Monday 5 October 2009

Spooky reads

It is that time of the year, when Halloween is coming and the weather looks naturally spooky. It is a perfect time to read horror stories. So here is a little list of books/reading I recommend:

-Anything you can find by M.R. James. I now consider him the master of horror, over any modern or ancient author. he is brilliant in depicting the supernatural emerging from mundane life. I particularly recommend Canon Alberic's Scrapbook, Count Magnus and Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad.
-The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories. Again, you will find great reads there. I blogged about it before. It has a few famous and less famous authors, and lesser known works from famous authors. If like me you suffer from musophobia, I recommend The Judge's House by Bram Stoker, which also shows what I think is a prototype of Dracula. And there are many other great stories, like The Phantom Coach, The Upper Berth, Man-Size in Marble (which is actually set on Halloween night). The Red Room (H.G. Wells wrote this one, proving that he did not only master sci-fi), A Story of Don Juan (not the scariest, but a fascinating twist on the mythical character) and so many others.
-This book. If you can read French, read it. It can accompany you all year round.
-The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories. Pretty complete anthology. It has some old classics (bits of Varney, the complete Carmilla) and some forgotten little gems, like School for the Unspeakable.

1 comment:

The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch said...

Thank you so much for sharing your list with us Guilluame! I'll have to print this out to take with me to the bookstore next time I go. They sound like great additions to the ole' Hallowe'en reading list.

We touched down in New England this morning at 10:40...hooray! I did make it after all. Just a few days late. We changed the dates by afew days and are currently in Salem. If our schedule pemits, we may still head up to Montreal as well. Thanks again for the info.