With Halloween around the corner, these spooky stories are sure to give you chills in the best way possible. Here are 7 horror books to read now!
FLEDGLING By Octavia E. Butler
FLEDGLING was Octavia Butler’s final novel before her death in 2006 – a piece of fiction that claims its own lane entirely.
Shori is a fifty-three year old Ina vampire with the appearance of a young girl. Bloodied and bruised with no memory of how she came to be this way, she comes across a human – a construction worker named Wright, and connects further with him due to his addictive scent.
The story progresses with Shori attracting more human symbionts and her and Wright discovering more clues of her past and who she really is while simultaneously realizing who not only is still after her but who desires to end her lineage and species completely.
CORALINE By Neil Gaiman
Don’t underestimate this story as a mere children’s tale – Neil Gaiman’s CORALINE can be enjoyed by all spooky enthusiasts on a worldwide scale and regardless of age group.
Eleven-year-old Coraline Jones hates her life. With her seemingly dissatisfied and workaholic parents moving to a new home, she’s forced to leave behind everything she knows and start over. While getting acquainted with her new living space she discovers a tiny secret door that unlocks an expansive parallel world for her and shows possibilities she could never imagine. CORALINE is a story about appreciating what you have and facing your inner demons.
THE CHANGELING By Victor LaValle
Apollo Kagwa is the main character of THE CHANGELING – a new father with unusual dreams and a wife, Emma, who suddenly exhibits odd behaviors.
Before completely vanishing , Emma does something unspeakable – a truthfully common thought many people have when dealing with postpartum symptoms. Apollo then goes on a perilous and mind-tripping journey to find his wife again and try to regain a sense of normalcy when it seems everything around him is purely hellish.
MEXICAN GOTHIC By Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Set in 1950’s Mexico, Noemi Taboada travels to a remote house in the countryside called High Place after getting a concerning message about her newly-married cousin. When she arrives, she meets Virgil Doyle, her cousin’s English husband, who also seems to have a covertly menacing yet highly attractive demeanor.
Aside from dealing with him, she begins to notice odd happenings within the house as well as discover the real history of High House and its unforgivable secrets. Noemi must find the strength to overcome all evil that High House possesses and come out on the other side relatively unscathed.
THE SHINING By Stephen King
Stephen King is known as a master in his field of written horror, and THE SHINING is surely no exception. In fact, is regarded as one of the best horror stories of all time.
Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer who needs much focus to complete his work, agrees to be caretaker for the Overlook Hotel over the course of the winter season and brings his wife Wendy and son Danny to stay with him. As time passes, the ominous influence of the hotel and the history behind it start to peel away at Jack, shifting him from a loving father and husband to someone utterly unrecognizable.
Aside from this, the influence turns his young son into a foreseer of potentially horrific events set to take place if something isn’t quickly done to stop them.
THE TAKING OF JAKE LIVINGSTON By Ryan Douglass
Ryan Douglass’ fascinating debut must be picked up by all readers – not only in spooky season, but year-round.
Sixteen-year old Jake Livingston is a medium who not only carries the awful ability to continually see a person’s final moments before their departure into the spirit realm, but struggles with day-to-day microaggressions at his prep school as one of the few Black and queer students attending.
When one particular spirit, the ghost of a school shooter named Sawyer Doon seems to be out for revenge, the problems pile on and Jake must find a way to fight back or be consumed by Sawyer’s engulfing energy of pure wrath and hatred.
DRACULA By Bram Stoker
Ending this list with one of the ultimate Halloween classics is a huge yes! A foundation – among others – for vampire-based fiction, Bram Stoker’s DRACULA keeps readers hooked from the first page.
Written as a series of letters, news articles, telegrams and journal entries, the storyline begins with a young lawyer named Jonathan Harker who travels to Transylvania, Romania for business. Though he starts off the adventure of discovering that Count Dracula is a blood-thirsty vampire, he is hardly alone as other characters have a turn in the spotlight. DRACULA is unique in the sense that instead of being written like a commonly-formatted novel, it is done in epistolary form.
Conclusion
You can’t go wrong with these titles, guaranteed. Enjoy Halloween the right way with a costume, some candy, a beverage of your choice and a copy of one of these superb horror knockouts!