Happy Halloween Reading List!

 

(Image: pixabay.com free CC license)

The Reading Lists I share here are always popular, and I've come across so many great books, that I decided to add another short list of 13 Books, Magazines & Anthologies just for Halloween. New, older, and "classic" books. Hope you find something spooky to read!

* See the previous October Reading Lists: Halloween, Fantasy, Mystery Reading List and the Horror, Zombie, Mystery Reading List

Monsters, Werewolves, Ghosts, Oh My!

* For other great recommendations, check out the Books of Horror group on Facebook!

Behind the Shadows II - Twenty-two creepy tales sure to curl your toes! Includes my Twilight-Zoneish story, "Blink!" (* Get e-book options here.)

Bestiary of Blood: Modern Tales & Dark Fables - Spooky, scary tales from 37 writers, including 18 Stoker Award winners! Dark tales, death and life feeding each other in an endless cycle... 

Black Cat Weekly Magazine - Three Halloween issues so far with solve-it-yourself mysteries, short stories, and a novel. (See issues #162-164.)

 

Children of Salem: Love Amid the Witch Trials, Robert W. Walker - Intrigue when Jere Wakely is summoned back to Salem - and the book opens with him being asked to impersonate a person of the cloth during the infamous Salem Witch trials... Suspense, romance, intrigue... (And a whopping 622 pages!)

Dracula Beyond Stoker, Fiction Journal - Journal dedicated to Bram Stoker's Dracula - Unique journal with themed short stories (like Dracula's Brides, etc.) and more. Issue 5 pictured features stories on Arthur, Quincey, and Jack.

Dr. Cushing's Chamber of Horrors, Stephen D. Sullivan - Despite a lifetime of traveling with their father to collect strange artifacts, twins Topaz and Opal Cushing have never fully believed in monsters or the supernatural. Oh, sure, they share an eerie psychic connection, and their tarot card readings often come true, but… Werewolves? Vampires? Living mummies? None of those could be real. Those legends are just for rubes. Right?

 

Ghost Stories, Ron Ripley - (Free at time of posting.) This first collection offers eight spine-chilling tales.

The Bone Shroud, Jean Rabe - Winner of the 2019 Soon To Be Famous Illinois Author Project, adult fiction category. Irem Madigan’s wedding trip to Rome turns into a desperate search for historical relics, and a struggle to stay ahead of a killer. Irem, an archivist at the Chicago Field Museum, flies to Italy to be the “best man” in her brother’s wedding. He’s marrying an archaeologist who lures Irem into a centuries-old mystery. Unfortunately, there are other players in the game, and some of them are playing deadly. Can she survive and uncover the ancient secrets?

The Graveyard Apartment, Mariko Koike - Originally published in 1986 in Japan, the novel is a suspenseful tale of a young couple who believe they found the perfect apartment... But as others move out, they're left... with something in the basement...

 

The Halloween Store and Other Tales of All Hallow's Eve, Ronald Kelly - Seven horrific tales and two essays: When you first enter The Halloween Store, things seem normal. Fun and frightful decorations, ghastly costumes and masks of the season, and bags of candy galore. Then, as you travel farther into its shadowy depths, things begin to change. The air smells of damp autumn leaves and candle-scorched pumpkin. The shelves of All Hallows’ Eve fare grow darker and more disturbing. Strange and unsettling things of Halloweens past and present lurk amid the cobwebs and dust…

The Haunting of Dr. Bowen: A Mystery Set in Lizzie Borden's Fall River, C.A. Verstraete - My novella folllows Lizzie's doctor and neighbor after the horrific murders. Was he haunted by recent events, and the city's history of bad blood dating back to Colonial times? Part mystery, part love story...

The Putnams of Salem:  A Novel of Power and Betrayal During the Salem Witch Trials, Greg Houle -Young girls begin accusing people of being witches. At the center of the maelstrom is one family, headed by the well-respected Thomas Putnam, whose daughter Ann happens to be one of the accusing girls. Survival, betrayal, and the binding ties of a family's darkest secrets converge as we uncover the haunting secrets that bind the Putnams' legacy.

