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Vision Australia Library believe Halloween is a time to appreciate the spookier things in life. A perfect excuse to lose yourself in a classical horror story and absorb the Halloween spirit.
Hallowed hallmarks of Halloween
Celebrated on October 31st, and recognized as the time of pumpkins, ghosts, and ghouls, Halloween has become a staple part of October merriment.
But this fun-loving holiday has surprisingly strong ties to other culturally significant events with similar meanings and celebrations.
Día De los Muertos in Mexico is celebrated on November 2nd. It is a day to honour loved ones who have departed by adorning grave sites with marigolds, candles and their favorite foods. Joyful festivities include revelers dressing up in vibrantly painted wooden skulls, with toys and food items being decorated with symbols of the afterlife.
Samhain in ancient Ireland, is celebrated when the veil separating our world from the spirit world, is considered most transient. November 1st is celebrated with communal bonfires and dressing up in costumes to visit neighbors. The intent is to appease the visiting spirits, who are believed to be mischievous or even malicious.
Pangangaluluwa is celebrated in the Philippines on October 31st, a time when the gateway between the realms of living and the dead opens. Groups of revelers, pretending to be one of the lost souls left to wander purgatory, sing hymns to their neighbors in exchange for treats which they can take back to the underworld.
The similarities between these widely celebrated holidays, showcase the fascination humans have always had for the morbid and the unexplained. To follow in this time-honored tradition, Vision Australia Library have compiled a list of haunting reads.
To access copies of the novels, be signed in to your Vision Australia Library account, select the book title link, and it will forward you to the item on Vision Australia’s online library catalogue.
Haunting must reads
Red Dragon (Hannibal Lecter #1) by Thomas Harris
A psychological thriller that tracks the footsteps of Will Graham, an FBI profiler. Will must contend with his morals, when he seeks insight from the cannibalistic mass murderer, Dr Hannibal Lector, to stop a madman who’s been butchering entire families.
Red Dragon (Hannibal Lecter #1) by Thomas HarrisThe Ravenswood witch by Jenni Keer
In her attempt to avoid certain death by hanging in 1885, a young woman, accepts the offer of a reclusive stranger to impersonate his missing wife. But his house grows more troubling with every tattered room and remnant of scratched wallpaper that she finds.
The Ravenswood witch by Jenni KeerDead Crow by David Haynes
The town of Dead Crow is deluged by days of rain, flooding the streets and cutting it off from the outside world. People are going missing in the endless rain and Chief Andy Curran discovers there are strange creatures emerging from the toxic flooding river.
Dead Crow by David HaynesThe house of a hundred whispers by Graham Masterton
All Hallows Hall, on the edge of a bleak, misty moor, is inherited by the estranged family of a former Prison governor. The morning the family are set to leave this eerie mansion, their young son goes missing…from inside the house. Does evil linger in the walls?
The house of a hundred whispers by Graham MastertonScience fiction trepidation
Under the Dome by Stephen King
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Time, food and even air are running out as tensions among the townspeople intensify.
Under the Dome by Stephen KingThe island of Doctor Moreau by H.G Wells
Shipwreck survivor, Edward Prendick, is washed ashore on the island home of Dr. Moreau. What he encountered held more horror and terror than any death he could have imagined. Moreau’s island personified a nightmare beyond comprehension.
The island of Doctor Moreau by H.G WellsHorror classics
Frankenstein, or the modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
The story of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist obsessed with the desire to create life, and the monster he reanimates with electricity. Frankenstein deserts his creature in horror, and the monster is left dangerous, abandoned, and longing for acceptance.
Frankenstein, or the modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft ShelleyThe Shining by Stephen King
Five-year-old Danny is a 'Shiner', aglow with psychic energy. When the family move to the remote Overlook Hotel, Danny's visions grow frighteningly out of control. The past horrors of The Overlook Hotel come to life, and Danny battles with these dark evils.
The Shining by Stephen King