Spooky Season and Some Tea? Yes please
It’s that time of year again where the leaves fall and days get shorter. All we want to do is crawl into our beds with a nice warm blanket. Usually, that is partnered up with some doom-scrolling, but let’s subtract our devices for a better hand held object: books.
Here are my top five horror books to get through the season of scares.
- Vampires of El Norte by Isabela Canas
This was my favorite summer read and one of my favorite vampire books of all time as well. Vampires of El Norte (The North) is a horror/romance book that tells the story Nena, who is a daughter of a ranchero, and a vaquero named Néstor, who just so happens to be her childhood friend turned enemy-to-lover. The story takes place in Mexico during the Mexican-American War with some vampires on the sidelines. Nena and Nestor get brought back together during the war after a mysterious accident. Now they have to work together to warn Nena’s family back at the ranch about the Americans that are coming to take their land, with the addition of being hunted down by vampires. WARNINGS:: Gore, Colonialism, and Racism.
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- The Black Girl Survives in This One edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea Fennell
The Black Girl Survives in This One is an anthology of fifteen stories that brings Black women front and center as they confront and defeat both human and supernatural forces. My favorite story was “The Brides of Devil’s Bayou” by Desiree S. Evans, which tells the story of Aja and her bestie, Letricia. They both go to Aja’s family home in the Louisiana bayou to celebrate her 19th birthday and both girls start to really discover some secrets that are hidden beneath. I really loved this take on the classic generational curse/deal with a demon horror trope. WARNINGS: Emotional abuse,psychological tension, Death and Grief, along with Racism.
- Never Whistle At Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology Edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C Van Alst Jr.
Never Whistle At Night is an Anthology of Native Stories written by Native Authors. From body horror to psychological horror, Never Whistle At Night opens the horror door for Natives who do not usually have a say in the horror scene. My personal favorite of the entire book is “The Prepper” by Morgan Talty. It follows the story of Nelly, a mentally ill man, who is fully convinced the zombie apocalypse is right around the corner and goes on a killing spree. Who and why does he kill? You’re just going to have to check it out. If you are a Mason Student, it is available at our library, or you can purchase it at your local Barnes N Noble. WARNING: This book contains sexual violence, mental illness, child abuse, child sexual abuse, pregnancy loss/ abortion, child death, death by suicide, suicidal ideation, animal cruelty or death, graphic violence, sexual content, cursing, illness or death, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and anti-Indigenous racism.
4. How To Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
I will start off by saying I am biased because Grady Hendrix is one of my favorite horror authors that is out there to this day. How To Sell a Haunted House really was one of the first pieces of horror to really give me a scare in a long time. This says a lot considering how I am a huge horror nerd and movies just do not do it for me anymore. The story follows Louise Joyner, who returns to her childhood home after the death of her parents. The house is filled with her parents’ lives, including her mother’s obsession with dolls and creepy puppets. On top of dealing with a house filled with creepy items, she has to deal with her estranged brother, Mark, and the emotional baggage that comes with their past. WARNINGS: Topics of suicide, grief, graphic body horror, and alcohol abuse
5. My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
Steven Graham Jones is an indigenous author known for writing about indigenous horror (he wrote the introduction to Never Whistle at Night). This story follows a troubled, Native teen by the name of Jade Daniels who is deeply obsessed with slasher movies. This obsession shapes her understanding of the world and helps her respond to what is going on around her in her town where there is a killer on the loose. Read it from your local Barnes and Noble and see how Jade becomes my favorite final girl. WARNING: sexual assault , gore, blood, violence, murder, self-harm, suicide, and mental health themes.
Hope you enjoy this list and make sure to check at your local bookstore before to see if they have these titles.