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!

Best Books in 2016

It’s early 2017 and time to look back on last year’s best reads, which is something I’ve done before (for 2015 and 2014).

Goodreads says I read 63 books in 2016. Seeing that I didn’t enter all books in there, the total number would be a little higher, perhaps by 10 or so. Anyway, it is more than in 2015, when I listed 43 books in Goodreads. Why? I have no idea! I don’t think I’ve spent that much more time reading, but perhaps I have. Oh, and in early 2016, I seem to have made a New Year’s resolution to read more books! I had actually forgotten all about that... but it means I actually managed to find a resolution I could stick to. ;)

In terms of ratings, only a handful of books received 5 stars. However, there was quite a big bunch of four star books, many three star books, and only a few two star books. So, overall, I read pretty good books last year. My average rating was 3.4 (but it must be said that there were many books I didn’t rate at all). Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

One of the few five-star ratings went, as expected, to “Children of Earth and Sky” by Guy Gavriel Kay. I’ll try to write a review at some point; right now I feel too close to the book still (it was one of my holiday reads this year, after all) to be able to say much except that I loved it.

Another one of the top books was “Haukka, minun rakkaani” by Kaari Utrio. The novel is set in Medieval Finland; while not Utrio’s best, there’s still plenty of historical detail, humour and adventure. A newly built Raseborg Castle is threatened by enemies. In the midst of battles and power struggles, Lady Blanka is pursued by a gorgeous knight... and a battle-axe-wielding, huge and hairy pagan. Do I need to say more? 😋 Yes, this sort of thing does work for me, but it must be done right. Utrio knows how.

Another five-star rating went to “The Paris Wife” by Paula McLain about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife – you can read my review here.

This was actually one of my trends in 2016: I seem to have been into books about authors and/or writing. In addition to ”The Paris Wife”, there was “Possession” by A. S. Byatt about fictional 19^th century poets and literary analysis (my thoughts here), “Mistress Shakespeare” by Karen Harper about Shakespeare and the love of his life (which I enjoyed a great deal but never managed to review) and “Mrs. Poe” by Lynn Cullen about Edgar Allan Poe and Frances Osgood, who was also a writer, and their affair. “The Shakespeare Secret” would also go into this category... and perhaps ”The Hours” by Michael Cunningham which I was also going to review but didn’t. ”The Hours”, however, made me want to read something by Virginia Woolf – and I picked ”Orlando”, which, of course, also deals with writing! Then there was “Reader, I Married him”, a collection of short stories inspired by “Jane Eyre” (I might write a review later).

Just to mention a few others... Cyrano de Bergerac – I’ve seen film adaptations, but finally got around to reading the ”real thing” - funny, sweet but so tragic!

Phil Rickman’s “The Man in the Moss” and “The Chalice” were both very enjoyable. Again, a good combination of history, myth and mystery – and great writing; I wish I could set the mood the way Rickman does.

I must also mention the anthology “Dangerous Women” (I even wrote a review).

I feel like I should say something smart in conclusion, but I can’t think of anything (this seems to happen to me with every post). I had not even set myself a reading challenge (nor will I) – but, looking at my year in books in Goodreads, it is obvious that I read a variety of very different kinds of books from different genres, eras, themes and topics. Therefore, I guess I can say that 2016 was another adventurous year – at least in terms of books!

Midsummer!

Well, it is the second Midsummer Day so it's almost over... but here's a picture that pretty much captures this Midsummer. For once it was warm and sunny rather than cold and rainy, and I got to spend quite a lot of time with my book. :) Midsummer is a sort of magical time, so keeping with my holiday reading traditions, I chose Phil Rickman's "The Man in the Moss", which (set around Samhain, not Summer Solstice) features a nice number of mystical and mythological and historical elements. Oh, and bog bodies! Nothing better on a sunny summer day than reading about rain-lashed bogs and ancient human sacrifice. :D

Best reads of 2015

Last year, I looked back on 2014 and the books I read then. Another year has passed – has anything changed?

