Top Ten Books To Get In The Halloween Spirit

Tuesday, October 23, 2012


**Stop by Suey's blog It's All About Books today. My review of two Markus Zusak books is up as part of her Zusak celebration week!**

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for the Top Ten Books that get you into the Halloween Spirit. I’m not a big fan of blood and gore, but I love gothic mysteries. My list is full of books that scare me silly and mess with my mind a little bit, but in a good way.

1) The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

2) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

3) The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

4) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

5) We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

6) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

7) Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

8) The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

9) The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

10) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Image from here

19 comments:

Bybee said...

Excellent list. I like The Tell-Tale Heart, too.

Anne said...

Great list! The Halloween Tree is my favorite.

Joanne said...

Great suggestions -- I've read a few but I haven't tried Shirley Jackson. I think I have The Haunting of Hill House on my kindle, so I'll give it a try soon. Thanks for the list!

Kat @ NoPageLeftBehind said...

Oooh, great list! I really enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale and The Shadow of the Wind has been on my TBR for a ridiculously long time :)

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Bybee - That's a great one!

Anne - I remember watching an animated version of that on TV when I was young.

Joanne - That one was good, but The Lottery and We Have Always Lived in the Castle are my favorites of her's!

Kat - I've been meaning to re-read The Thirteenth Tale for years now.

Anonymous said...

Rebecca is on my "to read" list, and one of the top condenders for what I read next....maybe I will! I didn't realize it was spooky, though, so it should be an interesting read!

Jessica said...

Fabulous list! Five of them made it on to my list too. I definitely need to check out your other five, since we appear to have similar Halloween tastes!

(And lovely reviews over at Suey's as well.)

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

callusedfingers - It's creepy, but it's so good! It's one of my favorites.

Jessica - Thanks Jessica! We do have so many of the same books in our lists!

B said...

I am about to start The Thirteenth Tale! I'm so excited I've heard great things. I also seriously need to read The Halloween Tree - just googled the synopsis and it sounds amazing!

Cecelia said...

Oh, great list! I have Gaiman's Coraline on mine. He just writes such spooky books - they're perfect! Thanks for sharing.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Great list; I've only read (4) of them.

Anonymous said...

Rebecca is on my list too :) Such a great, and creepy, book.

I just checked out And Then There Were None from the library. I haven't started reading it yet, though. I wish the days were longer. Or the work day was only 4 hours long :)

Here's my TTT

WVRed said...

What a great list. So many good choices. My list would have looked similar if I was not trying to stay away from my usual picks. Love your reading taste.

Jenners said...

I'm definitely going to have to revisit this post before the next RIP challenge.

Carl V. Anderson said...

Oh yeah, those are some good ones. Some really good ones!

Kristen said...

I'm too cowardly to read anything that might make for good Halloween reading but I do think that stuff that messes with you psychologically is far more effective than blood and gore. At least during the day because, of course, they all give me the same strength of nightmares at night. LOL!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Brenna - I hope you love it! It's a great gothic tale.

Cecelia - That's another great one!

quinnsbooknook - Enjoy, that's my favorite Christie!

WVRed - Thanks! I like challenging myself to get out of my reading comfort zone too.

Jenners - I've gotten some great ideas for next year's RIP from other people's lists too!

Kristen - That's true, there are great ones that are creepy, but aren't disturbing. I tend to like those.

Kristi said...

I have Shadow of the Wind, but didn't realize it would be a good Halloween Read. I'm trying to read my own books starting in November so maybe I'll pick that one up.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Kristi - It's one of my all-time favorites. I can't wait to hear your thoughts!