October is my favorite month of the year, so I wanted to soak up all the scary spooky vibes that I could. I had some good picks this month (and I’m working on a few more still!).
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill • ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a pretty short book, and a quick read like this was the perfect way to kick off spooky season. Even if you’ve seen the movie, I highly recommend picking this one up.
I sped through The Woman in Black in about three days and really enjoyed it. It had all the elements of scary stories I love: a dilapidated old mansion, a specter, a curse. Just go read it quick!
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue • ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I started The Wonder a few years back but just had a hard time with the protagonist—she was unlikeable! But I rented the audiobook from the library and really settled into this story.
It was gloomy, atmospheric and mysterious which made for a great early October listen.
The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike • ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
While I love a good scary movie or show, it’s not too often that I read horror books. But this month I really wanted to dive into some spine-tingling reads.
The gist here is that a family moves into a new apartment next to a cemetery. It’s the perfect location for the family and they become friends with their neighbors. As great as this all seems, there’s something spooky going on there. Soon, tenants start moving out one by one until this family is living in this giant complex all alone.
The Graveyard Apartment really came through for me. In fact, after I finished this book, I had to take a break from scary stuff for a few days. That’s a hallmark of a good scary read!
The Secret Mother by Shalini Boland • ⭐️⭐️
The first chapter of this book was really intriguing. A woman comes home to find a little boy in her kitchen calling her “mum” like it ain’t no thing.
But the rest was pretty blah and I found the protagonist to be unlikable. Skip it.
Milwaukee Ghosts and Legends by Anna Lardinois • 👻👻👻👻
Let me say first that I am a huge fan of Anna Lardinois. She operates Gothic Milwaukee, the best spooky tour company around. I’ve gone on her ghost tours, spooky boat tour and have had the pleasure to run into her around town. She’s charming, smart and so fun to talk to.
Milwaukee Ghosts and Legends is just the sort of book you want to pick up this time of year. It’s full of short spooky stories from the Milwaukee area—some well known, some lesser-known.
I’ve read parts of this book before, but this October I read stories each night before bed and it was such a nice treat to settle in with a little local lore.
As always, you can keep up with what I’m working on over on Goodreads!
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