Halloween Reads 2017

I love stories about ghosts and witches, and things that go bump in the night. I especially love frightening myself half-to-death reading them in the weeks leading up to Halloween! My favourites are ghostly, historical gothics, such as The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell and This House is Haunted by John Boyne, but this year I did step out of my comfort zone with Dark Matter, a brilliant twist on the haunted house story, set in the Arctic circle.

I've rated all these books five star 'Halloween Reads' but they are not all ghost stories. The Witchfinder's Sister is based on real events. The Yellow Wallpaper is a little gem of a psychological suspense (and currently free on Kindle). The humour of Mystery at Maplemead Castle will have you in stitches.

But whatever you love to read, I'm sure there's something for everyone!

Happy Halloween!

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

Elsie Bainbridge, newly married, newly widowed, arrives at her husband's crumbling ancestral home to wait for her baby to be born, with only the company of a few resentful servants and her husband's widowed cousin, Sarah. When Elsie and Sarah explore the house they find two wooden props, skillfully painted to look like children, hidden away in a locked garret: a girl and a gypsy boy - and the girl looks just like Elsie.

Historical, dual-timeline, psychological suspense, gothic, paranormal.

Full review here.

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

Despite the age gap between Merry and her older sister Marjorie, they have a close, loving relationship - until Marjorie starts to behave strangely. Is she having a psychotic breakdown, or has she been possessed by a demon? Or is she just faking the whole thing? When the medical profession are unable to help, her parents call in the local catholic priest. It's then that events spiral out of control and the family find themselves starring in a TV reality show called The Possession.

Contemporary, psychological suspense, paranormal.

Full review here.

This House is Haunted by John Boyne

It's 1867 and Eliza Caine has just taken the post of governess at Gaudlin Hall - the previous governess is so keen to hightail it out of there, she passes Eliza at the train station on her way back to London. The house is huge, gothic, and very creepy. It appears to run without any servants and there is no sign of any other adult - just two very strange young children. What happened to the five governesses before her? And why does she get the impression that someone really, really doesn't want her there?

Historical, gothic, paranormal.

Full review here.

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

Dark Matter is a ghost story with a difference. Instead of the traditional haunted house, it takes place on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the middle of an Arctic winter - four months of complete darkness. Five men set out on an expedition, one-by-one they all fall by the wayside until only one is left completely alone in the snowy wilderness. Or is he?

Historical, psychological suspense, paranormal.

Full review here.

The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown

Newly widowed, Alice returns to Essex to live with her brother, Matthew Hopkins. One of the servants tells her he has a great book that has the names of all the witches written down in it. Yet this is the 17th century - who believes in witches?

But in the town there is talk. Young children have died and people are saying it was done with witchcraft. Intimidated by her brother, Alice remains quiet, believing the women will be found innocent. Instead, more women are seized and imprisoned, and now Matthew wants Alice to help him.

Historical, true-life.

Full review here.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The narrator has recently moved to a large, decaying house with her husband to recover from 'temporary nervous depression'. Her husband, who is also her doctor, has refused to let her work (write), so she has nothing to occupy her mind other than to lounge about their bedroom and obsess about the wallpaper. She feels that, 

"There is something strange about the house - I can feel it. I even said so to John one moonlight evening, but he said what I felt was a draught, and shut the window."

Historical, psychological suspense.

Full review here.

The Lost Village by Neil Spring

In 1932 famous ghost hunter Harry Price and his assistant, Sarah, travel to an uninhabited village on Salisbury Plain, currently being used as a training ground by the British Army, to investigate exactly what it is that has got the soldiers so spooked.

(Released on 19th October 2017).

Historical, gothic, paranormal.

Full review here.

