Anna Spooky season is upon us once again, and it is time to ring in the scary vibes. I enjoy making curated lists of books for my friends, so I’m adding a few suggested fall reading lists to the blog for anyone who enjoys jumping face first into the halloween spirit with some horror reads. Here are some creepy and unsettling short stories to scare your socks off and get you in the mood for Halloween. Stay tuned, more lists to come :).
Pillowman- Martin McDonag
Wow, what a freaky dark read. Katurian is the author of disturbing children’s stories, and someone is replicating the crimes detailed in his book. He is being interrogated by two officers of a police state who are threatening him with the destruction of his life’s work to coerce him into a confession. The children’s stories are played out until we learn the macabre and violent backstory behind the eponymous final story. The ending is dramatic and fraught, the stories are dark and gruesome, the play is effective, tense, and emotional and will surely stick with you long after you devour it.
The clown brigade- Stephen Graham Jones
“A deeply disturbing reckoning with a culture where the fantasies of fools and clowns too often turn into senseless violence and end in chaos and destruction”
Here is a satisfyingly creepy but complex short story, with threads of social commentary, but it is so much more.
This story lured me in with expectations of Halloween nightmares similar to “The Terrifier”, a scary AF clown movie that will have me crying myself to sleep for the rest of my life.
The clown brigade opens with Kyle flying to meet his new long distance girlfriend Jenna. He sees clowns everywhere- creepy, crusty, gnarly clowns. The story progresses quickly, and with the increasingly ominous clown sightings we gain insight into why his previous relationship with Steph ended badly, and how Kyle’s tenuously coping with his past in transitioning to his new relationship. There is a lot going on in this short story; it’s creepy on multiple levels. The ending is disturbing because it’s plausible and relevant. It’s a fast read to sock you in the gut and leave you face down in a deep Halloween gutter.
The grown up- Gillian Flynn
I really enjoyed this novella by Gillian Flynn. It hooks you with the hilarious opener “I didn’t stop giving hand jobs because I wasn’t good at it, I stopped giving hand jobs because I was best at it” followed by…. “Holiday handjobs are sad for everyone.”
The novella evolves quickly, despite it being a short story, Gillian Flynn manages to unravels plenty of plot twists. From the intro, the narrator meets Susan who shows up looking for a psychic to help her with the hauntings plaguing her mansion and stepson. There’s a stark shift from this intriguing palm reading hustle/ psychic scam to the supernatural thrills. It was pretty engrossing, Gillian Flynn delivers eerie mysteries, a disturbed child, lies, smut and more lies, and I was into it.
The cursed bunny-Bora Chung
It’s hard to nail down this collection of short stories into a distinct genre. They’re grotesque, and bizarre but offer a surprisingly profound social commentary. These creepy fables touch on varying themes of greed and misogyny, delivered through plenty of wildly unhinged bodily gory horror but with satisfying and intriguing depth. For example (trying to avoid spoilers) in one story a woman is haunted by a toilet dwelling spirit made of sh*t and clumps of hair. Their dialogue incites contemplation about women’s value in society, if you can get over the shock value.
The night of the mannequins- Stephen Graham Jones
An absolutely absurd slasher type of horror story with strong Goosebumps nostalgia. The plot is simply: A prank gone wrong leads to everyone dead. The story is narrated by a teenage Sawyer, who, with his friends, sneaks this mannequin into a movie theater as sort of a senior prank. He then comes to life and escapes, and everyone involved with the prank is picked off one by one. How the plot evolves is so ludicrous and comedic: Sawyer thinks Manny, their name for the mannequin, is responsible for the death of his friend and her family, and it’s up to him to intervene to save the innocent families of the rest of his friends whom he assumes will be targeted next. The premise is so ridiculous and far fetched, so the whole story reminds me of R.L. Steins Goosebumps series. However, SGJ fans will know that beyond the wild plot line is a much deeper meaning, and this short story interrogates the persistently relevant theme of how the villain is often the hero of his own story.
