SCARY ENOUGH FOR HALLOWEEN?

Reading a scary book is much like watching a scary movie in that what scares us is personal. What scares me may not be what scares you. For instance, I like the Saw movies. I don’t find them really scary; I find them intriguing which makes my husband very scared. Some people hate being scared and will not get involved in anything that might scare them from horror movies to haunted houses or frightening costumes over Halloween. There is an abundance of Halloween novels available to read that are cozies and not scary. However, there are many scary books and suspenseful thrillers for those inclined to be frightened in both large and small ways.

Sir Arthur Colan Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskerville” is always worth reading for scary light. Dan Simmons has written both terror novels and mysteries including “Black Hills.” Peter Straub’s terror series Blue Rose starts with “Koko.” You can never go wrong with Stephen King and to me one of his scariest is “It” and if you want to stay in the mystery genre try “Mr. Mercedes.” Shirley Jackson scared people to death with her 1959 release of “The Haunting of Hill House.” John Ajvide Lindqvist is a horror author who wrote “Let the Right One In” and several other shivery novels worth reading.

For scary fun I would recommend “This Cursed House” by Del Sandeen which just came out this month. A young woman takes a job in New Orleans to try to escape her life only to find herself living in a cursed house with a family plagued by their secrets.

Chuck Palahniuk’s latest novel is “Shock Induction” which came out in October. His latest is called a literary fiction novel, but “Fight Club” is called a mystery by some. Personally, I just think his books are rather horrifying especially “Haunted.”

Alex North has written some rather scary mysteries including “The Whisper Man.” Stuart Neville’s “Blood Like Mine” just came out last August and is definitely a scary mystery. Dennis Lehane’s “Shutter Island” is hardly a straightforward mystery. Riley Sager writes mysteries and horror. Sager’s “The Only One Left” is a terrifically suspenseful horror novel to start with. I loved “The House Across the Lake.” You cannot go wrong with a Simone St. James’ mystery or horror novel. St. James’ latest is a horror novel named “Murder Road.”

Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” is a suspenseful thriller. One of my favorite suspenseful thrillers is Alex Michaelides’ “The Silent Patient.” M.L. Rio has written horror, and a mystery called “If We Were Villains” which might prove satisfyingly scary enough for some readers.

One of my favorite mystery writers is Lisa Unger who in September wrote “The Doll’s House” which is a horror novella. The book revolves around a widowed mother who moves into the family home with her new fiancé and his teenage daughter. They immediately find a doll and you have to know the story goes sideways from there.

Delilah S. Dawson writes a bit of everything including mysteries. Her latest “It Will Only Hurt for a Moment” is a chilling mystery thriller about a woman who runs away from her narcissistic ex-boyfriend and alcoholic, abusive mother to Tranquil Falls, a secluded artists’ colony on the grounds of a closed hotel with a chilling past.

Hailey Piper is a horror novelist with the best titles ever. The latest is “All the Hearts You Eat.” You have to love that title! Don’t miss “Queen of Teeth” and “The Worm and his King.” “All the Hearts You Eat” starts out with the main character finding a dead body on the beach and a mysterious poem nearby.

Kelley Armstrong writes a variety of genres including mystery and horror. Her mystery series Rockton started with “City of the Lost” and is excellent. Her latest standalone is a horror novel called “I’ll Be Waiting.”