Anne’s Book Club 03

Halloween is my favorite holiday. As a tiny human, “I cut my teeth on horror books in the darkness” (sung to Lorde’s Royals). There’s something visceral and vitally important about being scared. And what better way to do it than under your covers with a flashlight in one hand and a good book in the other?

In honor of the season, and to get you in the spirit, here are five books perfect for nighttime reading (listed in the order of publication):

1. Pet Sematary by Stephen King
   Amazon description:

   “Sometimes dead is better….”

   When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: physician father, beautiful wife, charming little daughter, adorable infant son — and now an idyllic home.

   As a family, they’ve got it all…right down to the friendly cat. But the nearby woods hide a blood-chilling truth — more terrifying than death itself…and hideously more powerful.

   I read this when I was 9 or 10. It made my heart beat a million miles a second. And I loved that feeling of uncontrollable fear! We watched the movie at a Halloween party and screamed our heads off. I’m sure the neighbors loved us. It’s a classic horror story that sticks with you long after the last page.

2. Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
   Amazon description:

   Twelve-year-old Molly and her ten-year-old brother, Michael, have never liked their seven-year-old stepsister, Heather. Ever since their parents got married, she’s made Molly and Michael’s life miserable. Now their parents have moved them all to the country to live in a house that used to be a church, with a cemetery in the backyard. If that’s not bad enough, Heather starts talking to a ghost named Helen and warning Molly and Michael that Helen is coming for them. Molly feels certain Heather is in some kind of danger, but every time she tries to help, Heather twists things around to get her into trouble. It seems as if things can’t get any worse.

   But they do — when Helen comes.

   I got this book from a library sale in my preteen years. The cover is what caught my eye. I loved this story as a kid, so when I read it a couple years to see if it held up, I was happily in love again. I hold all ghost stories against this one, my first.

3. Goosebumps by R. L. Stine
   Amazon description:

   Discover the original bone-chilling adventures that made Goosebumps one of the bestselling children’s book series of all time!

   Something scary is happening in GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND, the all-new, all-terrifying series by R. L. Stine. Just how scary? You’ll never know unless you crack open this classic prequel!

   Discover the fan-favorite thriller and chiller that first introduced the world to the wooden face of fear. The puppet who pulls all the strings. None other than Slappy the Dummy!

   My brother devoured these books. Each book is a new story with a new monster. R. L. Stine has often been called the Stephen King of Children’s Literature — and with good reason. They make the perfect gift for a younger reader.

4. The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
   Amazon description:

   Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

   Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate’s baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

   Creepy town. Captivating characters. Chapter Eleven Human Love is my most favorite chapter in any book I’ve read in a long time. IMO, it’s the heart of the novel, and it’s the heart of what makes love simple and complicated and perfectly human.

5. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
   Amazon description:

   You stop fearing the Devil when you’re holding his hand…Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery…who makes you want to kiss back. Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

   Gothic setting. An attic full of possibilities. Old movies. A cemetery filled with children hunting vampires. And a thrilling mystery that unfolds as darkly as a stain of blood on a crisp white shirt.

What are some of your favorite horror novels?

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HAPPY CIMMERWEEN!

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Return here tomorrow to read four new stories to celebrate Cimmerween!