Halloween is coming and we all know what that means, spooky reading! In honor of the holiday, I present five great works of fiction. I’ve avoided the obvious authors like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Anne Rice. They’re on enough lists already…
5. Fear by L. Ron Hubbard
A classic story of escalating horror as James Lowry searches for what happened in a four hour period he has completely forgotten. Does he really even want to find out though? He is told: If you find your hat, you’ll find your four hours, if you find your four hours, then you will die. A novel of psychological terror that draws the reader into the main character’s shoes effortlessly. What I like best about this novel is the overlap between horror and mystery.
4. One Rainy Nightby Richard Laymon
When the rain begins to fall on the small town of Bixby, the inhabitants find it changing them. They are suddenly filled with rage and hate, and an undeniable need to kill. People suddenly turn on loved ones, friends, even strangers with frenzied violence. And the rain is not the only evil active this night. Laymon was the master of up-close, personal horror, and this was one of his best. Best part of this novel is the characters and their relatability. They’re just normal people, like you and me.
3. The Final Winter by Iain Rob Wright
Winter has blanketed the entire Earth, something which should not be possible. People are forced inside where they are, to survive as best they can. Those who venture into the driving snow discover there are worse threats than just weather gone wild. The twists keep coming until the end with this story. One fun thing about Wright’s novels is that many are connected, so your favorite character may show up in another story… if they survive.
2. Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines
What happens when the zombie apocalypse comes to a world of super-heroes? Once protectors of Los Angeles the surviving heroes are now just doing their best to keep a small section safe, and to save as many normal people as they can. Meanwhile across town another group has grown and gained power, and they are not heroes at all. What I love about this book is the heroes with all of their powers were not able to stop the spread of the zombie virus. The author does a great job of making the reader believe in a world of superheroes and a world of zombies. Be warned though, this is the first in a series and you will want to read them all.
1. The Thirty-First Trick-or-Treater by Ben Farthing
Last Halloween thirty trick or treaters go missing. This year they are coming back, one by one, with a chilling message for those waiting. The fun thing about this book is that there’s one chapter for each day in October, a sort of Halloween advent calendar. Many people, like myself, are reading this at one chapter a day. I like the whole idea of reading this slowly over the course of a month. It reminds me of another favorite which is read in the same manner: Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October [B0936MN3K6 ] (Yes, this is my way of sneaking in a sixth book. Call it a little Halloween trick).
Author bio
John Haas is a Canadian author, born and raised in Montreal before moving to Calgary where he lived for twelve wonderful years. Currently he lives in the nation’s capital of Ottawa, but misses those Rocky Mountains in the distance.
John has been writing for most of his life but only became serious about being published after his boys were born. In that time he has had more than twenty-five short stories published in various excellent publications, including Writers of the Future volume 35. His first trilogy, a humorous fantasy series beginning with The Reluctant Barbarian, is published by Renaissance Press. Cults of Death and Madness kicks off the next trilogy, a Lovecraftian inspired series, published by Wordfire Press. He also has a stand along horror novel available, Stay Out, and three anthologies of his published short work. His goal is to become a full time writer (rich and famous would be nice, but one step at a time). He lives with his wonderful family who give him lots of motivation, support and time to write. Find out more about him here.
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