Good Hallowe'en Reads

If you're one of those folks who is new to cruising the Hallowe'en blogs, or only cruise them at this time of year, you may have missed some of the best Hallowe'en literature out there. I've compiled a short list of Hallowe'en and spooky reading for you.


October Dreams has got to be one of the best compilations of personal stories and scary stories out there. I discovered this gem through Pumpkinrot's recommendation, and got it almost immediately. I'm really glad I did. The Official description says this: "Classic novellas, never-before-published stories, essays on the history, literature, and films of Halloween, and real-life memories of October 31st-from today's best practitioners of fear." With offerings from Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Poppy Z. Brite and Peter Straub, you are constantly entertained by the upper echelon of our passion.


One of the things I love about this book is that it is in that short-story style, so you can read a story and put it down for a little bit and not worry about forgetting where you were. I really recommend this!
The Halloween Tree, is a near-legendary Hallowe'en story by Ray Bradbury. For those of you who haven't had the chance to read this, now is really the time, because you can't call yourself a true Hallowe'en enthusiast if you haven't. Disneyland has gone so far as to build their own Halloween Tree and dedicate it to Mr. Bradbury. There's a video about The Halloween Tree and Disneyland with Ray Bradbury here. They dedicate and light the tree towards the very end, but it's worth watching the whole thing for some tidbits about Something Wicked This Way Comes and other Disney things...


I covered The Halloween Tree in Hauntcast 24, so if you want an engaging and incredibly intelligent synopsis, you should give that a listen! ;o) The book itself is a very articulate read, almost a poem in its rhythms, and the pictures it paints are fantastic.


Speaking of Hauntcast, by now you've downloaded the new show and heard all about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
In the show, I recommended you read the original classic for yourself. You can get the copy pictured for free and download it to the Kindle for PC app, or you can browse the other free apps for Kindle here. I can't stress enough what a joy it is to read the original text describing the mad ride of Ichabod Crane as he's pursued by the Headless Horseman. The buildup of tension is wonderfully creepy, and sure to give you vivid dreams!


Well, what are you doing here, still? Go read something!