Slightly Spooky Reads

Grab your bag of trick-or-treat candy (you know you are going to re-purchase it anyway) and dive into some slightly spooky reads for all ages this October.  

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For the littles...

There was a year where I watched the movie Room on the Broom several times a week when my then 4-year-old woke at 5:00 am every day and needed entertainment.  Luckily, it is narrated by actors I enjoy (seriously Simon Pegg and Gillian Anderson - what's not to love!?).  The book is equally delightful!  Check out Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson.

The witch and her cat couldn't be happier, flying through the sky on their broomstick-until the witch drops her hat, then her bow, then her wand! Luckily, three helpful animals find the missing items and all they want in return is a ride on the broomstick. But is there room on the broom for so many new friends? And when disaster strikes, will they be able to save the witch from the clutches of a hungry dragon? 

For the in-betweens...

The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes was one of my absolute favorite books as a child.  I repeatedly checked it out from the school library and have since purchased two copies for myself (pretty sure they are both still in my house, but I am one of those people who is either highly organized, or a complete disaster - packing and unpacking moving boxes falls in the complete disaster category).

I have read this book to my children, and we have listed to the audiobook (which I own on, GASP, CD).  They love it, even though the main characters are six-year-old girls.  It is cute, wholesome, and spooky without being scary.  The illustrations are charming.  A great October pick for the youngers!

"Go, live on the glass hill forever, and never come back!" Thus did Amy and Clarissa, who loved to draw pictures of witches, banish the wicked Old Witch.  Before long there was Little Witch Girl and the Weeny Witch, the baby, on the glass hill as well. Perhaps Old Witch did try to be good, but she never succeeded. And in no time at all, Amy and Clarissa were involved -- sometimes dangerously -- in her schemes and "hurly-burlies."

For the big kids...

Like most readers I am sure, I was attracted to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by the creep black and white photographs, but I stayed for the interesting characters and world-building. Plus, you can watch the movie when you are finished with the book!

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive. 

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows. 

For the grownups...

I like old stuff, that's no secret.  Combine old stuff, time travel, a ghost, and a bit of romance and I am all-in.  First in a series, The Little Shop of Found Things is a winning choice for a not so spooky October read.

Xanthe and her mother Flora leave London behind for a fresh start, taking over an antique shop in the historic town of Marlborough. Xanthe has always had an affinity with some of the antiques she finds. When she touches them, she can sense something of the past they come from and the stories they hold. When she has an intense connection to a beautiful silver chatelaine, she has to know more.

It is while she’s examining the chatelaine that she’s transported back to the seventeenth century, where she discovers an injustice in its history. The spirit that inhabits her new home confronts her and charges her with saving her daughter’s life, threatening to take Flora’s if she fails.

While Xanthe fights to save the girl in 1605, she meets architect Samuel Appleby. He may be the person who can help her succeed. He may also be the reason she can’t bring herself to leave.

With its rich historical detail, strong mother-daughter relationship, and picturesque English village, The Little Shop of Found Things delivers a heartfelt page-turner. 

For those with strong stomachs...

I could not put down Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers! My teen even read it until he got to the description of the sound maggots make as they feed on a cadaver.  This is definitely not a book for the weak stomached, but it is fascinating, unique, and humorous!

An oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem.

For two thousand years, cadavers (some willingly, some unwittingly) have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.

In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.