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Scare yourself silly this Halloween with our spooktacular reads
Posted by Emily Rowland in Recommended Reading
Halloween is approaching and we've got you covered for all of the reading material you need to plunge into the creepy and fun-loving spirit. We've prepared our Halloween inspired list of ghoulish greats below – enjoy, if you dare…
Things that go bump in the night…
Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series
In four years, Stephenie Meyer has become a worldwide publishing phenomenon. The Twilight Saga’s translation rights have been sold in nearly 50 countries and 85 million copies have been sold worldwide. Each of the four novels in the vampire saga – Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn – has sold over a million copies in the UK – and they are now available with new striking white covers.
The Fledgling Handbook
P.C. Cast with Kim Doner
A full colour, behind the scenes look at the bestselling world of the House of Night.
Every vampyre fledgling who arrives at the House of Night receives a copy of The Fledgling Handbook 101, and now, fans can have one, too, with this gorgeous must-have edition. Inside you’ll find original stories, the complete vampyre history, inside info into rituals, vamp biology, and the Change, and much more.
P. C. Cast is an award-winning fantasy and paranormal romance author. She was a teacher for many years but now concentrates on writing and public speaking full-time.
Misguided Angel
A Blue Bloods NOVEL
Melissa de la Cruz
The young, the fabulous and the fanged rule the upper echelons of Manhattan society in book 5 of this fantastically addictive series from bestselling YA author Melissa de la Cruz
After inheriting the complicated Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler fled to Florence with Jack, risking both of their lives for love. The two of them embark on the mission Schuyler was destined to complete: to find and protect the remaining five gates that guard Earth from Lucifer, Prince of Hell and lord of the Silver Bloods.
As the Blue Blood coven weakens yet further, fate leads Schuyler closer to a terrifying crossroads – and a choice that will determine the destiny of all vampires.
Blue Bloods is Gossip Girls meets Twilight – an intoxicating and compulsive YA series about vampires set in a NYC prep school. The series has sold over million copies in the states and all four books are NY Times bestsellers.
Melissa de la Cruz is the author of many best-selling novels, including the Blue Bloods series; the Au Pairs series; the Ashleys series; and Angels on Sunset Boulevard. She is also a frequent contributor to Glamour, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, and Cosmopolitan. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter, and is hard at work on the next book in the Blue Bloods saga.
Monster HighA new teen series with a fresh twist on high school, romance, and the "horrors" of trying to fit in.
The monster community has kept a low profile at the local high school, but when two new girls enrol, the town will never be the same. Created just fifteen days ago, Frankie Stein is psyched to trade her father's formaldehyde-smelling basement lab for parties and prom.
But with a student body totally freaked out by rumors of monsters stalking the halls, Frankie learns that high school can be rough for a chic freak like her. She thinks she finds a friend in fellow new student Melody Carver-but can a 'normie' be trusted with her big secret?
Lisi Harrison was the Senior Director of Production Development at MTV, and was responsible for creating and developing original programming for air on MTV. She currently lives in California.
Zombies
The Complete Guide to the World
of the Living Dead
Zachary Graves
Inspired by horror films of the past, such as George Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead, zombies have come lurching back into the forefront of the public imagination with books such as the Jane Austen parody Pride, Prejudice and Zombies, video games such as Left 4 Dead and blockbuster movies like Zombieland. The living dead have never been so popular!
We all know that zombies are by no means a modern phenomenon but where did this zombie fascination come from, and where did people like Romero get their inspiration?
Zombies takes a look at all aspects of this gruesome entity and delves into the less well-known mythological and historical side of this fascinating subject.
Zachary Graves is a writer who specialises in the occult. He grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA where he developed an early interest in voodoo, and later, as a student of cultural history, made several research trips to Haiti to further his interest. He has travelled widely, particularly in Africa and the Far East, where he lived for some time. He currently resides in New Orleans.
Cursed
A Werewolf’s Tale
David Wellington
There’s one sound a woman doesn’t want to hear when she’s lost and alone in the Arctic wilderness: a howl. For Cheyenne Clark, there’s a bad moon on the rise. When a strange wolf’s teeth tear her ankle to the bone, her old life ends, and she becomes the very monster that has haunted her nightmares for years. Worse, the only one who can understand what Chey has become is the man – and wolf – who’s doomed her to this fate. He also wants her dead.
Yet, as the line between human and beast blurs, so too does the distinction between hunter and hunted. . .for Chey is more than just the victim she appears to be. But once she’s within killing range, she may find that – even for a werewolf – it’s not always easy to go for the jugular.
David Wellington was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where George Romero shot his classic zombie films. He attended Syracuse University and received an MFA in creative writing from Penn State. He now lives in New York City with his wife and dog Mary Shelley.
Ravaged
A Werewolf’s Tale
David Wellington
A fantastic new cross-genre novel by upcoming urban fantasy and horror author, David Wellington, Ravaged is totally unputdownable with tons of suspense and a fantastically original take on the werewolf myth.
When a strange wolf’s teeth slashed Cheyenne Clark’s ankle to the bone, her old life ended, and she became the very monster that haunted her nightmares for years. Worse, the only one who can understand what Chey has become is Powell, the man – or wolf – who’s doomed her to this fate.
