OoooOooooh, it’s that time of year. Witches. Warlocks. Wizards. Wizened old hags. Ghost. Ghouls. Maybe goblins? To be fair, this sounds like first thing in a morning at my house, but yes, Halloween is upon us. I never thought I’d write a ghost story. But I did. Last year. And this year I Am Dust hit the shelves. But what are my favourite spooky reads? Do I enjoy being scared? Well, yes I do. But only if I’m not alone in the house. If my husband is away, I won’t even think about a scary book, let alone open one. So, here are my top five spooky, scary reads…
Matt Wesolowski – Hydra
I made the abject mistake of reading this while staying alone in an apartment for the night. I kept trying to put down this dark and chilling book, but I couldn’t; I was dragged kicking and screaming into a world of deadly forbidden ‘games’, online trolls, and these mysterious black-eyed kids, whose presence seems to extend far beyond the delusions of a murderess. If these children come knocking on your door, you mustn’t let them in. So when someone knocked on the apartment door at midnight, and there was no-one there, I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.
The Shining – Stephen King
I also made the mistake of reading this one alone, back when I was fifteen. My family were away and I was hooked. But then I had to sleep with the light on for weeks. It was the weird woman in the hotel room. It was the menacing sense of claustrophobia at the Overlook Hotel where Jack and his family are isolated one long winter, and where a man previously butchered his entire family. It was the description of a slow descent into madness. This one is a classic.
Rosemary’s Baby – Ira Levin
I got this one for Christmas when I was a thirteen. What a dark child I must have been. It was part of an anthology of three well-known horror stories. Anyway, I devoured it under the covers with a torch when I was supposed to be sleeping. In the book Rosemary and her husband Guy move into a historic, Gothic building in New York. The neighbours are odd to say the least. It turns out they are devil worshippers. And they want someone to give birth to a living, breathing Satan. You can well imagine the rest. Somehow, I still wanted kids when I grew up….
The Chalk Man – CJ Tudor
This was Tudor’s debut – and what a debut it was. There’s a real feeling of nostalgia in this one. It’s old school, proper chills and thrills horror. Main character Ed receives a stick of chalk and a drawing of a figure, in the post one day, and is dragged back in time, to a body, to the Chalk Man. I had learned my lesson well with this one and read it with my husband very close to me. I might still have needed the lights on though.
The Entity by Frank De Felitta
This is the super-scary tale of a young single mum, Carlotta, who is violated in her bed each night by a spectral rapist. It sounds pretty sordid but it’s cleverly written, smart, tense, and it’s more about when no one believes you – the true horror of that. In many ways, it’s a great and terrifying metaphor for when real-life assault victims aren’t believed. This is particularly disturbing because it’s inspired by real-life events. It’s an occult classic and will satisfy anyone who enjoys the paranormal.