Mystery at Maplemead Castle by Kitty French

At the grand old age of 27, Melody 'I see dead people' Bittersweet has decided to stop fighting the unique talent which is persistently getting her fired/losing her potential boyfriends, and has set up The Girls' Ghostbusting Agency. Along for the ride are best friend Marina, the terrifyingly efficient Glenda, and naive young Artie, who has just enough sense to dig the girls out of trouble if they need it. In this story, Melody and her friends investigate Maplemead Castle and find it haunted by circus folk - two trapeze artists and their ringmaster - doomed to repeat the events that led to their deaths every single night. 

Contemporary, cosy mystery, humour, romance, paranormal.

Full review here.

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris

Psychic Manfred Bernardo has just moved to to the town of Midnight in Texas, which is basically just a few run-down stores around an intersection with one set of traffic lights. His new neighbours seem friendly enough, if a little ... strange ... but he's sure he's going to fit in just fine. He's right about that, because while Manfred has a few secrets in his past, it's nothing compared to those of his new friends.

Contemporary, cosy mystery, paranormal, supernatural.

Full review here. 

Related Posts

Halloween Reads 2016

10 Books Which Chilled Me (on my personal blog)

Review: The Weight of Lies by Emily Carpenter

This book felt as though it had been written just for me! It has all the ingredients I love in a story - an old murder, family secrets, flawed characters - there is even a spooky old house located on a private island. Perfect!

Forty years ago, Meg Ashley's mother Frances became an overnight sensation when she wrote a cult horror novel called Kitten. (Think female Stephen King and the success of 'Carrie'). Since then, Frances Ashley has become an extremely wealthy, much-loved author. Unfortunately, Frances is also a complete megalomaniac and a terrible mother. A clue to their relationship is that whenever Frances phones Meg, a picture of Ursula from The Little Mermaid pops up on Meg's screen!

The person Meg is closest to is Edgar, her mother's literary agent, who has become almost like a father to her. So when Edgar dies, and her mother simply jets off to marry yet another in a long list of husbands without telling her, it is the final straw. Offered a huge sum of money to write a tell-all account of growing up with Frances Ashley as her mother - and the true-life murder that inspired Kitten, Meg accepts, packing her bags and heading off to the private island of Bonny (Georgia, USA), intending to solve the decades-old murder. Will her plan go horribly wrong? You bet!

One of the things I liked best about this story is that it is clear Meg is being manipulated - you want to shout at the book, 'No, don't do it!' - but who is doing the manipulating? Frances's bitter assistant, who arranges Meg's book deal? Doro Kitchens, the woman Frances based the character of Kitten on all those years ago? The handsome Koa, Doro's employee, who has his own reasons for being on the island? Or even Frances herself?

Another thing I loved about the story was that I couldn't work out who the murderer was, not even at the very end! And there was a final twist I didn't see coming.

It's hard to categorise the genre - another thing I liked about the book. Part psychological suspense, part classic romantic suspense, part gothic. There is a murder mystery and a hint of the paranormal - and the end seemed to come straight out of an 80s scream queen movie. It reminded me of Daphne du Maurier and Shirley Jackson, with a bit of Stephen King, but although it gets a little bit bloody towards the end (and slightly over the top - just hold on and enjoy the ride!), it is not really gruesome.

Anyway, I loved it. It's one of my favourite reads this year and I've already downloaded the author's earlier book, Burying the Honeysuckle Girls.


Thank you to Emily Carpenter, Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review. 

And thanks to Chelsea Humphrey at The Suspense is Killing Me - it was her fabulous review which made me desperate to read this book!

Review: The Spinster and the Rake by Anne Stuart

Anne Stuart is one of my all-time favourite authors. I think the first book of hers I read was one from her House of Rohan series when I bought my Kindle. Over the years I've read most of her books - not as easy as it sounds, because she has been writing for over 40 years (mainly romantic suspense and historical romance) and some books are out of print. The Spinster and the Rake is one of her older books, originally published in 1982 and now brought out as an ebook, revised and with new material.

The Spinster and the Rake is a familiar trope to readers of romance: bad boy meets innocent heroine, but as usual Anne Stuart puts her own twist on it.

