🦇🎃Spooky Season Is Upon Us!! What Are Your Reading Plans?🎃👻

It's October 1st and Spooky Season has officially begun! Every year since 2017, I have made a tradition of planning my Spooktober reads several months in advance. Usually the books are a mix of horror and gothic fiction, with the occasional seasonally appropriate mystery. I often like to get an anthology of traditional horror/gothic/ghost short stories in there as well.

I find it exciting to plan and go hunting for spooky books in the lead up. The anticipation as Fall draws near is such a rush! And now here we are, Spooktober is here!

My Spooktober 2024 Reads:

• The Elementals by Michael McDowell (1981) – I started my spooky reads a little early, actually, and read this in the last week of September. I just finished it last night. It's a short southern gothic haunted house novel. I really enjoy a good haunted house story, so I've had this recommended to me a lot of the years. Decided to finally give it a go, though it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. It was still a good read though and definitely a talented author when it comes to creating an uncanny atmosphere. I will probably reread it at some point because I think part of the problem was my own mindset.

• Clown in a Cornfield 2 – Frendo Lives by Adam Cesare (2022) – Just started this and expecting good fun! Read and enjoyed the first book last spooky season.

• The Carrow Haunt by Darcy Coates (2018) – another haunted house book. I've read her Haunting of Ashburn House and From Below in previous years. Really liked Haunting of Ashburn House so thought I'd try another haunted house book by her. This one is about a house haunted by the ghost of a serial killer, from what I understand.

• Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories (1983) – this is my traditional horror short story collection for this season. It's a collection of Roald Dahl's favourite ghost/gothic stories by 19th/early 20th century authors. Includes some greats like A.M. Burrage, E.F. Benson, Edith Wharton, and Robert Aikman.

• The Haunted by Bentley Little (2012) – hadn't originally planned to read this but was an impulse buy when I was more recently browsing at a local bookstore.

• The Monk by Matthew Lewis (1796) – this is my traditional gothic novel for the season (usually always at least one). I've been meaning to read it for a while now so excited to finally get to it.

• Potentially The Haar by David Sodergren – even though its high on my list, depends if I end up pulling the trigger on buying it or just going with stuff I've already got at home.

• Potentially Pine by Francine Toon – Scottish folk/gothic horror I've been wanting to read for a while. I do have it at home, but kind of depends on whether I end up grabbing the Haar or not, just as far as having time to read all of these this month.

• Potentially Darkness by John Saul – a back up if I have more time to read more books than expected this month.

• Potentially The Gathering by C.J. Tudor – another back up

How about you guys?! What are you planning to read for Spooky Season this year??