Letters From the Editor — Special Halloween Edition

It's the most wonderful time of year; the leaves are changing, the air has a chill, and no one bats an eye when I pepper everyday conversations with subjects like ghosts. This year, I thought I'd have some fun counting down to the 31st and recommend some of my favorite spooky stories to read leading up to Halloween. The stories range from the literary to the avant-garde, digital-only to print, but they all have one thing in common; they're off the beaten path and are sure to spook the pants off of you

Night Film
Marisha Pessl

Day 1 of LTSE's Week of Spooky Books kicked off with one of my favorite books, Night Film by Marisha Pessl. In it,  journalist Scott McGrath is obsessed with finding the truth about a young woman's suicide and its possible connection to her father, a reclusive cult-horror-film director. The more he investigates, the deeper he is drawn into the director's hypnotic world, and the chances of him getting out get slimmer and slimmer.⠀
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This is a book that does so many things right. The world-building is so insanely well done that there were times I would Google the director to find one of his films, forgetting that he's a fictional amalgamation of Hitchcock, Kubrick, etc. It makes excellent use of a semi-epistolary format by including internet searches, articles, and photographs so that you get sucked into the search just as much as Scott, which, by the way, takes an incredible paranormal turn halfway through the book. ⠀

Night Film continually asks you to question the role of reality in the creation of art, which leads you to question how real the book is in and of itself. In short, if you're the type to question reality every time you watch a conspiracy theory video, this book is REALLY gonna mess you up. ⠀

House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski

Consider, for a moment, the impossible: A family discovers that their new home is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
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House of Leaves follows a documentary filmmaker who decides his new subjects will be his family and their newly purchased home. Very quickly, however, his footage starts to show that the house is not quite what it seems.

This is one of the most uniquely multifaceted books I've ever read. Danielewski's portrayal of their descent into madness is haunting (pun intended), and even more so when you piece together the effects of the house in the footnotes. All the tension is built up so well that by the end of the book, I had to let out several breaths I didn't realize I was holding. This is just one of those stories that takes root inside you and doesn't loosen its grip — perfect, in my opinion, to get in the ghoulish Halloween spirit.

The Grownup
Gillian Flynn

I always find the scariest "monsters" are the classic, old-school ones. Sure, zombie-vampire-alien hybrids are cool, but nothing beats a ghost story.
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Featuring a Victorian mansion, creepy children, a fake psychic, and Gillian Flynn's artful characterization and vivid description of even the mundane,The Grownup is the optimal ghost story, Once a sex worker who developed carpal tunnel, our protagonist now makes easy money giving "psychic" readings at the front of the same store where she used to do her more vigorous back-room work. When she's requested to cleanse a potentially haunted house, though, she finds out she might be a little in over her head.
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And if you're afraid you don't have time to read between putting up decorations and perfecting your Halloween makeup, this short novella is only 64 pages — just one short evening of twists, turns, and gasps — and believe me, she squeezes in a ton of them.⠀
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The Grownup reminded me how much I love Gillian Flynn's writing, and if you're looking for a traditional spooky story to read at a campfire with some flashlights flickering, this is it. ​

The Fate of Mercy Alban
Wendy Webb

For Day Four, saunter down to the shores of Lake Superior, the setting of The Fate of Mercy Alban.
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After her mother's death, Grace Alban warily returns to the supposedly cursed Alban House. What she doesn't expect: all the hidden letters — a manuscript too — that shed light on the dark, twisted past of her family. The deeper Grace delves, the more strange characters start popping up: an author, an aunt, and a reporter, for starters.⠀
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As creepy as this premise sounds, I truly feel like it's one of those books that's a cozy late-night read at its core; something you read when it's raining and you want a little spook to set the mood. And with ghosts, secret tunnels, and a gothic vibe, it definitely succeeds. There might even be a twin somewhere in there, and anyone who's seen The Shining can vouch for how creepy twins are. ⠀
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Read this book curled up in bed after a long night of pre-Halloween prep and be thankful you're not lost in a secret passageway. ⠀

The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson

Coming at you with a classic on Day Five: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. ⠀
In the novel, Dr. Montague, desperate to prove the existence of the supernatural, rents out the titular Hill House and invites an array of unusual guests. Only two accept. From the moment they enter the house, terror ensues. ⠀
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I feel like Shirley Jackson, who of course wrote the famous short story "The Lottery," can do no wrong. The Haunting of Hill House isn't full of cheap reveals or the literary version of jump scares. It builds up the dread slowly and carefully, with dedicated purpose. I also love the characterization. Not only do we watch these characters bond with each other, but because there's no big bad wolf to run from, we have to watch them save each other from their own minds. ⠀

Make sure you check it out before Netflix releases it as a series next year. ⠀

The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern

So far on LTSE's Week of Spooky Books, we've had ghosts, sentient houses, and some straight up paranormal action, but with The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern for Day Six, I'm bringing you something that's thoroughly stood the test of time: magic. ⠀
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"The circus arrives without warning."⠀
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With these opening lines, you are propelled into the grays and blacks of the tents that shroud le cirque des reves — the Circus of Dreams — until nightfall. This circus is not the kind of circus you are familiar with (although, let's be real, men on stilts and straight-faced clowns are creepy enough for Halloween as it is). Past the marquee are ineffable sights, but look even further and you will find an ongoing deathmatch between magicians Celia and Marco, in which neither know the rules and only one knows they're playing — a competition that gets even more complicated when the two begin to fall in love. ⠀
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Whether you're a fan of magic or circuses or not, the one thing you won't be able to resist is Erin Morgenstern's beautiful prose. I absolutely fell in love with her vivid descriptions and her florid writing. Another curious aspect of this book was the way it was told; the point of view shifted to at least ten narrators who don't connect until the very end — it almost felt dizzying to read. ⠀
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The Night Circus definitely has a slow build and unhurried pacing, but the end leaves you with chills, wondering what you just experienced and when you can do it again. ⠀

The Dionaea House
Eric Heisserer

I am extra excited to share this piece because it's actually my favorite one. Reading this has become an annual tradition and I always surprise myself with how deeply I get involved and how scared I get every single time. I just reread it last week and had to book it to my bedroom after I shut the lights.

Paying homage to Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves (our Day Two pick),The Dionaea House's narrative focuses on a house that doesn't quite seem to make sense — the inside doesn't match the outside and things are jarringly incongruous with reality. 

The Dionaea House exists entirely online, first as a series of letters spanning from September to October 2004, which links to a blog picking up right after, which links to another. Before you know it, you're deep in the canon, and the only thing you can do is click "next" until you figure out how everything connects, or whether it will at all. 

To me, The Dionaea House is a masterpiece. It sucks you into its terror but rather than run away, you willingly go back for more. It's so successful in planting that bit of doubt within the audience about whether this is fact, fiction, or something else entirely. 

And if you're wondering what Eric Heisserer has been up to since 2004, this story actually launched his screenwriting career. He's now responsible for gems such as Arrival. ​