Spooky reads for Halloween

In a previous post, I mentioned that as the nights grow darker, so does my taste in books. On those dark and stormy nights, I have a yarning to read something a bit gothic or books such as “Wuthering Heights” or “Jane Eyre”. Anything featuring wind-whipped moors or a dark, mysterious mansion seems suddenly tempting. Do autumn and the approaching Halloween affect your reading preferences? Do you have a favourite horror (or any other dark) novel or perhaps a favourite author whose work would be perfect for this time of year? In the spirit of Halloween, here's a little look of some of my favourite spooky, dark and mysterious reads.

I have never been a big fan of horror, although I did experience a brief eerie period in my teens when I read all the spooky books I could locate in the library of a small village. My favourite was Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” – and while it might not appear so very frightening to a modern reader, it is, after all, a classic and holds a special place in the dark corner of my heart.

Another classic that I’m fascinated by is Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, which, with its witches and obscure prophesies, bloody murder and mist-shrouded castles seems like a perfect Halloween treat. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!

In this context, I must mention Robert R. McCammon and his excellent werewolf books, “The Wolf’s Hour” and “The Hunter from the Woods” (a collection of short stories/novellas rather than a novel) which may not be strictly horror, but work with historical fiction and lycanthrope lore to weave together stories that are a fascinating combination of adventure, action and even a bit of romance. They are gory and bloody but also rather dark and thoughtful. I’ve previously reviewed “The Wolf’s Hour”.

Another favourite of mine are the novels by Phil Rickman, whose work falls somewhere between mystery, horror and crime; in many of them, contemporary mysteries intertwine with mystical, mythological and historical elements. The writing creates an atmosphere that is hauntingly beautiful – and a bit creepy. His John Dee series is not contemporary but historical fiction steeped in mystery (my review of "The Bones of Avalon" here.)

A childhood favourite of mine, simply perfect for this time of year, is a series by an Estonian author Aino Pervik (illustrations by E. Walter). These books feature a witch, Emmeline, who lives alone on a rocky island, makes potions and gathers herbs, until she meets a sea captain called Trummi. I fear that even back when my parents read me these stories, I felt a certain affinity with the hermit witch... look, she even lives in a tree!

Last but not least – I used to love “The Witch’s Handbook” by Malcolm Bird when I was a child. Now this has become one of my daughter’s favourites, and our yearly tradition is to read it around Halloween. This is the book my daughter prefers over playing and other activities! Packed with hilarious illustrations and clever advice, this book is a must-have for anyone inspiring to become a witch.

This year, I’m also reading “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” to my daughter – and it happens to be quite appropriate (just look at the cover)!

As horror isn’t generally my preferred genre, I’ve written few horror stories. There are, however, a couple that come close. Almost exactly a year ago now, the weird tale “Entombed” I wrote with my DH appeared in the “666” horror anthology (also recommended Halloween reading material) - and quite recently, our werewolf novella, “Musta Susi” (“Black Wolf”), was published in the Finnish science fiction and fantasy magazine Portti. Since it sort of fits the theme of this post, here's the title page of our story. The illustrations are by Kari T. Leppänen, and I have to say I love them; they capture the mood of the story - and look at the detail on that ship!

2014 in review

A look back at the best reads of 2014 seems to be something many bloggers do... or did; I didn't manage to write this in any sort of a timely fashion – in fact, I forgot all about this idea... actually, I completely forgot I have a blog and was supposed to write something. Anyway, I thought it was a great idea (yeah, I can easily forget ideas, even great ones). The results were not what I expected.

Of the 59 books that I read last year, according to Goodreads (there are a number of books I never marked as “read” in Goodreads, so the total number is some 10-20 books higher), not a single book got a five-star rating from me. Only nine (9) books got a four-star rating.

That's just sad.

There are possible reasons. 1) It may be that I simply didn't come across a really, really great book, a book that I'd love, last year. 2) I fear that as I grow older, I become more... I was going to say critical, but that's not really it. Or perhaps that's a part of it. But above all else, I'm an emotional reader: I want a book to make me feel. And the older we get, the more we've seen and the more we've experienced, the harder it is to truly move us. 3) My rating is extremely subjective. If I'm not feeling too good in general, I'm more unlikely to give a good rating than I am when feeling good about my life. That's not fair, I know. However, low ratings do not happen just because I'm having a bad day. They happen when I've been having a bad 6 months or so. And last year really wasn't one of the best years ever. It probably will not have been the worst, either. I don't know whether that's comforting or depressing.

Looking on the bright side, I didn't give a single one-star rating! That's probably because I'm trying to learn to give up on a book when it fails to interest me. That's something I need to work on!

But let's focus on the top nine. One thing they all have in common is that they're historical fiction. Except the first one, but it's often called historical fantasy and reads, for the most part, much like historical fiction.

Guy Gavriel Kay's “River of Stars”. I've explained briefly before why I love Kay's novels, and the same goes for this one.

