Slade House is a delightfully dark fairy tale, one that riffs off the world Mitchell built in The Bone Clocks but does not demand prior knowledge of it. There’s a stylish book trailer here. Its Edward Gorey-ish vibe makes me like it even more than the litany of praise it was designed to showcase. And indeed, no Halloween would be complete without a dose or several of Gorey. My sons and I just finished reading John Bellairs’ The House With the Clock in Its Walls; Gorey’s illustrations were the perfect complement to the tale of an evil wizard who concealed a doomsday clock in his squeaky, freaky home. Perhaps I was listening for ticking…

Generally speaking, I like a subtle, atmospheric brand of scary, the sort that steals over you, rather than overt horror, the sort that jumps out at you with chainsaw in hand. I may be the only child of the 80s who managed to avoid the Friday the 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises, and the allure of the slasher flick eludes me still. This animation of Gorey’s cryptic but compelling “The Object Lesson” by Matt McGee is more my speed: https://vimeo.com/23504205.

Happy Halloween!
 

“A Collapse of Horses” by Brian Evenson is bound to freak you out. The narrator, recovering in a hospital, tied to the bed, tells the story of his mysteriously changing house, where light switches change locations, windows grow and shrink, and one day he has three children, another day he has four. After coming upon a paddock of horses lying as still as if dead, the narrator takes drastic measures to end the madness.

Or if you’re looking for a scary story with more of fun twist, check out “Royal Jelly” by Roald Dahl, in which a man attempts to cure his baby’s starvation by giving her the jelly meant to feed queen bees. Originally published in Twilight Zone Magazine, Dahl spins this weird and freaky tale with his usual hint of humor.

I hope you have a fun and frightening Halloween while using some scary stories to improve your craft. What spooky stories will you be reading this year?