Ahhh....fall! This is the time of year when I usually find myself dusting off my books and revisiting some old favorites, especially those stories that thrill and chill my soul. There's something very cozy about curling up with an old favorite book on a chilly evening and settling in for a good scare! Do you do the same? Do you have some great titles that you've read more than once and they just seem to get better and better?
Here is a sampling of some great books that I will be revisiting this fall, even if it is just to read a few pages to get my "fix" of horror and thrills and chills -- I highly recommend them all. Read them....if you dare!
Dracula by Bram Stoker -- The Vampire story that started it all.
Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice - Hands down, my favorite of all of her writings; a masterpiece! A sensuous, poetic, and frightening journey of the education of the vampire, Lestat, once an aristocrat from pre-revolutionary France.
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice - Book #2 in the Vampire Chronicles; Lestat returns as a present-day rock star and searches through the centuries for others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his eternal, terrifying demonic existence.
The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice - Book #3 in the Vampire Chronicles; Akasha, the Queen of the Damned, has risen from a six-thousand year sleep to let loose the powers of the night and desires to destroy Lestat. Sensual and erotic world of the undead.
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice - The mesmerizing tale of the centuries-old dynasty of witches, the Mayfairs -- haunted through time by a seductive and terrifying being. Truly spine-tingling and frightening.
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux -- The thrilling tale of the beautiful sporano, Christine Daae', the handsome Vicomte de Chagny, and the Opera Ghost, the spectre called the Angel of Music.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova -- A very suspenseful and beautifully written story of a young woman who uncovers horrifying secrets of her family's past connection to the fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler. Part thriller, part history, part romance -- a terrific fireside read!
The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe - Love them all!
"The Cask of Amontillado," "The Premature Burial," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "Annabel Lee," and "The Raven" are particularly good on a dark, stormy night!
The Thirteenth Tale by Diana Setterfield - A mystery-thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end....a story of haunting family secrets, illicit obsession, a devastating fire, feral twins....well, just read it and you'll see!
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James - The classic gothic novella ....filled with supernatural suspense....is it a true ghost tale or the mad ramblings of an unstable governess?
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - The dark, windswept moors, tortured-soul Heathcliff, and his obsessive love of Catherine...gothic reading at its best!
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn - A Victorian era murder mystery with a handsome but brooding private inspector and the Lady Julia Grey. One of my new favorite series.
Please share your favorite mystery, gothic novel, or thriller with me and leave a comment! I'd love to hear about them!
6 comments:
Great list! Off the top of my head I would add The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo, Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis, and The Nature of Monsters by Clare Clark. And the one I just finished, Dr. Haggard's Disease by Patrick McGrath.
Lezlie
Ooooh, Hunchback of Notre Dame! Good one! I'm not familiar with the other titles, so I'll be looking them up. I love learning about new books.
Thanks for stopping by, Lezlie!
Sounds like a great bunch of books! I loved Anne Rice's books (read the Vampire series in the 80's), and I loved, loved, loved the The Witching Hour, sequels not that great, but that book is excellent! I read Turn of the Screw last year on Halloween! I'll be listening to Silent in the Grave this year as well on audiotape, I've heard such good things about it. Also have the Historian on my TBR and Thirteenth Tale wasn't bad either, read it after Turn of the Screw to appreciate it more.
Hey, Julie-- You will LOVE The Historian, I'm sure of it! Thanks for stopping by!
Ooh I am so in a mood for a great thriller too. Sadly I am coming up blank in my head of a good one I have read.... has it been that long? Oh I know - Shutter Island by Dennis Lehayne... I read it probably four years ago but holy smokes!
Hi, Sheila -- I'm off to look up Shutter Island right now on Amazon. Thanks for the recommendation!
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