If you’re looking for something to send a shiver down your spine this spooky season check out the five book choices of The Open University’s Jennie Owen, Lecturer in Creative Writing. These tales include ghosts, ghouls, monsters and horror, and are guaranteed to have you checking under your bed as the nights draw in.
1. Carmilla by J Sheridan Le Fanu (Pushkin Press, 2020)
Thought Bramstoker was the first to explore the vampire myth? Le Fanu’s novella was published around 30 years prior to the ubiquitous Dracula, at a time when the novel form was still finding its feet with the wider public.
Carmilla is the story of Laura who lives a quiet isolated life with her widowed father and governess in the rural Styria (part of Austria). It’s written through Laura’s recollections, which include a dream she had as a small child, of a girl watching her whilst she slept.
Then Laura and her father witness a carriage crash and agree to look after the injured Carmilla, around the same age as Laura, as Carmilla’s mother has to urgently continue her journey.
Laura has always wished for company, but soon becomes uneasy, then terrified, as a series of local young girls die with no apparent reason.
Suddenly, when a collection of paintings arrive at their home, they discover one dated 1698 depicting Mircalla, Countess Karnstein. Chillingly, she bears a striking resemblance to Carmilla.
2. The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson (republished by Penquin 2006)
If you’re a lover of all things gothic, you may already be aware of the masterful Haunting of Hill House written by American author Shirley Jackson in 1959. It’s a tale always worth revisiting, particularly at this time of year whilst under a blanket sipping from a cup of tea.
After the death of her mother, Eleanor finds herself invited to take part in a study by Dr Montague at the sinister Hill House. Along with companions Theadora and Luke, Eleanor is selected because of a perceived history with paranormal events – a suggestion that the trio may be susceptible to their imaginations.
There’s an ambiguity that keeps you guessing in this ultimate haunted-house adventure. We are left wondering whether our protagonist, Eleanor, is falling foul of either the paranormal or the impact of the psychological trauma of her past.
Hill House is the perfect sprawling and disorientating mansion, slowly decaying and casting a long shadow over the surrounding countryside and its inhabitants. It’s reputation soon begins to make sense to those trapped inside.
Jackson’s writing is vivid, there is a sense that no word goes to waste as she brings the world of the 1950s America to life.
If you have only watched the 1990’s film adaptation – don’t let that put you off! This is a genuinely chilling and atmospheric read.
3. Melmouth by Sarah Perry (Serpent’s Tail 2018)
Sarah Perry shot to fame for the incredibly popular The Essex Serpant (Harper Collins 2016), proving a skill for bringing dark and atmospheric landscapes to life. But for horror, in my opinion, Melmouth really hits the spot.
This is the tale of the mythical Melmouth, a ghoulish and pitiful creature cursed to spend eternity travelling the world, witnessing all the very worst in human nature.
This is a reimagining of the 19th Century gothic novel Melmouth the Wander by Charles Maturin (1820). Alongside the monster, there are two other central characters.
Our conduit into the story is the shy and reclusive Helen, who works as a translator in modern-day Prague. After hearing about the mythical Melmouth, she travels down a research rabbit’s hole and her life, and previous traumas, seem to bring the titular figure to real and horrifying life.
The third key character, although there are a host of engaging others as you move forwards and backwards in time, is the city of Prague itself. This serves as the perfectly eerie and vivid backdrop to Helen’s experiences.
4. Starve Acre by Andrew Hurley (John Murray Press 2019)
Andrew Hurley had already proved himself as an original and compelling gothic voice in his previous novels The Loney and Devil’s Day. In Starve Acre, first published on Halloween in 2019, there is something about the strange and creepy events of this novel that have left it lingering in my mind long after I shut the cover.
Richard and Juliette are haunted by the memory of their son, Ewan, who died unexpectedly at the age of five, after they inherit a crumbling house in the countryside on the isolated North Yorkshire moors.
This is an exploration of grief as the couple renegotiate their lives and their relationship while enduring an unfathomable loss.
The book explores faith, love, the challenges of parenthood and something very very old lying beneath the ground. Oh, and did I mention a creepy hare?
If you’re in the mood for folk horror on the big screen, this novel has recently been adapted into a film starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark, directed by Daniel Kokotajlo and released September 2024.
5. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez (Granta Books 2022)
Enriquez is an Argentine writer and journalist, whose work has been widely translated. If you prefer to read something you can pick up and put down over the spooky season, her collections of short stories might just be for you.
These tales are visceral, grotesque at times, and effectively capture the sense of the political landscape in her home country. Unlike some of the more rural recommendations above, these are contemporary urban stories, where the city is a dangerous and confusing place to navigate.
This is Enriquez’ second collection, after the critically acclaimed Things We Lost In The Fire (2018 Granta Books) If you’ve already come across her writing, you’ll also be excited to know she also has a new collection A Sunny Place For Shady People (Granta Books) coming out this Autumn.
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed contains sometimes gripping, sometimes stomach churning, stories about everything from sex, fetish, curses, the body, witchcraft, adolescence, and even cannibalism. They are also dark, twisty, and genuinely capable of making you sleep with the light on.
Picture: Enrique for Pixabay
