Even people who shy away from horror novels eleven months out of the year may be tempted to pick up something spooky during the days leading up to Halloween. If you are among those looking to celebrating the season with a scary story or two, consider these 2020 releases that range from subtly spooky to downright terrifying.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix is mostly a fun, lighthearted read, but I suggest you avoid it if you have a low tolerance for gore. It’s described as Steel Magnolias meets Fried Green Tomatoes meets Dracula…so it’s quirky and a bit cheeky. Set in South Carolina in the ‘90s, it follows a women’s book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious stranger who turns out to be a real menace.
New from Stuart Turton, the author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, comes The Devil and the Dark Water. A historical mystery with a supernatural thread, the story follows an eclectic assortment of passengers and crew, aboard a trip travelling from Batavia to Amsterdam in 1634. Before departure, a leper appears high atop a pile of crates and issues a warning that the voyage will end in merciless ruin. He then bursts into flames. A dark sense of foreboding descends upon the travelers as the ship sets sail. Mysterious happenings, paired with reoccurrences of a “devil’s mark”, continue to plague the voyage. It is up to famous detective Sammy Pipps (a very Sherlock Holmes-like character) to get to the bottom of it.
A House of Ghosts by W.C. Ryan is another historical mystery, but it ramps up the creepy factor ever so slightly. During the winter of 1917, at the height of WWI, various people with hidden agendas travel at the invitation of munitions tycoon Lord Highmount to Blackwater, an island off the English coast. At Blackwater Abbey, Lady Highmount hosts a séance that she hopes will allow her to speak with her two soldier sons who perished on the western front. After a storm isolates the place and violence breaks out, the suspense ramps up. Agatha Christie and Charles Todd fans, as well as anyone who likes a good haunted mansion story, may enjoy this one.
Marketed as “Shirley Jackson meets The Shining“, Wonderland by Zoje Stage is an intensifying horror novel that is dripping in atmosphere. Orla, a recently retired ballerina, agrees to move with her family from Manhattan to a remote farmhouse in upstate New York so that her husband can pursue his painting career. Almost immediately upon arriving, however, it is clear there something is very wrong. An unknown entity is calling to them from the land, in the earth, beneath the trees, and from within their own minds.
In Survivor Song by horror novel hard hitter Paul Tremblay, a highly contagious rabies-like virus that turns its victims into homicidal maniacs is spreading throughout Massachusetts. As hospitals are overrun and society is falling apart, a pediatrician is called into action when her pregnant best friend flees her home after being bitten. Together they embark on a desperate journey to try to save themselves and the unborn baby. If you are looking for something emotionally intense, terrifying, and a bit too realistic for comfort, then give Survivor Song a try.
If none of the above speaks to you, other new options to check out include Only The Good Indians by Stephen Graham-Jones (literary, menacing, and gruesome), Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (fantastical, creepy, and atmospheric), The Deep by Alma Katsu (supernatural historical suspense), and finally, If It Bleeds by Stephen King (chilling character-driven novellas).
All of the items mentioned here can be reserved at CountyLibrary.ca. Happy Halloween!