Best Books for Halloween

The weather's finally turning seasonal down here, just in time for Halloween! All of these recent 70 degree days have had me more in the mood for a trip to the beach, but tonight I'm finally going to go out and purchase pumpkins and candycorns...yum! I have been known to eat a whole bag of them in one sitting, and I'm not embarrassed to admit it!
And what's better on a cool, crisp fall evening than settling down in front of the fireplace with a scary story or two? I don't read a lot of horror stories, nor do I watch a lot of horror movies, although I have been known to scare the bejeezus out of myself with a once a year showing of The Shining! That movie gets me every time!
In the spirit of one of my favorite holidays, here are a few non-horror favorites to check out this weekend.

1. The Witches by Roald Dahl - love his humor so much more as an adult! As a child, I don't really think I understood how creepy his stories really were. If you're looking for some real fun, read the section about Miss Pratchett in his memoir, Boy, then read The Witches and see how he drew inspiration for fantasy from his real life.
2. The Body by Stephen King - I went through a major Steven King phase during my freshman year of high school...not really sure why...I think I was bored and my brother happened to own a bunch of his books. I never want to read It again (and have never looked at clowns the same way!) But I rediscovered King this summer while reading The Body in preparation for a class that I was supposed to teach. The movie Stand By Me is based on this novella, but the story gets into a lot more character development than the movie does.
3. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - The dark carnival comes to town and mayhem ensues. There's a dark side in all of us, and Ray Bradbury's out to expose it. Another cool thing about Bradbury - he is a master of constructing incredibly long, complex sentences that help build suspense. If you only know Bradbury for The Illustrated Man and other sci-fi short stories, you'll see a whole new side of him in this novel. Plus, the cool Macbeth reference...
4. Speaking of..., do yourself a favor and go see a professional performance of Macbeth next time you have the opportunity. I truly had forgotten how incredibly messed up this story is until I studied it with my favorite after-school club students last year! Re-reading the play isn't going to do it - grab a few buddies and act out the scenes with the witches or "Out damned spot..." We did some performing of our own, then took an outing to a real production that was the starkest, creepiest show I've ever seen.
5. A Break With Charity or The Witch of Blackbird Pond or The Crucible - When I was eight (and admittedly, I may not have been the most courageous eight year old) my parents took me to The Salem Witch Museum and I didn't sleep for two nights! They turned off all the lights, there was a glowing red circle on the floor filled with diabolical symbols, and a narrator guided us through a series of scenes from Salem's darkest days...the image of Giles Corey being pressed to death was seared into my brain and still makes me shudder. But it also piqued my interest in this event, and I'll still devour any historical fiction about the Salem Witch Trials.

Did I mention that in fifth grade my two best friends and I went through a witch phase...we were pretty convinced that we had (or would someday have) magical powers, but mostly we just hung out in a corner of the playground and pretended to cast spells boys we didn't like...but that's another story altogether...

Happy Halloween everyone!
Rebecca DeWinter