Spooky Stories

After such a long hiatus from blogging, I suppose it is only fitting that I return with a post about favorite books . . . and maybe one movie. :-)

(paperback on Amazon)

I am not fond of Halloween in particular, but I confess to a lifelong fascination with ghost stories. Not the horror kind--believe me, I am not a lover of horror stories of any kind! But I grew up with cartoons like Casper the Friendly Ghost, and storybooks like Georgie (which I loved), so I suppose the interest is natural.

So, in honor of the season, here are a few of my favorite scary stories! Some of them are ghost stories, others are just creepy or spooky in a delightfully shivery sort of way.

#1. The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
   

      This is a ghost story for middle-grade readers, yet it is not at all scary. The ghosts teach a delightful history lesson along with helping the heroine solve a family mystery. It is not a new book, but I discovered it just a few years ago . . . and sort of fell in love with a certain character. No spoilers here!

#2. Children of the Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
      Another recent discovery of an older book with some fun ghosts. I loved the very English setting, not far from where we used to live.




#3. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

      Definitely my favorite of Gaiman's books (that I've read). This retelling of The Jungle Book is so much fun!





#4. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
      Yes, this is a movie, one that I have loved since childhood. Rex Harrison is the most marvelous ghost ever, and Gene Tierney is a lovable character. It is a little sadder and darker than I realized as a child, yet I still love it.

This link is to the entire movie on Youtube, so if you've got an hour or so free for romantic scariness--go right ahead!

#5. Albert Campion Mysteries by Margery Allingham

     Campion books are mysteries, of course, yet they can be delightfully spooky. And the one I linked to above . . . well, it's possibly the spookiest of the bunch, but I won't say why! If you begin reading the Campion books with book one in the series, you might be disappointed--let's just say that the author improved her writing and grew her main character in succeeding books.



Last but not least, a recent discovery:

#6. Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud
     Anne Elisabeth recommended this book to me some months ago, and I finally bought myself a copy and discovered a new way to scare myself! It is violent, I will warn you. But I won't tell why or how this book is so spooky, because that would spoil the fun of it. :-) Very well written, with an awesome heroine and a realistic teenage-boy "hero."


Any recommendations of fun-yet-spooky stories for me?

P.S. Hannah, I promise to do my Shelfie tomorrow, okay? :-)