Chapter 21 - Cemetery Girl

I am not a fan of horror movies or books. Don't get me wrong, I love spooky and psychological thrillers - books that mess with your mind a little bit. I've been this way since I was a kid always preferring subtle suspense or mystery to graphic horror. I have vivid and fond memories of Edgar Allen Poe stories and Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful, Ghostly Gallery and other "scary" books for young readers. These were published way before RL Stine's Goosebumps or Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events books.

To me the suspense is always sweeter when your brain has to work a little to imagine it. So, just for Halloween, some spooky books for your reading pleasure!

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - While working as a companion to a rich woman on holiday in Monte Carlo, Rebecca meets and falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a widower. After a whirlwind courtship they marry and she returns with him to his English estate Mandalay. With a dead wife, sinister housewife, and secretive husband, poor Rebecca has her hands full. You will too as you try to figure out who is good, who is bad in this story.

The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne - Haunted by the death of one of their beautiful identical twin girls, Lydia, the Moorcrofts try to jump start their lives on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. All looks hopeful until the remaining child, Kirstie, tells her parents that she is the dead Lydia. Another wonderful whodunnit!

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson - After a terrible accident, a woman has developed severe amnesia. Her husband takes her home and arranges their lives so he can tell her over and over again who she is and what happened. But is he telling her the truth?

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - A reclusive writer decides to finally tell her story to a ghost writer. As the story is revealed there are evil sisters, mean governesses, ghosts and all sorts of scary and mystifying things. A good, big read.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - A different spin on the tale of Dracula, one in which a young woman finds letters and documents linking her father and mother to Vlad the Impaler. A good segue from the classic Dracula story.

What is your favorite spooky story?