Books, hockey, and a bucketful of snark

It isn’t quite finished and I reserve the right to change my mind at any time, but here is my current list for the Halloween bingo. My only rule is I am not allowed to buy any books for the challenge. They must all come from my own shelves, or borrowed from the library.

Read by candlelight/flashlight

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Alan Garner – I wanted one of my favourite childhood reads for this category, but as I ranted yesterday, it’s no longer in print. So I had a think and came up with Alan Garner. I chose this one, because the sequel fits nicely into another category, but I could easily have also picked Elidor or The Owl Service. If you enjoyed The Dark is Rising series, you’ll love these. (Overdrive)

Magical realism

The Ghost Bride, Yangsze Choo – This has been on my Kindle for a very long time, and now seems to be the perfect time to read it. (Kindle).

Witches

Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett - So many choices for this one, but I’m going for humour and who better than Granny Weatherwax and friends? (Overdrive).

Genre: Horror

The Shining, Stephen King – Who else, but the modern master of the horror genre (bookshelf)

Black cat

The Price, Neil Gaiman - Again, so many choices, but rather than the obvious Edgar Allen Poe (who is cropping up later in the list), and Derek Tangye’s A Cat Affair which always makes me cry, I’ve chosen a short story by Neil Gaiman. (bookshelf)

Diverse authors can be spooky fun

My Soul to Keep, Tananarive Due - recommended by Obsidian and Moonlight, and sounds very interesting. (overdrive)

Ghost stories and haunted houses

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson – a classic which I’ve never read, so now would be a good time to remedy that. I bought it second-hand last year along with Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. How fortuitous was that? (bookshelf).

Young adult horror

A Certain Slant of Light, Laura Witcomb - apparently more psychological horror than all-out blood and gore. Which suits me just fine.(overdrive)

Scary women (authors)

The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman – Locked in a room with no access to books? That’s pretty damn scary. (library)

Reads with (Booklikes) friends

Ammie, Come Home, Barbara Michaels - 1960s gothic. Should be fun.

Grave or graveyard

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman – I know I only read this last year, but hey it’s Gaiman. (bookshelf)

Genre: Mystery

The Big Over Easy, Jasper Fforde – Back to humour for this one, and I don’t need an excuse to read a bit of Jasper. (bookshelf)

Free Space

Whatever takes my fancy! But if Magic Binds becomes available then this is where it will go.

Gothic

Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire – I bought this recently when it was a Kindle daily deal, and it seems to fit quite nicely into this category (kindle)

Creepy crawlies

Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham - great suggestion from Char. Killer plants are just as bad as creepy crawlies. (bookshelf)

"Fall" into a good book

The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allen Poe – you can’t have a list like this without the undisputed master of the genre (Overdrive)

Locked room mystery

Murders in the Rue Morgue, Edgar Allen Poe – see above (overdrive)

It was a dark and stormy night

The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle - Always good to catch up with and Sherlock and Dr Watson.

Set in New England

The Night Strangers, Chris Bohjalian – Thought about The Witch of Blackbird Pond, or maybe some Stephen King or Joe Hill, but found this one in the library and thought why not?  (library)

Full Moon

The Moon of Gomrath, Alan Garner – The follow-up to The Weirdstone of Brisingamen fits beautifully into this category. And it features the Morrigan. What’s not to like? (library)

Vampires vs Werewolves

Etiquette and Espionage, Gail Carriger - So many to choose from! But this is one that’s been on my kindle for a while, and I loved the Parasol Protectorate books. However, if Magic Binds becomes available during the Bingo game, I am reserving the right to change my mind (kindle).

Supernatural

The Rook, Daniel O'Malley – Another kindle daily deal, and another perfect fit. (kindle)

Classic horror

The Monkey's Paw, W W Jacobs – a classic short story and one which was parodied by The Simpsons. Will also probably read a couple of other Victorian classics (overdrive)

Pumpkin

Halloween Party, Agatha Christie - stumbled across this one on Lillelara's list and it's perfect. (library)

Set on Halloween

Something Wicked this Way Comes, Ray Bradbury – Gotta get Bradbury in there somewhere. If it’s as good as Dandelion Wine, I’m in for a treat (kindle)

You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to this.