What is a good way to get into the Halloween spirit? Movies do their job, but there is something about the slow build towards disaster that makes horror books just as terrifying. Sure, you cannot see anything, but detailed descriptions of crime and gore are a little hard to forget. Here are five book recommendations that will make you want to sleep with the lights on.
“IT” by Stephen King
When it comes to horror, you cannot miss out on Stephen King’s works. Even people who are not die-hard literature fans have come across his works, be it a movie adaptation or a book. In a nutshell, this book is about a “clown” who terrorizes young children by playing on their fears and phobias. A fair warning: this is only the tip of the iceberg, so brace yourselves.
“The Vegetarian” by Han Kang
A book called The Vegetarian cannot be all that bad, right? Wrong. Somehow, food-centered horror stories are amongst the most gruesome works you will find. This novella is the first of three and tells Yeong-hye’s story as she decides to stop eating meat after a dream about human cruelty. This work is not horrific because of gore, but how her decision affects everyone around her, including herself.
“Parasite Eve” by Hideaki Sena
If you are looking for science-fiction horror, this is the book for you. It is heavy on biology and medical terms, which adds on to the horror factor. It takes a concept we have known about since high school and turns it into something disturbing, something which might make you paranoid about yourself. No spoilers but prepare to be grossed out.
“House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski
This book is not conventional horror, by any means. Is it satire, romance or plain horror? No one knows. You will have to read it and see for yourself. There are stories within stories, narrators interacting with each other, pages formatted to add a claustrophobic or agoraphobic effect. There is a whole world in this book.
“A Head Full of Ghosts” by Paul Tremblay
Demonic possession is one of the most common tropes in horror and makes for some interesting story telling. Sometimes the character is actually possessed or is dealing with a mental illness. This story is told from the eyes of an eight-year-old about her older sister, so the reader cannot decide what is real and what is not. The book touches on how reality television exploits the struggles people go through, and in this case, fourteen-year-old Marjorie is the victim.
Five scary book recommendations
Photograph: Penguin Random House website.
