ME Recommends: Spooky Reads
It’s spooky season! We can’t give you advice on what to go as for Halloween, but we can offer our book recommendations for these darker nights and crisp, autumn mornings. Grab a pumpkin spice latte and get reading!
Juliet recommends…
My favourite spooky read is We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson – Merricat’s family was poisoned and she lives on her family’s house with her surviving relatives, one of whom was acquitted of the crime. Merricat performs acts of protective magic to protect her family from the growing distrust amongst the local villagers, but their family is thrown into disarray when their distant cousin arrives. The narration is hypnotic, and its atmosphere is deeply unsettling. One to make sure you’ve locked the doors when you read!
Silé recommends…
Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan. I love scary stories in small doses and this collection of dark stories, which range from chilling contemporary fairytales to disturbing supernatural fiction, delivers perfectly on that. It’s the perfect thing to read at this time of year by pumpkin spiced candlelight.
Liza recommends…
Colson Whitehead’s writing imagines The Underground Railroad as an actual railroad that brings slaves to freedom in the south of the US. I was blown away by the writing and the storyline is incredibly powerful. I also really enjoyed Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff and loved the adaptation of it this past year! It was spooky, made me jump multiple times, and is the perfect mix of horror and science fiction I love.
Kiya recommends…
Juliet got in there with the Shirley Jackson recommendation before I could, but for a more modern take on spooky I would definitely recommend Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. She’s one of my favourite writers and I loved how varied the stories in this collection are. Growing up, I was obsessed with A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, a 13-part series which follows the orphaned and extraordinary Baudelaire siblings - those books never fail to put me in a spooky, autumnal mood!