Picture this: It’s October, Halloween is looming and spooky season is in full swing. You want to switch things up a bit by throwing a classic onto your TBR whilst still maintaining your spooky October theme. But, the question is, where do you start?

Don’t worry, I have your back. Choosing anything to read next is always difficult. Here’s an unbiased guide to gothic classics to help you make an informed decision.

Something You Wouldn’t Expect… Dracula by Bram Stoker

Oddly heartwarming, Dracula is a story of friendship and the triumph of good versus evil. It’s also not the kind of book you’d expect to have spawned the infamous Count Dracula in all associated works. The ‘Circle of Light’ – AKA the group of good guys – is composed of a traumatised legal clerk, his schoolteacher wife, radical Dutch doctor, his former student turned psychiatrist (or as close to psychiatrist as you could get in Victorian England), a Lord and an American cowboy (I know!). This mismatched group of heroes trying to take down a seemingly all-powerful supernatural being and the beginnings of his undead army is what makes the book so enjoyable to read.

Something weird… The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Now, if you like the weird stuff (and I mean the properly weird stuff), then The Bloody Chamber is right up your alley. A more modern classic, The Bloody Chamber is a collection of short stories that deepdives into the gorier, sexier, more disturbing side of the Gothic genre. However, be warned: this is not for the faint of heart and does come with certain trigger warnings which you definitely need to be aware of before reading. The premise? Twisted fairy tales – Bluebeard, Beauty and the Beast and Red Riding Hood to name just a few. In the world of Angela Carter, nothing is as it seems and everything is interlaced with gothic, innuendo and the unexpected. A perfect spooky season read that you can easily dip in and out of.

Something short… The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is easily one of the Big Daddies of Gothic and any one of his short stories could have made its way onto this unbiased guide. However, nothing is scary than what’s inside our own heads, right? A man is disturbed by their elderly neighbours’ bulging blind eye and does what any rational person would do – ignore it as not to be rude. Except, this is an Edgar Allan Poe book so instead of behaving like any rational person, our narrator obviously kills their neighbour. That’s not the scary part though as the real horror and gothic twist comes during their fast descent into insanity. Psychological, gripping, intensely interesting, The Tell-Tale Heart is one of Poe’s best by a long shot. But, if it’s not your kind of thing, you might find the Masque of the Red Death eerily relatable to our current global circumstance as well. 

Something to get you thinking… Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

A girl goes on holiday with her boyfriend and a group of other douchey, up-themselves 19th century writers who challenge one another to a scary story contest. The product of this contest? Frankenstein, a novel about a douchey, up-himself man who messes with the balance between God and nature, resulting in his mental deterioration, the death of everyone he loves and a ‘monster’ who just wants to be accepted. Much like Dracula, Frankenstein is not what you would have expected based on the other works it’s spawned. Essentially a story within a story (even within another story, at one point), Shelley expertly frames arguments of good versus evil, science versus nature, whilst straight roasting the men who challenged her to write it in the first place. Excellent!

Something different… Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

We know Jane Austen for her romance and her witty commentary of Regency life. Do you know what’s even better though? Her witty commentary on the Gothic genre and everyone who read it. Northanger Abbey is one big parody, poking fun at Ann Radcliffe, who is another Gothic author who is partly responsible for the whole ‘women fainting at everything’ trope. The novel features a naive protagonist, over-the-top setting and the desire that readers felt for something supernatural crop up at every twist and turn. Definitely not what you’d expect from our girl Jane, who gave the world Pride and Prejudice, Emma and (by extension) the 1995 classic film starring Alicia Silverstone, Clueless.

As a self-confessed classic skeptic (by this, I mean, that I don’t think classics necessarily deserve all their hype), the classic gothic genre is one I find easy to immerse myself in thanks to its creepy atmospheric descriptions, mountains of angst and yearning and, of course, that little scoop of weird I’ve come to relish. Hopefully, you’ll find something in this list to satisfy your desire to be spooked by something other than the tragically long sentences that most classic authors seem to use like there’s no tomorrow!

Do you have any recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!

The post The Unbiased Guide to Classics: Gothic Edition appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

We’re sure you all know the feeling. You read a book, you love it even, but there is that part of you that wishes that these characters were queer. So, our contributors Mimi and Simone asked their Instagram followers for their favourite straight reads that they wish were a little… not so straight. 

