Welcome…come in…please take a seat, but be careful, our last guest left a messy exit.
All Hallows Eve is at large, and the freaks of the world are coming out. I’m here to guide soon-to-be lost souls on what tomes to rip into, what passages to decipher, so that fear and suspense are stuck in your hearts…anticipating the horrid night soon to come.
Our first testament to this genre is a classic, something that has terrified young and old for generations, “Coraline.” I can guarantee at least one of you readers knows the tale of the young girl, plagued and hunted by a sinister, doll-like being, only known as the Other Mother. While I’m certain anyone can seek reference to the movie, “Coraline” was originally a novel. Even better, the story was even more unnerving and grotesque than the movie. The book goes into great detail about the touch and feel of the parallel Other World. The fake, almost leathery feel of the tunnel our MC Coraline goes through. The descriptions of the Other people are as uncanny and distorted as you could wish….maybe, even more. There is a reason why this story is in the Hall of Fame as a classic fright for young and old.
The next on our chilling list is regarded as one of the most influential horror novels of all time, “The Shining”. Once again, this classic was adapted into a movie. Regarded as the staple for horror, this book is packed with gore, ghosts, and twisting mazes, sure to make you go mad. The whole story only takes place in one isolated hotel. It dives headfirst into the new owner, Jack, as he falls deeper and deeper into murderous rage, as the hotel takes him apart piece by… piece. Mr. Stephen King really has the best getaway ideas.
“The House of Leaves” is truly a book like no other. It has a simple but odd premise: a man finds himself realizing his new house is bigger on the inside than the outside. A simple but hooking plot is thrown into a mind-bending book, full of surreal imagery, each door and window is explained in grotesque detail, and the whole book reeks of mildewy and evil stench. The claustrophobic feeling isn’t just shown with the words, but also in the text itself. Some pages are read backward or upside down, in a spiral, or just missing pieces altogether. Whole chapters are made to be decoded or ciphered. Little, seemingly insignificant details turn to change the whole plot altogether. This is not just a book, but an experience. I encourage you to truly go into this without much knowledge concerning plot details or answers to the riddles strewn about. Try to see if you don’t go crazy yourself…
These select prices are truly testaments to what horror is all about: mystery, suspense, blood and gore, and a surreal sense of dread and paranoia. No matter if you read one or all three, this collection is sure to, at the very least, make your skin crawl and form a pit in your stomach.
