Halloween themed books/books set at Halloween

It is October.  Autumn.  Halloween is around the corner.  The leaves are changing.  The weather is brisk.  What other time of year do you get to say that?  It’s time for pumpkins, pumpkin pie, pumpkin spiced latte’s, and don’t forget soup.

Halloween is a favorite holiday.  I love seeing little ghouls and superheroes come to my door.  Seeing a child pick out a pumpkin, carve it, and spoon out it’s seedy guts is wonderful .  Send me Elmo babies and dogs dressed as Freddie Kruger.  I think we can all agree trick or treating, jack-o-lanterns, and corn mazes are fabulous with or without crazy men chasing you with chainsaws.  Haunted houses pop up in vacant lots.  The best I’ve heard about this year requires a waiver.  It’s at an old hospital and they can touch you.  I’m a bit of a pansy when it come to visuals, and I would likely hit someone, so I will be skipping it.  But doesn’t it sound amazing?  It is quite literally the best people watching holiday.

It is time to ramp up.   I am looking for anything set at Halloween – books, movies, TV episodes.  Halloween does not have to be the theme, but it does have to be part of the story.  I don’t require it to be scary, however, good horror is appreciated.  Throw in zombies, witches, and paranormal hijinks.  It will make it better.  Mysteries and thrillers set at Halloween are wanted.  Murder spices things up.  Don’t forget the humor or camp, however.

It’s time to watch the leaves fall, wrap yourself in a toasty sweater, drink a cup of apple cider and get ready for a dark and stormy night.  To do that, you need to curl up with a book, or a movie that’s just as dark as what is brewing outside.  This month I have collected a group of new books that are season appropriate.  I will share them with you through the month.The only rules I have – part of the book takes place at Halloween.  Please share your favorites.  I will share with you what I find this year through the month, but let’s kick off by giving you a list of what I’ve found in the past.

Books Set at Halloween

*Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury

A tale of two friends making the turn to teenagers on Halloween night.  It has a wicked travelling carnival including witches.  This is a classic that captures Fall.  It’s scary.  Disney made a movie of this in 1983.  The film gave me nightmares.  I still remember that damn carousel.

* The Gates – John Connolly

This is a clever book about a young boy who goes trick or treating with his dachshund Boswell three days early.  He’s trying to maximize.  He stumbles upon a plot to open the gates of Hell by a group of bored adults at 666 Crowley Rd.  ‘The Gates’  is funny and includes the Hadron Collider, Satan, and the Great Maleficense.  This isn’t scary but a worthy read.

*Dance Upon the Air – Nora Roberts

This is the start of a Nora Roberts Trilogy.  At it’s heart it is both a romance as well as self-exploration.  A woman comes out of a relationship so abusive she had to fake her own death.  There are supernatural elements.  There are witches on an island created by magic.  Halloween plays a part at the climax of this story.

*Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness

Harkness’s story includes witches, vampires, and daemons.  Diana Bishop is a witch in denial.  She became a historian in an effort to maintain control and rationale in her life.  Her childhood home is haunted by her ancestors. When she calls up an ancient alchemical manuscript from the Bodleian library her world falls apart.  This is partially a romance.  Halloween plays a part at the end of the book and the cliffhanger.

* The Thickety – J.A. White

 A story about a young girl with powers.  This is a middle school novel where a young girl grows up in a colonial village without her mother because she was convicted of witchcraft.  Her family has been shunned and there is mystery about an evil in the local wood called the Thickety.  It grows bigger despite the towns people clearing the trees every day.  Colonial Halloween traditions of bobbing for apples etc. take place.

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I read horror last year that was great ( favorites:  The Girl With All the Gifts, Feed, World War Z, Horrorstor, etc.) and I loved them, but they were not set at Halloween or Halloween themed.  Please let me know if you have suggestions.  I do have a Zombie trend but I welcome others.