Top Ten Tuesday: Ten haunting books for Halloween chills

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa

Happy Halloween!

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is a Halloween freebie!

This year, I think I’ll focus on ghost stories… some read recently, some longer ago, but all good choices to send a little shiver down the spine

1. The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

2. The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

3. Thornhill by Pam Smy (review)

4. Bag of Bones by Stephen King

5. The Uninvited by Cat Winters (review)

6. The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig (review)

7. The Vanishing by Wendy Webb (review)

8. The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones (review)

9. The Mystery of Grace by Charles De Lint

10. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Do you have any good ghost stories to recommend? What’s on your Halloween TTT? Share your link, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I host a Book Blog Meme Directory, and I’m always looking for new additions! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info.

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24Oct2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten creepy, gross, scary horror books for getting in the Halloween mood

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa

Happy (almost) Halloween!

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is a Halloween freebie!

I’ve decided to focus on great books to scare or give the willies. To mix things up, I’m highlighting five books that I’ve read, and five from my TBR list:

Icky, squicky, creepy, scary books that I’ve read (with links to my reviews):

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (review)

The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey (review)

The Dead Lands by Benjamin Percy (review)

Breed by Chase Novak (review)

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix (review)

Creepy, chilling, horrifying-sounding books that I really want to read:

Red Moon by Benjamin Percy

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Wraith by Joe Hill

A Love Like Blood by Marcus Sedgwick

Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire

What scary books do you love to recommend? What’s on your Halloween TTT? Share your link, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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26Oct2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Weird, Wild, Wonderful Witchy Books

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week, leading up to Halloween, I’m focusing on ten books about witches… some cute, some not so much, some the real deal, and some the wrongly accused. What do they have in common? They’re all about witches… and they’re all pretty awesome.

Witches for kids:

1) Old Black Witch by Wende and Harry Devlin

2) The Witches by Roald Dahl

3) The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

4) The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling (Hi, Hermione!!)

Falsely accused witches:

5) The Crucible by Arthur Miller

6) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: Yes, there’s a witch trial! And no, Claire may be a time traveler with special healing powers, but a witch, she ain’t.

Talented witches:

7) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

8) The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Fairy tale witches:

9) Wicked by Gregory Maguire

10) Fables, volume 10: The Witches by Bill Willingham

And an extra one, just for fun..

Whether on TV or in comic book form, there’s no denying that Willow is one awesome witch!

Are you ready for Halloween yet?

Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I’m building a Book Blog Meme Directory, and need your help! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

27Oct2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books to Get in the Halloween Mood

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week, we’re talking about books for getting into the Halloween spirit. With a pinch of ghosts, a dash of terror, and a few other supernatural creatures to add some chills and thrills, here are my top 10:

1) A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans: What’s Halloween without a little possession?

2) Misery by Stephen King: Really, just about any Stephen King book could fit on this list. I love that Misery manages to be terror-inducing without the slightest shred of the supernatural. Just a crazy woman with an axe…

3) NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. Like father, like son… I could just as easily put Horns or Heart-Shaped Box on this list, although NOS4A2 has the scariest evil dude that I’ve encountered lately.

4) Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger: Because sometimes you just need a good ghost story. Bonus points for taking place next to (and in) an awesome cemetery.

5) The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian: Another fabulous ghost story. Absolutely a five-star read.

6) The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan: Blood, guts, gore, and existentialism. Quite the introspective murderous werewolf.

7) Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore: When you prefer your vampires with silliness and laughter. A great San Francisco setting doesn’t hurt a bit.

8) The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe: Smart witches, example #1.

9) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness: Smart witches, example #2. Plus, you know, a sexy vampire — and there are even trick-or-treaters.

10) And finally, The Boys Are Back in Town by Christopher Golden: For those who like a straight-up over-the-top horror fest:

What books put you in the Halloween mood?

Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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28Oct2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Creepy, Eerie, Scary Book Covers

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa

Happy Halloween! What a perfect week to focus on covers that give us the chills!

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten Scariest Looking Books Covers. What makes a cover scary? I’m less impressed by actual blood and gore — but give me just the hint of something sinister or creepy, and I’m hooked!

My top ten creepy, eerie, spooky, chilling, scary book covers are:

1) It by Stephen King: Responsible for a generation or two of people completely traumatized by clowns and storm drains.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

2) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

The Replacement

3) The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

I am Legend and Other Stories

4) I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Poe's Children: The New Horror: An Anthology

5) Poe’s Children: The New Horror by Peter Straub
Doll parts? Always creepy.

Red Spikes

6) Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan

Four and Twenty Blackbirds (Eden Moore, #1)

7) Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine, #2)

8) Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

The Monstrumologist (The Monstrumologist, #1)

9) The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
I don’t know what’s in the jar… and I don’t want to know.

Sunshine

10) Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Honorable mention: I wanted to give a special shout-out (or should that be a scream-out?) to some blast from the past creep fests:

Suffer the Children Where Are The Children? Rosemary's Baby

The Omen The Exorcist The Amityville Horror

Happy Halloween! May your reading be extra spooky and creepy this week!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday. Happy reading!

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