When the Lights Go Out - Inkslingers' Halloween Anthology - (Free at time of posting.) Twenty-five eerie tales ... read with the lights out.... if you dare.

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Read fr*e Horror online - Weird Horror Magazine! (Click Read Box.)

BONUS READS:

* Get Some Gory Horror Giveaways! Ends Oct. 31

* Something Scary for Halloween Reading: Ends. Nov. 1

News! Can't wait to read this! A colossal selection of short stories based on Stephen King's classic apocalyptic book, The Stand, is now up for pre-order. (But it doesn't release until next year, 8/25.)

 The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand,  editors Christopher Golden and Brian Keene, with an introduction by Stephen King. 

The anthology includes 34 stories in four sections. Get all the details, links, and any updates on Brian Keene's website.

Noncorporeal II Ghosts Anthology Pre-Order!

 

The anthology, Noncorporeal II, featuring my story, "Secrets of the Last Mine," is now going up for pre-order on various sites! A spooky mix of stories from near-horror to sci-fi and more! See author list.

  * Get the paperback at Amazon- paperback & e-book: B&N

* Get the e-book version from Apple, Kobo and other sites; see links here.

New Ghost Story in Scare Street Horror Anthology!

 

(Image: Pete Linforth/Pixabay)

They say Paris is haunted....

 

Anjie soon learns the truth about the city's oldest secrets in my  latest story, "The Ghosts of Paris" in the new anthology, Night Terrors Vol. 26, from Scare Street.

 On sale now! See details. Plus! It was listed as #1 in new  releases in Horror Anthologies on Amazon! Let me know if you're interested in reviewing, too.

  New scary anthology with 18 stories torn from the shadows, filled with bone-chilling fiends, skin-crawling monsters, and malevolent spirits.

Night Terrors Vol. 26 features the following stories:
1. Mother Thing by Mathew L. Reyes
2. The Bar Visitor by Travis Lee
3. The Suicide Dead by Mason Gallaway
4. Eternally Yours by Jesse Rosenbaum
5. All the Children of Lesnaya Street by Sabrina Howard
6. The Wrong Kind of Attention by Angela Sylvaine
7. Neighborhood Watch by John Gallant
8. Snow by Edmund Stone
9. The Creek by Joshua Orr
10. Spooks by Christopher J. Nardone
11. B2 by David Barclay
12. My Wife Is Having an Affair by J. M. White
13. High Tension by Justin Boote
14. The Ghosts of Paris by C. A. Verstraete
15. Mark Breaks Up the Band by Ethan Robles
16. The Pitch Pine Witch by E. J. Werrlein
17. An Ocean Black by Stacey Dighton
18. Just Passing Through by Ron Ripley and Kevin Saito

A Shadow of Love #ghost story

 

Normally I try not to feature a book more than once, except in Reading Lists, but since the blog tour mentioned it, I'll share the book,  A Shadow of Love, again. * Read my review below and follow the directions for your chance to win a copy.

About the Book:

When Annabelle flees her abusive husband and moves into an 1860's farmhouse, she soon learns that she is not alone; she shares her home with Christian, the ghost of a poet who killed himself in 1917. Christian, wanting nothing but solitude, tries to scare Annabelle away, but once they come together while she is dreaming, they fall in love. The clock is ticking for Christian, for moments after his hanging his fiance magically cursed his spirit to be stuck on earth for one hundred years, and his time is almost up.  

With Annabelle's ex threatening her and the spirit she has fallen in love with on the verge of disappearing, Annabelle becomes obsessed with staying with Christian, and will do anything to be with him. Being in love with a ghost is bad enough, but for Annabelle, discovering that her true love will be crossing over at any moment pushes her over the edge of reckless behavior.

* Buy A Shadow of Love on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list. 

Review: With an opening line that says, "Lillian watched at the edge of the tree line as Christian hanged himself," you have to keep reading, right? The story was a bit slow in momentum at first but once the nightmares stared for Annabelle, the action keeps you intrigued. Who can resist a handsome ghost anyway? 😉4 stars. 

