There’s no shortage of things to do as the spirits return this Halloween, but surely no mortal can resist telling a terrifying tale! Gather round, or stay alone, if you dare — here are spooky literature recommendations, new and old, from UO faculty and local booksellers to startle your horror-loving heart.
Novel: “Fellstones” by Ramsey Campbell
Fellstones is a small British town, named for its landmarks on the village green. It’s where Paul Dunstan grew up, where he now returns to visit his adoptive family, the Staveleys. But Paul has memories to uncover, the seven stones have a cosmic secret, and everything is ready to awaken.
Released in September, “Fellstones” is the latest novel from English writer Ramsey Campbell. Campbell is a master of subtle, supernatural, psychological horror, according to Derek Hill, who works at Smith Family Bookstore.
“He’s probably one of the best living horror writers,” Hill said.
Novel: “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
In 1950s Mexico, Noemí Taboada receives a letter with a plea for help from her cousin Catalina. Noemí travels to join Catalina and her mysterious English husband at their house, known as High Place, out in the countryside. In true gothic horror fashion, Noemí finds the house troubled by mad dreams and dark family secrets.
“Mexican Gothic,” published in 2020, has been selling well recently at Smith Family Bookstore, especially among younger readers, according to Hill.
“She’s got wider appeal because of what she’s focusing on,” Hill said.
Moreno-Garcia will be visiting Eugene Public Library for a free talk on Nov. 6 at 2 p.m.
Poem: “The Mewlips” by J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien, best known for “The Lord of the Rings,” also wrote collections of Hobbit poetry. He invents the creepy Mewlips in 1962’s “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil”:
“They peep out slyly; through a crack
Their feeling fingers creep,
And when they’ve finished, in a sack
Your bones they take to keep.”
The poem is enough to happily frighten a small child, according to Martha Bayless, UO professor of English and director of folklore.
“One thing I like about it is that the Mewlips don’t come after you,” Bayless wrote in an email. “You go to find them — and that turns out to be your final mistake! You’re the author of your own demise!”
Short story collection: “The October Country” by Ray Bradbury
Every October, Tsunami bookseller Steve Ellerhoff rereads “The October Country,” a collection of 19 short stories published in 1955. It includes tales of murder, ghosts, vampires and more — all told with the unique artistry that made Bradbury one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.
“It’s great because he sort of sets up the whole month as an almost alternate dimension where anything spooky can happen,” Ellerhoff said.
Novel: “Moon of the Crusted Snow” by Waubgeshig Rice
In the cold of rural Canada, an Anishinaabe community loses power and all contact with the rest of the world. They’re on their own as they struggle to ration supplies and deal with an unexpected visitor in this post-apocalyptic thriller published in 2018.
“Moon of the Crusted Snow” is not only a great read, but it “inventively engage[s] with the horrors of environmental devastation and settler colonialism,” Stacy Alaimo, UO professor of English and environmental studies, wrote in an email.
Short story: “The White People” by Arthur Machen
To illustrate a point about the nature of saints and sinners, Ambrose lends his friend Cotgrave one of his most prized possessions. It’s a one-of-a-kind green book, the diary of a young girl who details her strange introduction to witchcraft and sin.
“It’s an eerie time-warp full of ancient folklore, mysticism, magic, occultism, otherworldly journeys,” Daniel Wojcik, UO professor of English and folklore, wrote in an email, “and a dreamlike, stream of consciousness ‘green book’ with subject matter that was controversial at the time.”
Novel: “The Mysteries of Udolpho” by Ann Radcliffe
After the death of her parents, the French aristocrat Emily St. Aubert is forced to move in with her aunt and her fiendish husband Montoni at his castle Udolpho in Italy.
“It has the classic heroine locked up in the castle, persecuted by the nasty Gothic villain,” Elizabeth Bohls, UO professor and associate head of English, wrote in an email, “but the scary scenes are more muted and suggestive.”
“The Mysteries of Udolpho” was part of the wave of interest in Gothic terror in late 18th-century Britain, according to Bohls. The novel is long though, Bohls warns, “so you need to be a true devotee of the Gothic to venture.”
From the classics to contemporaries, there is something for everyone to read this Halloween.
