In 1773, a woman named Anne Letitia Aiken became one of the first people to actually discuss what it meant to be a reader, and how the act of reading can change a person.  Her essay was entitled “On the Pleasure Derived from Objects of Terror”, and in it, she pretty much explained how we can enjoy reading things that scare our pants off.  Essentially, as long as the images presented to the reader are fantastic in nature, or somehow outside their everyday existence, reading scary stuff can arouse a sense of excitement, unabated by feelings of genuine, self-preserving, life-at-risk fear.  So reading about ghosts in someone else’s house can be fun, even if finding one in your own house just…isn’t.  That is, unless you’re like my six-year-old self, and never actually recovered from reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.  And that is perfectly ok, too.

But maybe this theory explains why my somewhat-grown-up self loves reading scary stuff in the summertime.  Maybe the abundance of sunshine makes the contrast between the real world (if that is what we must call the world outside of the books) and the shadowy depths of a haunted house that much more profound, and the heat of the day makes the shivers of fear that much more enjoyable.  Who knows… maybe my inner six-year-old is trying to prove herself again.  Whatever the cause, summertime means that I start checking out ghost stories and dark, inexplicable tales by the armful.  And I am hoping that there are those among you, beloved patrons, who feel the same.  If so, then here are some selections to make your breezy summer days a little more hair-raising….

If you enjoy scary stories in the summer, Then be sure to check out….

Rooms: Though she established herself in the New Adult genre, Lauren Oliver’s first foray in the horror genre manages to be hauntingly beautiful, remarkably creative, and genuinely unsettling from first to last.  The action of this story takes place in the country home of the miserly and recently-deceased Richard Walker.  But when Richard’s ex-wife and two children show up to clean out this estate, they quickly realize they aren’t alone.  Two female ghosts have inhabited the house for years, watching the family’s every move–and feeling watched, in return.  These ghosts speak through the heating vents, through the creaks in the floor boards, and through the flickering of the lights.  Think about that every time you hear an odd noise in the dark….then try this hum-dinger of a book.

House of Leaves: Hey, speaking on the topic of Houses That Are Terrifying, Mark Z. Danielewski’s mind-bending novel is a sure-fire way to develop a phobia of your own home.  Superficially speaking, this is a story about a house that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.  And before you start making Dr. Who references, it’s not that kind of house.  This is the kind of house in which you get lost.  Forever.  As new rooms, hallways, and doors to nowhere open up like a nightmare.  But what makes this story particularly chilling is the format.  Danielewski tells  story-within-a-story-within-a-story in this book, meshing the narrative with copious, detailed, and occasionally mad footnotes, colored letters, and text that trips across the pages backwards and forwards and slantways, making the act of reading a physical exploration.  You can’t help but feel like an explorer while reading this book, but the more you discover, the more uneasy you will feel.

Those Across the River:  We’ve discussed this book previously, I think, but it still bears mentioning again.  Christopher Buehlman frequently utilizes fairytales and folklore to drive his stories, and this whole book reads like a horrible, beautiful fable.  Ex-professor Frank Nichols and his beloved Eudora moved to his family’s southern plantation in the years after the First World War, seeking out some peace and quiet, and hoping to give Frank a place to write his book about the horrible history of their new house.  But it’s quickly evident that something is very wrong about their new town.  People are frightened, clinging to ancient rituals meant to appease “those” who live in the forests–forests that no one in town will enter.  To be honest, I was rather let down by the ending of this book, but I think that was largely a personal thing–I’d love to know what other readers have to say about this claustrophobic, dreamlike setting, and the gradually revelation about the horrible truth that lurks in the dark shadows of the forest…

Shutter Island: Though this might not be a straight-up horror novel, Dennis Lehane knows how to write a story that will keep you up too late, and leave you breathless.  Even if you’ve seen the film version of this story with Leonardo DiCaprio, make sure to check out the novel, as well.  U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels has been sent to an asylum for the criminally insane, located on the titular Shuttle Island, in Boston Harbor–one of the inmates is missing, but with no where for them to run, Teddy knows that something odd has happened within the asylum’s walls.  And the longer he investigates, the stranger–and more sinister–this case grows.  I don’t care if you figure out the kicker to this story.  I figured it out within the first chapter.  But it doesn’t matter.  This story is still so visceral, atmospheric, and bewilderingly addictive that you still won’t be able to put it down…or sleep afterwards….