Now, we would like to present to you: “If you liked… then you’ll like… “ QUEER EDITION. 

We have paired each straight book with a queer book we think you will really enjoy if you’ve liked the original. Our picks vary from all-time classics, to sweet teenage romances, and to fabulous fantasy adventures. We are sure that there is one pick for everyone here!

CLASSICS

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen → Gay Pride and Prejudice by Kate Christie

Pride and Prejudice:

Since its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work “her own darling child” and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, “as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print.” The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen’s radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

Gay Pride and Prejudice:

Like other variations on Jane Austen’s classic romance novel, Gay Pride & Prejudice poses a question: What if some among Austen’s characters preferred the company of their own sex? In this queer revision of the classic original, Kate Christie offers an alternate version of love, friendship, and marriage for Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and others among their circle of friends. But even as the path to love veers from the straight and narrow, the destination remains much the same.

Dracula by Bram Stoker → The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Dracula:

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries in his client’s castle. Soon afterwards, disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman’s neck; and a lunatic asylum inmate raves about the imminent arrival of his ‘Master’. In the ensuing battle of wits between the sinister Count and a determined group of adversaries, Bram Stoker created a masterpiece of the horror genre, probing into questions of identity, sanity and the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

The Deathless Girls:

They say the thirst of blood is like a madness – they must sate it. Even with their own kin. On the eve of her divining, the day she’ll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community.

Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn’t understand. But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts. They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate… 

ROMANCE

Josh and Hazel’s Guide To Not Dating by Christina Lauren → Tell Me It’s Real by TJ Klune

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating:

Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air. Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them…right?

Tell Me It’s Real:

Do you believe in love at first sight? Paul Auster doesn’t. Paul doesn’t believe in much at all. He’s thirty, slightly overweight, and his best features are his acerbic wit and the color commentary he provides as life passes him by. His closest friends are a two-legged dog named Wheels and a quasibipolar drag queen named Helena Handbasket. He works a dead-end job in a soul-sucking cubicle, and if his grandmother’s homophobic parrot insults him one more time, Paul is going to wring its stupid neck.

Enter Vince Taylor. Vince is everything Paul isn’t: Sexy, confident, and dumber than the proverbial box of rocks. And for some reason, Vince pursues Paul relentlessly. Vince must be messing with him, because there is no way Vince could want someone like Paul.

But when Paul hits Vince with his car – in a completely unintentional if-he-died-it’d-only-be-manslaughter kind of way – he’s forced to see Vince in a whole new light. The only thing stopping Paul from believing in Vince is himself – and that is one obstacle Paul can’t quite seem to overcome. But when tragedy strikes Vince’s family, Paul must put aside any notions he has about himself and stand next to the man who thinks he’s perfect the way he is.

Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane → Almost Like Being In Love by Steve Kluger

Don’t You Forget About Me:

If there’s one thing worse than being fired from the grottiest restaurant in town, it’s coming home early to find your boyfriend in bed with someone else.

Reeling from the indignity of a double dumping on the same day, Georgina snatches at the next job that she’s offered – barmaid in a newly opened pub, which just so happens to run by the boy she fell in love with at school: Lucas McCarthy. And whereas Georgina (voted Most Likely to Succeed in her school yearbook) has done nothing but dead-end jobs in the last twelve years, Lucas has not only grown into a broodingly handsome man, but also has turned into an actual grown-up with a business and a dog along the way.

Meeting Lucas again not only throws Georgina’s rackety present into sharp relief, but also brings a dark secret from her past bubbling to the surface. Only she knows the truth about what happened on the last day of school, and why she’s allowed it to chase her all these years… 

Almost Like Being In Love:

A high school jock and nerd fall in love senior year, only to part after an amazing summer of discovery to attend their respective colleges. They keep in touch at first, but then slowly drift apart.

Flash forward twenty years. Travis and Craig both have great lives, careers, and loves. But something is missing …. Travis is the first to figure it out. He’s still in love with Craig, and come what may, he’s going after the boy who captured his heart, even if it means forsaking his job, making a fool of himself, and entering the great unknown.

