As I mentioned before, Alex and I really, really love to read. Unfortunately, these days my "me time" is limited. With two toddlers in the house I have to spend my down-time wisely. I used to spend a lot of time in a comfy chair curled up with a good book and a cup of tea, and now I listen to books more than read them. This is a great option. I can have my cake and eat it too—hands free to craft and still enjoying a good book. I am aware that, before I know it, I will be the mother of older kids and will have plenty of time to spend with proper books once again.
Here are a few of my all-time fave's in no particular order:
Rosemary's Baby
This story just rocks. I am a HUGE fan of this movie and an even bigger fan of the book. It is brilliantly written and gives such wonderful insight into the subtleties of Rosemary and Guy's relationship. Having been written as a "contemporary" novel, the story references lots of things that are particular to the time, like Broadway plays and certain brands of products - making it an interesting time capsule. As is the case with most books that become movies, a lot of chapters are not included in the movie due to time constraints. These chapters are especially wonderful because they are like finding hidden treasure. Also, there is a contemporary audiobook recording done by Mia Farrow that is amazing and I highly suggest checking it out.
The Uninvited
This is a recent discovery of mine. One of my favorite podcasts, Forgotten Classics (FC), introduced me to this book in audio version. It's a ghost story set in 1940's England. I don't want to give too much away. Julie at FC did a wonderful job reading this and positing her thoughts and research before and after each chapter. The author is Dorothy MacArdle and I haven't been able to find too many of her works in print these days. Such a shame, she spins a very spooky yarn!
Extra Large Medium
I actually read this book in paper form a couple years ago. Alex had picked it up and enjoyed it... passed it along to me, and I really liked it too. Another British author, Helen Slavin, tells a very fun, contemporary story about a girl named Annie who has inherited mediumistic abilities. It's just the tale of an average girl, living her life, who happens to be shadowed by the dead who are trying to get her to to listen to what they have to say. I wasn't able to find an audio version of this book.
Seeking Spirits
This is the 2nd nonfiction book written by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson from the TV show Ghost Hunters. In this book they recount some of their early experiences when they first started out investigating the paranormal. They didn't have fancy equipment...they were just a couple curious guys at this time. In my opinion, there is not much better than REAL ghost stories. Especially told by people who are credible and are skeptical believers. Great book to generate some goosebumps! This one doesn't seem to have an audio version either.
Now, this is just a few of the spooky books that I love. Other books I'd like to mention would be my favorite Stephen King book, The Shining (actually had to put it down a few times when I was reading it because I punked out!), another non-fiction book by Christine Wicker called Lilydale, and anything really by Edgar Allen Poe. Luckily, Poe's works are in the public domain and are available for free download on Librivox. I'm not sure if it would be considered scary, but The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is definitely creepy.
I hope this gives you some ideas for books you might want to pick up or download to get you going for Halloween. If you have any you'd like to share...please put them in the comments, we'd love to hear about them!
- Cassandra
