If you are like me and enjoy reading seasonally, it's easy to find books in this genre. However, if you are also like me and do not like horror, it can be harder to find books to read during the spooky season. So, this is my list of books for Halloween which aren't too scary (I hope!!) I haven't read any of them but they are all on my TBR.
Have you read any of these? Will they be too scary for me?
Ghosts in the Walls by Historic Royal Palaces
The unusual creak of a floorboard, a flash of light in the dark and the eerie breeze from a closed window…
We've all heard tales of phantoms and spooks haunting old buildings, but how many of them can be linked back to real people, real lives and real history?
From the ghostly phantoms who walk the grounds at the Tower of London to a haunted maze at Hampton Court Palace, these spine-tingling tales of ghosts, ghouls and unexplained occurrences will bring history to life in the eeriest way possible.
Made in partnership with Historic Royal Palaces, this stunning and spooky collection features eleven gripping stories from bestselling, award-winning and rising-star authors including: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Alexia Casale, Joseph Coelho, Larry Hayes, Jim Helmore, Catherine Johnson, Sophie Kirtley, E. L. Norry, Imogen Russell Williams, Jasmine Richards and Sam Sedgman. Along with stunning, atmospheric illustration from Pam Smy, this unique collection is sure to keep readers of every age up long past their bedtimes ...
The Cornish Witch by Elena Collins
A haunting cliffside inn. A centuries-old secret waiting to be uncovered...
Now: When Megan’s father gets a letter containing a secret from the past, he asks her to go to the Cornish village of St Mawgen Cove to get to the bottom of the mystery. Megan is happy to take a holiday after a challenging year but as soon as she checks into The Ship Inn something feels amiss. There are noises in the room above, the locals tell tales of smugglers and shipwrecks and she can’t escape the story of the witch who waits and watches from the top of the cliff.
1625: Susanna and her daughter Katel live a contented life, but without the protection of a husband and father, Susanna fears for Katel’s future as she blossoms into womanhood. The fishing community of St Mawgen Cove is close knit but when misfortune arrives in the cove, it’s not long before villagers are looking for someone to blame. And when talk turns to witches, Susanna knows she and Katel are no longer safe.
Can Megan bring peace to St Mawgen and to two women who have been broken-hearted for centuries?
Songs for Ghosts by Clara Kumagai
Turn the page, strike a chord.
There are restless ghosts to be appeased...
When Japanese-American teenager, Adam, discovers a diary in his attic, he is enthralled by its account of a young Japanese woman’s life. A hundred years separate them yet she, like Adam, is caught between cultures, relationships and heartbreak.
She also writes of the ghosts that have begun to seek her out, which Adam dismisses as fantasy – until he too, begins to be haunted. It leads him to Nagasaki, trying to solve the mystery of the diary, and his own identity.
And the ghosts gather...
Witching & Scheming by Noelle Rider
Death was the only card drawn on the day Penelope was born....
If Penelope Ophelia Odenberry could make a list of all the things she hated it would include: Sunshine, running out of coffee, her initials spell Poo, bullies, skinny culture, zealots of any kind, people in denial about being zealots, student loan debt, when her dad wears his kilt in a wind storm, having to move home to the bassackwards town of Huckleberry Hollow, Idaho where despite the array of magic and creatures living there, only the old white witch men make decisions... the list goes on.
A much shorter list would be the things she loved... which is basically just coffee, dogs, cloudy days and her unfortunately sunshine-y best friend but he can't remember-Artemis Nita-Nusi, the half-bear, half-demon shifter.
Now that they're both back in Huckleberry Hollow, nothing is quite as it seems. Between the sketchy Council and the even sketchier Alpha, Artie’s dad, they don’t know who to trust... which might include each other. Now that Artie knows about Penny's memory spell, her attempt to protect him from her fate, he's glued himself to her side in a fake dating plot to break the spell, trick the Council and see Penny without any clothes.
Can a bumpy past and a sketchy future lead to a HEA, or will this newfound lust burn them up before fake dating can become real love?
Witching and Scheming is the first novel in a standalone Witchy RomCom series featuring: magic, good v. evil, light (and dark) humor, awkward interruptions, and a family dynamic that will make you feel good about your own.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for Young Readers by Lucy Strange
A beloved classic adult novel skilfully abridged to inspire and engage a new generation of middle-grade readers, from a hugely popular bestselling children's author.
"I, Victor Frankenstein, will explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation..."
Driven by a boundless ambition to create life itself, young scientist Victor Frankenstein creates his own being from stitched-together body parts. But when he succeeds in bringing his creature to life, the result is horrific; a towering, hideous-bodied monster with the innocent soul of a newborn child. Spurned by its creator and rejected by society, the initially gentle creature turns on its maker and wreaks a trail of vengeful murder and tragedy.
Broken Ghosts by J.D. Oswald
Spring, 1985.
Phoebe MacDonald's world is falling apart.
After losing her parents in a tragic house fire, twelve-year-old Phoebe must now leave Scotland - the only place she has ever known - to live with her aunt and uncle deep within the Welsh woods.
