Okay, so Halloween is definitely not in May (it’s actually about five months away, so get ready to get spooky), but how about we talk about ghosts anyway? Especially ghost books.
Yes, let’s do that. But we’ll keep the lights on, okay? I’ll admit to an overactive imagination here.
Seriously. Once, I hung up a black dress on a clothes rack in my room, read a horror book before bed, and when I woke up in the middle of the night for some reason, there was a floating black figure across the room.
That would be the dress. 3 AM me was still spooked as all hell.
ANYWAYS, beyond recommending not hanging up your clothes in such a way that they seem to be floating towards you in the dead of night, I’m also gonna recommend some ghosty books today! May you be far less skittish than I am.
1.) The Diviners by Libba Bray
I know I’ve recommended this before, but The Diviners has it all. 1920s New York. Spooky ghosts. Teenagers using strange superpowers (and not always for the best reasons). Over 500 pages. It’s a prime ghost package, and sooooooo worth the giant size of the book. I can’t wait to read the third book, Before the Devil Breaks You, which you guys can expect a review of as soon as I get my hands on it!
2.) The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
More good ghost content featuring London, Jack the Ripper, very good character names, and Maureen Johnson’s uncanny ability to write vaguely unsettling boarding skills. She’s really got a type going for her here and I honestly really love it.
Also, ghostly murder. In case you needed some paranormal crime in your life.
3.) City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
AUGUST 28TH, 2018. MARK YOUR CALENDARS, BECAUSE MORE VE SCHWAB IS COMING.
In case it wasn’t painfully obvious as usual, I love everything VE Schwab does, and I can’t wait until City of Ghosts hits shelves (and right after my birthday no less! I see my present to myself in the future…). This time around, Schwab is tackling an MG story, and it features a girl whose best friend is a ghost and whose parents are slightly inept ghost hunters, all in Scotland, all with ghosty goodness. Cass, the main character, is going to have to wrestle with her new role as an In-betweener, and she’ll have to confront the Red Raven haunting Edinburgh. The summary is promising very exciting stakes, and also? I want to know what the cat on the cover is named. The cat is obviously important.
Have any other recommendations for this little slice of Halloween in May? Any ghost books that have stuck with you? YOUR OWN GHOST STORIES? It’s five months until Halloween, come on. Gotta get some hype stirred up here (and even though I always spook myself, I want more ghost stories to get into…)