Arts & Culture

This Halloween, Curl Up With These Haunting Reads From UVA Library

This scary season, if you find yourself on a midnight dreary without a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore to ponder, the University of Virginia Library has recommendations for you.

From horror classics from writers like Shirley Jackson and Edgar Allan Poe to an Indigenous short story collection, these scary reads from UVA librarians Sherri Brown and Amy Hunsaker will get you in the mood for the season.

If you love their recommendations, you don’t have to stop with this list. Beginning in January, UVA Library is starting a yearlong reading challenge, with Gothic literature as the inaugural theme. All of the writers will be women, beginning with 18th-century works through contemporary Gothic fiction.

In the meantime, English librarian Sherri Brown recommends the following titles.

“We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” by Shirley Jackson

Best known for her short story “The Lottery” and novel “The Haunting of Hill House,” Shirley Jackson’s lesser-known “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” is one of my favorite Gothic novels. The story follows two sisters with a dark secret trying to live a quiet, isolated life, but unable to avoid the encroachment of society.

“Dracula Daily: Reading Bram Stoker's Dracula in Real Time With Commentary by the Internet,” by Matt Kirkland

A great way to read Bram Stoker’s classic Gothic novel – with added notes and memes curated from the social media community that has enjoyed Kirkland’s Substack that emails subscribers the epistolary novel in real time on the dates the events happen in the story.

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“You Like It Darker,” by Stephen King

King’s latest collection of stories is a mixed bag (as with most short story collections, some resonate more than others, depending on the reader). My favorites were “The Fifth Step” and “Rattlesnakes.”

“Tales,” by Edgar Allan Poe

Portrait of Sherri Brown, English librarian.

English librarian Sherri Brown recommends Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe (UVA Library photo).

I would be remiss without mentioning Poe, who remains the unrivaled master (in my opinion) of Gothic short stories. Grab any collection of Poe tales that includes “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” “Bernice” and “Ligeia” – so many good ones to choose from!

Music and performing arts librarian Amy Hunsaker recommends the following reads.

“Mexican Gothic,” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Moreno-Garcia is one of my favorite contemporary authors and I insisted that we include “Mexican Gothic” on our Gothic challenge reading list. This spooky book brings the reader into a Gothic horror setting that includes an eerie house, ghoulish relatives and even a haunted cemetery. Is there a perfectly logical explanation for the supernatural aberrations that seem to be spiraling our hero toward certain doom? Will she be able to save herself and her cousin from a fate worse than death? Is there anyone she can trust? Will you, gentle reader, be able to look at mushrooms in the same way ever again?

“Never Whistle at Night,” edited by Shake Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

If you don’t want to commit to an entire novel of horror, you can try this fabulously dark and gruesome collection of Indigenous dark fantasy. There are a total of 26 short stories included in this anthology that invoke legends, monsters, ghosts and tales of revenge and passion. You can read one story at a time, or if you’re like me, you can commit to an entire evening of reading all the terrifying tales.

“Something Wicked This Way Comes,” by Ray Bradbury

The classic coming-of-age horror novel, “Something Wicked This Way Comes” is one of my favorites by Bradbury, and I highly recommend that you read it late at night for the full bone-chilling effect. Mr. Dark brings his mysterious carnival to town and seemingly grants everyone’s secret wishes. But nothing is as it truly seems. Our 13-year-old antagonists must discover how to overcome their greatest fears in this imaginative, masterfully woven tale of good versus evil.

All of these titles (and many others) are available to be checked out from UVA Library.