the dreamer that she is, has to face that reality. The house is disjointed, disproportionate, off-balance..dark, confusing.. yet also full of mystery and intrigue..

* It's interesting to note that the house is always described, in one way or another, as being suffocating.. It's rooms, the hills closing in around the house, etc. The characters all seem to sense this. (Another way to say absolute reality is suffocating at times, perhaps?)

Those are just some random thoughts. This story is not all that scary, compared with all the horror/paranormal literature we have today; it's milder than that, but still very creepy. Jackson has, indeed, created a wonderfully eerie and haunting tale with a realistic cast of characters and beautiful writing. Highly recommended.



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My October/Halloween Reading List

I'm posting this a little later than I had planned, but here's my October/Halloween Reading List.  I probably won't get to all of them, but here's what I have picked out:

The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (my classic pick for the month!)

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

 Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

 I've also started reading House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.  It is massive and I will probably only be reading it little by little, so I don't plan on finishing it real soon, but I'll be working on it.. Have any of you read it?  If so, let me know your thoughts on it or any of the others I mentioned!

Review: Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Ok, so I just may have grown to like Stephanie Plum after all. This one is number 15 and Stephanie is hunting down a couple of killers who are idiotic, but dangerous. The whole gang is up to their usual antics... Cars get blown up, Stephanie drools over Ranger, and Lula drools over Cluck-in-a-Bucket chicken. In this one, Lula decides that in order to find the murderous duo, she must enter a barbecue cook-off, where the killers a sure to be hanging around.

This is the second Stephanie Plum book I've read. The first one I read was Plum Spooky. My favorite character has to be Lula, she is so funny.. These books really don't have a lot of substance; there's not a lot of suspense or a lot of mystery involved, but there's a lot of action and a whole lot of laughs. I like these novels not for their story lines so much, but because they are the books I know will make me literally laugh out loud. Crazy stuff always happens! If you're looking for a mindless, funny, light read...pick one of these books up.



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Review: House of Secrets

House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson



This is the story of three sisters who travel back to their childhood vacation home to confront the secrets of their past. Their childhood was not typical, with a mentally ill mother and a father who was never around. Bailee, the oldest, doesn't remember ever acting like a child. She always protected her sisters and spent her childhood in fear. Now, she has a chance to move away to New York City to further her career and her friend, Mark, has been interested in a relationship with her from the time they met. But, Bailee can't seem to let anyone in and keeps a wall up to keep everyone else out. She needs to confront her family's secrets and learn to deal with it all if she is to move on with her life.

This is a story about family issues, troubled childhood, and about moving on and letting go of pain. You should know that this is a Christian fiction novel and it is outwardly so. There's a lot of talk about God and church, so if that's not what you're looking for, you won't like it. I am most familiar with Tracie Peterson's historical series and I think that's really her strong point. However, if you are into Christian themes and family drama, then this might be a good choice for you.



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Review: Waking Hours

Waking Hours by Lis Wiehl

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



East Salem is a cozy little town where something unspeakable has happened. A high school girl is found dead, murdered in a remote part of the local park. Everything about her death is strange and doesn't seem to make any sense. Dani is a forensic psychiatrist working on the case and it's getting to her, keeping her up at all hours of the night.

Dani and her new assistant Tommy need to sort through the clues and get into the mind of the killer in order to solve this case. The problem is, there seems to be something supernatural going on as well...and it's hard to rid a town of an evil that can't be seen.

This was one of the few books I've read that really made me hold my breath. I loved it! It's a real psychological mystery/thriller with supernatural elements. It was gripping, realistic, and...creepy! There are a lot of things going on in this story, but all the elements blend together real well, especially at the end. There's some real danger and some supernatural danger as well and I think that's what really made the story captivating. It's not your everyday mystery novel, that's for sure.

There are Christian themes and talk about faith and God. It was very well done. There's a sense that some characters are wrestling with faith in the supernatural, but it all meshes with the plot. I can't wait for the next book in this series, there IS a next book, isn't there? (cliffhanger!) Seriously, if you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for?

* Thanks to the publisher Thomas Nelson and BookSneeze.com for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.



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