The 2016 Great Halloween Read

Welcome to the 2016 Halloween Read! Instead of selecting specific titles this year, I've selected ten categories to choose from and have posted examples of books that could fit in them. The categories are broad and books may easily fit into multiple categories. As always, feel free to share with us what you are reading and to make suggestions for others.

Happy reading!

Dusty Tomes: The Classics

Don't be limited by age: many books written in the past few decades have achieved "classic" status among readers.

Examples:
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
The Shining by Stephen King

Arcane Languages: Foreign Language/Translations

The goal here is to read books that were written in a language other than your mother tongue, whether in the original or in translation. Selections will, of course, vary by reader.

Examples:
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Tongue by Kyung-Ran Jo
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Creature Feature: Monsters

This category is self-explanatory, isn't it?

Examples:
Beowulf
The Color Out of Space by H. P. Lovecraft
Phantoms by Dean Koontz
The Mummy by Anne Rice
The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey

Graphic Violence: Graphic Novels/Comics

Another category that doesn't really need an explanation.

Examples:
Alan Moore's The Courtyard by Alan Moore
The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman
Hellblazer
Preacher by Garth Ennis
Grendel: Devil by the Deed by Matt Wagner
Amphigorey by Edward Gorey

Trick-or-Treating with the Kids: YA and Children's Books

This category encompasses everything from blood-drenched dystopian novels to that picture book with the name I can't remember about a witch who wasn't very good at magic I read when I was little.

Examples:
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
Bunnicula by Deborah Howe and James Howe
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Psycho Killers: Serial Killers and Murder Mysteries

A category for anything from Golden Age murder mysteries to gruesome splatterpunk. Basically any book with a murder could fit here.

Examples:
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Screams of Laughter: Comedies

Sometimes we just need a good laugh to chase away the dark.

Examples:
Welcome to Night Vale or Mostly Void, Partially Stars by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

True Tales of Horror: Non-Fiction

I usually find truth to be scarier than fiction.

Examples:
The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson (I know its veracity is dubious, but it still gets shelved as non-fiction)
Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC by Joseph B. McCormick and Susan Fisher-Hoch
Death in the Pot: The Impact of Food Poisoning on History by Morton Satin
Possessed by Thomas B. Allen
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich (this is the only book I've ever found too disturbing to finish)

Creepy Houses with Mad Women in the Attic: Gothic Novels

The Guardian has a handy guide on how to identify a gothic novel. Classic English stories and Southern Gothic are all welcome.

Examples:
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite
A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice

Two-for-One Sale: Fits Another Group Read/Challenge

We have a lot of group reads and challenges going on this year so why not kill two birds with one stone?

Examples:
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (for the British Author Challenge)
The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker (Doorstop Challenge)
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (Non-Fiction Challenge's Science/Technology/Medicine category)

Good morning! This looks like fun. I'm not sure I'll manage to fit all the categories, but a few are sure-fire hits.

Nice categories! Now I need to start lining things up.

I'll check off a few of those categories come October.

I plan to take on some of your great categories with:

Dusty Tomes: The Classics: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Arcane Languages: Foreign Language/Translations: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Creature Feature: Monsters: Beowulf

Creepy Houses with Mad Women in the Attic: Gothic Novels: The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Two-for-One Sale: Fits Another Group Read/Challenge: The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill

I think that will do it for the above listed categories and then I think I will throw in The Pit and the Pendulum just because I love Poe so much and for my Virago read: Daphne du Maurier's The Birds & Other Stories.

Thank you for setting this up, Amanda. It should be great fun!

>12 tymfos: I doubt I'll be able to get to every category either!

>13 drneutron: Thanks! I haven't really decided what I'll be reading yet, but I'm sure my bookshelves will provide.

>14 Nickelini: Welcome!

>15 rainpebble: You've chosen some great ones! The Haunting of Hill House is a particular favorite of mine.

I just saw that an adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray from BBC Radio 3 is available for the next few weeks.

I'm currently reading a very fun book, The Gates, about some villagers fighting demons when the gates of Hell are opened by some bored couples.

Thank you! This looks like great fun.

>18 mstrust: That does sound like fun! I'll have to see if I can get it from the library.

ETA: It is The Gates by John Connolly, right? The touchstone is going to Sense and Sensibility for some bizarre reason.

>19 billiejean: Welcome!

I got The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub from Overdrive last night. Plus The North Water - the one Mark's been warbling about. I'll start that in a few minutes over lunch.

>20 amanda4242: yes, it's the Connolly. I fixed it once when the Austen touchstone came up for me too.

>1 amanda4242: What a great job of setting this up! Thank you!

I'm reading one of my not-quite-completed books for last month's series and sequels and visiting Dr Siri in Anarchy and Old Dogs. I guess that puts in Psycho Killers: Serial Killers and Murder Mysteries. Although with Dr Siri there are usually a few ghosts and a 10,0000 year old shaman that make appearances.