They vow to find the release to the curse, yet as the line between human and beast blurs, so too does the distinction between hunter and hunted. Because someone is on the trail of Powell and Chey, determined to get revenge – someone as deadly and as fierce as they are . . .
Mr Shivers
Robert Jackson Bennett
It is the time of the Great Depression. The dustbowl has turned the western skies red and thousands leave their homes seeking a better life.
Marcus Connelly seeks not a new life, but a death – a death for the mysterious scarred man who murdered his daughter. And soon he learns that he is not alone. Countless others have lost someone to the scarred man. They band together to track him, but as they get closer, Connelly begins to suspect that the man they are hunting is more than human. As the pursuit becomes increasingly desperate, Connelly must decide just how much he is willing to sacrifice to get his revenge.
A compelling, original apocalyptic thriller, Robert Jackson Bennett’s Mr Shivers is an extraordinary and accomplished debut novel. Robert lives in Austin, Texas and is available for interview by phone.
He sucked in a deep breath full of that strange smell he couldn’t identify. He trailed his hands across the satin beneath him and to both sides of him and, when he raised his hands, above him too. He knew why it was so dark. He understood why he could see nothing. He realized why he was lying down. He was in a coffin. A distraught couple thinks you’ve killed their daughter and they want a confession. If you say you did it, they’ll kill you. If you say you didn’t, they’ll leave you to die. It seems hopeless but there is one way out…
What would you do?
Shaun Hutson is a bestselling author of horror fiction and has written novels under eight different pseudonyms. He has also contributed stories to Kerrang and Raw and used to host Sky TV's Monsters of Rock programme.
Port Mortuary
Patricia Cornwell
Kay Scarpetta has been training at the Dover Port Mortuary, mastering the art of ‘virtual autopsy’ – a groundbreaking procedure that could soon revolutionise forensic science. And it is not too long before these new skills urgently need to be put into practice. A young man drops dead, apparently from a heart condition, eerily close to Scarpetta’s home. But when his body is examined the next morning, there are stunning indications that he may have been alive when he was zipped inside a pouch and locked inside the cooler.
When the revolutionary 3D radiology scans reveal more shocking details about internal injuries unlike any Scarpetta has ever seen, Scarpetta realizes that this is a case of murder – and that she is fighting a cunning and uniquely cruel enemy. Now it is a race against time to discover who and why before more people die. But that time is running out . . .
Patricia Cornwell is the 2008 winner of the Galaxy British Book Awards’ Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year – the first American ever to win this prestigious award. Postmortem was the only novel to win five major crime awards in a single year and Cruel and Unusual won the coveted Gold Dagger Award in 1993.
From internationally bestselling author Erica Spindler comes a gripping and brilliantly haunting thriller of murder, sacrifice and redemption.
Thirty-something Alex Owens knows very little about her childhood or who she really is, her only family an absent, emotionally fragile mother. Alex spent most of her adulthood searching for the missing link, drifting from job to job, relationship to relationship.
But when an infant’s remains are unearthed in her hometown in back-country California, Alex suddenly realises that she has a connection to the case. Moving back to the small town, long-lost memories start flooding in, and dark and terrifying nightmares haunt her every waking moment. As more violent deaths and a series of deadly rituals rock the small town, Alex is finally forced to confront the terrible truth about a single night that changed her family’s life forever…
Erica Spindler is the New York Times bestselling author of Copycat, Last Known Victim and, most recently, Breakneck. Raised in Rockford, Illinois, she went to university in New Orleans, where she now lives with her husband and two sons.
The PriestA killer is stalking the dark streets of Dublin. Before each attack, he makes the sign of the cross; then he sends his victims to God.
After a foreign politician’s daughter is brutally assaulted and left for dead, her body branded with burns from a blazing cross, the case falls to Detective Inspector Mike Mulcahy. Mulcahy is one tough cop, but this crime is beyond comprehension – and the Priest is a nemesis more evil and elusive than any he has ever faced: an angel of death with a soul dark as hell.
As a media frenzy erupts and the city reels in terror, Mulcahy teams up with ambitious journalist Siobhan Fallon in a desperate bid to stop the Priest in his tracks before he can complete his divine mission of murder.
Gripping and lightening-fast, this high-octane serial-killer thriller will appeal to fans of Michael Connolly and Ian Rankin.
Gerard O’Donovan is an Irish journalist and crime writer. Born in Cork, he was brought up in Dublin and after a brief career in the Irish civil service travelled widely, living in Madrid and Vienna, working as a barman, bookseller and English teacher, before settling down to make a living as a journalist and critic for such publications as The Sunday Times and Daily Telegraph. In 2007 he was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association's prestigious Debut Dagger competition. The Priest is his first novel.
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk
A Wicked Bestiary
David Sedaris
The brilliantly quirky David Sedaris returns with a book of acerbic and outrageously funny stories about animals who have unmistakably human failings.
This collection of sharply observed animal-themed tales is a delight, told with David Sedaris’s trademark blend of hilarity. Though the characters may not be human, the situations in these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the insanity of our own everyday interactions.
David Sedaris lives in Paris. Raised in North Carolina, he has worked as a housecleaner and most famously, as a part-time elf for Macy’s. Several of his plays have been produced, and he is a regular contributor to Esquire and Public Radio International’s 'This American Life'.
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