All Hallows Eve reads

nona · Post by **nona** » Sat October 18th, 2008, 4:53 pm

I for one love Halloween and it's ghost storys and haunted tales of witches gouls and goblins..

discuss your favorite halloween reads or stories or maybe your favorite part of Halloween.

Perdita · Post by **Perdita** » Sat October 18th, 2008, 4:56 pm

When I want to get nice and scared I like the ghost stores of M R James.. they're real spine tinglers. You have to read them at dusk with the curtains drawn and a little lamp on, and it has to be raining outside. A chocolate biscuit is optional!

nona · Post by **nona** » Sat October 18th, 2008, 5:27 pm

I just saw a book I might order, Bathory: Memoirs of a Countess, it's supposed to be an accurate tale of her life. I'll order it next week or so.

leading up to Halloween my daughters and I tell ghost stories with all the lights off and a few candles burning and eating s'mores or candy corn, they Love it! or we watch all the good halloween movies that are on all month long.

Volgadon · Post by **Volgadon** » Sat October 18th, 2008, 7:40 pm

I've just rediscovered James Collier! Brilliant tales of the macabre, with lots of black humour. Gogol is good too, though when he writes the supernatural it is funny rather than spooky. Oh, and if one feels like a big book, then there is Bulgakov's Master and Margarita.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sat October 18th, 2008, 8:03 pm

I've had The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton on my TBR pile for a few months now. Might be a good time of the year to drag it out. I'm not 100% sure if they are real or made up ghost stories.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Sat October 18th, 2008, 8:28 pm

I'm of a mind with Perdita - M.R. James is great and yes, you need the rain and a chocolate biscuit and a steaming mug!
I try to read Stephen King's The Shining at least once every couple of years and I think it's just about time - it's a superb ghost story. First time I read it I was almost too scared to turn the pages at one particular scene.
I also enjoyed Susan Hill's ghost stories - The Woman in Black and The Mist in the Mirror.
I think publishers Penguin and Virago both do compendiums of ghost stories.
Thomas Tryon wrote some good scary novels - can't remember the titles. Burnt Offerings? Gordon Honeycombe wrote one about a Viking burial - Dragon Under the Hill. That used to give me the shivers.
As to films. I love Disney's Hocus Pocus - See Sarah Jessica Parker in an earlier role as one of the witches. I can watch the scene at 'Master's House' again and again.
Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp is a great one too. I like scary but not too scary! The Others is a bit claustrophobic but I quite like it.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sat October 18th, 2008, 8:43 pm

I was reading Spirit, but man that book sucked. So I"ll just watch ghost hunters and listen to Art Bell and get scared.

Michelle2 · Post by **Michelle2** » Sat October 18th, 2008, 8:44 pm

I hope to read Dracula around Halloween. I haven't read it before!

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sat October 18th, 2008, 9:44 pm

[quote=""Divia""]So I"ll just watch ghost hunters and listen to Art Bell and get scared.[/quote]

There's always the Travel Channel. They always drag out those repeats of America's Most Haunted, Haunted Hotels, etc. It gives me the willies to watch them late at night, especially when they do one on a hotel/B&B that I've stayed at or thought about staying at

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sat October 18th, 2008, 10:39 pm

[quote=""Michelle2""]I hope to read Dracula around Halloween. I haven't read it before![/quote]

I wasnt overly fond of Dracula. If I remember correctly its told in letter format.