If you’re having a moment of double checking your calendar to confirm that it is, in fact, August, I’ve got some news for you. I celebrate Halloween for eleven months straight with a one-month break in between for Christmas, and this post is actually coming pretty late because I’ve been highkey stressing about this since about June.
I have no idea what to do for Halloween this year. To add insult to injury, too, I have next to no books to read for Halloween. I am legitimately going to lose my mind.
The books, I can probably take care of. However, I’m going to use this post to do a few things. It’s considerably shorter than most of my Wednesday discussion or review posts, but desperate times call for desperate measures! I need your horror recommendations. I’m a big fan of Joe Hill and Madeleine Roux, but that’s about where my knowledge of the spooky ends. I don’t read a ton of horror because most of it wigs me out, which also makes no sense because I’ll shut off all the lights specifically to watch a horror movie and scare myself half to death, so I really want to branch out this year.
What are your favorite horror books?
Come one, come all, I need some help! I am planning on rereading the House of Furies trilogy because it’s just so damn amazing. I’m also going to get myself a copy of Mexican Gothic, though I may have to wait to buy it because I’ll probably read it as soon as it’s within my grasp. I’d love another classic since I read Dracula last year and Frankenstein the year before (don’t Dorian Gray me, I’ve read everything Wilde I can get my hands on). But I’ve honestly only got, like, a page and a half on my Goodreads of horror books, about one of which I actually own. So, please, recommend away!
I’m also curious what you’d like to see on the blog for Halloween, though. Last year, I did a virtual tour around Salem, noting all of my favorite businesses, restaurants, and cafés. I also did character spotlights and short stories of all my spooky people and ideas, as well as did TTT topics for books overall, scary movies, non-scary, but still spooky movies, and spooky music overall and soundtracks. Obviously, I don’t want to do a repeat of last year, so I’ve been brewing up some new ones.
I’m thinking about doing an entire Paranormal Activity rewatch because it’s one of my favorites, even if it is dumb, and reviewing the whole thing. Maybe discuss why found footage films are so damn good and scary. Chat about witchy stuff! You can see I’m kind of pulling at strings here, and so, I ask of you, from your humble spooky neighborhood witch,
What Halloween posts are you craving?
I know, I know, it feels like it’s a million days away, but, truly, it’s only a little over two months, and I gotta start planning these things now. Last year, I had my Halloween TBR already scheduled in July! I appreciate any and all help you’ve got to give, even if it’s just a quick “read a Stephen King and stop panicking about stupid things ya dumbass” comment. Though, fair warning, I already have a Stephen King on my TBR.
I beseech thee! What terrors of the night do you love and want to see more of?
Ohhhhhh, I should totally do a review comparing the different Addams family adaptations!
I don’t read much horror (and Stephen King not at all), but here are some horror novels I’m thinking of reading in October, and some I’ve already read:
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (a Victorian vampire story that inspired Bram Stoker)
Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys (A woman’s take on Lovecratft)
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle (A Black man’s take on Lovecraft)
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Taaqtumi- A Collection of Arctic Horror
I go in for more gothic novels, so here are some:
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman
And glancing at my shelves, I see C.S. Friedman’s Coldfire trilogy, which is a fantastic dark fantasy trilogy: When True Night Falls, Black Sun Rising, and Crown of Shadows.
And you must watch Only Lovers Left Alive directed by Jim Jarmusch, if you haven’t already. And I need to watch What We Do in the Shadows directed by Taika Waititi.
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Oh my gosh, thank you SO MUCH for these recs! I’m checking them all out now to see what might work for me. I’ve got The Haunting on Hill House on my list for a classic, but I’ve never heard of any of these others.
YES! Thankfully, there’s a ton of movies I can watch, and both of those are on my list of hopefuls.
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You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy them! The Ballad of Black Tom is especially amazing.
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I just thought of something else! Penny Dreadful! The Showtime series starring Eva Green. It’s a mashup of all sorts of Victorian gothic things and poetry and it’s melodramatic and one of my favorite things ever!
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I’ve been eyeing that lately! I keep seeing ads for the spin-off, if that’s what it is, and I love Eva Green, so figured I’d give the original a try.
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City of Angels is a spin-off of sorts. Apparently, John Logan meant for the franchise to be a sort of anthology. I prefer the original in part because I prefer the Victorian gothic mode to the film noir mode of City of Angels.
Give it a shot! It’s fantastic!
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I recently read Her Body and Other Parties, which is kind a literary-horror short story collection that is very weird and very good, and I would definitely recommend it!
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Ooh, thank you! I’ll definitely add that to the list!
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I 100% support your Halloween obsession.
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It’s the best holiday ever!
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I loved your tour of Salem! I also love Halloween, my birthday is a week before so it’s always been my favorite holiday. Not sure what I’d like to see on the blog but I think there’s someone who runs a ‘spook-tober’ event or something? I’ve been saving up some horror stuff and thinking about joining in for that but it also depends on my mood come October hah.
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Oh, thank you! I had so much fun putting it together. Oh, I’ll have to see if I can find that. I keep compiling reviews that I want to write, so it may just end up being a review heavy month? At least it’s something!
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Paranormal Activity scared the shit outta me when it came out. Oh my gosh! I don’t get on well with found footage films… but would love a post on them and on the Addams Family adaptations too. Good ideas.
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Same! They usually terrify me more than other types of horror, but they’re still my favorite, haha!
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I just bought: ‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism,’ on Kindle, check it out. As far as Halloween stuff I’m having a challenging time generating thoughts about my favorite time of year myself. This past weekend I watched ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 3 Dream Warriors.’ So, I would like to see a blog on your favorite 80’s horror movie. T
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Thank you for the recs!
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My fiance said, that when it comes to Halloween, everything is on the table. He hopes to build his Halloween train setup this year. Great post.
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