What we read: 5 spooky reads to cosy up with for fall
To me, October has always been a spooky season. Maybe it has something to do with all the Halloween movies I saw growing up or my addiction to true crime podcasts, but fall always makes my imagination run wild. I like to accompany the new nip in the air with shivers down my spine that are caused entirely by my reading list. Though this is a genre typically dominated by men, there are plenty of brilliant books by female authors. I decided to curate a list of some of my favourite eerie books as well as ones that I can’t wait to read, to get us into the fall mood. So, get cosy and read on:
Starting with a classic that has endured remarkably and I dare say is more relevant than ever, with all the debate surrounding Artificial Intelligence. The story of a man-made monster that his creator Frankenstein sees as a brutal demon, but who readers can tell has empathy and understanding, often in contrast to Frankenstein who comes across as dislikeable and arrogant. This is a haunting and vivid read that will keep you needing to know what comes next.
The Girl on The Train (Paula Hawkins)
This psychological thriller by Hawkins grabbed me by the throat and sucked me right in. It’s narrated in first person by multiple narrators, which shouldn’t work but does. Rachel Watson is a troubled, lonely, alcoholic who witnesses an infidelity followed by the disappearance of a lady she observes on her daily commute. She gets embroiled in the case but the truth is constantly shifting, because of her unstable, hazy memory. Gripping, edgy, tense, there’s a sense of having an unreliable narrator whom you can’t completely trust. It’s hard to put this book down till you’ve uncovered what really happened.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Shirley Jackson)
Shirley Jackson is undoubtedly the Queen of Gothic Horror. The writing is extremely evocative and she weaves the atmosphere like a spell that slowly settles on the reader. Unsettling them and simultaneously inviting them into the sinister world of Merricat and Constance, the two sisters at the centre of the plot. The Blackwood girls and their infirm uncle Julian are the only surviving members of a powerful old family that were wiped out by arsenic in the sugar bowl. It is rumoured that Constance committed the murders because she cleaned the sugar bowl before the police arrived, claiming there was a spider in it. The family, feared and disliked in the village, leads a strange and lonely existence. Merricat puts up strange charms and totems to protect the family, and Constance never strays farther than her back garden until a mysterious cousin comes to stay, causing a stir in their delicately balanced routine. And the plot builds slowly but steadily into a frenzy.
Gillian Flynn’s debut novel, her darkest and most grisly, is so compelling that it’s impossible to turn away from. It’s the story of Camille Parker, a Chicago-based reporter who is sent back to her hometown of Wind Gap Missouri to investigate the vicious murder of a local girl. Going back brings forward Parker’s own troubled relationship with her mother and instances of self-harm, with her carving words into her skin. As she delves deeper into the case her past and present start to blur and she struggles to remain in control. The twists in the plot are tantalising. It will have you on the edge of your seat till the very end.
The Bloody Chamber (Angela Carter)
I recently heard a Slightly Foxed podcast all about the magic of Angela Carter, and I was intrigued. They described her as a feminist who wrote unapologetically empowered female characters for her time (she was writing in the 1970s) whilst also using the words gothic, horror, and magic realism to talk of her work. I did a little digging and I can’t wait to discover her oeuvre. I am looking to start with The Bloody Chamber, a collection of short fiction. The stories are a re-imagining of popular fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast but subverted and told from a feminist perspective set against a dark gothic backdrop.
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