Books to Scare Your Socks Off
Approaching my reading chair, I feel nervous, anxious, and excited. I pick up the book and my adrenaline cranks up. There’s truly only one genre that can be described as bone-chilling and spine-tingling: horror.
With Halloween approaching, I spent some time looking for a new read. I did a little research to find something unusual, creative, and scary. I came up with my virtual literary treat bag overflowing with newly-published goodies -- and a chance to find out how some of my fellow #AmeliaIndies to into both reading and writing in the horror and paranormal genres.
Armand Rosamilia told us about the summer he dove into thrillers and horror with Phantoms before virtually inhaling anything ever written by Dean Koontz. David-Matthew Barnes took a similar route when he devoured every book he could find by Lois Duncan and Christopher Pike. When shopping for the spooky, consider Rosamilia’s Chelsea Avenue or Make It Til Dawn by Barnes.
Amelia Indies Authors’ member Beth Wojiski grew up with Steven King, Shirley Jackson, and Anne Rice as favorite authors.
“For my birthday one year, my dad bought me classics like Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde—cementing my love of gothic fiction,” she added. Edgar Allen Poe’s Cask of Amontillado and The Raven secured his place in her personal reading history.
Hiron Ennes’ debut novel Leech and Butcher by Laura Kat Young are worth a look. And Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without a scare from Stephen King, would it? Try one of the newer ones, like Fairy Tale.
If you're still not convinced the spooky stuff is for you, ask yourself a few questions. Does your next book need to provide a thrill? Trigger your fight-or-flight response? Are you ready to feel all those endorphins and dopamine zipping around?
What are you waiting for? Get to the bookstore — just beware of the storm drains, cemeteries, and hollow trees along the way.
Rosina Eller