Favorite Spooky Reads

Sometimes when Halloween is still months away, you just need a taste of something spooky. Sure there’s the canon of classic creepy literature - Dracula or Frankenstein or anything by Edgar Allen Poe, but those ones are a little predictable, in my opinion. Here are a few different books that will get you in the spirit just enough until October finally rolls around.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee 

Okay, true, To Kill A Mockingbird barely has a Halloween scene. But this is one of my favorite books. I remember as I was reading it for the first time, I loved everything about it and the fact that all of the story’s threads are woven together during a Halloween night made it feel special, like maybe it was written just for me. It’s worth reading (or rereading) during any time of the year, but there are parts about this book that are great for getting you in the Halloween mood. Everyone’s favorite recluse, Boo Radley, is just creepy enough throughout the story to keep you guessing until the end. And Scout in a ham costume? That is some classic Halloween nostalgia right there. Although it may not be the spookiest book, I think that it’s one of the most important books that just happens to include Halloween. 

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury 

This book has tons of spooky things in it: a carnival that comes to town on a train that plays the Death March, a carousel that can make you younger by turning backwards, and a whole host of creepy carnie characters. But you wouldn’t expect any less from the amazing Ray Bradbury, who was a giant of the science fiction genre. Most people have read Fahrenheit 451, but Something Wicked This Way Comes is just as good, especially because it includes these lines: “And if it’s around October twentieth and everything smoky-smelling and the sky orange and ash gray at twilight, it seems Halloween will never come in a fall of  broomsticks and a soft flap of bed-sheets around corners. But one strange wild dark long year, Halloween came early.” How can you not want to read more?! I recommend starting to read this one on that first fully Autumn-feeling day, it’s a great way to start your season.

Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie
         
If you’re a mystery fan, then you already know Agatha Christie is the queen of murder mysteries. Christie can twist a plot like no other, as evidenced from the fact that her stories have been made into dozens of plays, t.v. shows and films. Hallowe’en Party is one of Christie’s many books that chronicles the cases of detective Hercule Poirot, but you don’t need to have read anything else in order to enjoy this one. Although this can get a little macabre (it’s about the murder of a young girl who has actually witnessed another murder) it is a great book to read if you want to be just a little scared. I won’t spoil any of the finer plot points, but I will say that this book did make me think twice about bobbing for apples! 

What about you--do you have a favorite book to curl up with to get ready for the season?