I generally maintain lively interactions with the occult, the mysterious, and the spooky year round (blame Lilith in Scorpio in my natal chart, not to mention Aries in 8th house), but when Samhain rolls around, of course these things take more of a precedence. And that extends to books! I reached out to a dazzling cross-section of bibliophiles near & dear to my heart to get their recommendations on what to read at this witchiest time of the year. The selections below range from light to dark, serious to playful — plus, there is one extra-special offering from a non-human participant who asked to have her views known. Enjoy!
Unknown author, “The Boy Who Knew No Fear”
Recommended by Zoria Petkoska
My favorite scary story is one I’ve been trying to find in vain. I listened to it on a cassette tape in the previous century, as a child. It was called “The Boy Who Knew No Fear” and it was in Macedonian. (Детето што немаше страв). It’s about a boy who just cannot feel fear and goes in search of it, deliberately getting himself into spooky situations. He goes to spend a night at the graveyard and the most chilling scene I remember is a ghost hand launching from inside a grave trying to choke him. He shocks and spooks the spooks, they are panicking at his lack of fear. He is portrayed as this sad boy who wants to feel a range of emotion and actively wants to know what fear is like. It made me think how the human experience is rich and varied, and good things and bad make the whole. You can’t have no fear, it’ll make you incomplete. I’m still in search of this story. My parents have lost the tape it seems. Perhaps I’ll find it one day.
Clive Barker’s short story “In The Hills: The Cities”
Recommended by Brian Wood
A weird, creepy, fleshy, and bloody tale of two rival fictional cities in the remote hills of communitis Yugoslavia (written in the 80s). Once a year, the citizens of each city mesh together into two towering giants to participate in a ceremonial battle. However, things go horribly wrong one year, and a gay couple on holiday get mixed up in it all. What happens when societies collapse under their own weight and momentum and individuality is smushed to a bloody pulp under the demands of the collective?
Stewart Home, “She’s My Witch”
Recommended by Joy Waller
A sex magick love story teeming with punk rock gigs, coffeehouses, experimental cinemas, pornography, downtown London, Tarot cards, and Spanish history. The two central characters mainly go to vegetarian restaurants, buy illegal copies of vintage horror movies, and have sex in a variety of public places. I loved it, a lot.
Kyusaku Yumeno, “Dogura Magura”
Recommended by Daisuke Yakumo
To be honest, I read this book so long ago that I don’t remember much of its contents, but it’s just so strange and eerie. It is one of the three most bizarre books of Japanese detective fiction, a mystery novel that paranoiacally assaults the reader with the horror of psychosis, madness, and murder rather than ghosts, but it is extremely difficult to understand. Because of its out-of-the-ordinary style, it is regarded as one of the strangest books of its generation, and it is also said that “anyone who reads this book will surely go insane at least once”.
Neil Gaiman, “Death: The High Cost of Living”
Recommended by Debs Max
It’s a side comic from The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman about when Death becomes human for one day every 100 years, but she’s a really sweet hearted, cheerful Goth girl. Her character is deliberately non-spooky, but some of the humans that pop up in it are straight-up sinister.
Nick Sharratt, “What’s in the Witch’s Kitchen?”
Recommended by Wren-kun and Tai-kun
Kids have to choose which way to go, e.g., “open the fridge”—one way has chocolate and the other has spiders. Super cute. A spooky “choose your own adventure”.
L. U. Tarchetti, “Fantastic Tales”
Recommended by Duncan Whom
Currently immersed in the discombobulating derangements of the mid-nineteenth century Scapliato scribe, L. U. Tarchetti (as translated by Lawrence Venuti), who desired to be “a hyena, thrusting [his] way into graves, feeding on the bones of the dead”.
Stephen King, “Four Past Midnight”
Recommended by Biankah Bailey
A collection of four horror novellas including “The Langoliers” which was adapted into the 1995 2-part miniseries of the same name. I watched The Langoliers on TV sometime in the late 90s and I remember being really creeped out by it. I bought and read “Four Past Midnight” years later when I was in college.
The Ghost Stories of M.R. James
Recommended by James Nuttall
Each one a perfectly contained creepy masterpiece.
Edward Gorey, “The Gashlycrumb Tinies”
Recommended by Michiyo Taniguchi
Published in 1963. Never underestimate children’s books!
Shirley Jackson, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle”
Recommended by Shisha-chan
A pinnacle of Gothic suspense! Forest magick, talismans, curses, and paranoia! I felt the characterization of Jonas, the cat, was particularly deft!
Ira Levin, “Rosemary’s Baby”
Recommended by Ghiselle Camacho
Chapter eight, especially, haunted and horrified me when I first read it at 12 but now it also fiendishly gives a different kind of haunting as an adult.
Danae Moon Thorp, “Becoming the Witch”
Recommended by Sorcha Ress Chisholm
I’m reading “Becoming the Witch” by my friend and mentor Danae Moon Thorp. It’s great for if you’re just starting out on the path or if you’ve already been on it for a while! It’s poetic, instructional, and well researched. Highly recommended.
Jeff Vandermeer, “Annihilation (Aniquilação)”
Recommended by Masayoshi Ninomiya
I recommend it because of the eerie fear of the uncertainty of stepping into an alien changed world caused in the characters and readers. You never know what could happen on each turn of a page.
Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”
Recommended by Roberto El Gringo
I have been collecting kids’ books in a variety of languages for myself and for teaching because they’re easy to read. Then I had my own kid to read to. I didn’t let her see this book until one of my students who was older than her (12 or 13) wanted to read it. They puzzled over the pictures and tried to unlock the meaning together. The content is definitely PG-13 or above, so it was a bit awkward to explain. Not a bedtime story! I bought it from an outdoor bazaar at Ryukoji (a temple in Koshigoe) with about 20 other kids’ books in about a dozen languages. Most of the books were only 100 yen. This one made the cut because of the curious artwork (I didn’t have the time to read much of each book before the purchase). Yes, I pre-judge books by their covers.
Ray Buckland, “Practical Color Magick”
Recommended (in a way) by Marcellus Nealy
I don’t really read many spooky books but there was one book I did read that scared the crap out of me when I was a teen. I just remember the author saying that words can be used to cast spells on people. I got a sudden fright that perhaps he was trying to cast a spell on me and quickly put the book down. He also said something about evil not really being evil or something like that. That’s a 30 year old memory maybe even more. I’m not sure how scary it is actually but it sure gave me a fright when I was young.
Neil Gaiman, “The Ocean at the End of the Lane”
Recommended by Katie Hughson
I love this because of how it’s so spot-on with nostalgia that it sucks you right back into your own half-remembered bits of childhood, and is respectful of how terrifying childhood can be.
Jefferey Deaver, “Lincoln Rhyme” series
Recommended by J. p. Brent Fialka
Not what one would consider classical literature, but if you want a terrifying, nail-biting, goosebumpy, hair raising ride of a read, these are just the ticket. Must be read in order.