Halloween Horror Novels, part 1

When the autumn leaves are crunching on the ground I love snuggling up with spooky reads.  This is the time of year that I just can not get enough horror—whether it its on the page or the screen.  Anyone who knows me well and/or follows my work knows that I do not read any one genre exclusively.  But I DO like to read seasonally. In October I like for my focus to be on horror novels!

I am only mid-season on my horror obsession but I thought I would share part one of this journey.  I started out the season reading Richard Matheson’s Hell House and also read his A Stir of Echos. Today I just finished reading The House Next Door, which dives into my favorite kind of horror that combines a supernatural component with psychological terror. I also have a real weakness for haunted houses which play significant roles in all of these novels. I know I touched on my interest in this kind of terror in my post on The Graveyard Apartment. If I’m forced to articulate a favorite novel  Haunting of Hill House is definitely the book I can pin point that made me fall in love with reading fiction as an adult. I did recently watch the new Netflix series which utilized different aspects of the book for the series. I could not stop watching the Netflix series at all. While I was really upset by a sappy ending to a creepy story I found the experience of watching the show what I consider deliciously scary. It was spooky and enjoyable.

Other things can be haunted too. I tapped into my Stephen King obsession with Christine. I am planning on reviewing City of Ghosts for Twin Cities Geek. I found numerous horror selections on Kindle Unlimited including A House At the Bottom of the Lake.  I was also reminded that some of the most terrifying stories for me are the ones that do not have supernatural components at all when I read Little Slaughterhouse on the Prairie right after I read Pioneer Girl.  Also as horror is a genre that my husband is interested in it is really fun when he listens to an audio book he got from the library while I read a copy of the e-book from the library. Lesser Dead and Haunted Nights are books that we shared in common.

This year I discovered the genre of horror poetry. I loved the feminism in the poetry of I Am Not Your Final Girl. I found Now We Are Sick to be a fun read in more of the goofy, gruesome tradition of horror. I can’t wait to read Brothel and for my signed copy of Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare to arrive in the mail.

I am now in the time where I will likely exclusively be reading horror for awhile. But I had to start reading Half Light before I heard Frank Bidart speak at the University of Minnesota. And when I wake up in the middle of the night I do not read horror novels and I read some Harlequin Desire books I got from the library when I could not sleep. Although I bemoaned that Harlequin has numerous Christmas selections out already and no current releases with Halloween themes. I decided that I need to explore the paranormal romance genre a little more this year to stay closer to horror themes. I am just beginning to tip my toe into these possibilities and I am sure I will report further about this exploration at a later date.

Horror is one of my favorite genres!  However I can get really into a story in a way that if I hear the normal hums in my kitchen or someone walking in the apartment above me I will jump in surprise and ask, “What was that?” I’d like to believe that I am a skeptic where things like ghosts are concerned however my active imagination gets in the way.  I often ask myself what is it about these scary stories that makes me want to come back for more but find myself just getting lost in these worlds.