After I got hooked on author Douglas Clegg's online difference game for his new novel, Isis, I had to buy the book. Knowing Doug, I had the feeling it would be the perfect read for Halloween week, and sure enough, it was.After her British father goes off on a war assignment, Iris Villiers and her family move from America to the Villers ancestral home in Cornwall, where they deal with a crazy grandfather, old spooky local legends and a seriously scary family burial ground called The Tombs. While Iris finds plenty to love and hate about her new home, she's also curious about the ghost stories, fantastic myths and stern warnings issued by the locals, particularly about the terrible things that have happened at The Tombs. Real life turns out to be far more grim for Iris, however, when a terrible accident changes everything and gives her the ability to speak with the dead.
I love Doug Clegg's work, and Isis is one of his more haunting tales of the supernatural. Glenn Chadbourne's superb illustrations mesh perfectly with Doug's beautiful writing, and the result is a story that resonates with secrets, sorrow and spine-shivering tragedy.
But as always, you don't have to take my word for it. In comments to this post, name a scary, spooky or supernatural book that you love to read at Halloween (or if you spend your night trick-or-treating, just toss your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Saturday, October 31, 2009. I'll draw five names at random from everyone who participates and send the winners an unsigned hardcover copy of Isis by Douglas Clegg along with a signed copy of my latest paperback release, Shadowlight. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
The Dark Thirty. It's a kid's book, but I can't help read it every Halloween.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever really been scared by a book. When I was in junior high I read Amityville Horrors and was creeped out by it but I don't think it would have the same feel to it now. Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is a book that I loved the pace and adventure feel. I didn't like the movie version but I thought the book was great.
ReplyDeleteNow...horror movies...yeah...that's the way to end Halloween night.
The Shining. It only requires sleeping with the lights on for a little while. *g*
ReplyDeleteThis sounds awesomely spooky. I don't have a favorite spooky read, although I can usually count on Stephen King.
ReplyDeleteI love to read The Woman In Black. It's not necessarily scary, but man, what an eerie book!
ReplyDeleteWe're always off trick-or-treating, but if I don't win, I'm going to have to read it eventually... your post has reminded me how rarely I run across really enjoyable spooky stories these days... which is a sad thing, because they're my favorite.
ReplyDeleteHalloween isn't all that big in Oz (it's spring after all) but my favorite creepy story is Edgar Allan Poe's the Tell Tale Heart. I remember reading it as a youngster and being scared silly. Stephen King's The Shinning is the only other book that's really scared me.
ReplyDeleteI read Dracula every October. I look forward to it, and am always scared.
ReplyDeleteI do just go trick-or-treating. :P Tossing my name in the hat!
ReplyDeleteThe Shining.
ReplyDeleteWell, let's see... I am currently reading Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris. If I finish it today then I will move on to Ruined by Morris (YA) or Demon Bound by Caitlin Kittredge. There will be some trick or treating for the kids (ages 2 and 5) and hopefully some romance as Halloween is my hubby and I's 11th anniversary. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Halloween everyone!!
I don't go trick or treating but I dress up for those who come to my door.
ReplyDeleteI plan on checking out this book.
Flash 55 - Morbid Norberth
I read them all the time rather than just at Hallowe'en, and I don't know if I could pick out a favourite...but I'd sure like to be included in the draw anyway! :)
ReplyDeleteStephen King's Salem's Lot or really most anything by him would make a good Halloween read. But on Halloween night, I'd most likely be out stirring up my own trouble. ;)
ReplyDeleteTossing my name in :)
ReplyDeleteTossing my name in :)
ReplyDeleteI don't usually read anything scary, but I do not like to read vampire books around Halloween. My favorite is Those Who Hunt the Night, but your latest will be my next read.
ReplyDeleteAnything by Caitlin Kiernan makes for great halloween reading. Threshold, in particular.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't on halloween, but one summer I read "The Dead Zone" and "The Shining" back to back. I didn't sleep well for weeks.
