First off, Halloween is not my favorite holiday. (What are we celebrating, exactly? One day a year when non-cosplayers can cosplay without feeling like anyone is judging them for liking fictional characters?)
That being said, I know many people who love Halloween, including horror movies and books. I understand that horror can be cathartic in a way—viewers get to experience the fear second-hand while knowing that they are physically safe—but I still avoid it. I prefer laughing to screaming.
However. Over the past year I have ventured out of my usual genre (fantasy adventure) and tried more spooky titles—and I found some that I wholeheartedly enjoyed! So without further ado, here are the top five spooky novels that I would recommend to anyone who is in the mood to be scared (a bit) during the Halloween season!
(FYI: most of these novels do contain mild gore and some unpleasant imagery, but it's never overwhelming. Book #5 has a separate gore warning in its description.)
1. The Bone Houses, by Emily Lloyd-Jones — This is my most recent spooky read, and now one of my favorites. The Bone Houses incorporates Welsh mythology into a suspenseful adventure story, starring a young woman seeking to protect her family and a young man searching for his. The stakes are high and the action is intense, but the romance is sweet and the resolution is delightful. This novel's storyline might remind you of the premise of The Chronicles of Prydain, AKA The Black Cauldron, but Lloyd-Jones gives it an entirely new twist and a modern style that is (in my opinion) exponentially better than that old, terrifying movie adaptation.
2. The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud — This is book one in the Lockwood & Co. series, which has become my new favorite series of all time--yes, there are some gory ghosts and corpses, but the characters are so excellently written that I was hooked almost instantly. Lucy, Lockwood, and George spout such entertaining dialogue even as they face down haunted buildings and spectral dangers. Their world is so beautifully crafted, and the whole series is brilliantly plotted so that each book builds on the previous ones and leads to a fantastically frightening conclusion. I listened to all five books over the course of two weeks and I do not regret it!
3. Elatsoe, by Darcie Little Badger — Okay, fine, this one is more fantasy than horror, but I have to say it was not what I was expecting—but in a good way! There's a lot of creepy goings-on involving magical creatures and curses. The setting is a modern United States where cultural magic exists, so we get things like fairy ring transportation and pet ghosts. Ellie, the main character, embarks on a mission to solve her cousin's murder after his ghost pays her a visit. Along the way she encounters a fabulous variety of supernatural beings and ancient magic, and while the mystery isn't too difficult to figure out, the unraveling of the gruesome details is where the real story-magic lies.
4. Ophie's Ghosts, by Justina Ireland — This book is marketed as middle grade, but I listened to it with my dad and a sister and we all enjoyed it. The main character, Ophelia, is a young black girl who discovers that she can see ghosts—and her new ability gets her tangled up in the drama of the rich, white family she works for. This novel inserts ghosts and grudges into a richly historical setting, highlighting the intersection of cultural traditions and old prejudice. For fans of supernatural mysteries, this would be a quick, enjoyable read full of fascinating details about life in the 1920s.
5. A Taste for Monsters, by Matthew J. Kirby — Another historical setting, but this time with a lot of creative additions. Set in London in the time of Jack the Ripper, this is perhaps the most gory and grisly of these five recommendations, so be warned that it's not for the faint of heart! However, I did enjoy the character development and the presence of positive messages. Evelyn, a woman down on her luck, takes a unwanted job at a hospital caring for a man with an extremely rare and unusual condition. As she learns his story, she also learns that her own disfigurement does not define her or limit her potential. If you like to see empowerment and unintentional heroism mixed in with your spine-chilling horror, then give this novel a try!
P.S. I highly recommend the audiobooks for all of these novels! Each narrator is fabulous in their own way. (I usually check out audiobooks from my local library through Overdrive!)