Gillian Redfern divides her time between the households of her two sisters and domineering elder brother, running errands for them, helping with their children and generally behaving as an unpaid servant. She does have her own money, thanks to legacies from her mother and an aunt, but has sleepwalked into her current lifestyle without realising it. It takes a chance meeting with the wicked Marquis of Marlowe for her to understand what she has been missing.

I enjoyed the banter between the characters and their growing respect for each other. I liked the way Gillian was not some downtrodden Cinderella character but quite capable of standing up to her bullying elder brother. The minor characters were well-drawn too - Gillian's nephew, who has incurred gambling debts, and her niece, who is determined to marry an impoverished Vicar. Not to mention her sister-in-law, who hardly moves from the sofa, no matter what disaster threatens the family!

If you enjoy this book then you will love The Devil's Waltz, which has a similar plot and is one of my all-time favourite books. If romantic suspense is more your thing, then I'd recommend Anne Stuart's Ice series.

Thank you to Anne Stuart, Bell Bridge Books and NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for an  honest review.

Review: Melody Bittersweet and The Girls' Ghostbusting Agency by Kitty French

I absolutely loved this book! It took a while for me to get into it, as I'd just read several 'traditional' Victorian ghost stories back-to-back, and this is a very bouncy, fast-paced romantic comedy, so it was a bit of a shock to the system - but in a good way!

At the grand old age of 27, Melody 'I see dead people' Bittersweet decides to stop fighting the unique talent which is persistently getting her fired/losing her potential boyfriends, and sets up The Girls' Ghostbusting Agency. Along for the ride are best friend Marina, the terrifyingly efficient Glenda, and young Artie, who is soon completely out of his depth: 'I've never been locked in a cellar before. This is the best job I've ever had.' 

Unfortunately Melody is not the only psychic in the village. The deliciously gothic Leo Dark, complete with swirling cloak and a legion of fans known as 'Darklings', is the ex who trampled over her heart in his rush to get his own TV show. Now Melody and Leo are in direct competition trying to help the three Scarborough brothers move on to the other side. All they have to do is solve the mystery of who murdered cricket-loving Douglas way back in 1910, allowing the spooky old family mansion to be sold for development. Simple. Or maybe not.

Why did I enjoy this story so much? Well, it was a lot of fun and I loved the characters and the way they interacted with each other, particularly poor put-upon Artie. There is also a bit of a love interest with two 'heroes' for Melody to choose from, the aforementioned Leo, who might not be quite as ruthless as he appears, and Melody's Nemesis, journalist Fletcher Gunn, who is out to prove both Melody and Leo are a couple of con-artists. 

If you're the kind of person who loves Scooby Doo and Ghostbusters you will love this, and you'll also enjoy spotting all the references to classic British and American TV shows. If you want your romantic comedy to have a little bit more edge, you will adore the mystery and the spooky bits, but if you're expecting to die of fright, it's not going to happen. You might die of laughing though.

Halloween Reads 2016

I am one of those boringly predictable people who love to read holiday books in the summer, Christmas books in the winter and spooky books leading up to Halloween. There was one time when I made a habit of re-reading Bram Stoker's Dracula in the last few days of October, but I'm hoping I'm past that now. When you get to the point where you can quote large chunks of text from a book, its probably time to move on!

But I've had a rummage through my Kindle and found lots of long-forgotten gems - old favourites as well as books I'd downloaded and then forgotten about - and I'm planning on working my way through they over the coming weeks. They will not necessarily be straight-forward tales of horror; some might only have the slightest hint that not all is as it appears, some won't be frightening at all! But gather around the fireside my friends, for something wicked this way comes ...

Book Reviews

The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore
Melody Bittersweet and the Girls' Ghostbusting Agency by Kitty French
The Travelling Bag and Other Ghostly Stories by Susan Hill

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Related Posts:

10 Books Which Chilled Me (on my personal blog)