Candy is nice on Halloween, but scary books are better. Right? Okay, so maybe you don’t want to be the neighbor pegged as giving books to trick-or-treaters. After all, I certainly avoided the apple-giving and floss-pushing houses like the plague. On my worst years, my friend and I smashed jack-o-lanterns in retaliation. But why not give a frightening book, or two, or three to a few people in your life in honor of Halloween? This clever tactic to promote reading and authors is the brainchild of author Neil Gaiman.
I’ve already surprised a handful of people with scary books, and I hope you will do the same. To make matters a bit easier, I’d like to recommend a few eBook titles to help kickstart your hunt for spine-tingling reads. You can also tweet about your gift by using the hashtag #AllHallowsRead. The book you give can be second-hand, print or electronic, long or short. Just make it a scary one!
JeriWB’s Recommendations for All Hallows Read
In Poed by Candy Korman you’re invited to spend the night in The Usher Institute for the Study of Criminal Psychopathology. In POED, the clinic’s director takes the reader inside a contemporary version of Edgar Allan Poe’s dark and twisted world. The Usher, an exclusive clinic housing the most heinous killers in New York City, prides itself on burying the deadliest secrets of the city’s most prominent families.
This original Gothic tale of horror is an homage to some of Poe’s most famous stories including —The Cask of Amontillado, The Black Cat, The Oval Portrait and more.
*Candy recommends The Vintage Egg by A. C. Flory and 13 British Horror Stories by Rayne Hall.
Eden Royce’s Containment shows how life is different among the dead.
They are kept in chambers, their energy used to feed the City’s voracious appetite for fuel now that traditional sources are long gone. These grisly fuel cells are kept watch over by Feast, a devil-human hybrid whose recent run-ins with the City leave him questioning its authority.
When he is needed to bring in one of the most dangerous creatures for containment, Feast is faced with a decision that may make him the next power source.
*Eden recommends Mark Taylor’s Crossing Guard from the Devil’s Hand series.
A Menu of Death from Lucy Pireel promises that underneath the veneer of humanity lies a darkness. A Menu of Death is a collection of eight short stories that explore what is hidden.
Would you do what it takes to obtain your darkest desires?
Wishes gone wrong, unhealthy obsessions, and cravings to satiate.
A Menu of Death will take you on a blood-curdling journey that you may not survive.
*Lucy recommends The Five Watchers by J. Cameron McClain and Nightsound by Jerry W. McKinney.
Finally, consider my Popular Poe Stories in Plain English. A man with murderous intentions lures an enemy into his cellar with a false promise in “The Cask of Amontillado” An uninvited guest arrives at a fancy party held during the Plague in “The Masque of the Red Death.” An artist ignores the health of his subject while capturing her likeness on canvas in “The Oval Portrait.” A prisoner endures extreme torture in “The Pit and the Pendulum.” Finally, a man guilty of murder lets paranoia get the best of him as he tries to convince the reader of his sanity in “The Tell-Tale Heart.”
So do the right thing and gift a creepy book to somebody this Halloween!
What is the best or most surprising book you’ve ever received as a gift?
Photo credit: Nail-biter andres.thor / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
Must put a few of those (and yours) on my wishlist. Ugh, my book buying budget is gone for this year!
Lucy, I hope you enjoy the copy of Poed that I gifted to you 🙂
Scary book giving… hmmm….. Like the idea. Not for me. I don’t read scary books. 🙂
Cheryl, if you don’t gravitate towards horror maybe you a suspenseful book would be a good alternative.
I’ve been having a great time sending scary ebooks to my friends — matching the right kind of scary with each reader. So far, the feedback has been great. Everybody loves a little BOO! this time of the year and scary books are both Tricks AND Treats.
I hope this really catches on.
Candy, that’s so much for making me aware of All Hallows Read. It was much more fun to do this post instead of the one I had planned on just my rewrite of Poe. Plus, I’ve given away 10 scary books so far and will probably gift few more tomorrow as well.
After my wife made me watch “Bag of Bones” last night, I think I’m done with the scary for a while! I do like the idea though, it’ll last much longer than the sweets!
