It’s October…Do You Have Your Halloween Books? Here Are Ten Not to Miss!
Steve Barton
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Finally, after a summer from hell (for most of the US anyway), there is a chill in the air, the leaves are changing colors and Halloween, our favorite holiday, is almost here. So, in the spirit of the season, here are some new Halloween titles (as well as a couple of classics) you might want to pick up at your local bookstore.
How to Be a Zombie: The Essential Guide for Anyone Who Craves Brains by Serena Valentino. From the author of the Nightmares & Dreamscapes series of graphic novels, including 1140 Rue Royale, comes this hilarious and colorful book on how to become a zombie. With chapters ranging from “What Is Your Zombie Archetype?” and “Living with Humans” to “Zombie Fashion” and “Essential Zombie Films”, this little (144 pages) book would make an excellent prize at your Halloween party. Or an unexpected stocking stuffer at Christmas.
4 out of 5
Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death by James Marriott and Kim Newman. This is an amazing book which covers the horror film from its inception back in 1891 (or thereabouts) to the present day. Marriott and Newman cover films decade by decade and include special features on horror television, influential horror literature and horror comics. And as if that weren’t enough, they also go in-depth on such sub-genres as giallo, ghosts, zombies, cannibalism, H.P. Lovecraft and more. The last film covered is 2009’s Drag Me to Hell so it’s a pretty up-to-date book and just the inclusion of Herk Harvey’s Carnival of Souls, Herbert Wise’s The Woman in Black and John Hancock’s Let’s Scare Jessica to Death was enough to warm the cockles of my cold, black heart.
4 1/2 out of 5
Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes of the Most Terrifying Zombie Movie Ever Made by Joe Kane. Just when you think you’ve read everything there is about NOTLD, along comes this fascinating book, which goes behind the scenes on the “notorious” film with fascinating insight as to how it was put together and shot along with details about the, at the time, horrific SFX. There are also interviews with the surviving cast and crew as well as how NOTLD influenced most of today’s horror directors. Included are 16 pages of some never-before-seen photos from the shoot as well as the original screenplay by John Russo. Author Kane also has a “Where are they now?” section as well as his “Z-wards” for the best in zombie cinema: everything from Best Zombie Movie to Best Zombie Quote to Best Living Dead (why not “zombie”?) Pet and a list of all films about the “Living Dead” (Romero’s films as well as spoofs, documentaries and more). A must-have for all horror fans. For even more info, check out Scott Johnson’s expanded Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes of the Most Terrifying Zombie Movie Ever Made review.
4 1/2 out of 5
The Small Hand: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill. For those of you familiar with Hill’s frightening novel The Woman in Black, as well as the 1989 film of the same name, a new ghost story from her is cause for rejoicing, and The Small Hand does not disappoint. Book antiquarian dealer Adam Snow stumbles across the seemingly abandoned White House on his way to meet a client, and while there exploring the once-famous but now ruined gardens, he feels a small ghostly hand take his. Excellent for a cold and windy autumn evening (the book is only 167 pages) so curl up with your Earl Grey and some gingerbread cookies, and be sure to draw the curtains.
3 1/2 out of 5
October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween edited by Richard Chizmar and Robert Morrish. Unfortunately, this giant gem of a book from Cemetery Dance is out-of-print, but you can score a used copy on Amazon (just click the highlighted title). Chock full of tales of Halloween by some of the Big Boys and Girls of Horror (Jack Ketchum, Tom Piccirilli, Thomas Ligotti, Caítlin Kiernan, Poppy Z. Brite, Tim Lebbon, Charles L. Grant, Simon Clark, Gary A. Braunbeck, Michael Marshall Smith and more) as well as Halloween memories from many of those same authors, this is a book that every Halloween fan(atic) should have in their library.
4 1/2 out of 5
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry. Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry must never sleep as he seems to have a new book out every month. Rot & Ruin is being marketed as a Young Adult novel, but don’t let that fool you. The protagonist may be a young man, but the plot is anything BUT a kids’ story. Bennie lives in a world taken over by zombies, a world called the rot & ruin, and at the age of 15 he is expected to work or lose his food rations. Not thrilled with joining his older brother, Tim, in the family business of zombie killing, he nonetheless enters a world where he discovers what it means to be human as well as discovering that the real monsters may not be the zombies after all. Excellent.
4 out of 5
Tales of Woe by John Reed. This unusual little book is made up of twenty-five short essays of, as described by the publisher, cultural reportage with stories ranging from a man being found in his hotel room “romantically” entwined with his bicycle to kidney-harvesting in India to Harold Simpson of Alaska, who loved his animals perhaps a smidge TOO much. To whet your appetite for what the other stories could be about, several chapter titles are:
* “A Bee to the Honey-Slut”
* “The Purple Ooze”
* “Elixir of Albino”
* “Fashionista Feast of Sisters”
and more memorable stories. Check this one out.
3 1/2 out of 5
Grave Humor by M.T. Coffin. The subtitle for this book is A Photo Tour of Funny, Ironic and Ridiculous Tombstones; and the author isn’t kidding. The four chapters in the book tell it all:
“THE LAST LAUGH”
Funny epitaphs caught on film
“TRUE TO FORM”
Snapshots of humorous and oddly designed headstones
“DUMM AND DUMMER”
Rib-tickling eternal pairings
“DIE LAUGHING”
Monuments to utterly unfortunate names
And if that’s not enough for you, go to GraveHumorBook.com for even more ridiculous tombstones. Definitely an ice-breaker type of book.
3 out of 5
Cinderella Skeleton by Robert D. San Souci. One of my favorite children’s books, Cinderella Skeleton tells the classic fairy tale with a twist – all of the characters are skeletons. Prince Charnal, the heartthrob of the Halloween Ball, is entranced by the lovely ghoul, and when Cinderella’s entire FOOT breaks off as she escapes the ball, well…you know the story. The illustrations by David Catrow are perfect and perfectly macabre.
4 out of 5
Zombie Felties: How to Raise 16 Gruesome Felt Creatures from the Undead by Nicola Tedman and Sarah Skeate. For the literally crafty ones out there, this fun little book shows you how to make felt zombies. Yes, you read me right – felt zombies. But these are not all “cutesy” felt zombies. You can make anything from a traditional Romero-esque zombie to a Michael Jackson in “Thriller” zombie to a Day of the Dead zombie as well as the obligatory zombie bunnies, kitties and puppies. But there are many other not so traditional zombies to make, and they would be perfect for your Halloween party. Just trust me.
4 out of 5
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