My October in reading

I’m all for spooky season, so I read a lot of books in October. Too many? You be the judge.

Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc and Edgar Jepson

Though I’d heard of the recent Lupin Netflix series, I hadn’t encountered the French master thief until I listened to this one on the Phoebe Reads a Mystery podcast. I know that Lupin initially came in the form of short stories—I think the story from the podcast is actually a novelization of a play Leblanc wrote? Anyway, I loved it. Who doesn’t enjoy cheeky criminals getting the better of detectives? The end is pretty damn suspenseful, too.

The Sandman, Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections by Neil Gaiman

This volume is more like a collection of short stories. Morpheus travels through time and history: we visit the French Revolution, the Roman Empire, ancient Baghdad. I think my favorite section is “Three Septembers and a January,” which involves Joshua Norton, the first and only emperor of the United States. I love when stories incorporate obscure historic figures.

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

First of all: this novella has the most wonderfully creepy cover I’ve ever seen. Now for the plot: as the Ku Klux Klan gains power and prominence in America once again after the release of the film The Birth of a Nation, Maryse Boudreaux and her band of fighters aim to stop them. However, it turns out not every member of the Klan is exactly…human. I loved the characters and premise of this story—my only issue is that it was too short! There was enough material here for a whole trilogy, so why write a novella? Nevertheless, this was still a chilling little read. Historic horror sci-fi? An excellent blend.

Tiny Nightmares edited by Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto

I’ve had this anthology of horror flash fiction sitting on my shelf for a while—I was delighted to finally get to it. The book is divided into sections themed with different parts of the body (including some wonderful illustrations—I’d grab you the name of the artist but I moved and all my books are in storage). What I liked most about this collection is that no matter what freaks you out, it’s there. Vampires? Check. Climate change? Of course. Visceral body horror? You bet. It’s like a card catalog of human fears. You should definitely pick it up.

The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins

This is the third Collins book I’ve read (or listened to, thanks once again to the Phoebe Reads a Mystery podcast), and I have to say it’s my favorite so far. His other books are told in first person in rounds of different characters—but this one is written in third person, and I was surprised at how well this more traditional form of storytelling worked for him. This book is also less racist than his others. If you enjoy Victorian ghost stories, have at it.

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

Looking for a teen slasher flick in book form? The Mary Shelley Club is the novel for you. Rachel Chavez is having trouble adjusting to life at Manhattan Prep—she’s nowhere near as wealthy as the rest of the kids, and anyone would be messed up after what happened last year… But soon she stumbles upon the secretive Mary Shelley Club—a group of students who stage elaborate “fear tests” to frighten their classmates. Rachel’s happy to finally make friends—until she finds out what they’re capable of. I loved Moldavsky’s previous novel Kill the Boy Band, and The Mary Shelley Club brings the same kind of punchy, voice-driven writing.

Bone House by K-Ming Chang

Once again, I have to give a shoutout to the stunning, bloody cover of this chapbook. Written in brief, textured, vivid chunks, like bold swatches of paint, Chang retells Wuthering Heights as a queer, Taiwanese-American story. I could read it again and again, just to splash around in the language. Bone House itself is an old butcher’s home, and reading this kind of feels like getting stuck on a meat hook, writhing in the characters’ relationships. In a good way.

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Translated from the Spanish by Sarah Moses, this novel is Certifiably Messed Up—but during spooky season, that’s exactly what I’m looking for! After a disease has poisoned most of the animals on earth, humans have turned to cannibalism—though you’re not supposed to call it that. Certain people are raised as livestock. Marcos isn’t exactly happy with his job at the slaughterhouse, but he has to pay the bills, especially since he’s caring for his elderly father. Then one day he’s gifted his very own specimen, a young female. Things do not go well. Almost none of the characters are likeable and a lot of scenes are just gross—but again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As long as body horror is up your alley, you’ll probably like it.