Davis Huth

With the Halloween season already underway, finding a festive pastime to occupy the rest of month and fall can be a challenge if you suffer from a lack of direction, inspiration for atmospheric activities or have checked several horror films off your streaming watchlist already. For any horror fans who are interested in starting a novel this October, here are five books from a wide range of publication dates, from the 1800’s all the way to the year 2000:

 

1. IT: Written by Stephen king, this influential novel cemented itself as an epic, instant horror classic when published in the fall of 1986. The story follows a group of childhood friends into their adult lives, the narrative jumping back and forth between these time periods throughout the book separated by a 27-year gap: the amount of time it takes the novel’s antagonist, It, to rest between feeding cycles. With themes of ancient Lovecraftian monsters, Stephen King staples such as east coast American life and the fragile concept of memory, this novel spans over 1,200 pages and spawned three separate films to successfully seal the visual of killer clowns into the common horror iconography.

 

2. House of Leaves: Published in 2000 and written by Mark Z. Danielewski, this cult classic turned bestseller is Danielewski’s debut work, known for its disturbing subject matter intertwined with a confusing narrative that blurs the lines between fiction and reality. Without spoiling too much of the book’s story, it begins when a young tattoo artist named Johnny Truant goes to clean out his recently deceased neighbor’s apartment, and stumbles upon a manuscript called “The Navidson Record.” Written by Zampanò, the dead apartment owner who happened to be blind, it details the events of a film by the same name documented by a man named Will Navidson, who discovers that a house he recently acquired seems to somehow measure larger on the inside than the outside. The mystery of each narrator and their past is what signifies the novel, and if you prefer your horror to be of a more personal and emotionally twisted nature, this novel may be the perfect choice.

 

3. Dracula: Bram Stoker’s iconic vampire story released in 1897 tells the tale of the infamous Count Dracula, a malevolent and powerful vampire who lives in a castle on the outskirts of a Transylvanian village. When the initial protagonist and narrator of the story, Jonathan Harker, arrives at Dracula’s estate at the request of his employer to discuss real estate with their nocturnal client: the Count is looking to relocate from Romania to England, the capital of global influence and political zeitgeist during the late 19th century, as well as the home of Harker and his fiancé, Mina. A classic gothic novel about a ruthless, historical figure turned supernatural bloodthirsty monster, “Dracula” is a great book full of suspense and gothic storytelling.

 

4. The Haunting of Hill House: A modern gothic story by horror icon Shirley Jackson, “The Haunting of Hill House” was published in 1959. One of the greatest supernatural novels of the past century, according to Stephen King in his 1981 book “Danse Macabre,” the story has since produced two films in the 20th century (both called “The Haunting” in 1963 and 1999) and a recent Netflix original series based on the novel from 2018. The novel was inspired by “several earnest, I believe misguided, certainly determined people,” according to Jackson, “with their differing motivations and backgrounds.” Arguably the perfect example of the haunted house story written in the modern day, if the premise of four characters with differing perspectives on the supernatural caught in a haunted mansion with their own troubled psyches sounds captivating, The Haunting of Hill House” may satisfy a certain Halloween story craving you weren’t aware of.

 

5. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: A shorter installation to conclude this list serves as a founding example of the gothic horror story, this 1886 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson is only approximately 140 pages, and if the mystery aspect is unknown to you, it is best to read this concise Victorian thriller without any spoilers. Stevenson is also the author behind well-known classic, suspenseful adventure stories such as Treasure Island (1883) and Kidnapped (1886). If the damp and dark streets of late 19th century London with a crazed lunatic on the loose seems up your alley, this might be the quick read for you before the month is over.