Five from the Shelf: Creepy Reads for Halloween
- theshelfldn
- Oct 15, 2017
- 4 min read
As the nights arrive earlier and we wake in the morning to find it is still dark outside, for many readers there is a collective tendency to reach for books that fill us with fear. Though I am unable to cope with even the smallest scare in the cinema, I love a book that sends shivers down my spine. With a few weeks to go until the spookiest day of the year, I thought I would share some of my favourite scary stories.
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
No book has made me want to hide under the covers more than Hill's The Woman in Black. This tells the story Arthur, a young solicitor who is sent to an isolated mansion in order to sort through the belongings of a deceased client. Whilst there he is terrorised by the sinister figure of a woman dressed in black who walks the house and surrounding marshlands. As we learn more about the woman's past, we discover that with each sighting, a tragedy occurs within the nearby village. There is no other author capable of building such tension, I read this gripped with genuine fear, and was haunted by nightmares for weeks after reading this a few years ago. I hope to pluck up the courage to revisit this one day, as it truly is an incredible piece of storytelling. Those looking for a genuine scare need look no further.
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Though better known for her works of historical fiction centring on LGBTQ relationships, in 2009 Sarah Waters released a haunting gothic novel that was very different to her previous releases.
The Little Stranger focuses on Faraday, a young doctor who becomes involved with an aristocratic family dwelling in a nearby mansion. his story is told against the backdrop of post World War Two Britain. It is a country still feeling the turbulence of war, where a previously held class system is being questioned. The family who live in the house are not only haunted by the mysterious force that resides in their home, but fear the changing state of the nation as their role in society is no longer needed.
At heart though, this is a perfect ghost story. Anything you could possibly want from a chilling book makes a cameo in this novel: vicious animal attacks; sinister writing scrawled on the walls; unexplained noises heard in the dead of the night. There are some books which, when reading, ooze of the author just having a great time while writing them, and I suspect Waters had a blast during her time working on this book.
Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
Breaking away from haunted English houses, Michelle Paver's Dark Matter is a supernatural tale set in the wilds of the Arctic. Jack, the novel's protagonist is part of a mission to the remote part of the world, travelling with several other men in a bid to escape his miserable life in London. As he gets further and further from home, his travelling companions are, in turn, forced to leave, until eventually he is the sole member of the party. Left in the desolation of the north, Jack begins to sense that he is not alone. An unnameable force moves through the landscape. We do not know what haunts Jack's time in the Arctic, yet this uncertainty solely adds to the terror. This is a story bond to send your imagination soaring, filling in the gaps with your own worst fears.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Breaking away from the supernatural, And Then There Were None is one of Agatha Christie's most revered works of crime fiction. As with many of Christie's fiction, a group of seemingly unconnected figures find themselves stranded together with a murderer among them. Bought together on to an isolated island, one by one the group of strangers are killed, the death of each relating back to a sinister nursery rhyme found framed on the wall. This is hailed as one of Christie's most cunning and layered novels, delivering a twist that not many readers will see coming.
Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Finally, there are many brilliant canonical works of gothic literature which could have gained a place on this list, Dracula, Frankenstein and Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde among others. Yet of all the classical scary stories, Henry James' The Turn of the Screw is the sole one that has made me feel genuine fear. This follows a young governess who becomes the primary carer for two young children, one of whom has recently been expelled from school. Though besotted with the children, she becomes unnerved by the presence of two unknown figures, who are revealed to be the spirits of two past servants of the house. As the governess becomes increasingly anxious, and her behaviour more chaotic, the relationship between the ghosts, children and governess are all pulled into question, culminating in a terrifying and tragic finale.
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