* Enter to win a copy: Contact me at my website contact page. Tell me: would you want to meet a ghost? Who and why? Be sure to enter your email so I can contact you.  Continental US entries only. * Entries end noon central 10/28/22.

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About the Author:

   Amy S. Cutler, author of A Shadow of Love earned her master’s degree in Creative Writing from Goddard College. Most recently she was published in Slut Vomit: An Anthology of Sex Work and featured in the Tales to Terrify Podcast, among others. Her writing focus is suspense, horror, science fiction, and ghost stories. She can be contacted through AmysHippieHut.com. You can also follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

 * Follow the rest of the blog tour: *

 October 29th @ Boots, Shoes and Fashion

Visit Linda's blog for an in-depth interview with author Amy S. Cutler about her book A Shadow of Love.

https://bootsshoesandfashion.com

 October 31st @ Author Anthony Avina's Blog

Visit Anthony's blog for Amy S. Cutler's guest post about finding a publisher.

http://www.authoranthonyavinablog.com

 November 1st @ Choices

Join Madeline as she features a guest post by Amy S. Cutler about the first draft process.

http://www.madelinesharples.com/

 November 2nd @ Jessica Belmont's Blog

Jessica reviews Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love.

https://jessicabelmont.com

 November 3rd @ Write Advice

Read Amy's guest post about how she found the idea for Shadow of Love and turned it into a story.

https://writeradvice.com/

 November 4th @ Author Anthony Avina's Blog

Read Anthony's review of A Shadow of Love by Amy S. Cutler. A paranormal book you don't want to miss!

http://www.authoranthonyavinablog.com

A Shadow of Love Blog Tour #ghost story

 

Today I welcome Amy S. Cutler, author of the spooky A Shadow of Love. Read more about her view of why ghost stories are popular below. 

About the Book:

When Annabelle flees her abusive husband and moves into an 1860's farmhouse, she soon learns that she is not alone; she shares her home with Christian, the ghost of a poet who killed himself in 1917. Christian, wanting nothing but solitude, tries to scare Annabelle away, but once they come together while she is dreaming, they fall in love. The clock is ticking for Christian, for moments after his hanging his fiance magically cursed his spirit to be stuck on earth for one hundred years, and his time is almost up.  

With Annabelle's ex threatening her and the spirit she has fallen in love with on the verge of disappearing, Annabelle becomes obsessed with staying with Christian, and will do anything to be with him. Being in love with a ghost is bad enough, but for Annabelle, discovering that her true love will be crossing over at any moment pushes her over the edge of reckless behavior.

* Buy A Shadow of Love on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list. 

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(images: pixabay.com)

Why are ghost stories so popular?

By Amy S Cutler

 A good ghost story is like being put under the best sort of spell. You are transported to a world where you know the answer to the top question that so many of us have: What happens when we die? When swept away in a story, we can be delighted to discover the answer, and in the pages of a book we can find solace in knowing that if there is an afterlife for our beloved characters, then there is an afterlife for all of us.

I have always loved ghost stories, and horror in general, although ghost stories certainly do not have to be scary. Part of the reason that I like the horror genre so much is that I love the adrenaline rush that being scared gives, along with the safety of knowing that I can shut the book or turn off the TV if I need a break.

Ghost stories are different. They give me comfort, and if that comfort only lasts while I’m reading, I’ll still take it because taking a break from the question of what’s next is a sort of meditation. It relaxes me, stills my unease. I frequently ponder the purpose of my life – what is my life purpose? Am I fulfilling it? Does it even matter? It is often while reading or watching a ghost story when I find myself letting my guard down, throwing away my analytical thinking, and getting to the bottom of these questions. Ghost stories allow people to open their minds, and that is where our answers lie.

Of course, many ghost stories are scary, as that is so often the point in the telling of them. But even then, there is comfort in the idea of ghosts as a possibility. Naturally some people may not want to know these answers, and are not so thrilled with the idea that ghosts could exist outside of the pages of a book. I happen to know quite a few people who say that they do not believe in ghosts and do not want ghosts to exist, yet they still love a good ghost story. I like to think that they are getting some comfort, too, in knowing that it’s just fiction (or rather, they think it’s just fiction, wink wink).