Told in narrative, letters, checklists, and more, this is the must-read novel for anyone who’s wondered what ever happened to that first great love.

FANTASY

Cinder by Marissa Meyer → Tarnished Are The Stars by Rosiee Thor

Cinder:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Tarnished Are The Stars:

A secret beats inside Anna Thatcher’s chest: an illegal clockwork heart. Anna works cog by cog — donning the moniker Technician — to supply black market medical technology to the sick and injured, against the Commissioner’s tyrannical laws.

Nathaniel Fremont, the Commissioner’s son, has never had to fear the law. Determined to earn his father’s respect, Nathaniel sets out to capture the Technician. But the more he learns about the outlaw, the more he questions whether his father’s elusive affection is worth chasing at all.

Their game of cat and mouse takes an abrupt turn when Eliza, a skilled assassin and spy, arrives. Her mission is to learn the Commissioner’s secrets at any cost — even if it means betraying her own heart.

When these uneasy allies discover the most dangerous secret of all, they must work together despite their differences and put an end to a deadly epidemic — before the Commissioner ends them first.

Vicious by VE Schwab → The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

Vicious:

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

The Extraordinaries:

Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right? After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick’s best friend (and maybe the love of his life).

YOUNG ADULT

Geekerella by Ashley Poston → Ship It by Britta Lundin

Geekerella:

Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball, and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck (and her dad’s old costume), Elle’s determined to win…unless her stepsisters get there first.

Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons—before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.

Ship It:

CLAIRE is a sixteen-year-old fangirl obsessed with the show Demon Heart. FOREST is an actor on Demon Heart who dreams of bigger roles. When the two meet at a local Comic-Con panel, it’s a dream come true for Claire. Until the Q&A, that is, when Forest laughs off Claire’s assertion that his character is gay.

Claire is devastated. After all, every last word of her super-popular fanfic revolves around the romance between Forest’s character and his male frenemy. She can’t believe her hero turned out to be a closed-minded jerk. Forest is mostly confused that anyone would think his character is gay. Because he’s not. Definitely not.

Unfortunately for Demon Heart, when the video of the disastrous Q&A goes viral, the producers have a PR nightmare on their hands. In order to help bolster their image within the LGBTQ+ community-as well as with their fans-they hire Claire to join the cast for the rest of their publicity tour. What ensues is a series of colorful Comic-Con clashes between the fans and the show that lead Forest to question his assumptions about sexuality and help Claire come out of her shell. But how far will Claire go to make her ship canon? To what lengths will Forest go to stop her and protect his career? And will Claire ever get the guts to make a move on Tess, the very cute, extremely cool fanartist she keeps running into?

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins → This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kheryn Callender

Lola and the Boy Next Door:

Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

This is Kind of an Epic Love Story:

Nathan Bird doesn’t believe in happy endings. Although he’s the ultimate film buff and an aspiring screenwriter, Nate’s seen the demise of too many relationships to believe that happy endings exist in real life.

Playing it safe to avoid a broken heart has been his MO ever since his father died and left his mom to unravel—but this strategy is not without fault. His best-friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-best-friend-again, Florence, is set on making sure Nate finds someone else. And in a twist that is rom-com-worthy, someone does come along: Oliver James Hernández, his childhood best friend.

After a painful mix-up when they were little, Nate finally has the chance to tell Ollie the truth about his feelings. But can Nate find the courage to pursue his own happily ever after?

Do you have any other recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!

The post If You Liked, You’ll Like: Queer Edition appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Rather than definitively ranking the colossal amount of awesome horror literature out there, a job I can’t do as I love it all, we are going to delve into each horror sub-genre and take a closer look at a range of creepy, terrifying, gory and chilling novels. There will be something for every horror fan from the detectives of true crime enthusiasts to the doomsday preparers. Grab your vampire hunting stakes and Ouija boards and prepare to strap yourself in for a rollercoaster ride through exorcisms, alien possession, cannibalism, monsters, and haunted houses. This journey is not for the faint hearted… you have been warned!