I hope also to read Possession this month and got a nice strong book bullet for James Thurber's The Thirteen Clocks, which I've requested from the library.

>23 streamsong: Just looked at The Thirteen Clocks...I think I may have been hit by a ricochet!

I've started my own reading with The Stand. I'm about half way through and while I'm enjoying the story and find most of the characters interesting, I just can't warm up to King's writing style.

I have just completed my first read for this challenge: Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables, a 5* read for me. I love this book!

I've finished The Stand and am left wondering why people like it so much. The first two-thirds were pretty compelling, although kind of long-winded, but wtf is up with that climax?! What difference did having Stu, Larry, Glen, and Ralph go to Vegas make? Trash would still have blown-up the city even if the four of them were safely back in Boulder...and it certainly didn't matter that the residents had gathered for Larry's and Ralph's executions because Trash brought back a freakin' nuke!

Although I thought most of the major characters were pretty interesting, only a couple of them underwent any sort of personal growth; for the most part, everyone was the same sort of person at the end of the book as they were at the start. Urg...I could go on about the lack of critical thinking skills in the citizens of the Free Zone and how the women were constantly deferring to the men, but it's late and I don't have the energy for a really good rant.

>26 amanda4242: The Stand was my favourite book around 1982. I read it twice and just loved the adventure and world building. Sorry, I can't begin to answer your questions, it's just been too long. I'm wondering if you read the original version or the later-published unedited author's cut (not that it would change the points you brought up). I later read the un-edited version, and it was a huge disappointment. The editor was absolutely right, and all those changes improved the story. It seems that it's the unedited version is the one available these days, and that's too bad. It's just bloated and muddled.

>27 Nickelini: I read the unedited version, which probably contributed to my dissatisfaction. Totally agree about the adventure and world building; I think those are the book's greatest strengths.

I had The Stand packed up for our Winter trip to Az & upon the above comments decided to pull it. It is the unedited edition.

On the drive to my dental appointment yesterday (a 2 hour round trip) I read Bram Stoker's short story Dracula's Guest & thought it quite wonderful for a short of the genre. In fact, a 5* read for me. I loved Stoker's visual writing in this one which left this reader's head totally involved in the story. I think it better than his Dracula.

>29 rainpebble: Glad to see a good review of Dracula's Guest as I've just gotten a large book of short horror stories and that one is included, along with another of Stoker's, The Judge's House, that I'm looking forward to.
I've read one from Washington Irving that I'd never heard of called The Devil and Tom Walker.

I like the categories....not sure if I'll get to anything creepy this month, but I do have a couple of good candidates hanging around if I decide to.

Country Living magazine has a list of 40 Scariest Books of the Last 200 Years. I've read quite a few of them:

http://www.countryliving.com/life/a40106/40-scariest-books-of-the-last-200-years...

I finished my first Halloween read. Haunted Roads of Western Pennsylvania is an exploration of some spooky folk tales. The authors are scholars of folklore, so this turned out to be more scholarly and less spooky, as the authors analyzed the legends -- their sources and social significance. Still, some creepy tales. I guess this falls into sort of the true tales of terror department.

I'm currently reading The Shadow of the Wind, which definitely has some gothic elements.

>31 laytonwoman3rd: Welcome!

>32 tymfos: I've read not quite half of the list. I wonder why they put Nightmare Abbey on there: it's a satire of gothic novels and isn't the slightest bit scary.

just started The Night Boat by Robert McCammon. He's never let me down, and so far this one is pretty good.

I've finished The North Water - aka Whaling With A Psychopath. Really good!

With just over a week until Halloween, I was wondering how everyone was doing.

I've managed to read selections from four categories, which is far better than I thought I would do.

categories completed:

•Two-for-one: The Stand by Stephen King

I'm using this one in the Doorstop challenge. My thoughts on it are in >26 amanda4242:.

•YA: The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

The lovely illustrations by Marc Simont are great, but I was expecting the story to be a lot more than a pretty generic fairy tale.

•Comedies: The Gates by John Connolly

It's kind of like if Douglas Adams had written Good Omens. Although it's totally appropriate for kids, there are so many references that only adults will get: the main character is named Samuel Johnson and his dog Boswell; other characters are named after philosophers and physicists; and there are streets called Crowley, Poe, and Derleth. Thanks @mstrust for the recommendation!

•Classics: Charles Keeping's Book of Classic Ghost Stories

Almost all of the eight stories collected are from the 19th century so they seem very tame to my modern eyes, with the exception of Poe's truly gruesome The Black Cat. Despite not finding the stories particularly chilling, they are very well-written and deserve the "classic" title.

Not doing too well with this challenge. I wanted to read The Natural Way of Things because I was meeting the author this past week, and I hoped it would fit one of the categories. Although the book is about horrific and scary events, it's not at all Halloweeny, so no match. Now I'm reading the retelling of Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid, and so far it's not matching either, although I hope by the end I can find something Gothic in it.