To tell the truth, there are some ghost stories that have scared the daylights out of me, stories like The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Hell House by Richard Matheson, and Pet Sematary by Stephen King. 

Naturally I don’t want those stories to be true, and don’t want an afterlife where it is I who is the terrifying one. I may not want that reality, but I do know that life cannot be wrapped up in a pretty bow, or box, just because it’s what I want to believe. I still enjoy these stories, even if I am not fantasizing about them being true, and I still get a glimmer of hope that there is something out there besides … nothing.

One can probably guess that October is my favorite month and Halloween is my favorite day, since ghost story lovers like myself are free to express to the world how enthralled we are with the afterlife.  It is my hope that people get something more out of the Halloween month than just scary tales and KitKats – something deeper, something that brings us all closer to the answers we seek.

About the Author:

   Amy S. Cutler, author of A Shadow of Love earned her master’s degree in Creative Writing from Goddard College. Most recently she was published in Slut Vomit: An Anthology of Sex Work and featured in the Tales to Terrify Podcast, among others. Her writing focus is suspense, horror, science fiction, and ghost stories. She can be contacted through AmysHippieHut.com. You can also follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

 * Follow the rest of the blog tour: *

October 25th @ Four Moon Reviews

Join Samantha as she reviews Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love. You can also win a copy of the book too!

https://fourmoonreviews.blogspot.com/

 October 27th @ Girl Zombie Authors

Come by Chris' blog again and read a review of Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love. You can also enter to win a copy of the book too!

https://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com/

 October 29th @ Boots, Shoes and Fashion

Visit Linda's blog for an in-depth interview with author Amy S. Cutler about her book A Shadow of Love.

https://bootsshoesandfashion.com

 October 31st @ Author Anthony Avina's Blog

Visit Anthony's blog for Amy S. Cutler's guest post about finding a publisher.

http://www.authoranthonyavinablog.com

 November 1st @ Choices

Join Madeline as she features a guest post by Amy S. Cutler about the first draft process.

http://www.madelinesharples.com/

 November 2nd @ Jessica Belmont's Blog

Jessica reviews Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love.

https://jessicabelmont.com

 November 3rd @ Write Advice

Read Amy's guest post about how she found the idea for Shadow of Love and turned it into a story.

https://writeradvice.com/

 November 4th @ Author Anthony Avina's Blog

Read Anthony's review of A Shadow of Love by Amy S. Cutler. A paranormal book you don't want to miss!

http://www.authoranthonyavinablog.com

#Halloween #Horror Reading List: #Zombies #monsters #creepy

It's that time of year! For October Frights, I'm including a lucky 13 horror reading list - see below. I've been finding so many cool, creepy horror books that I decided to make two lists plus shorter listings in coming days. It's been fun checking out books I haven't read and seeing new recommendations in book groups. Rev up that Kindle and get your reading list ready for some new additions!

* Be sure to check out the other participants in the October Frights Blog Hop here and below:  

Always Another Chapter
Be Afraid of the Dark
Hawk’s Happenings
Carmilla Voiez Dark Reads and Intersectional Feminism
GirlZombieAuthors
Frighten Me
Brain Matter – The Official Blog of JG Faherty
Angela Yuriko Smith
James P. Nettles

* A gift for you through Halloween! Get some great creepy Halloween reads free here.

******************************************************************

HALLOWEEN READING LIST:

Monsters, Oh, My:

 The Last Storm, Tim Lebbon - Lebbon, known for his creepy book-turned movie, The Silence, has a knack for bringing weird monsters to life. I saw the movie and his latest is the first book I've read of his. 

Famine and drought control the now apocalyptic world. Ash, the last in a family of rainmakers, thinks she can bring rain to the parched landscape by plugging herself into her weird apparatus like her father. But also like her father, she brings down more than rain - scorpions, odd snakes, spiders and more unspeakable horrors. Now her father and his estranged wife hunt for Ash and hope to stop her before it's too late. (And wow! I read this recently. Great story and some cool, creepy monsters!)

Creepy, Strange Covers

The covers say it all....

