In light of it being the second-best month of the year right now (sorry, nothing holds a candle to December in my book) I thought it would be nice to write a book recommendations post in light of Spooky Season. Growing up, I envied how Halloween was treated as a holiday in the States. There’s an opportunity for everyone to get involved - couples can treat it as an eccentric date night, teenagers have an excuse to drink and party and younger children can dress up as their favourite characters. We’re beginning to catch up here though I don’t believe we’ll ever reach a point where Halloween is as over-commercialised as Christmas is.
Psychological thrillers and horror novels don’t tend to be my niche, however, after undertaking a Gothic literature module in my second year of University, I know a fair few to recommend to those who gravitate towards the supernatural and need a spooky read to curl up with.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Before writing this entry I debated whether I would be wasting time including Dracula and Frankenstein - it would be so cliche and expected to cover the two most widely acclaimed Gothic novels in literature. However, as I mentioned in my Book Tag, Frankenstein is my favourite novel.
Frankenstein is a rarity amongst other Gothic novels in that readers sympathise with who is supposed to be the villain; the inhumane ‘creature’ experiences social rejection, neglect and loneliness. In Narrative Distance in ‘Frankenstein’, Richard Dunn writes that ‘the ideal of community is distinctly stated but usually held at a distance in Frankenstein’. If ‘community’ implies companionship, Victor Frankenstein fails to embody such a trait. He creates this ‘creature’ and proceeds to leave him to his own devices without any guidance to survive the world. Victor’s explanation for his lack of tutelage is that he feared he had created a new species that would eventually take over the world, his excuse compassionless to readers.
Shelley weaves the despair and bleakness expectant of a Gothic novel in her prose so seamlessly; it’s the perfect fireside read for this time of year.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Having seen snippets of the Netflix adaptation, I don’t believe there are many similarities between the book and the series. In the novel, a group of people who believe they have experienced the paranormal participate in a supernatural study. The setting is far and away the most haunting part of the novel; the study takes place at Hill House, a haunted manor which Jackson personifies in the opening chapter by calling it ‘not sane’. The protagonist, Eleanor, is delighted by her invite despite its implications. She is desperate to get away from her invalid mother and overbearing sister.
Whilst Hill House is certainly home to paranormal activity, Jackson cleverly leaves readers wondering whether some events have actually taken place or whether the characters imagined them. Eleanor’s mindset is already fragile prior to her arrival and Jackson uses the protagonist to emphasise the trepidation the human mind is capable of experiencing.
All the participants in the study suffer some form of loneliness; Luke is a petty criminal whilst Theodora is unmarried and resides with a roommate with whom she has a complicated relationship. Throughout the novel Jackson emphasises how intensifying rejection and the inability to relate to others can be - it’s far more chilling than anything Hill House has to offer.
The Tiffany Aching novels in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
If you’re seeking conventional doom and gloom, Pratchett is always the way to go. He said himself that ‘the Tiffany Aching series is what I would like to be remembered for’, most likely because his witches are of the garden variety. They wear pointy hats, don all black and ride broomsticks to each other’s dwellings. They don’t practice as much magic as their wizard counterparts, using their powers only when necessary, and rely on the intuition and discernment witches are gifted with.
The protagonist, Tiffany, is nine in The Wee Free Men. She is scouted by Miss Tick, a witch finder, whose life purpose is to find young girls and train them in witchcraft. Whilst Tiffany’s tribulations across the series are not explicitly relatable, her hardships are touchingly childlike; she confesses to feeling uncomfortable travelling by broomstick and wearing exclusively black clothes in Wintersmith. In that same novel, a mere misstep on her behalf results in a prolonged Narnian winter for the Discworld characters. Witches place upon them the task of ‘soothing out life’s humps and bumps’ in Pratchett’s universe and as a result of her blunder, Tiffany’s tale becomes an unlikely coming-of-age arc centred around finding your place and believing in yourself.
Who doesn't enjoy some good old angst?
Jayne Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
If you’d asked me what I thought of this book six years ago I’d have told you that I hated it. I studied Jane Eyre for my A Levels and it was only when I got to university that I realised what a work of art it truly is.
On the surface, the novel is a typical Victorian bildungsroman however, Bronte threads several Gothic and supernatural elements into the composition. As a child, Jane is confined to the ‘red room’, the chamber in which her beloved uncle died, after getting into a brawl with her cousin. After believing she has seen his ghost, ‘(Jane) was oppressed, suffocated; endurance, broke down’. The event, which takes place early in the novel, is symbolic of Jane’s frustrations and then dependence on family members who do not love her. We see Jane’s temper for the first time (which we next see at her boarding school) and the subsequent punishment she is forced to endure. Simultaneously, the event foreshadows the setbacks she is going to face throughout her arc.
*spoilers* Distress follows Jane in every setting she winds up in. She is again punished for her disposition at Lowood School and grieves the loss of her friend, Helen. At Thornfield, she is haunted my a presence as night. To some extent, Jane and Mr Rochester are bought together by ‘mysterious summons’; they both undergo a dreamlike paranormal experience on the same night, however, Jane decides to keep this to herself upon realising this. At this stage, she believes Mr Rochester is far too pessimistic to believe in a sign behind the occurrence.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
One of the biggest differences between Frankenstein and Dracula is that readers, without intending to, end up sympathising with the creature Shelley creates. The titular character of Dracula however doesn’t gather any pity amongst readers; he is a gruesome brute, ravenous in his seeking for blood. Stoker’s novel is far more suspenseful than Shelly’s, though I prefer the storyline of the latter.
Dracula is an epistolary novel; Stoker tells the plot through letters, journals and other written documentation. Jonathan Harker is asked by his employer to greet Count Dracula, and after spending time at his dwelling (a castle, where he arrives by a coach drawn by black horses…the warnings were there) he realises that he’s in the company of a vampire.
The character Lucy, who is best friends with Jonathan’s fiance Mina, is ahead of her time - she laments to Mina over her three proposals and how she must reject two men who desire her. Stoker uses Lucy to emphasise the sexual daringness of the ‘New Woman’, a literary component which we also see in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.
The Shining by Stephen King
I was going to include Carrie here but I feel as though The Shining is the spookiest of Stephen King’s novels. Even if you haven’t read the novel I’m sure you’ll have a good idea on what it’s about thanks to the memes that circulate the Internet all year round.
The moral of the story is open to interpretation. My taking is that a child’s greatest capacity for evil comes from their parents.
Jack, a recovering alcoholic and hopeful writer, moves into the haunted Overlook Hotel with his wife, Wendy and their son, Danny, in the hopes of bonding with them. Jack’s addiction leads him to struggle with emotional issues - he breaks Danny’s arm prior to the novel’s setting. Unknown to the family, the Hotel soaks up the energy of sensitive people like Danny, who begins seeing ghosts and ghouls within the accommodation. Similarly to any young child, he doesn’t see the strange happenings as odd, failing to question them initially. Danny gets his vulnerability, or his ‘shine’, from his father, who later begins experiencing strange happenings with no clue as to where they are coming from. The Hotel wants Danny dead as he is probably the ‘shiniest’ guest they’ve ever had.
As good as the film Kubrick made is, it isn’t very faithful to the book. One of my favourite parts of the book is Danny reaching out to his father and helping him find a moral grounding, an event missing from the adaption.
Hi guys! I hope you've been keeping well. My self-care post last week has led to so many of you reaching out and it has meant the world to me to hear your stories. Keep talking - we're all trying to navigate this life thing together.
I hope you're enjoying October and that you've had something pumpkin flavoured. Let me know if you try any of these books.
I love you LOTS!
Best wishes,
Karisma xxx