Lonely and grieving, she slowly falls into the rhythm of life with her eccentric guardians and their curious home. She finds solace among the trees, and befriends a strange girl, Gwyneth, who wanders the forest barefoot and alone. With her guidance, Phoebe begins to see the true wonder of the woods - a place of magic, where spirits roam and secrets fester.
These woods conceal a dark truth; a wrong that yearns to be put right.
The answer lies within her grasp. In unearthing it, what dangers might she invite?
The First Witch of Boston by Andrea Catalano
A gripping and intimate novel based on the true story of Margaret Jones, the first woman to be found guilty of witchcraft in seventeenth-century Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1646. Thomas and Margaret Jones arrive from England to build a life in the New World. Though of differing temperaments, cautious Thomas and fiery Margaret, a healer, are bound by a love that has lasted decades. With a child on the way, their new beginning promises only blessings.
But in this austere Puritan community, comely faces hide malicious intent. Wrong moves or words are met with suspicion, and Margaret’s bold and unguarded nature draws scorn. Soon, Margaret is mistrusted as more cunning woman than kind caregiver. And when personal tragedies, religious hysteria, and wariness of the unknown turn most against her, even the devotion Margaret and her husband share is at risk.
Inspired by actual diary entries and court records, The First Witch of Boston is at once the riveting story of a woman unjustly accused and a love story set amid the political and social turmoil of both Old and New England. Harrowing, and with a deep understanding of the human heart, history is brilliantly imagined.
A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell
Meet the Alter sisters: Lady, Vee and Delph. These three mordantly witty, complex women share their family’s apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. They love each other fiercely, but being an Alter isn’t easy. Bad luck is in their genes, passed down through the generations. Yet no matter what life throws at these siblings, they always have a wisecrack – and each other.
In the waning days of 1999, the sisters decide it’s time to close the circle of the Alter curse. But first, as the world counts down to the dawn of a new millennium, Lady, Vee and Delph must write the final chapter of a saga generations in the making – one that is inexorably intertwined with that of the twentieth century itself. Unspooling threads of history, personal memory and family lore, they weave a mesmerising account of their lives that stretches back decades to their great-grandfather, a brilliant scientist whose professional triumph became the sinister legacy that defines them.
Magnificent and heartbreaking, A REUNION OF GHOSTS is an epic novel about three unforgettable women, bound to each other and their remarkable family through the blessings and the burdens bestowed by blood.
Witches and Witch Hunts Through the Ages by Phil Carradice
Witchcraft! Just the mention of the name is enough to cause fear, even terror, in the minds and hearts of many people. But that is not the full story. Yes, there have always been proponents of the 'dark arts,' witches and warlocks willing to use their powers for evil, but the wise men and women of the ancient and medieval world - men and women eager to use their spells and potions for good - have often been overlooked.
This book looks at witchcraft from the early days, tracing its development as a pseudo-religious cult, the good and the bad, from the wild plains of Babylon to the present day. It highlights witch scares and individuals, particularly the witch hunts of the medieval period when 100,000 women were accused of witchcraft and nearly 80,000 executed. It examines the concept of witch hunting, detailing the activities of men like Matthew Hopkins, the famous Witchfinder General.
The book does not just focus on medieval and ancient witches, it takes in modern witch hunting - with people like Senator Joe McCarthy during his Communist witch hunts of the 1950s - and the continued modern persecution of women and men accused of witchcraft in African, Indian and Caribbean states.
This is a detailed account of witches and witchcraft, in many ways a tribute to the thousands of men and women accused and executed without full evidence or proof of evil doing. It is a broad historical sweep that includes fictional characters like Morgan le Fey and Merlin, the magician of King Arthur's court. Thoroughly researched and elegantly written, it is essential reading for anyone who is interested in the social and political history of the past.
Fear Files: Hide and Seek by Christopher Edge
Coming to find you, ready or not!
The first title in a brand new middle-grade horror series by the bestselling author Christopher Edge.
Nobody knows who started the Darkive. It's a database filled with first-hand accounts of strange, unexplained experiences. Ghosts; paranormal entities; weird anomalies. Each one is stored with a bank of evidence to prove the story. Are you ready to dive in?
Adam didn't think his camping trip with his best friend, Sol, could get any worse. Stumbling upon an abandoned ghost town, they find themselves playing a strange game of hide and seek. But who or what is trying to find them? And can Adam stay one step ahead?
Queen of the Dead by Sarah Broadway
Speaking with the dead is nothing new for Lou. It’s a curse she’s learned to hide from everyone – sometimes even herself. After running away from a past that took advantage of those abilities, Lou finally carves out a normal life for herself. That is, until she receives a mysterious message from a ghost – the Veil is thinning – and a cult of necromancers infiltrates her small town.
In a race to discover and defeat her foe, Lou learns she’s not alone in the fight. She grudgingly leans on her allies but wonders who to trust. What’s more impossible is suddenly finding herself the romantic interest of a man who somehow isn’t afraid of all the dark, creepy things about her... but even he has secrets for her to discover.
Time is running out, and reality seems to be slipping away. To save her new life and the people she loves, Lou must learn to accept who she is and embrace her true abilities, no matter where they might take her.
(header photo courtesy of unsplash)
