Boo! Spooky season is just around the corner and it's always fun to scare oneself with a frighteningly good book. Whether tucked away under the covers or telling ghost stories with friends (I'm looking at you, Mary Shelley), here are five mystery/thriller/horror books to enjoy this Halloween.
1. Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
Look! A riddle! Time for fun! / Should we use a rope or gun? / Knives are sharp and gleam so pretty / Poison’s slow, which is a pity / Fire is festive, drowning’s slow / Hanging’s a ropy way to go / A broken head, a nasty fall / A car colliding with a wall / Bombs make a very jolly noise / Such ways to punish naughty boys! / What shall we use? We can’t decide. / Just like you cannot run or hide. / Ha ha.
Truly,
Devious
Synopsis: Years after the tragic kidnapping of Albert Ellingham’s family and a threatening letter from Truly Devious, Ellingham Academy is opening its doors once again to students. In these halls, students are encouraged to become experts in different subjects: Stevie Bell, first-year student, decides to become an expert on the Ellingham cold case. Can she solve it? What will happen when Truly Devious seems to strike again?
I read this book last autumn and was so enraptured with it that I finished the series within a week. It was very easy to read and really brought out my curiosity to try to solve the case before Stevie (spoiler: I didn’t). The book jumps between the past and the present, depicting the day and aftermath of Alice and Iris Ellingham’s disappearance. Piece together clues and bring out your inner-Sherlock Holmes to solve this fun murder mystery! If you like the first of the series, don’t forget to read the others!
2. Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
For some nights I slept profoundly; but still every morning I felt the same lassitude, and a languor weighed upon me all day. I felt myself a changed girl. A strange melancholy was stealing over me, a melancholy that I would not have interrupted. Dim thoughts of death began to open, and an idea that I was slowly sinking took gentle, and, somehow, not unwelcome possession of me. If it was sad, the tone of mind which this induced was also sweet. Whatever it might be, my soul acquiesced in it.
Synopsis: “Isolated in a remote mansion in a central European forest, Laura longs for companionship until a carriage accident brings another young woman into her life: the secretive and sometimes erratic Carmilla. As Carmilla's actions become more puzzling and volatile, Laura develops bizarre symptoms, and as her health goes into decline, Laura and her father discover something monstrous.” - RCL catalog
Written 26 years before Dracula, Carmilla is the OG vampire novel. Not only that, but we also have queer representation, making this novel way ahead of its time. I'm also a huge fan of unreliable narrators, and as Laura's mental and physical state deteriorates, we are unsure what is reliable and what is not. Read this classic in print at RCL or online!
3. Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
Bell's mother told her about monsters. She told her of the man-shaped thing that lurked in the cellar of her childhood home. How its bone-white face, with its piano key teeth and burnt-out eyes, would peer up from the bottom of the steps. “The adults never heard a sound though, and never spoke of the creature's sweet, wet voice.”
Synopsis: This graphic novel is split into five stories, each one thoroughly spooky and macabre. As the back cover states, “Come, take a walk in the woods, and see what awaits YOU there.”
I love a good graphic novel, and this is no exception! Wonderfully illustrated, these skin-crawling stories kept me captivated until the last page. I think my favorite story was "A Lady's Hands are Cold" because it reminded me of a mix between Jane Eyre and The Tell Tale Heart, but every story is so intriguing and mysterious. I wonder what your favorite will be?
4. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
That’s what she was, Joanna felt suddenly. That’s what they all were, all the Stepford wives: actresses in commercials, pleased with detergents and floor wax, with cleansers, shampoos, and deodorants. Pretty actresses, big in the bosom but small in the talent, playing housewives unconvincingly, too nicey-nice to be real.
Synopsis: Joanna Eberhart, a promising photographer, moves out of NYC to live with her husband and children in a small town called Stepford. However, things soon take a turn for the worst. The Men’s Association seems to meet all the time and the other wives slowly turn into stereotypical housewives. What is really going on? And what will happen to Joanna?
I’ll be honest, I watched the movie first (a huge book-lover’s faux-pas), BUT I thought it was so thought-provoking that I needed to read the book. Levin, also author of Rosemary’s Baby, is known for his feminist horror genre. A more modern adaption or twist on the novel is Don’t Worry Darling (2022), but I recommend also watching the 1975 film of The Stepford Wives (note: don’t waste time watching the 2004 film; it changes the plot completely and is generally disappointing). It is a masterpiece mix of thriller and science fiction and gives similar vibes to The Handmaid’s Tale.
If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.
I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye — not even his — could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out — no stain of any kind — no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all — ha! ha! (from Tell Tale Heart)
Synopsis: Edgar Allan Poe is known for his gothic writing style with titles such as The Raven, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Masque of the Red Death. Read all of his works with this online copy and experience some true horror classics!
The first time I read Edgar Allan Poe was in eighth grade when we read Annabelle Lee and Tell Tale Heart. These two were good to start out with, as they showcased Poe's range. My personal favorite is The Cask of Amontillado (lol don't we all wish we could bury someone alive?), and if read closely enough, you can almost feel as suffocated and entombed as Fortunato. With over 100 stories and poems, there is sure to be something enjoyed by everyone from the legendary mystery and horror author, Poe.
A bonus short film:
Possibly in Michigan (1985)
This one here smells great! / Which one? / Mmmm, smells like mothers crazy sister Kate / Oh you think so? / Yes I do, it smells so good! / She couldn’t have been that crazy, I don’t think so / Oh you don’t think so, huh? / No! / Well she put her poodle one time, in a microwave oven [. . .] / But it exploded, and they were both found dead. (from Perfume song)
Synopsis: “Possibly in Michigan is a musical horror story about two young women who are stalked through a shopping mall by the cannibal named Arthur. He follows them home, and here the victims become the aggressors." - YouTube description
I first watched this mind-trip of a film in my English 101 class and to say it was utterly bizarre is an understatement. In an almost surreal way that Salvador Dali would approve of, Cecelia Condit brings together the uncanny and the uncomfortable with an iconic soundtrack. It is under 12 minutes and is definitely a good conversation starter (to say the least).
What did you think about the books selected for this list? Do you agree? Disagree? Would you add any others? Let us know in the comments!
