Horror for Halloween 2008

This Year’s Book List for Halloween took a lot longer to create than I expected. I wanted more than a mere update of last year’s titles. I wanted to mix in some new authors — perhaps several you’ve never heard of before. As usual, space limitations forced me to leave off many deserving authors and titles.

So, I want to throw this out: Don’t see someone you think deserves to be on this list? Tell us. That’s what the comment section below is for. Add their name and book title for our consideration. Are you the author of a horror book that got left off the list? Throw it in there. Together we can take a good list and make it better.

I’m dying to see who you’d add to this years’ list.

And I do mean dying . . .

Main Course Horror:

Four Course Helpings of Horror

Bloodstone by Nate Kenyon

Coffin County by Gary A. Braunbeck

Covenant by John Everson

Shapeshifter by J. F. Gonzalez

Duma Key: A Novel by Stephen King

Eat the Dark: A Novel by Joe Schreiber

Fires Rising by Michael Laimo

Found You by Mary SanGiovanni

Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand

Ghost Walk by Brian Keene

The Missing by Sarah Langan

Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory

The Price: A Novel by Alexandra Sokoloff

The Vanishing by Bentley Little

Water Witch by Deborah Leblanc

Classic Halloween Dishes:

Seasonal Specials for the Holiday

Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge

The Haunted Forest Tour by James A. Moore and Jeff Strand

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

The Pine Deep Trilogy by Jonathan Maberry
• Ghost Road Blues
• Dead Man’s Song
• Bad Moon Rising

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Hot and Spicey Horror:

Hard Core Horror not for Weak Stomachs

The Freakshow by Bryan Smith

Hide and Seek by Jack Ketchum

Kill Whitey by Brian Keene

Orgy of Souls by Wrath James White and Maurice Broaddus

Prodigal Blues by Gary A. Braunbeck

Queen of Blood by Bryan Smith

Ravenous by Ray Garton

Succulent Prey by Wrath James White

The Woods Are Dark by Richard Laymon

Horrific Appetizers:

Horror With a Slice of Humor and Satire

Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry

Installing Linux on a Dead Badger by Lucy A. Snyder

Odd Hours by Dean Koontz

Meta-Fiction Deserts:

Literate and Tricky — makes you think or gives you a headache

Demon Theory by Stephen Graham Jones

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker

Sides Dishes of Short Stories:

Short Story Collections:

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

5 Stories by Peter Straub

Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe

Mama’s Boy and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel

The October Country by Ray Bradbury

Proverbs For Monsters by Michael A. Arnzen

Richard Matheson: Collected Stories, Vol. 1, 2 and 3 by Richard Matheson

Anthologies:

The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 19 edited by Stephen Jones

Inferno: New Tales of Terror and the Supernatural edited by Ellen Datlow

Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World’s Greatest Horror Writers edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb

Dark Delicacies II: Fear; More Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World’s Greatest Horror Writers edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb

Five Strokes to Midnightedited by Gary Braunbeck and Hank Schwaeble

Horror: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition edited by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz

The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: 21st Annual Collection edited by Kelly Link, Gavin Grant, and Ellen Datlow

International Cuisine:

See How Other Countries Take Their Horror

Frankenstein’s Bride by Hilary Bailey (England — Trade reprint also includes Frankenstein by Mary Shelley another British author)

Ghost Radio: A Novel by Leopoldo Gout (Born in Mexico City, Mexico)

The Grin of the Dark by Ramsey Campbell (England)

Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist — translated by Ebba Segerberg (Sweden)

Lucifer’s Ark by Simon Clark

Metropole by Ferenc Karinthy — translated by George Szirtes (Hungary)

Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert (South Africa)

The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia (Born in Russia)

Tower Hill by Sarah Pinborough (England)

The Watch Trilogy by Sergei Lukyanenko — translated by Andrew Bromfield (Russia)
• The Night Watch
• The Day Watch
• The Twilight Watch

Need more books? Check out last year’s Halloween book list: Horror for Halloween: A Booklist.