 

Dreamwraith: A Horror Novel, Jay Bower - When Jewel Carrington's daughter runs away, she's soon tormented by the Dreamwraith, and must do everything she can to save her daughter before it's too late...  

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes, Eric LaRocca - Seen this mentioned various places, so I'll be reading this as well. Three dark, disturbing horror stories... What have you done to deserve your eyes?

Creepy Anthologies & Collections

At Home With the Horrors: 14 Chilling Tales, Sammy Scott - Fourteen tales explore the mundaneness of everyday life extending into the supernatural, the alien, the ghostly, the chilling, and the things that terrify us all. 

Grave Dangers, A Thriller, Suspense, Horror Collection, Maegan Beaumont and others - Fifteen authors offers stories where no one is safe from the dark side of human nature. What's dead doesn't always stay buried...

Paint It Black and Other Stories, Sarah Jane Huntington -  Thirteen twisted tales of ghosts, folklore, hautings, the snake oil man, and more...

The Strange and Weird 

 

Stolen Tongues, Felix Blackwell - Heard pros and cons on this one. Felix and Faye  hear noises, animal screams and whispers in the woods near their cabin. Then he realizes his terrified fiancée is whispering back... 

The Laughing Policeman, Brimstone Chorus Book 1, Elizabeth J. Brown - An aging detective who specialized in grisly crimes finds the ritualistic deaths of three teens are similar to one of his most notorius cases. Now he realizes the Caravan Cannibal is back, and he must confront his own demons to protect the last of the family from unspeakable evil. 

Zombies

 

Deck Z, The Titanic, Chris Pauls & Matt Solomon - Zombies have infected about everything else, so why not? A virus is unleashed and Capt. Smith and crew are embroiled in a Victorian bloodbath as the steamer speeds toward that famous iceberg.

Dead Sea, Brian Keene -  The city streets are no longer safe. They are filled instead with the living dead, rotting predators driven only by a need to kill and eat. Some of the living still struggle to survive, but with each passing day, their odds grow worse. hese desperate survivors are completely isolated from the dangers of the mainland. But their haven, an old ship at sea, will soon become a deathtrap, and they'll learn that isolation can also mean no escape! 

 

Entombed, Brian Keene - Follow up to Dead Sea - it has been several months since the disease known as Hamelin's Revenge decimated the world. Civilization has collapsed and the dead far outnumber the living. The survivors seek refuge from the roaming zombie hordes, but one-by-one, those shelters are falling.Twenty-five survivors barricade themselves inside a former military bunker buried deep beneath a luxury hotel. They are safe from the zombies... but are they safe from one another? 

Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter, C.A. Verstraete - Remember that rhyme? Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother 40 whacks... But what if she did it because her father and stepmother had become... zombies? (Also available in audiobook on Audible.)

We Will Rise, Tim Waggoner - In Echo Hill, Ohio, the dead begin to reappear, manifesting in various forms, from classic ghosts and poltergeists, to physical undead and bizarre apparitions for which there is no name. These malign spirits attack the living, tormenting and ultimately killing them in order to add more recruits to their spectral ranks.A group of survivors come together after the initial attack, all plagued by different ghostly apparitions of their own. Can they make it out of Echo Hill alive? And if so, will they still be sane? Or will they die and join the ranks of the vengeful dead?

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Bonus! A ghostly love story...

The Haunting of Dr. Bowen, A Mystery in Lizzie Borden's Fall River - 

Limited Time Halloween Sale (99 cts!)

Dr. Seabury Bowen—physician to the infamous Lizzie Borden—swears he’s being stalked by spirits, though his beloved wife thinks it’s merely his imagination. But the retired doctor insists that neither greed nor anger provoked the recent sensational axe murders in Fall River. Rather, he believes the city is poisoned by bad blood and a thirst for revenge dating back to the Indian and Colonial wars.

Now, two years after the Borden murders, Dr. Bowen is determined to uncover the mysteries stirring up the city’s ancient, bloodthirsty specters. Can he discover who, or what, is shattering the peace before Fall River runs red? Or will he be the next victim?

* Come back tomorrow for more spooky reads!