I absolutely love this time of the year! I love the crispness of the air, slowly being able to layer up and enjoy the outside still. I think my favourite thing to do in this cooler season is to either find a cafe or go the pub for breakfast and enjoy some grub and tea, and then pull out a little book. Quite often bearded boyfriend will head off into town to run errands while I opt to enjoy a book or write with a tea in the pub. It’s a great tradition we have and has come to be a staple-treat of our Sunday mornings. With that in mind I wanted to share some ‘little‘ spooky reads that are perfect for this season. While I love my bigger, chunkier books sometimes it’s nice to just grab one of these little things, pop it in my handbag and set off!
The Canterville Ghost, Oscar Wilde
This short novella by Wilde revolves around a ghost residing at a British mansion called Canterville Chase but the problem is an American family have recently acquired the property from Lord Canterville and have decided to move in. Much to the ghosts dismay, he embarks on a dramatic, scheming mission to drive the family out. Theres one slight issues with this though – they don’t believe in him.
This is a short and quick read, perfect to take on the go with you and would make such a great read for the spooky season. With dramatic and theatrical performances from the ghost, contrasted by the disbelief and unaffected air of the family, it almost has an element of a ridiculous pantomime-like feel to it.
The Inner Room, Robert Aickman
This little read is about a dolls house with a secret inner room that no one can view or get to. The narrator is bought it as a child and her family fixate on trying to get to this room at different points of her childhood. Later in her life, she dreams that she comes across a life-size version of the dolls house and meets its inhabitants within a woodland. She visits the inhabitants and see their decaying house due to her lack of care.
This is a good read but while it’s not overtly spooky there are hints of eerie-ness. At times I had to put it down when the narrator described looking into the windows of the house as a child and the inhabitants looking back at her as though they were watching her and her family. Definitely a nice, short and spooky read.
Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom, Sylvia Plath
More of a vague one, this Faber Stories edition of this short story by Plath is an intriguing tale. Mary Ventura is put on a train by her parents and in a bid for independence she obliges although as the journey continues she comes to realise she hasn’t a clue what the Ninth Kingdom is.
This strange tale was written as Sylvia Plath was leaving home too. Rejected many times, it is for that reason it’s somewhat unpopular or unheard of. It has a great writing style and I’d say that it is this factor that keeps the reader so curious and intrigued by the Ninth Kingdom -along with Mary’s fear and unease surrounding her destination. I’d definitely recommend this little read.
That’s all for now. I’m sure I’ll share more spooky-seasonal reads soon.
Cheerio for now!
withsomejam 