Dan, there’s nothing that compares to a book that haunts the mind for years afterward. That’s when the reader knows it’s something special. Candy on the other hand is so fleeting…
I think this a great idea. I ran into it at the start of the month through Nika Harper’s vlog. This is a great way to promote reading.
Jon, I’ve also thought about getting involved with World Book Night comes this spring. Time will tell if I take the plunge.
What a wonderful idea!!! I agree that most trick or treaters would shun the idea of getting a book instead of a sugar filled sweet but I would particularly enjoy that. 🙂
Susan, maybe a candy bar would help the book idea go over better with trick-or-treaters 😉
Thanks for mentioning my novella and my recommendation, Jeri.
Here’s my review for Mark Taylor’s novella, The Devil’s Hand Book One with a picture of the cover:
http://darkgeisha.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/the-devils-hand-a-review/
Eden, I’m looking forward to reading your story. I really liked the section we workshopped when I still lived in Charlotte and was in your awesome group of writers.
Now THIS is a great idea! Especially for an adult Halloween party…love it and the books look…well, Scary!
Jacquie, any reason to share good books a well worth it. I always used to give a short book talk to my students every time I finished a book. It was one small way to expose them to a variety of books, plus be a model for reasons to love reading.
Great post! Love all the creepy (awesome) book recommendations. The scariest book I ever received was a very long time ago. *cough cough* A book called IT by a guy named Stephen King..perhaps you’ve heard of him? 😉
Haven’t read many of his since then (many prior to IT) but coincidentally just asked for Doctor Sleep for my birthday.
Beth, I’ve read a handful of King’s novels, but not It. I really should add it to my TBR list.
Great idea to promote reading. I don’t read scary books, but it’s a great idea to start doing for all holidays.
Denise, scary books for Halloween, gratitude-themed books for Thanksgiving, etc. I like that idea and then some.
Love how you advocate reading. Wow. What if people actually DID read a gifted book? What would that do for them? How helpful would that be for society in general? But on Halloween – hmmm – this year is hubby’s turn to do the doorbell dance for the trick or treaters. He said, he’ll stay with candy. Maybe next year if I decide to be around for the festivities! Thanks Jeri.
Patricia, hooray for hubbies who volunteer to answer the door on All Hallows Eve/Read 😉
I agree this would be better for a teen/adult party but not for trick or treaters. You’d be shunned like on the commercial with the dentist giving away floss LOL
Cassi, I used to time my students’ reading of Poe with Halloween. It was such a great excuse to have some fun and read great stories too.
Hi Jeri,
Scary reads indeed! And I note a few authors from my blog commenting frenzy after the past few days 😉
Thanks for sharing!
Ryan
Ryan, thanks for stopping by. Yep, you’re in good company with the fellow commenters you recognize here. Blogging Helping Bloggers is a great group!
This is a super idea! And so much better on the teeth! (I’ve never heard of anyone getting cavities from reading!)
Lorraine, reading may not cause cavities but it has been known to cause sleepless nights and heart palpitations!
Hi Jeri – Thanks for my gift in celebration of All Hallows Eve. I’m dying to dive into POED.
Larry, I hope you enjoy POED. Candy’s writing is definitely legit. I admire her so much 🙂
As Denise said, good idea for a post Jeri. Love the title “A Menu of Death” though of course the last book in the bunch is the most notable:-) Have a great Halloween.
A.K., long time no see! It’s good to see you again. May your Halloween be filled with scary reads…
As I read this, I am listening to the joyous screams (for the fun of it) of children trick or treating in my neighborhood. It makes me think–wouldn’t it be fun to give out small 6-sentence (or less) spooky stories as a treat? In fact, Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge had a link to 2-sentence scary stories–they’re a treat: http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/12-absolutely-terrifying-two-sentence-horror-stories
Jagoda, thanks for the link. I’m headed over now to give it a look. One of my former teaching colleagues had her students write short memoirs (I can’t remember how many sentences). She then posted them anonymously on the back cabinet. They were so beautiful and clever.
What a terrific idea. I’ll have to put that in the calendar for next year.
One of the best books I’ve ever gotten (and didn’t ask for) was The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Ben Zander. Not at all scary, but quite uplifting.
Debra, anything we can do to help promote reading is worthwhile. This idea of Neil Gaiman is pretty cool that’s for sure.