ReplyDelete:)
I definitely want to read Isis. It sounds breathtaking!
I don't read as much horror/scary stuf as I used to, but one book that gave me some shivers was by Holly Lisle, I SEE YOU.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge fan of scary stories, but I love King's The Stand - and while I'm reading it, I jump every time someone sneezes.
ReplyDeleteHorrorween by Al Sarrantonio!
ReplyDeleteIt's "The Stand" for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm a wuss at halloween but i do like to sit down and read a bit of either John Connolly's Nocturnes, M.R.James Ghost stories or Micheal Scotts Irish ghost stories!
ReplyDeleteVampires by John Steakley.
ReplyDeleteIgnore the John Carpenter movie version (his budget was slashed by 2/3rds opening day of shooting and he had to re-write huge portions of the script and story while on set,) and pick up a copy of the book.
Perhaps a cliché, but I have to read the classic Rad Bradbury "The Halloween Tree."
ReplyDeleteDracula is definitely a favorite, although every year I made my students read "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (not really scary, but makes a great lesson!). Just about any vampire story will do, too!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why it is exactly, but I really, really enjoy Bram Stoker's Dracula. Always have. If I'm not reading that at Halloween, I'd probably pick up Coraline (Neil Gaiman)... those button eyes are terrifying!
ReplyDeleteThis was one of the rare occasions where only one book immediately came to mind - Tanith Lee's "Red as Blood." Love IT! Especially around Halloween.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a favourite that I read over Halloween...but it's usually something werewolfy. I love werewolves. This year I'm going to read "Full moon rising" by Keri Arthur. It's not exactly a scary book (I don't think, since i've never read anything by this author before)but it does have a werewolf in it. :p So we'll see.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this lovely giveaway. A book that was amazingly scary but well worth reading was The Witching hour by Anne Rice.
ReplyDeleteThe most spooky book I have read was Thread of Malice, by Tamara Siler Jones. It was great, but spooky.
ReplyDeleteWorld War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks. Seriously, this book is so scary that I went out and bought a crow bar (the best weapon against zombie hordes).
ReplyDeleteJay
I haven't thought about reading a scary novel for Halloween! I should pick up an old favorite--maybe Phantom of the Opera by Leroux or the one that terrified me as a child: The Black Stallion's Ghost.
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you again for getting me hooked on Clegg's game. It's a total time suck but so addictive! :P
ReplyDeleteAs far as books go, I read scary all year round, King, Preston/Child, others...I'm a scary movie watcher at Halloween. Love this time of year for all the Karloff, Lugosi, Chaney, Jr. movies, and others. The old black and whites. LOVE them so I really look forward to this time of year when I can finally see them. The farther we get from them time wise, the less they're shown and it's such a shame. They didn't rely on gore and lots of blood. They relied on your fear and imagination. Those are the best ones.
I adore ghost stories, regardless of the medium. One that always stuck with me was called 'Thirteen Ghosts'.
ReplyDeleteBut if I want to be scared, I read my 401k statements. That DOES keep me up at night.
Bwaahaha!
Stephen King's IT has always been one of my favorite's. I usually read it in October.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago I read Douglas Clegg's Nightmare House and Mischief. Just WOW.
ISIS sounds awesome too!
Happy Halloween!
I go Trick-or-Treating every Halloween.
ReplyDeleteI don't read scary books. I rather watch a scary movie. For the first time last year, I followed along while my nephew went trick-or-treating. I never did it as a child.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as illustrated by Bernie Wrightson.
ReplyDeleteWords don't scare me;the last time a book kept me up I was 13. The book was Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived in the Castle."
ReplyDeleteMy Halloween tradition is scary movies - I'll be watching Rocky Horror Picture Show and Repo tomorrow night
My name is in...
ReplyDeleteDracula, Anne Rice's The Witching Hour, anything by H.P.Lovecraft, and The Haunting of Hill House. This is a reading marathon guaranteed to scare anybody out of their wits!
