#books for Halloween

[paigebraddock]

Halloween season 😆🎃😱

[rockislandadultreads]

Horror Books by Black Authors: a reading list

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster--and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also uncover the truth, and the answer to the question How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist? In their riveting and timely young adult debut, acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi asks difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial.

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

When Lena Johnson’s beloved grandmother dies, and the full extent of the family debt is revealed, the black millennial drops out of college to support her family and takes a job in the mysterious and remote town of Lakewood, Michigan. On paper, her new job is too good to be true. High paying. No out of pocket medical expenses. A free place to live. All Lena has to do is participate in a secret program—and lie to her friends and family about the research being done in Lakewood. An eye drop that makes brown eyes blue, a medication that could be a cure for dementia, golden pills promised to make all bad thoughts go away. The discoveries made in Lakewood, Lena is told, will change the world—but the consequences for the subjects involved could be devastating. As the truths of the program reveal themselves, Lena learns how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the sake of her family.

White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

In a vast, mysterious house on the cliffs near Dover, the Silver family is reeling from the hole punched into its heart. Lily is gone and her twins, Miranda and Eliot, and her husband, the gentle Luc, mourn her absence with unspoken intensity. All is not well with the house, either, which creaks and grumbles and malignly confuses visitors in its mazy rooms, forcing winter apples in the garden when the branches should be bare. Generations of women inhabit its walls. And Miranda, with her new appetite for chalk and her keen sense for spirits, is more attuned to them than she is to her brother and father. She is leaving them slowly - Slipping away from them - And when one dark night she vanishes entirely, the survivors are left to tell her story. "Miri I conjure you " This is a spine-tingling tale that has Gothic roots but an utterly modern sensibility. Told by a quartet of crystalline voices, it is electrifying in its expression of myth and memory, loss and magic, fear and love.

The Undead Truth of Us by Britney S. Lewis

Death was everywhere. They all stared at me, bumping into one another and slowly coming forward. Sixteen-year-old Zharie Young is absolutely certain her mother morphed into a zombie before her untimely death, but she can't seem to figure out why. Why her mother died, why her aunt doesn't want her around, why all her dreams seem suddenly, hopelessly out of reach. And why, ever since that day, she's been seeing zombies everywhere. Then Bo moves into her apartment building―tall, skateboard in hand, freckles like stars, and an undeniable charm. Z wants nothing to do with him, but when he transforms into a half zombie right before her eyes, something feels different. He contradicts everything she thought she knew about monsters, and she can't help but wonder if getting to know him might unlock the answers to her mother's death. As Zharie sifts through what's real and what's magic, she discovers a new truth about the world: Love can literally change you―for good or for dead. In this surrealist journey of grief, fear, and hope, Britney S. Lewis's debut novel explores love, zombies, and everything in between in an intoxicating amalgam of the real and the fantastic.

[thebestbookrecommendations]

Book Recommendations: Horror Edition

The Bargaining - Carly Anne West

Haunted House Vibes

Unwelcoming Townsfolk

Teenage Protagonist

Perfect For Those Who Love Haunted Houses

Gallows Hill - Darcy Coates

Action-packed Horror

Creepy House Vibes

Unraveling Mysteries

Perfect For Those Who Like Curses

The Maw - Taylor Zajonc

Spelunking

Academic in the Field

Unraveling Mysteries

Perfect For Those Who Love Underground Adventures

The Book of Accidents - Chuck Wendig

Unraveling Mysteries

Creepy Vibes

Past and Present Coming Together

Perfect For Those Who Love Sci-Fi

Gallant - V. E. Schwab

Creepy House Vibes

Unraveling Mysteries

Parallel Universe

Perfect For Those Who Like Curses

Fairy Tale - Stephen King

Parallel Universe

Fairy Tale Vibes

Grand Adventures

Perfect For Those Who Lean Towards Fantasy

The Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling

Spelunking

Psychological Horror

LGBTQ Characters

Perfect For Those Who Love Underground Adventures

[daily-spooky]

[wednesdaysfullofwoe]

[butteryplanet]

kitchen ghosts

[dostovs]

[0bsessiv3s0ul]

I can't wait for Autumn 🍂🍁

[thedeadpoets-blog]

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are October’s.”

[halloween-sweets]

[dommnics]

Happy Halloween season! Here's another stab at my own take of Carrie White, based on her book description. I'm super happy with how these turned out! I'd love to tackle some of the other characters in the book eventually, especially Margaret!

EDIT:

Now available as an art print here!

--

Check out more of my work on other platforms!

My Instagram -- My Twitter

[peacefulandcozy]

Instagram credit: ekhnreads

[v4mpz-lay-dying]

[thebestbookrecommendations]

And the Trees Crept In - Dawn Kurtagich

When Silla and Nori arrive at their aunt’s home, it’s immediately clear that the manor is cursed. The endless creaking of the house at night and the eerie stillness of the woods surrounding them would be enough of a sign, but there are secrets too—questions that Silla can’t ignore: Why does it seem that, ever since they arrived, the trees have been creeping closer? Who is the beautiful boy who’s appeared from the woods? And who is the tall man with no eyes who Nori plays with in the basement at night… a man no one else can see?

Read if You Like:

Horror

Mysteries

Paranormal/Supernatural Stories

Thrillers

Suspense

Twists

Recommended if You Enjoy:

T. Kingfisher (What Moves the Dead)

Shirley Jackson (The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castle)

Carly Anne West (The Bargaining)

What I Liked:

The creepy haunted house/woods vibes were immaculate.

What I Could Have Lived Without:

The nonlinear story line and the ending.

Rating: 3.5/5

[daily-spooky]

[jjspina]

Taking a breather for a little while! Halloween is coming!