Top Ten Halloween Reads

I haven't done a Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) in ages, and this week's theme is a really fun one, so here goes!

Top Ten Books to Read During Halloween

Well, for me, Halloween isn't necessarily about horror. Or rather, it's not just about the scares. It's also fun, colourful, a litte cheesy, a little goofy, funny, and a bit wicked. For me, it's about the supernatural more than serial killer horror; it's about wonder and magic, about the lines between worlds becoming thinner for one night. So with that in mind, here are my top ten Halloween reads...

1) The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman. This book just sums up Halloween for me. It's the perfect read for this time of year!

2) Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice. The ultimate gothic vampire book. A must-read for vampire fans. The whole series is good, so if you like his one, carry on to later books too!

3) The Bartimaeus Series, beginning with The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud. An alternate London run by warlocks, a charismatic demon, and lots of fun. This is a fantastic series and highly recommended.

4) The Whitby Witches, by Robin Jarvis. This is a must for a Halloween read. Witches, sea-people, weird goings on as the mist rolls into Whitby. Atmospheric and entertaining!

5) Strangewood, by Christopher Golden. A very creepy and definitely adult read. This fits in with Halloween's 'line between worlds' idea in an unexpected way. This is a book that's stayed with me a long long time after reading it.

6) Carpe Jugulum, by Terry Pratchett. This is a Discworld book, but you don't need to have read others in the series to enjoy it. Vampires and witches and very funny!

7) Poison, by Chris Wooding. Oh god the spiders... and they're far from being the creepiest part. This is a brilliantly written book that offers a fun, scary tale, with a fantastic ending.

8) The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende. It's funny how many of these books have a similar idea running through them, actually. Perhaps books that make me question the reality of my own existence are oddly the scariest kind for me? Anyway, this has plenty of weird beasties in it too. A classic, and always fun.

9) The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente. This is another book like The Graveyard Book that just seems perfectly suited to Halloween. A slightly sinister but charming view of fairyland, which involves a trip to a land of always-Autumn.

10) Hollow Pike, by James Dawson. Witches, strange dreams, and a killer in a small Yorkshire town.This is a fun, creepy YA story that captures something of the feeling of old R. L. Stine books.

What are your Halloween reads? This year I'll be at World Fantasy Con, so I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing on the night. Over the Halloween period I think I might read Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, which looks fantastic, and of course I'll be sticking on all the Buffy Halloween episodes. :-)

Shadows of the Past - Book Review

Shadows of the Past
By Carmen Stefanescu

When Anne and Neil leave on a one-week holiday hoping to reconcile after a two-year separation, little do they know that destiny has other plans for them. Their discovery of human bones and a bejeweled cross in the hollow of a tree open the door to the supernatural realm and the anguished life of Genevieve, a nun from medieval England.

Can Anne save her relationship and help Genevieve find her eternal rest?

The twists and turns in this paranormal tale keep the reader guessing up to the end and weave themselves together into a quest to rekindle love. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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Shadows of the Past tells two stories: of 15th century nun Genevieve, and 90’s business-woman Anne. The ways in which these separate stories interact and weave together, and the similarity between past lives, was intriguing. The women’s stories and their romances mirrored each other, but at the same time were different enough that the characters felt like separate people. It was interesting to see one relationship blossoming while another was tentatively trying to reform after a betrayal. The idea of the evil forest and the haunting passed down into future lives was also very promising.

However, I didn’t really get on with this book. I struggled with some of the characters; I found Anne and Neil a little dull and underdeveloped, and I didn’t really believe in their relationship. We were told a lot that they loved each other, and that Neil is perfect for Anne, but I didn’t see enough evidence of this to help me understand why she forgave him.