Veriruusut by Anneli Kanto. Also something we've seen before.

Next, two books by Kaari Utrio (Isabella and Saippuaprinsessa), which is not surprising, seeing that she is one of my favourite authors (mentioned before here and here). Splendid historical fiction, and I particularly enjoy the ones set in the Medieval times. It's somewhat surprising, however, to find these two books among the best of last year, since neither of them are among my favourites by her.

“Bring up the Bodies” by Hilary Mantel. Great historical fiction, Tudor court and all that. When I was finishing this book, I couldn't quite decide whether to give it three or four stars, but then Mantel made me cry... and what did I say about wanting a book to make me feel?

And here's a surprise: a graphic novel! It's volume 2 in the series titled Pakanat (“Pagans”) by Tuomas Myllylä. This, too, I've mentioned and sort of reviewed before.

 

 

And finally... three books from the same author! Now that's really something. Robert McCammon's “The Wolf's Hour”, “The Hunter from the Woods” and “Speaks the Nightbird”. The first is historical fiction / werewolf story (there should be a short review here somewhere... found it!), the second is pretty much the same but a collection of short stories, and the third is historical fiction set in the very late 17^th century, if I remember correctly. McCammon tells a great story, he knows how to keep you turning those pages! But that's not enough for me. I want the writing to be beautiful or lyrical or evocative – it's not just about the story, it's also about the language – and McCammon does have a way with words.

So. My 2014 may seem like a poor year, reading-wise. But I discovered a few authors whose work I enjoyed and really look forward to reading more. That's not bad, in my book.

Alone with your feelings?

Does this ever happen to you? If it does, how do you cope?

That image on The Bluestocking Review's Page in Facebook reminded me of how, when you've read a truly great book, you want to talk about it so badly. Yes, even a total introvert like me gets that urge! You're bursting with thoughts and feelings and impressions, and yearning to hear how others experienced the book...

These days it's rarely a problem. There's Goodreads and book forums and Facebook sites and everything. You can read reviews and follow discussions (there may not be an exact fandom, but there probably are people who have read the book). A good discussion about a thought-provoking book is a wonderful thing, but, amazingly, it can also lead to other things.

I read Diana Gabaldon's 'Outlander' many years ago, and then, over a decade ago now (I had likely read the next book or two in the series by then), I started looking for others who had read it. I found my way to a fan site titled 'Ladies of Lallybroch' where I posted an introduction. I soon received an email from another reader, who said that something about my post just made her want to write to me. We started writing emails, and realised we had almost eerily much in common. She doesn't live in Finland, but we've met a couple of times, and our DHs also got on very well.

Some time later, I fell in love with M. C. Scott's Boudica series. After finishing the fourth and final book, I had to find someone to talk about it with. I discovered the author's discussion forum. It might not have been the biggest online community, but it was lovely, with people brought together by their love for the books and the characters and with an ability to engage in both serious discussions and completely crazy chitchat. I met two of my friends there, again people who live in different parts of the world from me, but people I feel very comfortable 'with' (I've met only one of them in person, but distance doesn't matter).

So, what began as a need to talk about a book led to wonderful friendships. We still sometimes talk about THE books, but mostly, now, about other things. I have shared much with these friends, and I'm very grateful that they're in my life. These books will always be special for me for that reason.

I'm also very lucky in that my husband loves reading. When I get that urge to talk about a book, there's someone who listens and understands (and doesn't think you're crazy when you rave about fictional characters and their lives). And I get to hear about the books he finds interesting. The best is when we read the same book and can talk about it (we both just finished 'The Hunter from the Woods' by Robert McCammon, and we love it – lycanthrope lore! An action-packed book with warmth and depth! And... actually, just read my husband's review). The first such book was Guy Gavriel Kay's 'Lions of Al-Rassan', something my husband, then my boyfriend, used to entice me to read fantasy. And he knew me well then already (must've been over 14 years ago): I loved the book and still count it among my favourites. Once I had read it, we sat at the dinner table for about three hours and talked and talked...

Review: The Wolf's Hour by Robert R. McCammon

Homo homini lupus. Michael Gallatin has lived through the brutal survival struggle of a werewolf pack in the forests of Russia, has been hunted as a monster, tormented by the question whether he, as a werewolf, is a man or a beast - but his journey through the horrors of WWII reveals the truth: it is the humans who are the beasts.
This book has everything: wonderfully built tension, plenty of action, a bit of romance. Contemplation, courage, characters you care about. History, humour, heroism and heartache. The protagonist's tendency to continuously end up in situations that turn from bad to worse to unimaginably terrible makes the book a page-turner, but I would not call it light reading, as it does not spare you from the brutality of war, the cruelty that people are capable of.
The action scenes could have been tighter and tenser, and some scenes (e.g. human-to-wolf transformations) were somewhat repetitive. Other than that, this is a well executed story, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in lycanthrope lore.