Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday: Books To Get In The Halloween Spirit

In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1)Happy Top Ten Tuesday! We are always happy to participate in TTT, hosted by the book- and list-loving The Broke and the Bookish. This TTT is dedicated to spooky reads that get you in the mood for Halloween. As you know  I am an ENORMOUS WIMP, but Goosie Mama loves this stuff.  This list is low on YA in part because my roommate is the person who recommends scary books to me and she does not share the love of YA. What creepy reads made your list?


Grad Student:
    The Little Stranger
  1. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. A truly terrifying haunting tale that sticks with you. If you have read this and you know about the garden scene and the bite marks; SWEET JESUS I WAS SO SCARED.
  2. Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama (Review to come soon) This read was far more of a spook-fest than I expected.
  3. Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake. These are some seriously creepy ghosts.
  4. Any book by Tana French, but In the Woods in particular. "As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours." Seriously. 
Bonechiller
Crazy Camper:
  1. Bonechiller by Graham McNamee. There is some sort of monster haunting a Canadian teenage boy in the winter.... who ever knew Canada could be so scary.
Goosie Mama:
    The Graveyard Book
  1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. A happy, bittersweet sort of spooky and a fantastic sort of story. I will re-read this book in a few years it was so lovely.
  2. The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. I read this because it was on NPR's list of guilty pleasures and I kid you not, I slept with the lights on for the week. I was 26 and a half at the time.
  3. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. A darkly entertaining, creepy-funny read. Will I see the movie? Prob not.
  4. Any of The Body Finder series by Kimberly Derting. I see dead people? Always spooky!
  5. Grad Student (yes, we're calling each other these nicknames in casual conversations now) - I think I've relayed this story to you before, but my dad knows I love ghost stories and for every Christmas I can remember has given me some sort of "true ghost stories" or hauntings book. A casual glance at my bookshelf includes such titles as: Ghosts of Manhattan, Ghosts of the Northeast (you're welcome), and True Haunting. None of these last books are particular terrifying, (or of the YAF genre) but might give you a quick chill on those crisp fall nights.
See our reviews of Anna Dressed in BloodThe Body Finder and Desires of the Dead! Boo!

9 comments:

  1. GM I LOVED the Graveyard book, too! I wanted to give it to boyfriend's nephew for his birthday last year, but boyfriend was all "how about we don't give books that start with mass murder of mom and dad as presents to 8 year olds in my family?"

    I still maintain it would have gone over well!

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    1. Totally agree with you, it's a GREAT read! And, let's be real, it's never too young to learn how to escape serial killer! :)

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  2. Nice list, but Anna Dressed In Blood didn't creep me out at all! The Amityville Horror on the other hand...

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  3. I literally just got Into the Woods about 2 weeks ago. I can't wait to read it!

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  4. Great picks. ladies! I, of course, have to add a few childhood favourites to my list like: Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, Bunnicula and the Fear Street series. Also some classics like Dracula and Frankenstein.

    Have you tried reading any of Ted Dekker's books? The Bride Collector and The Boneman's Daughter were really creepy!

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  5. The Little Stranger made my list too - I like how it starts off relatively normal, and the horror just builds up gradually, until you realise just how creepy things have become... Great list!

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  6. Kudos to y'all for being the first list I've seen with Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. That made me happy. And generally entertained!

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  7. Goosie Mama - I wish I had remembered to include The Body Finder on my TTT post. I loved that book, and it would make a great Halloween read. I've only read the first one, though. I want to read the rest in the series, but am not sure when I will get to it.

    Thanks for sharing :)

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