I also found the abbess’ character a little odd. Yes, she was greedy and selfish, and a direct threat to Genevieve, but her ‘evil’ nature was a bit confusing to me. She was using some kind of magic up in her room in the abbey, which seemed to be tied to her sexuality. According to the other nuns, this dark magic was very sinister, but we never really saw the effects of it. Most of the time she just seemed to like to eat good food and enjoy herself, and so resented and defied the strict rules of the abbey. I understand that this is reason enough for nuns to be against her in the 15th century, but some of the over-moralising against it, particularly from the modern characters, made me uncomfortable. The abbess is a horrible person for trying to seduce a priest, but the main character, a nun, falls in love with the very same priest and that's alright? Both the abbess and Genevieve have knowledge of witchcraft, but the abbess uses her powers for... well, I'm not sure what exactly, but it make snakes appear on her head (so we hear from one of the nuns, and never actually see), so obviously her powers are evil? I also really didn’t like the suggestion that two nuns’ sexual experimentation together might be seen as a mark of how much the evil abbess had corrupted them. Again, this fits with the attitude of the nuns, but were the readers supposed to agree? I hope not!

Genevieve herself was the most developed character, and in general I was interested in what would happen to her. The historical chapters were the better parts of the novel, but were unfortunately spoiled a little now and then by some quite jarring anachronisms. Some elements were obviously researched, but others clearly weren’t. For example, asps are not a danger to watch out for while hiking up mountains in England. The way characters spoke also felt a little off, for both 15th century and 1990’s England, and I found the writing in general to be a little awkward and stilted. This made the book hard-going for me at points.

Despite some intriguing aspects, this book wasn’t for me.

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Favourite Book - Howl's Moving Castle

 

 
I don’t actually have a review of my favourite book on my blog, mainly because I read it ages ago and always have so many new books to talk about that I don’t get a chance to put reviews of older reads up too. Since I’m doing an ‘about me and my favourites’ theme for my blogoversary week, I thought now was a good time to change that!

(You can also win Howl's Moving Castle in my blogoversary giveaway here - hurry, not long left to enter!)

Here’s the synopsis (from Goodreads):

In which a witch bewitched the hatter's daughter - and then some....

Sophie lived in the town of Market Chipping, which was in Ingary, a land in which anything could happen, and often did - especially when the Witch of the Waste got her dander up. Which was often.

As her younger sisters set out to seek their fortunes, Sophie stayed in her father's hat shop. Which proved most unadventurous, until the Witch of the Waste came in to buy a bonnet, but was not pleased. Which is why she turned Sophie into an old lady. Which was spiteful witchery.

Now Sophie must seek her own fortune. Which means striking a bargain with the lecherous Wizard Howl. Which means entering his ever-moving castle, taming a blue fire-demon, and meeting the Witch of the Waste head-on. Which was more than Sophie bargained for...

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Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favourite writers, and in my opinion this is her best book. There is so much to love about it, from the characters and the wonderful world to the writing. There may be (alright, there definitely is) some nostalgia dust floating around it too, as I first read it when I was very young, but I do re-read it every year and it remains just as magical. This is just a special book.

Howl’s Moving Castle is a fairy story at its heart. It’s not based on any one fairytale from our world, but it incorporates elements of lots of them – the three sisters seeking their fortunes, the evil witch, the mysterious wizard, magical objects, spells gone wrong, and a fairytale world. However, what makes the book so fantastic is that the author doesn’t just use and reference fairytale ideas, she also twists them a little while maintaining the true magic and romance of those tales, giving this story both a fresh and at the same time familiar feel. It’s actually quite hard to describe without reading for yourself. This is very much Diana Wynne Jones’ style; you can find it across her books, but, for me, it works best in this one.

And so we get the eldest sister Sophie, who knows that she will never be as successful as her younger sisters as that’s just how things seem to work. Poor Sophie! But she’s wrong; she is soon sent off on an incredible adventure of her own, and she finds out that she is a lot more powerful than she ever dreamed she could be. But here’s the real strength of Diana Wynne Jones’ storytelling. Sophie doesn’t succeed at the expense of her sisters. This is not the kind of story that tells us that older sisters and less pretty sisters are the strong ones, and that the young, pretty ones are always silly and icky. Sophie isn’t Lizzie Bennet, held up as the sensible one in comparison to irritating but attention-hogging younger siblings. Sophie also isn’t the kind of character who goes off on her quest and then forgets all about her family. Sophie’s sisters have their own adventures, and succeed, and are happy, and Sophie continues to look out for them.

