Thursday, July 6, 2017

Creepy TBR!

I have been in the mood to consume everything slightly weird, creepy, and supernatural lately. Movies, T.V., books, you name it. I thought I would highlight some of the creepy and weird reading material on my TBR. Let me know if you have read any of these or have any recommendations. 

Paper Girls vol. 1 by Brain K. Vaughn, Cliff Chiang, and Matthew Wilson
From Goodreads:
In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood.

This series is giving me Stranger Things vibes, but with a group of female pre-teens! I love, love the 80s style color pallet, and can't wait to breeze through this series. 

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
From Goodreads:
The Lottery, one of the most terrifying stories written in this century, created a sensation when it was first published in The New Yorker. "Power and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Shirley Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery:" with twenty-four equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate Jackson's remarkable range--from the hilarious to the truly horrible--and power as a storyteller. 

Jackson is essential creepy reading, but I have yet to dive into her works. I picked up this short story collection on Book Outlet, and plan to use it as an introduction to her works. I know I'm going to love her work. 

The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne Du Maurier
From Goodreads:
A classic of alienation and horror, The Birds was immortalized by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of 'Monte Verità' promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd . . .

I have yet to read any of Du Maurier's works, despite hearing nothing but amazing things about her works. I'm thinking I will start with this short story collection as I have been in the mood for creepy short stories lately, and I know she won't let me down. I have seen and loved Hitchcock's adaptation of The Birds so I am excited to read the source material. 

The Dumb House by John Burnside
In Persian myth, it is said that Akbar the Great once built a palace which he filled with newborn children, attended only by mutes, in order to learn whether language is innate or acquired. As the year passed and the children grew into their silent and difficult world, this palace became known as the Gang Mahal, or Dumb House. In his first novel, John Burnside explores the possibilities inherent in a modern-day repetition of Akbar`s investigations. Following the death of his mother, the unnamed narrator creates a twisted variant of the Dumb House, finally using his own children as subjects in a bizarre experiment. When the children develop a musical language of their own, however, their gaoler is the one who is excluded, and he extracts an appalling revenge. 

I really don't know much about this one other than it is supposed to be unnerving and disturbing. The synopsis sounds like an absolute wild ride.  

Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote 
From Goodreads:
Published when Truman Capote was only twenty-three years old, Other Voices, Other Rooms is a literary touchstone of the mid-twentieth century. In this semiautobiographical coming-of-age novel, thirteen-year-old Joel Knox, after losing his mother, is sent from New Orleans to live with the father who abandoned him at birth. But when Joel arrives at Skully’s Landing, the decaying mansion in rural Alabama, his father is nowhere to be found. Instead, Joel meets his morose stepmother, Amy, eccentric cousin Randolph, and a defiant little girl named Idabel, who soon offers Joel the love and approval he seeks.

Another novel that I don't know much about, but that gives off some creepy vibes. I think there is more to the mansion than meets the eye in this one. I have read Breakfast at Tiffanys and other short stories by Capote and was a bit surprised at how weird some of his short stories got. This is his debut novel and I'm really looking forward to it. 

A Love Like Blood by Marcus Sedgwick 
From Goodreads:
 In 1944, just days after the liberation of Paris, Charles Jackson sees something horrific: a man, apparently drinking the blood of a murdered woman. Terrified, he does nothing, telling himself afterwards that worse things happen in wars. Seven years later he returns to the city - and sees the same man dining in the company of a fascinating young woman. When they leave the restaurant, Charles decides to follow... A Love Like Blood is a dark, compelling thriller about how a man's life can change in a moment; about where the desire for truth - and for revenge - can lead; about love and fear and hatred. And it is also about the question of blood.

Sedgwick is one of my all-time-favorite authors. He constantly blows me away with his YA fiction. He is a master of time and the universe and using the inexplicable in our actual word to send a shiver down my spine. This will be the first adult book by him that I read, but I recommend his novels so highly if you are in the mood for a creepy read! 

I have so many more creepy books on my TBR that I might have to make a part two! Leave me some recommendations for your favorite creepy reads! 

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