Catherine Coles
Coles Notes
We’re officially in to mid-October, and you know what that means, right? It’s spooky season and Halloween is right around the corner! Here are five new horror and/or suspense novels guaranteed to get you in the spirit.
It’s been 20 years since his last book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but Stephen Chobsky back with a literary horror in Imaginary Friend. The story follows Christopher and his mom, who are on the run from an abusive boyfriend. They seek peace and quiet in a new town but instead, Christopher becomes agitated and sneaks out at night, doing anything a “nice man” tells him to do. This classic tale of good vs. evil is perfect for fans of Stephen King. Like King’s super long books, this one is 700+ pages and will no doubt be a time commitment!
In Inspection by Bird Box writer Josh Malerman, a boy and girl raised unaware of gender in remote, separate schools encounter each other’s differences for the first time while making unsettling discoveries about their schools’ enigmatic founder. Malerman makes the shock and horror of this impossible experiment appear completely plausible, all while thoughtfully considering big picture issues like nature versus nurture, gender roles, and scientific ethics. Readers interested in the “playing god” theme will want to pick up this unconventional, violent and suspenseful horror novel.
A book with many of the same themes as Inspection is Stephen King’s latest The Institute. It has been described as a “gut-wrenching tale of kids triumphing over evil.” This menacing novel follows a 12-year-old genius named Luke Ellis who’s kidnapped and transported to a secret facility known simply as the Institute. As the shock of capture wears off, Luke discovers his fellow inmates are all other adolescents like himself with latent psychic powers—powers that are exploited and enhanced by a team of abusive researchers. Worst of all: no child has ever been able to successfully escape the Institute. This is compelling, supernatural horror-thriller mash up filled with plenty of twists and turns.
One brand new novel of psychological suspense currently causing a stir is The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan, author of What She Knew. Set in 1988, the story follows seven-year-old Hannah who is shattered by the abrupt departure of her nanny. When she comes of age, she bitterly abandons her parents and their ancestral estate. Years later, as she is trying to mend her relationship with her mother, the discovery of human remains and a disturbing visit set the past spinning once again.
If you are more unsettled by the prospect of a pandemic apocalypse than you are ghosts and goblins, check out Cold Storage, a debut bio-thriller by screenwriter David Koepp. In this chilling, action-packed novel, a long-forgotten but deadly organism stored in a deep cave becomes a world-threating menace, and a retired bioweapons agent and two security guards are the only ones who can stop it. Cold Storage is already being optioned for film so be prepared to keep seeing this one around.
All of the books mentioned in this article can be reserved at your branch of the County of Lennox & Addington Libraries or online at www.CountyLibrary.ca. Happy Halloween!