Sophie herself is a wonderful character. She is turned into an old lady near the beginning of the book, and then is forced to seek her fortune as a young girl in an old body. Ironically, it is only when this happens that Sophie really begins to live, to focus on herself and her own desires a little more, and to discover her youth. She is often shy and worried, and she is afraid of doing new things, but she is incredibly brave and keeps going despite her fear. She begins to show a huge amount of intelligence and inner strength, a practical no-nonsense attitude, and a deep care for others as well as a bit of a romantic streak. She is also quite nosey and very forceful when she wants her own way, which leads to some very funny scenes.

In contrast, the wizard Howl is melodramatic, vain, and a little lazy. He wears his heart on his sleeve and likes to think he is a bit of a womaniser, though it becomes clear that he’s actually very romantic. He’s often infuriating, especially to Sophie, and his sulks are some of the funniest things in the book. However, he’s also kind and brave, and a much better person than he pretends to be. He and Sophie are wonderful together, and it is their interactions that make the book such a delight to read.

Diana Wynne Jones also provides a lot of fantastic supporting characters who all add to the plot, and to the book’s humour and heart. There’s Calcifer the fire demon, Sophie’s determined sisters, who switch places and both end up being called Lettie, leading to much confusion, Howl’s assistant, the wicked witch, a living scarecrow, and a depressed dog, among others. There is also the moving castle itself, which not only floats about the countryside but also opens onto various locations including the main city where the king lives, and Howl’s home in our own world. If the latter sounds like it would be a bit jarring in a fairytale world, it really isn’t – it adds another great element to the plot and the humour, and explains a little of Howl’s weirder behaviour.

The writing in the book is lovely. It’s written for children, so it’s not challenging at all, but has a certain wit and intelligence to it that makes it a pleasure to read. The author has also managed to capture that charm of a fairytale, while also creating a world that feels very English and quite cosy. It’s one of those books that makes you feel happy and safe when you read it – a total comfort read! It also has one of my favourite romances ever, and the end is both touching and exactly right. All the various plot points are rounded off nicely, with a few little satisfying twists and plenty of happy endings. You’re guaranteed to finish this with a smile on your face!

I Shall Wear Midnight - Book Review

It starts with whispers. Then someone picks up a stone. Finally, the fires begin. When people turn on witches, the innocents suffer...

Tiffany Aching has spent years studying with senior witches, and now she is on her own. As the witch of the Chalk, she performs the bits of witchcraft that aren't sparkly, aren't fun, don't involve any kind of wand, and that people seldom ever hear about: She does the unglamorous work of caring for the needy. But someone or something is igniting fear, inculcating dark thoughts and angry murmurs against witches. Aided by her tiny blue allies, the Wee Free Men, Tiffany must find the source of this unrest and defeat the evil at its root before it takes her life. Because if Tiffany falls, the whole Chalk falls with her. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

I Shall Wear Midnight is the fourth book in the series of Tiffany Aching novels by Terry Pratchett, set in the Discworld. I’ve enjoyed all the other ones, and this didn’t disappoint either.

2013 Witches and Witchcraft Challenge - Sign Up Post

I'm signing up for my first challenge of 2013! I really enjoyed participating in a few challenges this year - it's been a great way to get a new blog going and to discover other blogs too. Looking forward to joining in with a variety of challenges in 2013... and it'll be nice to actually be able to begin in January this time, too!

Hollow Pike - Book Review

Something wicked this way comes...

