Hey everyone, I’m wondering if there are books/genre that you turn to in the fall? I’m sure some of you are beginning to feel temperature changes and get to see the beautiful fall colors so what does your tbr look like? I always like to read at least one creepy/spooky/paranormal sort of book for the halloween season and I think this year I am going to try to make space in my reading schedule for The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel. What about you? Spooky or no?
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Great question, @Anne_Glasgow! I know I plan around the Christmas season, but I never gave any thought to autumn reading. I’d love to read something spooky! Looking forward to adding to my TBR stack with other suggestions!
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I’m not much of a spooky book reader but am a fan of Du Maurier’s “Rebecca” and love, love her short story, “The Birds”. Far scarier than Hitchcock’s movie. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson would be a good one (I once hosted a scary story time for adults at the public library where this one was read). Apparently I like my gothic horror in small doses.
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Agree about The Lottery. Without a doubt one of the creepiest books (novella) I’ve ever read
I won a copy several years ago of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson that I need to read, but I keep putting it off because I am such a chicken when it comes to horror. There is nothing “delicious” about feeling that shiver down my spine or the hair standing up on the back of my neck. The last horror book I read was Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot and that was almost 50 years ago. I wasn’t married yet and lived alone; I didn’t sleep for a week after reading it. I am going to try to make myself read Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury since it’s part of his Green Town trilogy. The question is when I will get brave enough. 
You can do it @Lana_Maskus. Has Ray Bradbury written books that are super scary? I loved Hill House but I don’t scare easily. Could you maybe read a little early in the day and then chase it with something more comfortable to change the mental images?
I definitely try to include holiday-themed reads into the ‘BER months. Horror isn’t a go-to genre for me but I enjoy both paranormal and fantasy for Fall and Christmas-y and winter-related reads for December (through Feb).
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I don’t think Bradbury’s are classified as real scary, but I thought I remembered starting to watch the movie version of it in the 80s on TV and that it had Bette Davis in the cast and which I turned off. I did some research just now and I’ve been remembering the wrong movie all these years. The movie I started was Watcher in the Woods. Something…was released by Walt Disney Productions before it became Buena Vista Productions. Everything says it’s supposed to be more eerie, atmospheric, and creepy than genuinely terrifying. [1, 2, 3]. Lots of nostalgia, regret, and cozy atmosphere are thrown in. Since I’ve had the wrong impression all these years, I definitely need to give it a chance. I’m holding off on The Haunting of Hill House. Everything I looked up said it is genuinely scary. It was mentioned that Stephen King reveres it as one of the finest horror works ever written!
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I don’t read a lot of fall specific books but every once in a while I read something specific for Halloween. I enjoyed The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton, Something Wicked This Way Comes, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and Coraline.
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I have the Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton on my list to get to one of these days. Daphne de Maurier also has a book of spooky stories called After Midnight that I am interested in picking up.
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Good question, but I normally do not change what I read when the seasons change.
Fair answer @Elizabeth. I don’t read for any other season/holiday but I do like the excuse to read some of the books I wouldn’t read otherwise. It’s kind of a special little treat after all the mostly serious books I read the rest if the time.
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Always good to have a change of pace.
Thanks for your reply.
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My book club reads a “spooky” (read thriller or horror) book each Oct. This year it’s Killers of a Certain Age. I started it (about 100 pages in) and finally put it down. Not only is it predictable, I feel it’s very poorly written. Just cliche (either written or situational) after cliche
Interesting choice for a book club. I don’t think of the book as a thriller at all - more of “somewhat cozy.”
That is such a bummer to have a book club book be such a disappointment. Sorry @Erin_O. Hope there are better books ahead for you.
I did not know about After Midnight by Daphne Du Maurier. Rebecca is one of my favorite books. I know what book I’ll probably be using for the Book Browse reading challenge for the prompt for a book recommended by a Book Browse member.
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I never do that, let seasons dictate what I read. I suppose I could; It might be fun. I’m sure I have a spooky book in my great load of books to read. Maybe I’ll do that after I finish THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE By Erik Larson.