10 Bone Chilling Books to Get You Ready for Halloween

by Christy Tuller, Oct 8, 2008
As Halloween quickly approaches, here are a few terrifying tales to put you in the mood.

I have always loved to read. Growing up and until I had my first child some of my favorite books were those written by Stephen King and Dean Koontz. I loved the edge of your seat terror that these authors are able to create. While I still love to read I now prefer the less frightening but I still love a good ghost story. I have put together a short list of books that you can read to get you ready for Halloween, or just for fun. I know I have forgotten some great books so please feel free to tell me in the comments section what your favorites are!
The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
This classic story is set in the 1790's Dutch settlement of Tarry Town New York, in the secluded glen of Sleepy Hollow. It is the tale of Ichabod Crane a lean, lanky, and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut and his competition with Abraham “ Brom Bones” Van Brunt for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of a wealthy farmer. Many remember this story for the “ Headless Horseman” and his pursuit of Ichabod Crane, and his mysterious disappearance.
The Sign Of Seven Trilogy by Nora Roberts
- Blood Brothers
This is the first in a Frightening new series by Nora Roberts. This book tells the tale of three boys all born on the seventh day of the seventh month in the same year, born to different parents and becoming the best of friends. On their seventh birthday they release an unspeakable evil from the Pagan Stone, an evil that returns every seven years for one week in July, terrorizing their home town of Hawkins Hollow. Now it is returning again, and this time it wants to finish what it set out to do in the 1600's before it was locked in the Pagan Stone. This book pulls you in to the beginning of the final showdown.
The Hollow
This is the second of the Trilogy and works its magic once again pulling you in to the story and keeping you on the edge of your seat wondering what that demon will do next. This story follows another one of the boys, now a man, in what could turn out to be a life or death situation for him and his whole family and town.
It by Stephen King
This is the terrifying tale of an evil clown and IT's return to the town of Derry 28 years after the Loser's Club thought they had rid the town of the monster who was killing children. This book was also made into a movie and either one is enough to make you want to sleep with the lights on!
House by Frank Peretti & Ted Dekker
In rural Alabama, two couples find themselves in a fight for survival. Running from a maniac bent on killing them, they flee deep into the woods. They decide to hide in an old house that's been vacated for years . . . or so they think. They soon find that others are dwelling in the lower level of the house--and they don't like visitors. With danger present in the house, they try to leave-- but the house won't let them.
Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Art critic Jeremy Grove is found dead, his face frozen in a mask of terror. His body temperature is grotesquely high; he is discovered in a room barricaded from the inside; the smell of brimstone is everywhere...and the unmistakable imprint of a claw is burned into the wall.

I Never Believed In Ghosts Until… by the Editors of USA Weekend
This book is a collection of 100 real life encounters with the supernatural. The experiences that you will read in this collection are the stuff of nightmares. The ghostly encounters range from the truly terrifying to the benign- but all defy rational explanation. Not recommended for solitary nighttime reading.

The Taking by Dean Koontz
This is a terrifying tale of fighting for survival when a Southern California community is hit with an unusual rainstorm that brings in an eerie fog. By the end of the first day they have no communication with the outside world and the next morning it is clear that something is out there hunting them.

Coast To Coast Ghosts: True Stories Of Hauntings Across America by Leslie Rule and Ann Rule
An employee of the St. James Hotel in New Mexico watches in shock as a fair-haired toddler with a terribly disfigured face disappears into the floor. This is just one of the paranormal mysteries Leslie Rule shares with us-a result of extensive interviews and research uncovering the reasons behind ghost sightings across the country. Coast to Coast Ghosts features dozens of spine-tingling, real-life ghost stories and approximately 50 black-and-white photographs, taken by Rule, including some believed to have captured actual apparitions.

Everyman's Book of Classic Horror Stories edited by Peter Haining
Here in one unique collection are some of the classic horror stories of the last 200 years. They are culled from Britain, America, France, Germany and Japan. The authors include: Poe, Le Fanu, Maupassant, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Ambrose Bierce, Bram Stoker, M.R. James, H.P. Lovecraft, Edogawa Rampo and Mervyn Peake among others.