She thought she’d be safe in the country, but you can’t escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams repeatedly that someone is trying to kill her. Lis thinks she’s being paranoid - after all who would want to murder her? She doesn’t believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn’t believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you? Not until you’re alone in the woods, after dark - and a twig snaps... Hollow Pike - where witchcraft never sleeps. (Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

Hollow Pike actually has what I think is a slightly misleading presentation – the cover, the blurb, the general feel of the book scream supernatural to me. I was expecting more overt magic in the story. However, this is a case where my expectations were trumped by something better (and this coming from a person who really can’t get enough magic in my fiction). Instead of going for the typical supernatural or Craft-style witches-play-with-their-powers-until-they-unleash-a-darkness-they-can’t-control kind of plot, James Dawson has created a much subtler and creepy, and very enjoyable, story. This is closer to a kind of psychological slasher-horror than it is to the usual paranormal fiction I’ve read.

Magic or Madness - Book Review

Magic or Madness is a YA novel by Justine Larbalestier, telling the story of fifteen-year-old Reason Cansino. Reason has been brought up by her mother, Sarafina, moving constantly across Australia in order to elude Reason’s grandmother Esmeralda, who has claimed custody of her. Sarafina has told Reason that Esmeralda performs all kinds of terrible rituals in the name of magic. When Sarafina is taken to hospital, Reason is sent to live with Esmeralda. Reason begins to explore the house, hoping to learn the truth about Esmeralda. However, when she steps through the mysterious back door and into New York, she is forced to wonder if magic might be real after all.

This is a clever book, with more layers to it than I first expected. After the first few chapters I was sure that Sarafina was completely nuts, and that Reason would have to slowly come to terms with the fact that Esmeralda is not the monster Sarafina made her out to be. Sure enough, Sarafina is taken to a hospital for the mentally ill, and Reason finds that Esmeralda’s house is not as Sarafina described it. Esmeralda herself seems completely normal. Then, slowly, a more sinister picture begins to emerge. There really are weird ritual objects hidden around the house. There really is the corpse of Sarafina’s pet cat in the cellar, with its neck slashed. The boy who lives next door seems to believe magic is real and that Reason can use it too. And then Reason steps through the back door into another country and suddenly everything changes.

Polluto - This issue's 'Editor's Choice'!

Congratulations to Gio Clairval and Erin Stocks for their mesmerising tale of witchcraft, witchtrials, demons, and the love of one rope for one woman...

‘Hempish Love’ is this issue’s ‘Editor’s Choice’ story! We were impressed and enchanted by this tale’s unique narrator and original idea, as well as the authors’ confident, rich and vivid storytelling. Here’s a sneak peek (full story can be read in Polluto #9 ¾: Witchfinders vs The Evil Red).

I never wanted to be an executioner. My maker twisted me with habile hands, and as though it weren't enough, he twisted me some more until I became the perfect tool for the cruellest tasks. Maybe, if a fair woman had caressed me, singing words of love, I would have grown into something peaceful, I would have held flowers or led white foals to the water. Instead, here I am, hanging from a hook in this windowless chamber, ready to imprison wrists and shake limbs until my victims confess imaginary deeds. After thirty years spent performing the strappado, I wish my body unravelled, but when I appear to be tired my master strokes me with beeswax to soothe me, and I am like new: the perfect rope to extort false confessions.

Oh, yes, I wanted to die, my dear Polletto, until I saw the female of my dreams. I spied her first this morning as I hung from my ring fixed to the ceiling: a Dominican friar called Guido burst into the forensic vicar's adjacent office, towing Gostanza behind him.

He said, "Vicar, this woman slaughtered a new-born babe!"

The magistrate looked up from his codex. "Do you have proof of this, Fra' Guido?"

The good Dominican bowed. "Early this morning, I was walking across the Piazzetta Del Casseto when Gostanza came out of a house, her hands overflowing with rue and vervain, baskets dangling from her forearms. The incense of moscata walnut and pumpkin clung to her hair unbound and flowing like a young girl's mane despite grey streaks. I offered aid, and she allowed me to relieve her of two baskets.