Last year, I’d marked 59 books as read in Goodreads; this year the number was 43. 43??? Not that I had any reading targets or set any goals (aimless, directionless drifting seems like a better strategy to me :P) but still, that didn't seem right to me. I had a feeling I might have read more books in 2015 than in 2014, but then, perhaps I didn't. I may have spent more time writing than reading. Besides, I re-read more books in 2015 than I did in 2014; they're not included in that number (because, ahem, I only just now learned that you can actually mark rereads in Goodreads!). In addition, it does not include non-fiction or books I simply did not want to include in Goodreads. Thus, the actual number of books I read is somewhat higher.

Last year, I gave no book a five star rating. There was a handful of those that got four stars.

As it happens, a five star book seems to be hard to find these days. However, rereads count, so I can mention Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Sarantine Mosaic, which includes two novels: “Sailing to Sarantium” and “Lord of Emperors”. I’ve explained before what it is about Kay’s novels that make me a fan of his.

 

And, I'm very pleased to say, I did find my five-star book this year! It was close, since it was the last book I finished. I'm thinking of writing a review so, for now, I'm not going to say anything... except that the book was Manda Scott's latest, "Into the Fire". It's been a while since I read a book that I did not want to put down... all right, fine, I never really want to put my book down, but this time, it was a very intense feeling. More about the book later.

Now, let's take a look at some of the other highlights of this year, reading-wise.

A Year of Ravens by various authors. Historical fiction set in Roman Britain and Boudica’s rebellion. I even wrote a review!

Chocolat by Joanne Harris. Well, it’s about chocolate... ;) Another one I actually reviewed.

Last year, I talked about how great it is to discover new authors whose work leaves you wanting more. As it happens, I’ve discovered another! Well, I discovered Phil Rickman a while back when I read his first John Dee Papers novel, “The Bones of Avalon” (here's my review). I wasn’t quite so enthusiastic about the second book in the series or the first one in his Merrily Watkins series, but I persisted and read the second Merrily book. And I loved it! Merrily Watkins is a female priest in a time when that is something of a novelty... and she ends up as a Deliverance Consultant or Advisor on the Paranormal. Or an exorcist, but, you know, job titles these days... I don’t know where exactly these novels fall – are they mystery? Crime? Horror? I don’t care. While contemporary mysteries/thrillers normally aren't my cup of chocolate, these have a twist that makes them irresistible to me: those contemporary mysteries intertwine with historical events or figures and ancient myths. And Rickman knows how to use evocative language to create an atmosphere that is oddly, almost hauntingly beautiful.

I'm not going to make any New Year's resolutions (apart from my "Read more books" resolution) but one thing I'd like to do is find more excellent books. Can't be that hard, can it? So, books, listen up and listen carefully, because here's my message to you:

Review: The Bones of Avalon by Phil Rickman

A scientist and an astrologer, a mathematician and a sorcerer, and the queen's adviser in the hidden matters. John Dee is all this, yet his greatest desire is to build his own library and devote his life to studying. Much to his dismay, Queen Elizabeth I sends him on a mission to recover the lost bones of King Arthur from the one-time Avalon, now the gloomy town of Glastonbury that harbors dark and dangerous secrets. Dee is plunged from his world of quiet contemplation into the whirlwind of murder plots, witch hunts, grave robbers and the literally deeply buried secrets of the ancient and more recent kings.

Dr. Dee is not your typical dashing hero. He knows his books, but they have imparted to him precious little knowledge about the real world. The shy and socially clumsy bookworm (what, identifying with the main character? Me?) is forced to survive situations entirely novel to him. Including encountering an interesting woman.

While I love historical fiction, I don't often read historical mysteries. I enjoyed ”The Bones of Avalon”, however. It wasn't always easy to follow who did what and why, and I found the ending somewhat underwhelming, but I loved the rich period detail. Many of the characters are real historical figures and are, for the most part, skilfully drawn and have their strengths and weaknesses. The writing is beautiful, and while the pace is slow, I found that it fit the feel of the story. And the feel and the atmosphere were perhaps the best parts of the novel. There is eeriness, mystery and magic and the sense of the land and locations that is just... I was going to say incredible, but the right word here is credible.

I particularly enjoyed the conflicts between science and sorcery, and between Christianity and the 'old ways'. The lines between them blur, and it was amusing to read about Dee's astonishment when he is considered a 'conjurer' while he sees himself as a scientist, a man of enlightenment. This is one of the elements that make the book entertaining as well as thought-provoking, something I enjoy in a novel.