Thread: Halloween reading -- what are your favorites?

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I just discovered 5 volumes of the collected works of edgar allen poe at ManyBooks.net - Free eBooks for your PDA, iPod, or eBook Reader. I never knew he wrote so many books & stories -- can't wait to get started on these! anyone else have any favorite Halloween / scary / ghost stories & books?

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.....Dracula......Red Skeleton's Favorite Ghost Stories......The
Halloween Tree....War of the Worlds....The Invisible Man....The Devil and Daniel Webster....
Just to name a few.

I second "The Halloween Tree". So evocative of childhood. It's a must read every year. Edith Wharton has wonderful ghost stories, too. Very sophisticated. M.R. James writes a great story. Anthologies are probably the best ... some surprisingly scary tales from authors you'd never expect.

Ooh, thanks for the great ideas -- I never heard of the Halloween Tree but I just checked and our library has it -- I'm going to go get it right now!

One of my fav's since childhood is "Two Too Many: A Hallowe'en Tale". It's OOP now, but if you can find it, it's worth a read. The drawings are just adorable! I STILL love the story...and when we found our little black kitty outside in the feezing rain, we named him "Two Too Many", lol!

Oh, Two Too Many sounds wonderful! We just had a little kitty show up on our doorstep and we're looking for Halloween names for her! I just went to Amazon and they had it and they also had "the Halloween Tree" so I just ordered them for my grandkids for Halloween treats! I love getting them books (in addition to candy!) Thanks for all the GREAT ideas here!

Edward Gorey's books are good too, the drawings are very moody

I LOVE The Halloween Tree. There was a really great cartoon made of it by Cartoon Network that stars Leonard Nimoy and is narrated by Ray Bradbury himself. It's one of our favorites.

If you like the style of Halloween Tree, you should also try other Ray Bradbury novels and short stories. I recomend The October Country, and Something Wicked This Way Comes.

I also enjoy reading Frankenstien this time of year, as well as The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. It is the basis of the black and white 1962 movie The Haunting (and is nothing like the remake of a few years ago). I definately recommend that one. Of course, you can never go wrong with the classics like Poe, Hawthorne, etc.

Oh, I so agree, Mr. Deadly Peanut. October Country has excellent short stories ... love Uncle Einar. For sheer creepiness, "Something Wicked This Way Comes" cannot be bested. Usually short stories seem to be the best venue for scary tales. I recommend "The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost stories" and "Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural".

I really enjoy the "October Dreams" anthology. Some of the stories are terrifying and some are dare-say moving. I'm about a half way through, putting it off until October so I have something to keep me in the mood during our favorite month!