All Hallow's Read!

The great and magnificent Neil Gaiman (who is one of my very favorite writers) has proposed a new excuse for giving books er.. holiday: All Hallow's Read, wherein one gives scary books as gifts. Brilliant!

You can read his original proposal here,
and he adds a bit more info near the end of the post here.

In light of that, I would like to list some of the scariest books I've ever read, and provide some other suitable All Hallows' Read books. So, here we go:

Scariest books I've read:
The Shining by Stephen King - One of the scariest books I've ever read. I read it years ago, after college. I remember reading it only during the day, because I was too scared to read it at night!
Salem's Lot by Stephen King - One of the best vampire books, ever. I was so scared when I read this book that when my roommate opened the door to our dorm room I screamed and threw the book at her!
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin - Oh, man, this one scared me silly! However, I was only in high school when I read it, and I wonder if it stands the test of time. I'm not sure it would scare me as much, today. But, you never know! ;-)

Other good books for All Hallow's Read:
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - fabulous story! Scary enough for young readers, deep enough for adult readers. Original enough for anybody!
Dracula by Bram Stoker - Anyone who likes vampire stories should read this one, since it is the foundation for them all. However, most modern readers will not get much of a "scare" from it. The style is decidedly old fashioned, and a lot of the dialog seems very odd to the modern reader, so it's not something you can just get carried away in. But, it IS the beginning of the lore, and as such, is definitely worth a read, for historical benefit, if nothing else.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - If you haven't read this book because you've "seen the movie" or you think you know the story - you're wrong! Read the book! This is *not* a "scary" story involving raging monsters ravaging the countryside, villagers with pitchforks, etc. This book is an amazing exploration of what it means to be human, what it means to create something, and what (if any) obligation the creator owes to the created - or vice versa.
The Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan - Another great choice for younger readers.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith - This (I believe) was the first of the classics/horror mashups that have become so popular. Not so much a scary story, but a delightful romp through an alternate Austen-verse, where Elizabeth and her sisters are trained zombie-killers, trying to rid England of the plague of the undead. At least 80% of the book is comprised of Austen's exact words - Grahame-Smith does a masterful job of adding in the zombie bits, and making them seem as if they belonged! A fun romp for any Austen and/or zombie fan!

If you still can't think of any good books for giving, ask anyone at your local, independent bookstore, or at your local public library!

From Hell

From Hell by Alan Moore

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a graphic novel about Jack the Ripper, speculating as to his identity. Specifically, it posits that the murders were done by a doctor to cover up the infidelity of one of the royal family. The doctor is a bit off his rocker, hence the brutality of the murders.



This novel is for mature readers only, as both the violence and the sex are quite explicit. Given the nature of the story, it's appropriate, but, nevertheless, I would caution prospective readers.



I found it somewhat hard to get through, due to the subject matter. The author and illustrator are exploring the darkest of human emotions and actions, and this made for uncomfortable reading. The artwork adds to this ambiance, being very harsh and somewhat frenzied feeling. The whole experience is unsettling, as I'm sure they intended.



The author also wrote V for Vendetta, which is one of my favorite graphic novels (and a favorite movie!), which is why I picked up this book. But while V was violent, it wasn't to the extent of this book, nor was it as emotionally unsettling. As I said, this book goes to some pretty ugly places.



This edition has comments and notations by the author, which is interesting. I always enjoy a glimpse at the creative process: learning how and why things ended up in the finished product.



But, if you're not a student of graphic novels, or a Jack the Ripper junkie, you may find this book just a little too dark to be enjoyable.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the 3rd book in what is known (in the US) as the Millenium Trilogy. The first book is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the second is The Girl who Played with Fire. I have now read all three, and must say this set of books is one of the most powerful books I've ever read. I can't talk about this 3rd book alone - it's really just part of a whole.



The series follows Lisbeth Salander, a Goth, anti-social genius computer hacker, and Mikael Blomquist, a magazine reporter. They are drawn together at first in a mystery about a disappearance of a young girl, and end up exposing the Swedish underworld, corrupt government officials and human trafficking. The Swedish title of the series (the author is Swedish) is "Men Who Hate Women", so that should tell you what this series is really about - violence against women, and what that does to the victims and what it does to society.



These are riveting books - absolute page turners! But they are also full of very violent scenes, which are hard to read, and you will end up thinking about them for a long time.



Neither of the main characters is really heroic. Both are very flawed people, and often aren't even very likable. But I found myself really rooting for them, nonetheless, and celebrating when Lisbeth manages to put one over on someone (who usually deserves it!)



You can certainly enjoy these as nothing more than thrillers (a la Dan Brown's work) but there is much more to these books than just entertainment. Larsson wanted to expose the hidden side of Sweden's idyllic nation, often viewed as a model country, and show us the cruelty and violence that is still perpetrated on women by men in positions of power.



These are very powerful books, but also just plain good reads!

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere

Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" by Mike Carey




This is a graphic novel adaptation of Nverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Like a movie adaptation of a novel, it has been pared down to the bare essentials. But they kept the most important parts, and didn't seem to make any wild changes from the original story. The illustrations were quite good and seemed true to the descriptions in the original novel. Again, as with a movie adaptation, not all of the visuals were as I had imagined them, but it was fun to get another viewpoint.

This is a good introduction to the novel, but anyone who reads this first MUST read the novel to get the full impact of the story. The novel is one of my favorites - so if you're only going to read one of these versions, I recommend the novel. But if you've read the novel and want an alternate visualization, this version is absolutely worth it!