ReplyDeleteI always tell myself I will read some Edgar Allen Poe at Halloween, but most likely I will be trick or treating with the small child and watching 'Wubbzy Goes Boo'...they are only little once!
ReplyDeleteI'm a Turn of the Screw kinda gal - the eerie, odd, unnerving sort of stories, not the out and out scary stuff.
ReplyDeleteDe-lurking to toss my name in - I love playing Isis and am intrigued by the book. I read before I sleep, so only want a little scaring. Mystery of the Witches' Bridge, by Barbee Oliver Carleton, is a Scholastic favorite from my childhood, and one I read to my kids with great success.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read anything spooky in a long time but I used to read a lot of Poe. I also have a copy of Dracula illustrated by Gorey that used to come out this time of year. Hmm... perhaps I need to go find that again.
ReplyDeleteSleepy Hollow of course! And for some reason, Frank L. Baum's Wizard of Oz books always get pulled out around Halloween.
ReplyDeleteDandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. I still find the story haunting.
ReplyDeleteAlice
Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes" is one of my favorite Halloween reads.
ReplyDeleteAll time favorite for getting into the Halloween mood: 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King.
ReplyDeleteKTB
Unfortunately, I have to work all day on Halloween (sigh), but I am reading a Halloween-type book: XOMBIES APOCALYPSE BLUES by Walter Greatshell & so far so good. I also just picked up DRACULA: THE UNDEAD at the library.
ReplyDeleteHappy Halloween, everybody!
Wow - almost too tough to call. About 15 years ago I went to Salem, MA just before Halloween and boy are they proud of their witches. So I guess one of my fave Halloween reads would have to be The Crucible - silly as it sounds but I loved it!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Haunting
Dean Koontz is great for giving yourself the creeps. His stories are deep and full of action. Wouldn't want to be one of his characters!
ReplyDeleteShawna L
ReplyDeleteweloveourdogs@juno.com
You know I was looking at this book online and would love a chance to win it. Thanks for the giveaway & thanks for your neat blog!!!
I havent read Isis but I love Clegg's work especially his Harrow Academy series.
ReplyDeleteThis is type of book I love to read at Halloween time. Salem's Lot is always a good one and this year I just finished Unhallowed Ground by Heather Graham that was pretty good.
Happy Halloween!
I literally laughed out loud after reading Maria Zannini's comment above. But my all time favorite scary books have to all be by Stephen King: It, The Shining and The Stand
ReplyDeleteI don't have a 'Halloween book,' but I am currently reading SOULTAKER by Bryan Smith and it definitely fits the bill.
ReplyDeletecrislerlincoln[at]yahoo[dot]com
Thanks for doing this!
John Saul is one of my favorite October authors. While his style from his early books to later ones have changed they still give me a good scare....enjoy the day!
ReplyDeleteI love both the book and movies about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. What a ggift to an otherwise commercial celebration.
ReplyDeleteI just can't read scary stories. Although in my time I have read a little Stephen King, Koontz, and F. Paul Wilson's early works. Now Christmas stories. Ask me then :)
ReplyDeleteWell, I almost always read Stephen King's IT this time of year, but I never skip watching Halloween, Halloween 2, and Halloween H2O. I know it's stupid, but Michael Myers is the best evil juggernaut ever.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. There's no reason why he's an unstoppable killing machine (let's pretend Halloween 6 doesn't exist, shall we? and remakes -- what remakes?). He doesn't even just kill everyone he comes across -- only the ones who get in the way of his goal, implying at least minimal intelligence and methodology. Can't be killed. Can only barely be stopped when he's simply too damaged to continue until he heals up.
And why, oh why is he so angry with his sister? *snerk* It's those motiveless evils that are so horrifying. You can't reason with them or appeal to their better natures. There's no reason. Nothing but The Goal and the idiot devotion to said Goal.
Love it.
I'm not really into scary stuff right now, but I just finished up the Darkyn books.
ReplyDeleteBob