Welcome back, my fellow horror fans! October is upon us yet again and that means it’s time for another installment of Horror Delve’s Halloween Suggested Reading List. The vast majority of this year’s tales involve Halloween in their narratives and the few which don’t, definitely still evoke the proper feel of the season. So, give these haunting tales a try and I hope you have a wonderful, eerie Halloween season!
THE LIST (Listed By Order of Publication):
1. “The Cockcrow Inn” by Tod Robbins (1926) – In this novelette, a man recounts the tale of how his grandfather ruthlessly hunted down and hung people he accused of being either witches or pirates. After lynching Whitechapel Willie, a particularly notorious pirate who was said to be in league with the Devil, he left his body hanging at the end of the noose to rot but was surprised to find it gone on Halloween. Later, he and his love are met in the Cockcrow Inn by a strange man who sings bawdy dirges and insults them. What manner of being he actually may be is later called into question. You can listen here for free: https://pseudopod.org/2022/10/21/pseudopod-833-cockcrow-inn/
2. “The Believers” by Robert Arthur (1941) – A radio host comes up with a plan to broadcast from an old, abandoned house on Friday the Thirteenth. The house has no actual reputation for being haunted, so he made up a story about an Oyster-Faced Creature which resides there. With reporters in tow, the host has himself handcuffed to a bed in the house with his broadcast equipment close at hand. He’s such a master showman that even the few who are aware it’s being faked begin to feel uneasy during the show. With so many people listening and believing his every word, has he perhaps accidentally birthed something horrendous into existence? You can listen to this story for free here: https://horrorbabble.podbean.com/e/the-believers-by-robert-arthur/
3. “Yesterday’s Witch” by Gahan Wilson (1973) – A boy and his friends approach a decrepit house in their neighborhood on Halloween night. The house belongs to Miss Mable, an old woman who is only ever briefly glimpsed and who is said to be a witch. Now that the boy has turned thirteen years old he must mount the porch and ring her doorbell as a rite of passage. He’s surprised to discover the place remarkably transformed into a new, inviting house filled with delicious smells. Miss Mable meets him at the door and invites him and his friends inside for a feast of treats, but what does she really have in mind for them? (Found in Ghost Stories Edited by Robert Westall)
4. “Tea With the Devil” by Anna Taborska (2012) – On Halloween night Lucifer flees a trio of violent trick-or-treaters to take sanctuary inside the house of a friend who collects devil paintings. There he is told the story of one painting which depicts a devil riding alongside a group of Polish partisans against the Nazis in WWII. (Found in the collection: For Those Who Dream of Monsters)
5. “And This Is Where We Falter” by Richard Shearman (2015) – After an uprooted tree exposes an old, black casket, the priest in charge of the seaside graveyard where it was found discovers a tale scrawled inside it from one of his ancestors. The tale tells of a ship’s journey long ago after it took on a mysterious, foreign passenger. This passenger brought a curse upon the ship and its crew, causing them to throw themselves overboard one-by-one to their deaths. Each time this happens another black casket appears in the distance to follow them. This is a superb story told on multiple levels. (Found in Terror Tales of the Ocean)
6. “Offerings” by Joe Koch (2018) – While preparing to celebrate Halloween in her nice, new home after having managed to work her way up enough to move out of a rough neighborhood, Blaine notices Amelia, the local pariah, stalking down the street with her three rambunctious children in tow. Blaine makes the mistake of reaching out to her, only to discover the depths of Amelia’s oddness. Amelia claims the children are not hers but accepts when Blaine panics and invites them to stop by for trick or treating the following night. When Amelia and her children do arrive late on Halloween night, the children’s masks are truly bizarre, elaborate and horrifying. This is an excellent weird horror tale for the Halloween season. You can listen here for free: https://pseudopod.org/2022/11/07/pseudopod-837-offerings/
7. “Decorations” by Frank Oreto (2019) – Jealousy over a new neighbor’s elaborate Halloween decorations upstaging his own, a man schemes to destroy them. He soon discovers the unique style of decorations his neighbor has up are more than mere holiday adornments but are actually holding something nasty at bay instead. You can listen here for free: https://player.fm/series/tales-to-terrify-1000076/tales-to-terrify-562-frank-oreto
8. “The Strathentine Imps” by Steve Duffy (2021) – Thirteen year old Amanda is forced to take care of herself and her younger brother Euan due to her wealthy, self-absorbed father’s regular forays into a drug fueled haze. They live closeted away in an old lodge in a secluded section of Scottish forestland called Strathantine. Trouble arises when a friend of her father’s named Alge (short for Algernon) comes to visit for awhile with his girlfriend. She senses Alge can’t be trusted alone with young Euan, so she strives to kept a constant vigil on him. Tension is kept high in this story as Euan finds himself enraptured by flickering firelight resulting from Alge’s dark influence upon him. Things come to a climatic supernatural crescendo in late October on Guy Fawkes Night as the local children come to the house for an annual bonfire celebration wearing Imp masks. This is an atmospheric tale of chilling supernatural menace filled with strong characterizations which highlights the struggles of Amanda’s singlehanded attempts to keep her dysfunctional family together. It would serve as a great Halloween-style story as well. (Found in Terror Tales of the Scottish Lowlands)
9. “Old Haunts” by Orrin Grey (2022) – A systems analyst for a phone company spends his evenings in October traveling to haunted house attractions located in the various towns where his job sends him. When he pulls up to an amateur-run one in a cul-de-sac, he is surprised to find it doesn’t conform to the tropes of which he’s become so accustomed. There is something truly unnerving about this one, however. You can listen here for free: https://pseudopod.org/2022/11/12/pseudopod-838-old-haunts/
10. “Tableau For Two” by Gregory L. Norris (2022) – While clearing out the house of their recently deceased mother on Halloween night, two brothers come across an old photo album which leads one of them to make a startling discovery. (Available in Nightmare Abbey Magazine Issue #2)
Previous Year’s Links:
2022: https://horrordelve.com/2022/10/03/halloween-suggested-reading-list-x-2022/
2021: https://horrordelve.com/2021/10/11/halloween-suggested-reading-list-ix-2021/
2020: https://horrordelve.com/2020/10/04/halloween-suggested-reading-list-viii-2020/
2019: https://horrordelve.com/2019/10/14/halloween-suggested-reading-list-vii-2019/
2018: https://horrordelve.com/2018/10/07/halloween-reading-list-vi-2018/
2017: https://horrordelve.com/2017/10/07/halloween-reading-list-v-2017/
2016: https://horrordelve.com/2016/10/10/halloween-reading-list-4-2016/
2015: https://horrordelve.com/2015/10/07/halloween-reading-list-2015/
2014: https://horrordelve.com/2014/10/15/horror-delves-second-annual-halloween-reading-list/
2013: https://horrordelve.com/2013/10/30/ten-scary-short-stories-for-halloween/
Article by Matt Cowan
Horror Delve 
You know my tastes. The Believers gets added to my reading list.
It’s somewhat reminiscent of “Ghost Hunt” by Wakefield but goes a different route in the end.