Fall is my favorite season, and Halloween is one of the best holidays. The return of fall TV shows, the weather change, pumpkins, caramel apples, trick or treating, horror decorations, conventions, horror movie marathons, cinnamon, barrels of apples, pies, and of course horror novel reading.
To celebrate this month in 2013, I'm doing a Hallow Reads feature, something showcasing Halloween or Horror related themes each post.
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Halloween and October is the perfect time to read horror and paranormal books. Here is a list of some of my personal favorite horror novels that work well to bring in the Halloween season. Links go to the review of the book. Some of the books without reviews remind me I really need to re-read these and slap up official reviews once and for all.
The Exorcist needs no introduction. Stranger by Simon Clark is a hidden gem. Dead Sea by Brian Keene is, in my thoughts, the best zombie horror book on the market.
Can you believe I didn't get around to reading Salem's Lot until last year? It's slower and subtle but excellent with it's fear factor and vampire lore. Edgar Allan Poe can bring in the season like not many other authors can with his short stories, poetry, and persona. The Devil in Gray is another amazing horror story from Graham Masterston you should hunt down and read.
Brainchild by Andrew Neiderman isn't scary in the usual sense. But it gets high marks for being so unusual, creative, and psychologically disturbing with its potential. IT - well, there isn't much else that can be said on how creepy this book can be. The Chosen Child is another great book from Masterston - it starts a little too slow but there's some creepy as hell parts I couldn't get out of my head.
I highly recommend any of Barker's Books of Blood novels. There are five total and I'm marking the four I own for a re-read this year during the Halloween season. Pet Sematary is without a doubt one of King's saddest and most terrifying works. Fear by Ronald Kelly combines down home southern small towns with an adult fairytale told through the eyes of a child on a voyage involving witches, monsters, racism, and secrets.
I finally read the classic Dracula last year and, while the middle lagged due to age, victorian melodrama and somewhat painful dialogue, the beginning was especially eerie (really), ending with a perfect finale. Phantoms is when Koontz does creepy rather than suspenseful, and it's a lot of cheesy fun. Neverland by Douglas Clegg is a haunting, expertly done tale I highly recommend.
