Hallowe'en weekend. A time for snuggling up under blankets in front of the scariest films you can bring yourself to watch.

Or if you're like me and find that anything rated higher than a PG will leave you sleepless for at least a week, perhaps it's time to settle down with a good book.

After all, words aren't as scary as moving images.

Or are they?



The Yellow Wall-Paper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman (free on Kindle)

 Published in 1892, The Yellow Wall-Paper combines two of my favourite things in one slim paperback - feminism and a good horror story. When our protagonist fails to relish in the life of a 19th century woman, she is sent away by her husband to recover from her "affliction". Convinced by all those around her that she is indeed insane and prevented from engaging in her own creative pursuits, she begins to fixate upon the odd pattern of the yellow wall-paper and imagines a world beyond the room in which she is confined...


The Haunted Hotel - Wilkie Collins (free on Kindle)

 A wealthy and beautiful Countess seems to bring horror and misfortune to the lives of all those she encounters. When she and her new husband spend part of their honeymoon in a lavish Venetian palace, nobody could have been imagined that they would be forced to face up to 'til death do we part so soon. But when another woman receives news of her husband's death, she is convinced that the Countess has something to do with the disappearance of both men. And then the hauntings of the Venetian palace begin.


Slade House - David Mitchell

 Come, walk down past the Fox & Hounds pub and into Slade Alley. Here, if you have been invited, you will find a little iron door which will swing open at the slightest touch to welcome you inside. Beyond Slade Alley, lose yourself in the rich gardens and opulence of Slade House, where you will find everything you ever dreamed of and everything you ever feared. A series of disappearances, another dimension and the world of David Mitchell's "Engifteds" awaits you.


So there you have it. Three books that you could easily gobble up between now and Hallowe'en. I've just finished reading Slade House and can confirm that it slipped down like a dream.

If you're in the market for something a little longer to keep you awake on these darkening evenings, Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger is one of my favourite ghost stories with all the perfect ingredients for a chilling read - an old manor house, a dying way of life, shadows and movements in the periphery of your vision... and the fine line between the supernatural and insanity.

Let me know what you're reading this Hallowe'en!