Books, like people, are made up of layers and contradictions…and flaws and strengths….the list goes on….but the point is that, like people, books aren’t just one thing.  This can make them difficult to shelve, or to choose which of those little genre stickers to affix to the spine:

…But it can also be glorious for readers, because there are so many options in this genre buffet from which to choose: there are mysteries that have ghosts in them, and there are horror novels set in space, and there are legal thrillers that have romance in them, and they can be set in the past or the future, or during the holidays, or be aimed at younger readers or older readers….

The point is that there is a books for everyone, and for every taste.  And your All Hallows Read selection doesn’t have to be a nightmare-inducing, white-knuckle terror-trip, and it doesn’t have to be set in this time period, this country, or this galaxy.  There are ‘spooky’ stories aplenty (and by ‘spooky’ I mean a book with elements of the horror genre, like ghosts or vampires or weird trees) that are genuinely, delightfully funny, powerfully romantic, and whip-crackingly insightful.  And while they might not be the first books that people think of when they think of Halloween, they are absolutely as satisfying a Halloween read as the standard classics.

Here are just a few ideas, by way of example, of books that will might help you discover your new favorite All Hallows Read selection:

The Gentleman: Faithful readers will know that Lady Pole truly loved this wonky Victorian tale about a young poet who marries for money, and then inadvertently sells his wife to the Devil.  I am pleased to announce here that, while her literary opinion should always be regarded as excellent, in this instance, she was spot on.  This book is a marvel of comedic timing and verbal wit, while at the same time delivering some charmingly well-rounded characters, including several very impressive female characters, and terrific plot.  Though there is plenty of devilry and Faustian bargains in this tale, I promise you that it will also keep you grinning the whole way through.

The Terror: I will be honest with you, I was just a little heartbroken when the news broke a few weeks ago that scientists had discovered the remains of the HMS Terror, the ship that carried Sir John Franklin’s Arctic Expedition on their doomed voyage to discover the Northwest Passage in 1845–because it means we might not get any more historic horror novels like this gem by Dan Simmons.  A very gifted historical novelist, Simmons has the ability to blend facts and accurate details with wonderful sensory descriptions and emotional characters that make his worlds come alive, and put the reader right in the middle of the action.  Here, we are aboard the Terror, experiencing the cold and the dark and the hunger right along with the crew…..but those same literary talents also make Simmons a powerful horror writer, because whatever it is that is stalking the ship’s passengers, it isn’t human, and it is very, very scary.  The combination of history and horror makes this a big, epic, thoroughly creepy adventure that is sure to give you plenty of shivers.

The Everything Box: I adore Richard Kadrey’s books, particularly the Sandman Slim series, as we’ve discussed, and was thrilled to see that this new series, featuring a former (and/or current) thief named Coop, and his exploits with the Department of Peculiar Science, features all the fever-dream creativity and larger-than-life characters that I had come to expect from his books.  But I truly didn’t expect this story to be as absurdly funny, or bitingly snarky as it is.  Kadrey is one of the few authors who can truly capture the cosmic horror of a modern-day shopping mall, or the frustrations of a would-be doomsday cult, and is definitely one of the only people who could bring the two together in a quest for the cube with the power to deconstruct reality in a book that manages to be a kind of slapstick paranormal adventure and still an emotionally engaging series that I cannot wait to follow.

Get In Trouble: The author of the One City One Story selection  at this year’s Boston Book Festival, Kelly Link’s short stories are the stuff of marvels.  She takes armloads of familiar tropes and characters, from fairy tales and travel narratives, from aging movie stars and post-modern teenagers, and produces whole worlds and startling original tales that are funny and haunting and insightful all at once.  This book, which was a finalist for this year’s Pulitzer Prize, features nine stories that are all wild and wonderfully creative–from a young woman charged with guarding a house full of unseen creatures to a ghost-hunting reality show in the Florida swamps–but each also remains deeply grounded in human emotions and relationships, making these stories all vividly real, utterly unique–and compellingly creepy.

Be sure to check out the displays in the Library for more selections for your All Hallows Read!