Serial Killer Shockers

Silence Of The Lambs by Thomas Harris

Pure unadulterated horror in its rawest form, the Hannibal Lecter books are not for the faint hearted. Incorporating murder, violence, cannibalism, sexual violence, and abuse, this book should come with a trigger warning in capital letters. The novels tell the story, not in chronological order, of psychologist turned cannibalistic serial-killer Hannibal Lecter’s twisted childhood, crimes and consultancy to homicide detectives. If you want to understand a serial killer, ask a serial killer right?

Harris cleverly creates a force of sinister manipulation in Lecter keeping us wondering who’s side he is on and waiting for his seemingly inevitable escape. The graphic descriptions of terrible and violent crimes leave the reader feeling slightly queasy. Meanwhile Harris opens up the door to harrowing pasts and darkest secrets of the other characters using Lecter’s heightened perceptive skills, manipulation and persuasion creating a multi-layered, three dimensional cast. It’s not for everyone, but if you think you can stomach it, buckle up for a crazy, crime filled ride!

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi

Have you always wanted to know what motivates a serial killer? Why people join cults? How people are brainwashed? Well this is the book for you! Vincent Bugliosi, a prosecution attorney on the case, provides an inside look at the bone-chilling Tate–LaBianca murders instigated by the infamous Charles Manson and his indoctrinated followers.

Following an initial, gruesome murder scene, Bugliosi takes us systematically, through the following investigations, trials, and backstory of the Spahn Ranch cult headed by the enigmatic, influential and cold-blooded Charles Manson. Bugliosi leaves out no detail, using actual court transcripts and often repeating information to ensure the reader can follow the complicated proceedings with more ease. It’s a long one so set aside plenty of reading time as you’ll quickly find that the devil is in the detail, painting an all-encompassing picture, transporting you back in time to Mason’s childhood, cult-life, the murders and the subsequent trails. You almost forget when reading that this isn’t a work of creative fiction, it really did happen, inviting you to question: are any of us really safe?

Science Fiction Madness

Dreamcatcher by Stephen King

King talks about writing Dreamcatcher under the influence of powerful painkillers after an accident and it’s a mind-bending, journey incorporating psychic powers, aliens, government cover-ups, and possession. The sort of thing that surely can only been dreamt up under the influence!

When school-friends Henry, Beaver, Jonsey, and Pete noticed ‘Duddits’, a disabled child being bullied, the boys intervened, intertwining their lives and showing them ‘the line’, Duddits’ telepathic power. The line is a compass guiding the group through life, drawing them away from danger and towards lost things. Present day, the boys still meet up every year to go hunting in the snowy forest, cut off from civilisation… Cue the cabin in the woods style gore-fest! A UFO has crashed in the forest and the military are racing against time to contain the incident, but they don’t have the full story. It’s up to the group of friends to save the world, an action inexplicably linked to Duddits and his special powers.

For those of you fascinated by the recent Area 51 raid pranks, this is a must-read! What have the authorities been hiding? Peel back the proverbial curtain and find out what extra-terrestrial horror awaits!

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

Written as a collection of interviews, news articles, personal accounts, and scientific data collated by a journalist, Brooks convinces the reader that World War Z was a real-life global catastrophe. Written in the post-apocalyptic wake, World War Z examines the effects of a worldwide pandemic and response from global leaders, health organisations and pharmaceutical companies cashing in on the chaos.

The corruption revealed throughout governments, world leaders and at times the medical profession provides a commentary on contemporary issues surrounding conflict, peace, safety and ethical practise which is extremely thought provoking and before you can check yourself leads you to wonder: could a corrupt government lead to a zombie war?

Brooks cleverly weaves personal accounts showing war as a microcosm, devastating families juxtaposed against the worldwide effects using government press releases and interviews. This makes for a read which at times tugs on your heart strings, terrifies you to your core and causes you to scratch your head and strategise with the world leaders about what to do next!

Creepy Classics

Dracula by Bram Stoker

A gothic setting, a tyrannical villain and damsels in distress, Dracula is the epitome of classic horror. Drawing the reader in with detailed panoramic descriptions of beautiful scenery, we are taken into Dracula’s foreboding castle and into the world of the vampire.

When Jonathan Harker sets out to Transylvania to close a real estate deal with Count Dracula, he is warned by villagers along the way to turn back. Despite this, Jonathan chooses to continue on and finds himself embroiled in wolf attacks, vampire assaults, murder, monster hunts, and blood. Meanwhile, Harker’s wife Mina and her friend Lucy are caught up in vampire dealings of their own leading to further macabre events.