"'Was that Mona Astrea's abode?' I asked. As I balanced the baskets, bottles clinked together with ill-fated chimes. 'How went the birth?'

"'It went well.' But a frown creased Gostanza's features. At the moment, I did not understand why, but a suspicion gnawed at my heart. I yanked a bottle out and unstoppered it. I was right, vicar! Concoctions smelling like oil of bartram, crushed cloves, madreselva and betonica herbs . . . all ingredients used for unholy spells!

"Then the devilish woman flipped open the lid of the third basket. 'Accept this offer to quench your hunger,' she said in a sly tone. 'Duck baked with prunes in tuber oil.'

"The aroma of roast bird tickled my nostrils. No sooner had she placed a palatable morsel between my lips than my senses fled. When I regained consciousness, I was alone in a mossy alley, slumped against a wall. I stumbled back to Mona Astrea's house, following a worrisome inspiration.

"Astrea lounged upstairs, her belly slack with recent birth. The maga Gostanza, lips and hands stained red, leaned over a cradle. Inside it, a babe, pale and still. She had killed it!

"I suffered kicks and scratches," the friar concluded, "as I dragged Gostanza out of Astrea's abode and up the hill to this Palazzo."

The accused's eyes shone like little suns. Dried blood marred the corners of her mouth.

Upon hearing the friar's words, the soldiers who stood in the audience hall grimaced, whereas I died to taste such a woman—one of the evilest suspects ever. You see, Polletto, I've always wanted to torment an accused that had actually done something bad.

Guido bowed again, and from my vantage I noticed sweat beading on the friar's forehead. Now, the sweating could have been caused by the unseasonable heat, couldn't it?

The forensic vicar then sent for the inquisitor of Florence, Dionigi da Costacciaro. When the brown-robed Franciscan arrived, my master the executioner brought the accused before him, in this same chamber, my home. I was yanked from my perch, and laced twice around the witch's delicate wrist bones. My braided cords shivered in ecstasy. I wondered whether Guido's accusations were grounded indeed, for her skin had the texture of guilt.

Read more in this issue of Polluto.

Polluto - Blood, Sex and Witchcraft, and The Evil Red

Polluto issue 9 ¾: Witchfinders vs The Evil Red is now out! This was a particularly fun theme that has inspired all kinds of stories, with some completely unexpected interpretations. There is, of course, the Evil Red as communism, socialism, authoritarianism, secret police, and the welfare state. And, as usual, no Polluto author ever deals with a subject in familiar ways. A socialist paradise fuelled by severed pinkies? An alien drug that will end all war by instigating mass colour-blindness? There is guaranteed to be something new here to surprise any reader. There is witchcraft and magic, not to mention monsters and the undead. There is evil, fear, scapegoating, and denial. The Evil Red lurks in the darkest corners as well as boldly taking over the world.

Interestingly, one of the unifying ideas that connects many of these stories is the idea of powerful, and in particular sexually dominant, women. This is appropriate on several levels, as this is the ‘witchfinders’ issue (and what has scared men throughout the ages more than dominant women?) as well as the evil red (blood, sex, desire, passion). And our ‘witchy’ women are joined by a whole host of unexpected companions. Professor Dingleberry and his walking house, topped with its red coxcomb; vampiric ‘colour-eaters’ that feed on red; a man slowly disintegrating into numbers, thoughts and digital streams; a clay man rising from a river of blood; a libido-zapped librarian contemplating drawings found on Mars; and a bloodthirsty priestess controlled by her malevolent red chainsaw. And many more wait inside Polluto’s red-streaked pages.

Beginning with Cris O’Connor’s unique spin on the Wizard of Oz story, complete with Dorothy’s blood-soaked ruby slippers, and ending on Richard Thomas’ captivating and heartbreaking story of a haunted man in a broken world, Polluto issue 9 ¾ bewitches the reader from start to finish.

Next post... this issue’s ‘Editor’s Choice’ story!