Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Ten Halloween Reads that Aren't Horror

This time of year always makes me want to pull out some creepy reads or Halloween themed reads!  Here are 5 of my favorites and 5 I'm hoping to get to this year.

Five Favorites

1. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson -  This gets classified as horror quite a bit which is not really fair to the book.  It's creepy and eerie and unsettling but not horror.  That being said this isn't a book I'd want to read while home by myself.

2.  The Betrayed by Heather Graham -  it only does this take place in the town where Sleepy Hollow is based around Halloween but there's also headless corpses and lots of ghosts.  There's a little bit of romance and a big dog to take the edge off.

3.  Splintered by A.G. Howard - So this really doesn't have much to do with Halloween but it's creepy and spooky and weird so that's close enough.

4.  Witch by Barbara Michaels - I love Michaels' suspense novels and this one - complete with a ghost witch is probably the spookiest.

5.  Trick or Deceit by Shelley Freydont - A murder that takes place in the middle of a haunted house competition. It's hard to get more in the Halloween spirit than that.

Five I Want to Read:

1.  We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson -  I love Shirley Jackson but somehow I've never read this book.

2.  The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings by Edgar Allan Poe - I recently read a book that figured the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe and had a number of references to his writings.  I've been wanting to do a big reread ever since and this is the perfect time of year.

3.  A Good Marriage by Stephen King - I've somehow never read Stephen King but this novella is tempting me.  Plus, I love the do you really know your spouse trope.

4.  Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco - it's Jack the Ripper - I can never resist a Jack the Ripoer book and I've heard good things about this one.

5.  Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman - So I'm not sure how Halloween-y this is but there's witches and an old house and I really just want to read more books by Alice Hoffman.

What books do you want to read this Halloween?  What are some of your favorite spooky reads?

9 comments:

  1. I kinda want to read the AG Howard books...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I haven't read any of these. But I always think Rebecca is a great book to read around Halloween. It's creepy and has this amazing atmosphere, but it's not horror either.

    ReplyDelete
  3. When I was a kid, Halloween, and the scary movies that went along with it, was all the rage. For some reason, I don't remember reading anything scary. Now, the best thing about Halloween is definitely the candy. (lol) Hugs...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I definitely want to read some spooky or Halloween appropriate reads this month. LOVE Stalking Jack the Ripper and the sequel, so I do recommend those. I also really love Edgar Allan Poe!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hmm no not really me although I would want to read Practical Magic too because I like AH as well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I read the prequel to Practical Magic and if it is anything like The Rules of Magic, yes it would be perfect for Halloween. I never thought about it, but you are right, Splintered is a good one for the season! I have never read We Have Always Lived in the Castle, it might be a good one for me to check out for next year. I am doing a zombiethon this year. Heh heh. Thanks for the list. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Stalking Jack the Ripper is SO GOOD!! I just finished the 2nd book in that series too - also incredibly good

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really enjoyed Practical Magic. I am looking forward to reading the prequel one of these days. Stalking Jack the Ripper is one I really want to read too. I am glad you liked The Haunting of Hill House. I haven't read it yet, but it's on my must read list. So many great books here for the Halloween season. These all sound like my kind of reads.

    ReplyDelete
  9. One of these days I'm going to finally read Practical Magic - I adore the movie!

    ReplyDelete