Stoker paints a picture of how unprepared England is for Dracula’s attacks due to its propensity for modern science which doesn’t allow for believing in vampires. Warning readers not to overlook supernatural occurrences science can’t explain. Like Van Helsing, we must take into account both superstition and science. If you like eerie, spooky, otherworldly horror then Dracula is the one for you!

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

When Robert Walton set out on his voyage to the North Pole, little did he expect to come across Victor Frankenstein, a near frozen man with an incredible story. Once nursed back to health, Frankenstein tells his secret, scary, and shameful story. Following a happy childhood, Frankenstein studies anatomy and chemistry discovering his ability of animation and embarking on his biggest project yet, to create a human being. Frankenstein makes the monster from a collection of human body parts before bringing it to life and running in fear. What follows is a twisted tale of murder, shame, betrayal, guilt and ethical questions.

Shelley writes a dark and ominous text exploring the implications of too much knowledge. Text and language also play a huge role in the novel with the story told through letters with nods to notebooks, inscriptions and journals. The monster even learns to speak and read from the villagers allowing Frankenstein and thus the reader to understand the complex emotions felt by the creature adding another layer to the story. If you like chewing over problems of ethics and philosophy with a side order of grisly horror, then this is the novel for you!

Psychological Frights

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

Schizophrenia or supernatural possession? This was the question plaguing the Barrett family when 15-year-old Marjorie began acting erratically and medicine wasn’t helping. Merry, Marjorie’s sister, chronicles the horrific events that took place in the Bennett house when the family decided an exorcism was the only way to help Marjorie. To ease their financial strain, the family agreed to have a reality TV show enter their home and film the events leading Merry to question is Marjorie really possessed?

The book explores the dark theme of reality TV exploitation while raising the age old question of science versus religion. Full of harrowing scenes and creepy imagery, the book has an overall feeling of paranoia and madness, making for a sinister and terrifying read. Open if you dare and travel down the psychological rabbit-hole into the ghost filled head of Marjorie Barrett.

Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Would you go for a summer holiday in a haunted house? That is exactly what Eleanor, Theodora, and Luke do following an invitation from Dr Montague who is investigating the supernatural occurrences at Hill House. The group are tasked with living in the house for the summer, noting unearthly experiences.

Although dark and foreboding with a chequered past, Hill House is uninviting but apparently not haunted. However, malevolent events begin slowly unfolding leaving us to wonder what is the work of spirits and what may be the work of the group of ragtag inhabitants. The house comes to life, ensnaring its victims, particularly drawing in fragile, vulnerable Eleanor who is infatuated with the house. Will Hill House ever let her go?

For those that have watched the hit Netflix series, you’ll find that the show takes a lot of creative licence, further developing key themes from the book to stretch over a whole series. The novel is more compact with traditional haunted house tropes but still packs a frightening punch, made even more impactful by the shock ending. Come inside Hill House if you dare!

Supernatural Scares

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

When a malevolent child abductor and a psychic teenager cross paths, both of their lives are changed forever. Charles Manx, a famed child abductor has been kidnapping children in his Rolls-Royce Wraith, which can traverse worlds and taking them to the supernatural vampire amusement park of Christmasland. When psychic Vic takes the ‘Shorter Way bridge’, her telepathic link, to Manx’s house following an argument with her mother, she had no idea what horrors awaited there.

Fast forward to Vic’s adult life, where she lives as the only known escapee of Manx, but he is not finished with Vic yet. Although imprisoned, after Vic’s almost abduction, Manx has escaped using paranormal means, convincing everyone he is dead and when he takes Vic’s son, no one believes it. It is up to Vic to rescue Wayne and destroy Christmasland for good.

Hill cleverly incorporates the real-life threat of child abduction which send a shiver down the spine of most along with supernatural elements such as psychics and vampires. This makes for a bone-chilling scare you won’t be able to shake long after the last page.

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Alma Katsu showcases her amazing ability to make horrific historical tragedies even more terrifying by introducing supernatural entities within her take on the Donner Party disaster, The Hunger. In 1846, the 90 members of the pioneer Donner Party setting out on the Oregon trail from Missouri to California, could not have foreseen the horror that lay in wait.

