“Maybe all the people who say ghosts don't exist are just afraid to admit that they do.”
― Michael Ende
Do you believe in ghosts? Are you someone whose brain supplies a logical explanation when something strange happens, or does your heart quicken with the fleeting fear there might be more to it?
Halloween is that time of year when even the most level-headed person can find themselves wondering. Long summer days have given way to creeping shadows and falling autumn leaves that rustle underfoot. It’s easy to imagine something sinister lurking at the edge of your peripheral vision. And there’s nothing like a good ghost story to make you doubt your senses, especially if you’re reading late at night when there’s no one else around.
I scare easily, especially when it comes to the paranormal, so I approach my Halloween reading with caution! My three book choices this year all contain characters who are ghosts. Some of them are benevolent, some are mean and murderous, and some are a complicated combination of both.
As to whether I believe in ghosts… I guess I would have to say I do. I mean, I’ve never seen a ghost personally (and I’m in no hurry to change that!), but I don’t think I’d find ghost stories so terrifying if I was certain they didn’t exist. And I definitely believe places have memories. They retain echoes of things that happened, both good and bad.
Almost twenty years ago, I spent a few days sightseeing in Edinburgh, and I visited Holyrood Palace—a gothic castle built in the early sixteenth century by King James IV of Scotland. The tour of Holyrood covers a lot of royal history, including one particularly famous death in the private apartments that used to belong to Mary, Queen of Scots.
On 8 March 1566, Mary witnessed the brutal murder of her private secretary, David Rizzio. He was dragged from her bedchamber and stabbed an unbelievable fifty-seven times. Rizzio, a musician from Italy, was close to both Mary and her husband, Lord Darnley. So close, in fact, that Lord Darnley’s jealousy was a key factor in the plot to murder Rizzio. Rumours that Rizzio was the father of Mary’s child, the future James I of England, persisted long after Rizzio’s death.
The exact location where Rizzio died is marked by a small gold plaque. There’s even a “bloodstain”, supposedly made from red wine by Victorian tour guides to encourage tourists to leave bigger tips. When I stood next to it, the sudden rush of terror was absolutely suffocating. It was like being wrapped in an invisible cloak made from pure dread. Even though it happened so long ago, I still get chills when I think about it.
Of course, I also believe in the power of imagination 🙂. Would I have felt anything if I hadn’t known about Rizzio’s brutal death? I guess there’s no way to know for sure. Anyway, onto my ghostly Halloween reading 📙🎃. I hope you enjoy my choices, and thank you very much for visiting my blog today 💕.
I’ve been meaning to read Strange the Dreamer and its sequel, Muse of Nightmares, for ages. When I found out that Laini Taylor, the author, was going to YALC this year, I immediately bumped them to the top of my TBR! (You can read more about YALC from a previous blog post here.)
Strange the Dreamer is not a scary story in the traditional Halloween sense, though it contains plenty of ghosts, more than a few nightmares, and a truly awful villain. There are also myths and magic, gods and goddesses, the most amazing character arcs, incredible worldbuilding, absolutely heartbreaking backstories, and the bravest, most honourable librarian you’ll ever meet.
The beautiful bookmark is from Kehani Krafts, and I got the absolutely stunning character art from Enchanted Books.
It’s exactly how I imagined Sarai would look 🦋.
Opening line: On the second Sabbat of Twelfthmoon, in the city of Weep, a girl fell from the sky.
Scariest moment: When I understood the true meaning of the prologue.
Three quotes:
1️⃣ “Lazlo owned nothing, not one single thing, but from the first, the stories felt like his own hoard of gold.”
2️⃣ “Good people do all the things bad people do, Lazlo. It's just that when they do them, they call it justice.”
3️⃣ “I’m not a dream,” said Sarai. There was bitterness in her voice. “I’m a nightmare.”
My second choice has such a great title. It suggests a character who is equal parts tragic and terrifying, and when we eventually meet her, the ghost of Anna Korlov doesn’t disappoint.
The story opens with Cas, a teenage ghosthunter on a mission to avenge his father’s death. Cas dispatches dangerous ghosts from the land of the living with a magical blade called an athame, and he’s got his sights set on Anna. Of course, nothing goes to plan because Anna isn’t an ordinary ghost…
Opening line: The grease-slicked hair is a dead giveaway—no pun intended.
Scariest moment: When we enter Anna’s house for the first time, and she lives up to her gruesome reputation in spectacular (and stomach-churning) fashion.
Three quotes:
1️⃣ “Don’t be afraid of the dark, Cas. But don’t let them tell you that everything that’s there in the dark is also there in the light. It isn’t.”
2️⃣ “They rationalised their fears away. People shouldn’t do that.”
3️⃣ “I can feel that photo of Anna staring out from sixty years ago, and I can’t help myself from wanting to protect her, wanting to save her from becoming what she already is.”
I found this book the scariest of the three. I will admit that I read it after dark, which probably amplified my fears, but the slow, creepy build towards the big reveal really did keep me on the edge of my seat. There were no magical blades or enchanted moths in this story, and somehow, that made it all the more unnerving. The characters were ordinary people who simply had the misfortune to be trapped inside a horror story.
Phantom Realm is set in and around Harmon Manor, aka Misery Mansion, and the story spans four time periods all the way back to the Great Depression in the 1930s. The house is as much of a character as the other protagonists, and just like them, it keeps you guessing as to its true nature!
Opening line: It was supposed to be just a silly Halloween dare.
Scariest moment: When Jessica is in the cellar during a thunderstorm for the second time.
Three quotes:
1️⃣ “Grief turns vicious in the dead of night.”
2️⃣ “Mortality itself is such a key element of the human experience. Can you really be alive if you can’t die?”
3️⃣ “I guess I don’t mind having ghosts around. How many people can say they live in a haunted house? But if there is a presence here, I wish it would come out and show itself.”
“Careful. You might regret saying that.”
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