With Halloween just around the corner, I want nothing more than to curl up with a warm drink and read a story so spooky, so sinister, it makes my toes curl. I simultaneously love and hate the feeling of reading a book so unsettling I’m scared to turn out the light at night, having to double check under my bed, sleeping with one eye open.
For a reader, there is nothing more satisfying than a gripping and convincing scary story. If you share this opinion, or simply want to broaden what you’re reading this spooky season, then look no further. Here are my seven sinister story recommendations for Halloween.
- Carmilla, Sheridan La Faneu
The novel that preceded the quintessential scary story, Dracula. In this vampiric tale, Carmilla follows the story of Laura, a lonely and isolated young girl living in a castle deep in the Styrian Forest of Austria. Her only company consists of her father and her governess, until, on a moonlit night, a carriage crashes into view bringing with it the beautiful and illustrious Carmilla. For readers looking for a less masculine version of Dracula, centered around the female gaze with deeply gothic prose, look no further than Carmilla.
2. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson is an author synonymous with horror. Her novels are eerie and unsettling, capturing the aesthetic and fascination with isolation and depravity. We Have Always Lived in the Castle illustrates Shirley Jackson writing at her absolute best, as the story captures the lives of two eccentric, haunted sisters living in their secluded family mansion. Told from the perspective of eighteen-year-old Mary Katherine “Merricat” Blackwood living with her agoraphobic sister and dying uncle, the reader tries to uncover the secrets of this broken family and the events that led to their severe isolation and inability to leave the mansion they inhabit. A meditation on isolation, otherness, and family trauma, this novel is an absolute must-read.
3. The Shining, Stephen King
It would be impossible to make a horror book list and not include a Stephen King novel, and by far, my favorite of his works is The Shining. I’m sure many are familiar with the terrifying and iconic movie adaptation, but have you read the book? The Shining follows a family who moves into the isolated Overlook Hotel in the Colorado mountains for the winter. Once there, a sinister plot unravels as Jack Torrance succumbs to the madness of the Overlook, while his wife Wendy and son Danny become trapped in a murderous and supernatural cycle of terror. A story with so many threads to pull at and moments to spiral over, The Shining is the perfect accompaniment to spooky season.
4. The Black Cat, Edgar Allen Poe
There are dozens of Edgar Allen Poe stories I could have chosen for this list, but my favorite and the one I return to every October, is The Black Cat. Following an unnamed narrator’s decent into total madness, this short story explores murder, isolation, and a truly sinister mind. A quick read with an ending that will stay with you for months, Edgar Allen Poe’s mastery is on full display in The Black Cat.
5. Don’t Look Now, Daphne Du Maurier
Known for psychological dramas such as Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica, Daphne Du Maurier has long been the master of quiet, bone-chilling horror. In this lesser-known collection of short stories, Du Maurier is given free rein to play with form and narration, create challenging narratives, and cultivate deliciously suspenseful plots. Her works turn everyday occurrences into nightmare-inducing dramas, all while delivering seamless and profound prose. Her stories are meant to be enjoyed most on a dreary autumn evening. Enjoy!
6. How to Be Eaten, Maria Adelmann
If you are looking for something a bit more modern to read, I give you How to Be Eaten, a provocative reimagining of the Grimm Brother’s fairy tales. Set in a support group for women with trauma, we meet our protagonists Bernice, Ruby, Gretel, Ashlee, and Raina. From a woman coping with the trauma of being devoured by a wolf, to another grappling with the shaky memories of being held captive in a candy house, this novel is equal parts whimsy, wit, and horror. For those looking to read a sinister, humorous, and wickedly smart novel, look no further than How to Be Eaten.
7. Not I/ Footfalls/ Rockaby, Samuel Beckett
I may be a little biased, as Beckett is one of my all-time favorite authors, but it continues to baffle me that not many people are familiar with his work. Waiting for Godot and End Game may be his most notable plays, but have you given his female-centered trilogy a try? Each play is amazingly short but utterly haunting. Not I is a visually stunning spectacle, following a woman’s mouth, illuminated in total darkness, as she finds the ability to speak, to scream, for the first time in years. Footfalls follows a middle-aged woman reliving the terminal decline of her mother, as she paces to the metronomic pulse of her feet walking back and forth. Rockaby feels like the epilogue to Footfalls, as we read of a woman rocking in a chair to a pre-recorded version of her own voice, telling stories about her past and her dead mother, while from seemingly beyond the grave, a spirit moves the chair she sits in, slowly demanding more from the protagonist. Together these three plays will leave you haunted and shattered in the most sinister, beautiful way possible.
And there you have it – seven scary stories to enjoy this spooky season. Happy reading 🙂
