Halloween Reading Recommendations

All this week I will posting books for to help you get into the Halloween spirit, or just help you find book that will creep you out and keep you up.

Normally I don't do recommendations often, but I figure for Halloween it's okay.

One book in particular I love, it's a great Halloween read. The Gingerbread Man by Maggie Shayne. A hair raising thriller that kept me wanting for more, I didn't want to put this book down. Although I did guess one element at about half way through, other than that I loved this book. The characters have troubled pasts in one way or another, an internal struggle they must deal with at the same time fight the attraction toward each other and finding the serial kidnapper/pedophile/rapist before he strikes again. And it all takes place during Halloween.






Books that are scary but not Halloween




I've always been partial to Clive Barker. Cabal and the Hellbound Heart are two of my favorites but also The Books of Blood series. There are six book in the series and each book contains a collection of the macabre that only Clive Barker could do. Yes those are my books and yes I'm missing the sixth book.






Next up on my list is William Todd Rose's Realms of the Dead, it's two connected novellas.
For me everyday day is a good day for a damn good horror novel. I had no idea what to expect from William Todd Rose, I have never read him before. I love horror but I'm picky about who I read, but the synopsis intrigued me. This book was creepy in all the right ways. It kept me engulfed in the story and the characters. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. I liked the science fiction/ metaphysical aspect and it blended in nicely with the gruesome games of a tormented mind. The synopsis likened William Todd Rose to King and Koontz, but I would be more willing to group him with Clive Barker. I really enjoyed this. Crossfades is more the sci-fi horror while Bleedovers is more paranormal. I liked how this was two separate novellas, even though it could have worked as a full length novel, it cut down on unnecessary filler

I newly discovered Abbie Roads. She has three books out right now and each othe them are a dark romantic suspense. Her books are dark and twisted and sexy as hell, it really satisfies my horror and romance needs. The Fatal Dreams duo also has a dark fairytale/folklore feel to it. 










For kids, always the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series the illustrations alone can give you nightmares. For beginner readers one of my favorites growing up was one called Four on the Shore by Edward Marshall. It is a fun little book about four friends telling scary stories to each other.

ARC REVIEW Dark Screams: Volume Four

This is the first of this series I've read but I'm glad I did It has not just one but two of my absolute favorite authors and I was exposed to some other authors I will definitely keep an eye out for. This collection of horror, ghost, thriller stories gets to you I couldn't put it down.

THE DEPARTED: Clive Barker
A short touching story about what happens to a mother after she dies and is trapped grieving the loss of her son. He only hope for one last farewell is All Hallows Eve a chance to go out and see him one last time to say goodbye. Clive Barker as always weaves a beautiful and creepy tale of grief and moving on. A descriptive and unnerving look into the afterlife. Clive Barker is my stand by author for when I want strange and hauntingly beautiful stories.

CREATURE FEATURE: Heather Graham
I was hoping this was a stand-alone story not connected to her Krewe of Hunters series, sadly it was. Fortunately it really didn't matter it could be read as a stand-alone. If House of Wax didn't make me weary over wax figures this one sure as heck did. Wax figure artists gather for an expo to show off their work in a convention center that has been said to be haunted. The rumors may be substantiated when one artist ends up dead killed by her own wax figure.

THE NEW WAR: Lisa Morton
Mike Carson is a decorated war hero; his time in the retirement home was just supposed to stay long enough to recuperate, but something is keeping him there. There is a black creature tormenting the residents of the nursing home killing them off one by one. Mike has a hard time separating fact from fantasy as he experiences loss of time and visions of army buddies who've died in the war. This is a creepy and strange tale about the unknown creatures of the night.

SAMMY COMES HOME: Ray Garton
Ray Garton brings us a twisted tale of lost pets in a Twilight Zone/ Invasion of the Body Snatchers/ Pet Sematary type story. All over town pets have been disappearing and the Hale Family is no exception, Sammi, the families sheepdog has been missing for over a week; but when he shows back up looking sickly and on death's door it's only the start of something much much worse.

THE BRASHER GIRL: Ed Gorman
Probably my least favorite in this volume. The Brasher Girl is very much in the Stephen King style and I'm not big on King. It is disturbing and creepy but very dry; it didn't engage me and I didn't like the characters. The prettiest girl in town has a deep secret she has "friend" who tells her to do bad things. She acts all sweet and innocent and very much the victim luring in guys to help her but really is just as twisted as her secret friend.

Overall, this is a great collection of the strange and unusual.