Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday (#7): Books to Get in the Halloween Spirit

I have not read ten books that fit this week's theme sponsored by the Broke and the Bookish, so I'm going to get a little creative here. First, a few I have read and can personally recommend:


The Woman in Black (Movie Tie-in Edition): A Ghost Story   Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story   The Hollow

The Thirteenth Tale   Historic Haunted America

1. The Woman in Black, Susan Hill -- A very creepy, well-written ghost story. I think in honor of Halloween I should finally watch the movie -- I really think it would translate fabulously as a horror flick!

2. Wait Til Helen Comes, by Mary Downing Hahn -- I loved this book as a kid. It's been years since I read it, but I remember it being supremely eerie and creepy and I think it would be absolutely perfect for this time of year

3. The Hollow trilogy, by Jessica Verday -- These books are not scary, but I still think the combination of ghosts, graveyards, and a setting in Sleepy Hollow make this a perfect October read.

4. The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield -- This was one creepy, gothic read. It's not your typical horror book, but still great for Halloween

5. Historic Haunted America, by Michael Norman & Beth Scott -- I confess I've only read a handful of stories in this collection, but they really are perfect for this time of year. If this is your kind of thing, there are many other "Haunted" books by these same authors, each focusing on a different theme or area.


Rebecca   The Complete Tales and Poems   Dracula in Love
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde   Graveminder


I'm going to finish this off with a few from my To-Read list and ones I've seen around the blogs today that I can't personally recommend from experience, but think would also fit the Halloween theme.

1. Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier -- a creepy, gothic classic that I can't believe I haven't read yet and need to read soon!

2. Anything by Edgar Allan Poe -- I don't think this needs any explanation. I've read a few short stories in the past and pretty much everything Poe has written is perfect for Halloween.

3. Dracula in Love, by Karen Essex -- I've seen a lot of recommendations for Bram Stoker's Dracula, but I won't personally recommend it. I read it last year and just did not care for it. If it's a book you're interested in, this is definitely a good time of the year to give it a try, but despite it's status as a classic, I just could not talk myself into liking it. However, I'm really interested to see what this spin-off novel will be like and I feel I have a good foundation by having read the original, even though I didn't like it.

4. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson -- Here's another classic that has fallen through the cracks for me that I really should remedy soon.

5. Graveminder, by Melissa Marr -- I was so excited for this creepy looking book to come out, but then it got pushed to the back of the bookshelf somehow. I should bump this higher on the to-read list.

8 comments:

  1. Rebecca is a perfect choice--I totally forgot about that one! And I should read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, too. Good list. :)

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  2. Great list! A number of the books you mentioned made it on my list too for this week ;) I would've added The Thirteenth Tale but I totally forgot how the story went so I figured not ;)

    Here's my TTT for this week

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  3. Love Rebecca and love the Thirteenth Tale! And I don't even like scary! Great picks!

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  4. We just got the Woman in Black from Netflix. Glad you've got Edgar Allen Poe on your list. I didn't think of him because it's been so long since I've read any of his work.

    Check out my TTT.

    Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know

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  5. Thanks everyone for stopping by :) Looking forward to checking out your lists!

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  6. AHHHH, The Woman in Black. Of course I plan on seeing the movie...eventually. It's freaking Harry Potter. But I may have to read the book first, now that a) I know it's a book and b) books are better than movies. Plus, I always love a good ghost story. You know, if I can read it during the day when everyone's awake and lights are on and what not.

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    1. Yea, reading a scary book at night by yourself is the perfect recipe for nightmares and freaking yourself out! I think the book is ALWAYS better than the movie -- and this one is short so it's a super-fast read -- you could easily read it before watching the movie :)

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  7. There are some books on your list that I have read and some that are on my TBR list.
    If you enjoyed The Woman in Black, definitely watch the film! It is amazing! I was a bit dubious about watching it seen as The Woman in Black is one of my favourite books, but I loved the film adaptation!

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I'd love to hear what you think :)