The evenings are darkening. The leaf fall is gold, red and varying shades of brown. It’s the time of year when I love to sit by the fire with a ghostly tale. Our ancestors believed that the veil between the fairy world and the human world was at its thinnest at this time of the year. The autumn winds are blowing and it’s the perfect time to chat about scary and gothic books.
There are some wonderfully creepy and spine-chilling books for children being written like The Aveline Jones series by Phil Hickes, The Beast And The Bethany series by Jack Meggitt-Phillips, and The Boy Who Cried Ghost by Ian Eagleton.
These books are on my bookshelves and many more along with some of my all-time favourites, these classic books for children and adults that I keep returning to. The books that inspired me to write my own spooky books for children, Welcome To Dead Town Raven McKay and Black Gables.
‘My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all, I could have been born a werewolf because the two middle fingers in both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I have.’
And so begins this chilling tale of the Blackwood family, half of whom were poisoned six years before this story starts. I love the quirky, deceptive, omen-obsessed voice of Merricat the nickname for Mary Katherine.
This is a collection of masterful short stories from the master of horror himself. This is King at his best. From child vampires to giant rats these stories will have you turning on the lights. Some of my favourites are Strawberry Spring, The Bogeyman and Jerusalem’s Lot,
I first read this book when I was a teenager. I have read it many times since and the feeling of dread gets me each time. I feel the presence of the sinister housekeeper Mrs Danvers and the dead Mrs de Winter. I love the lush descriptions of the Manderley Estate and the feeling of claustrophobia and menace inside the mansion.
Henry James set the template for ghosts in gothic manors in this enduring classic. This is the story of a governess trying to protect the two children under her care Miles and Flora from evil as they experience strange apparitions and encounters at the remote country house. The two figures that appear are Miss Jessel, the former governess and Peter Quint another employee who had a close relationship with her. It is a haunted mansion and mind going mad story with some truly mind-chilling moments. The writing is poetic and chisel-sharp.
This is a haunting and atmospheric piece by Irish gothic writer Sheridan Le Fanu.
It is set in an isolated castle in a forest in Styria. Laura has a very lonely life with her sickly widower father until a mysterious guest Carmilla arrives. Things quickly become very strange and volatile for Laura. She has to endure nightmares and eerie nocturnal wanderings as a deep bond forms between her and Carmilla. This coming-of-age vampire novella is a masterpiece.
No one does the weird and wonderful better than Roald Dahl. In The Witches his powers of imagination reach peaks, especially in the scenes in the convention hall with the Grand High Witch. Delightfully scary with strong doses of Dahl’s macabre humour. What could be scarier than nasty witches trying to rid the world of children?
RL Stine is a master of horror books for children. His books have endured for over 30 years. His stories are gripping and have the gasp-out-loud factor and are the perfect combination of fear and fun. Some of my favourites are The Haunted Mask, Stay Out Of The Basement, The Werewolf Of Fever Swamp and The Girl Who Cried Monster.
This book is truly eerie and mesmerising. It tells the story of Will Stanton who has strange and unexplained experiences on his 11th birthday on the winter solstice. The snow, the Christmas setting and the forces of Light and Dark combine in a powerful way. I often re-read the first few pages of this novel, for the pure poetry of the words and the haunting atmosphere.
This book is beautifully written with a timeless enchanting quality. The characters stay etched on your mind long after you have turned the pages. Set on a grand English estate, the three wicked adults Letitia Slighcarp, Josiah Grimshaw, and Mrs Brisket plot to take the family home from Bonnie Green while her parents are away. The wicked wolves, the landscape and the menacing governess are just about perfect.
This spooky adventure sees eight trick-or-treaters travel through time with the shadowy Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud in search of their missing friend. Bradbury’s beautiful and magical prose makes this an unforgettable slow whirlwind of a story.
- Eibhlís Carcione is a Cork-based bilingual poet and children’s author. Her debut children’s novel Welcome To Dead Town Raven McKay was published by Everything With Words in 2023 and is shortlisted for the Great Reads Award 2024. Her latest children’s novel Black Gables is out now
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