Katsu’s writing builds suspense from the outset, having the reader believe something is stalking the party, causing disappearances and deaths. Although a true story of conflict, betrayal, illness, exposure and starvation, Katsu explores the events under a supernatural lens adding another layer of horror to the already tragic accounts. Did the Donner Party succumb to exposure or is there another sinister explanation for their bad luck?

This novel seamlessly marries history and horror incorporating barbaric tribes, ghosts, demons, and witchcraft without a second of disconnection from the gripping politics and relationships of the group. The variation of traditional storytelling and the use of correspondence, to inform the reader of the character and setting backgrounds, reveals the twine that links all party members to one another and the dread, death and destruction awaiting them all.

Heinous Horror Adaptations

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Turned into a hit Netflix movie, Bird Box will leave you on the edge of your seat, both the book and movie. Malorie and her two children live in an abandoned house in a post-apocalyptic ruin. Most people are dead, and something is out there. Something that wants to get them and if they look at it directly, it will turn them into homicidal, suicidal maniacs. Malorie and her children need to escape and run to safety but a perilous journey lies ahead and you’re on it with them!

Written with a sense of urgency that will keep you turning pages, Bird Box will have you looking over your shoulder with paranoia and panic, thinking am I being followed too? Due to the fact the protagonist spends much of the time blindfolded or trying to avoid seeing the malevolent forces, you will become maddeningly frustrated at your own consequent blindness. keeping you reading desperately in the hope you will get to see the monster. But can you handle it? Or will it send you mad too?

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

You’ve probably heard of the cult movie The Exorcist, but did you know it was based on a bestselling book? Noted as one of the most controversial books of the time, The Exorcist tells the story of 11 year old Regan’s experience with demonic possession and her subsequent exorcism. It’s hard not to compare the novel to the film due to its notoriety but where the book far excels is in the stomach-churning; repulsive descriptions of acts carried out by the possessed Regan and the shocking and horrifying dialogue from the demon inside. Making those infamous scenes from the movie (I won’t give it away!) even more disturbing and unsettling.

Inspired by real life events, if you don’t value a good night’s sleep all that much then this is the book for you. It will have you up long into the night jumping at shadows and cowering under the duvet.

Do you have any horror recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!

The post The Creepiest Reads For Halloween appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Now that it’s officially fall for half of the world and the weather has turned cold and crisp for half of the world, it means it’s also time to welcome the Halloween season! It’s that time of the year to get spooky, to spend your nights watching and reading horror until Halloween ends, and of course, to put up crazy decorations and wear costumes! To help you spice up your Halloween reads, we are here to suggest a few books and themes that would be perfect for a Halloween binge!

Read A Classic

There are many options you can choose for this prompt, including Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and Inferno by Dante.

Read A Book About Witches

What’s Halloween without a few witches? The obvious choice for this prompt would be Harry Potter, but if you want something different, you can read Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, How to Hang A Witch by Adriana Mather, and Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. Or you know, you can always read the book adaptation of Hocus Pocus!

Read A Book About Curses

Any kind of curse will do! You can read Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, Compulsion by Martina Boone, The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw, and Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton.

Read A Book About Foreign Myth/Folk Stories

For this prompt, you can read The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and obviously Rick Riordan’s books. If you want something new, you can read an East Asian stories anthology, A Thousand Beginnings and Endings.

Read A Book About Grim Reapers/Death

I really love reading death as a personification, as death/grim reapers always have such a unique voice. They can be really had to find as there are rarely books about them, but you can read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Scythe by Neal Shusterman, A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, and Death or Ice Cream by Gareth P. Jones

Read A Book With An Unreliable Narrator

Unreliable narrators is defined as a narrator whose credibility has been compromised, either because they are the culprit, didn’t remember what happened, or something else. Some of the books with unreliable narrators are The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas, The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins, and The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich.

Read A Book With A Creepy Cover

I think we can agree the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children series have creepy covers! Other options include Daughters unto Devil by Amy Luckavics, Say Her Name by James Dawson, and The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

Happy October! Let us know if you plan on reading any along with the books you will be reading this Halloween in the comments below!

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