Halloween Reads
By: Melissa Bradley |
Monday October 27, 2008 |
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Spine-chilling, hair raising, blood-curdling tales |
| "They're coming to get you…" Join me, if you dare, for a walk on the Dark Side with some truly twisted tales of terror and the macabre. In my demented selection of Halloween treats, you'll find serial killers, Satan's bible, psychotic family members, a church of bones and bear witness to the oddly compelling and grotesque journey of a corpse. Do not read alone if you can… DEADLY VISION by Rick R. Reed PUBLISHER Quest Single mom Cass D'Angelo's life changes forever when she get struck by lightning while searching for her seven year-old son, Max, in a thunderstorm. Knocked unconscious, when Cass comes to, she starts to "see" things, including the grisly fate of two teenagers who disappeared. The police are suspicious while the press seems hell bent on making her some kind of celebrity. Then there are the killers who are desperate to find out how Cass could know the details of their carefully concealed crime. The only person she can count on Dani Westwood, a local reporter who quickly becomes an integral part of Cass' life. Together, the two women investigate the disappearance/murders, keeping one step ahead until Max goes missing. A spine-chilling, blood-curdling tale, perfect to read on Halloween night with all the lights off but the one beside your bed. EDGAR ALLEN POE: COMPLETE TALES AND POEMS by Edgar Allen Poe with an introduction by Wilbur Stewart Scott PUBLISHER Castle Books The Fall of the House of Usher, Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Raven…This book has them all. Poe is one of the greatest horror writers of all time and Halloween is the perfect time to relax and let your mind take a terrifying journey through these pages. A classic for horror fans. THE ACADEMY by Scarlett Dean PUBLISHER Amber Quill From the moment Grant Taylor arrives at the Knollwood Academy for delinquent boys, he senses there is something very wrong there. From the tortured screams and horrifying accidents, to other paranormal occurrences, it is obvious there is something evil lurking within the school. In an effort to discover just what is going on, Grant befriends "Coop" Cooper, the art teacher. Together they uncover a mysterious black book, rumored to be Satan's bible. Is this the source of the strange activity within the walls of Knollwood? Coop and Grant must race against time to decipher the pages and find evil's true plan before it destroys the world. A relentless, hair raising tale that will leave you checking behind every door and avoiding dark places. STIFF: THE CURIOUS LIVES OF HUMAN CADAVERS by Mary Roach PUBLISHER W.W. Norton and Company Have you ever wondered what happens to a human body after it's been donated to science? Mary Roach attempts to answer this question and all others in between in this highly respectful, yet very irreverent look at "life" after death. Dissection at a medical school is the most normal of the scientific uses. Roach takes you inside places that are at once macabre yet oddly compelling. She pulls together tons of historical background that is as creepy as it is informative such as the hysterical, yet enlightening look at the practice of body snatching. A wonderfully, twisted read for the creepiest holiday. MAGNIFICENT CORPSES: SEARCHING THROUGH EUROPE FOR ST. PETER'S HEAD, ST. CLAIRE'S HEART, ST. STEPHEN'S HAND AND OTHER SAINTS RELICS by Anneli Rufus PUBLISHER De Capo Press The veneration of the body parts, bones and other "relics" of saints has a long and macabre history in the Christian faith. Fascinated by the stories of these colorful people who were burned, beheaded, stoned, etc. in the name of their faith, Rufus decided to seek out the truth. Part travelogue, part investigative journalism and part history, she treks across Europe in search of more than twenty of these grisly icons. An engaging and witty book that will intrigue horror fans and travelers alike. |
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