I don't think The Natural Way of Things fits a category, but your review makes me want to pick up a copy. The original Northanger Abbey is a satire of Gothic novels so I would think a retelling of it would fit under either the Gothic or Comedy category.

>37 amanda4242: I'm glad you liked The Gates too!
I've read several from John Bellairs over the past weeks. I'm currently finishing up Stories of the Supernatural, a collection of stories chosen by Dorothy L. Sayers which has some good, creepy ones, and I'm a few chapters into Graveminder. I expect to pick up Hollow City after that.

>40 mstrust: I read Bellairs' The House With a Clock In Its Walls last year and really enjoyed it.

Bellairs' scariest book is his only adult book, A Face in the Frost. Highly recommended.

I read Simak's The Goblin Reservation for my Halloween vibe read this year--lots of fun.

I'm doing a bit better than I was. I held my nose and squinted and put Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid in my Gothic category--a poor match, but I'll take it. Then I read Vampires and Other Monstrous Creatures for the non-fiction. It's a fun book. Now I'm reading I'm Not Scared for the foreign language category.

I just finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Definitely fits in the Gothic category! A fine book.

I stuck with & had fun with the more widely known Halloween staples:
THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES; (5*)
DRACULA'S GUEST; (5*)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; (4*)
The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story; (3 1/2*)
UNCLE SILAS: A TALE OF BARTRAM-HAUGH; (5*)
The Raven; (with criticisms); (4*)
JANE EYRE; (5*)
And Then There Were None; (4*) and lastly
Carmilla: a Vampyre Tale; (4*)

Who knew that creepy, gothic & horror tales could be such excellent reading!?! I didn't, even though I have read most of these prior to this reading. But when I read so many in one month I had to look back and say: 'Self, that was some really good stuff!'

Many thanks to Amanda for hosting this challenge and to the rest of you for sharing & for your recs. I really enjoyed this. :-)

>45 rainpebble: That's a really good list!
I started The House of the Seven Gables several years ago and have yet to finish it. I really like Hawthorne's story Young Goodman Brown, which is also a good Halloween read. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of my favorites. I liked The Woman in Black a lot, thought it was so spooky. My sister didn't think it was scary at all.
I still have one or two readings to finish before I'll wrap up my Halloween reads. And I need to decorate the front porch.

I only finished two halloween reads:

Slash and Burn, Colin Cotterill.
Most of the books in this series have more of a supernatural element. This one less so, but still part of Dr. Siri's personae. That part always creeps me out.

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson.
Can't believe it's taken me so long to get to this classic. Scary, but not bad enough to keep me from it.

Okay, throwing in my cards here. This is what I got:

1. Dusty Tomes: The Classics
2. Arcane Languages: Foreign Language/Translations - I'm Not Scared, Niccolo Ammaniti
3. Creature Feature: Monsters -- see 10, below
4. Graphic Violence: Graphic Novels/Comics - Not graphic or comic, but an illustrated novel, which I prefer over the previous two choices: A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness
5. Trick-or-Treating with the Kids: YA and Children's Books -- see 10, below
6. Psycho Killers: Serial Killers and Murder Mysteries
7. Screams of Laughter: Comedies
8. True Tales of Horror: Non-Fiction -- Vampires and Monstrous Creatures, Julius Pemberton-Smythe
9. Creepy Houses with Mad Women in the Attic: Gothic Novels --Northanger Abbey, Val McDermid
10. Two-for-One Sale: Fits Another Group Read/Challenge: A Monster Calls fits numbers 2, 3, and 5, above

Now, other than the Vampires and Monstrous Creatures book, none of these are very "Halloweeny." But I read books for this all month, and these are the ones that I could even pretend fit a category. So I'm taking my points and going home. It was fun trying, and I'll meet everyone back here next year! Looking forward to a "Ghost" category, hint, hint.

Happy Halloween, everyone. For the first year in 20, I'm skipping actual Trick or Treats, carving pumpkins, etc. Life changes.

>48 Nickelini: Looking forward to a "Ghost" category, hint, hint.

I'm glad you mentioned that because I was wondering if I should continue with the categories again if I do next year's Halloween thread. I'd love to hear what people liked or disliked and any suggestions for improvements or different categories.

I managed to work in a graphic novel before the end of the month, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Wild Card. The story was pretty good--someone is trying to upset the delicate peace between Chicago's police force, mob boss, and supernatural community and it's up to Harry Dresden to keep a war from erupting--but the art wasn't great: it was sometimes hard to tell which character was which.

Thank you all for joining in this year. I've really enjoyed reading your comments and discovering new books through your recommendations.

Oh, I almost didn't think of it -- Shadow of the Wind was originally written in Spanish, so it fits into the language category, too! (I had already designated it as Gothic.)

Thanks for hosting this thread, Amanda!