It's Halloween this week! One of my favorite holidays!
Something you should know about me is that I HATE being scared. As a child I was scared of everything (I think it comes from having an overactive imagination). I've gotten better as I've gotten older, but I still refuse to go to haunted houses, I hate horror movies, and things that shouldn't scare me will creep me out. I have yet to read some truly horrifying books like those by Stephen King because I know I can't handle it.
So if you're like me, I've managed to find some books that are just creepy enough to enjoy, but not too scary!
1) I Am Not A Serial Killer - Dan Wells
John Cleaver is a teenager and sociopath who works in the morgue with his mom. He is also obsessed with serial killers. He recognizes that he has many of the traits himself, so he lives by a strict set of rules to keep the "monster" caged inside. But his knowledge of serial killers helps him recognize something strange about the body that the police just found. He decides to start his own investigation, and gets way more than he bargained for. This is seriously such an awesome book. It's a little gory (embalming and violent murders and the like), but it's not a slasher novel. The creepiness comes from the amazing writing and the build-up of suspense.
2) Anna Dressed In Blood - Kendare Blake
Cas Lowood is a teenage ghost hunter, taking over the family business when his father is killed by a particularly vicious ghost. Cas and his mother (and their cat) travel around the country, finding ghosts for him to put to rest with a special, powerful knife. Then Cas comes across Anna, a girl who was brutally murdered fifty years before and cursed to remain in her house, violently killing anyone who enters. Except Cas. For some reason, she spares him. And for some reason, he can't stay away...
I. LOVED. this book. As I said, I usually hate anything horror related. And this book is probably the creepiest of them all. And I loved it. The characters are really well done, and the book is super haunting. It is gory and violent. At one point, I remember putting the book down and thinking, "Oh my goodness, did that actually just happen?". Kendare Blake is one of my new favorite writers. Her prose is strong, the world she creates is terrifying and chilling. Just don't read this book when you're home alone at night!
3) The Ocean At The End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is a master at the macabre and strange, and this tale is no different. Told from the perspective of a seven-year-old boy who discovers that the women who live at the end of the street are supernatural. But then an evil is released into our world, and the bizarre events that follow are dark, chilling, and very creepy. It's a short book, but powerfully written.
4) The Archived - Victoria Schwab
The Archive is a library of sorts, a library of the dead. Called Histories, these ghost-like copies of the dead are put here to protect their memories. But sometimes they wake up, and they want to return to the land of the living. Mackenzie Bishop is a Keeper, tasked with keeping the Histories in the Archive. But when the Archive is compromised from within, Mackenzie has to overcome personal grief and work with Wes, another keeper, so figure out who is sabotaging it. A spine-tingling ghost mystery, written by yet another of my favorite authors.
Something you should know about me is that I HATE being scared. As a child I was scared of everything (I think it comes from having an overactive imagination). I've gotten better as I've gotten older, but I still refuse to go to haunted houses, I hate horror movies, and things that shouldn't scare me will creep me out. I have yet to read some truly horrifying books like those by Stephen King because I know I can't handle it.
So if you're like me, I've managed to find some books that are just creepy enough to enjoy, but not too scary!
1) I Am Not A Serial Killer - Dan Wells
John Cleaver is a teenager and sociopath who works in the morgue with his mom. He is also obsessed with serial killers. He recognizes that he has many of the traits himself, so he lives by a strict set of rules to keep the "monster" caged inside. But his knowledge of serial killers helps him recognize something strange about the body that the police just found. He decides to start his own investigation, and gets way more than he bargained for. This is seriously such an awesome book. It's a little gory (embalming and violent murders and the like), but it's not a slasher novel. The creepiness comes from the amazing writing and the build-up of suspense.
2) Anna Dressed In Blood - Kendare Blake
Cas Lowood is a teenage ghost hunter, taking over the family business when his father is killed by a particularly vicious ghost. Cas and his mother (and their cat) travel around the country, finding ghosts for him to put to rest with a special, powerful knife. Then Cas comes across Anna, a girl who was brutally murdered fifty years before and cursed to remain in her house, violently killing anyone who enters. Except Cas. For some reason, she spares him. And for some reason, he can't stay away...
I. LOVED. this book. As I said, I usually hate anything horror related. And this book is probably the creepiest of them all. And I loved it. The characters are really well done, and the book is super haunting. It is gory and violent. At one point, I remember putting the book down and thinking, "Oh my goodness, did that actually just happen?". Kendare Blake is one of my new favorite writers. Her prose is strong, the world she creates is terrifying and chilling. Just don't read this book when you're home alone at night!
3) The Ocean At The End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is a master at the macabre and strange, and this tale is no different. Told from the perspective of a seven-year-old boy who discovers that the women who live at the end of the street are supernatural. But then an evil is released into our world, and the bizarre events that follow are dark, chilling, and very creepy. It's a short book, but powerfully written.
4) The Archived - Victoria Schwab
The Archive is a library of sorts, a library of the dead. Called Histories, these ghost-like copies of the dead are put here to protect their memories. But sometimes they wake up, and they want to return to the land of the living. Mackenzie Bishop is a Keeper, tasked with keeping the Histories in the Archive. But when the Archive is compromised from within, Mackenzie has to overcome personal grief and work with Wes, another keeper, so figure out who is sabotaging it. A spine-tingling ghost mystery, written by yet another of my favorite authors.
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