SFFWorld Countdown to Hallowe’en 2018: Scary Books for Autumn Nights by George Mann

It’s October again: so to start our now traditional SFFWorld Countdown to Hallowe’en, here’s an article from George Mann, whose latest book, Hallowdene has just been published by Titan Books. (The first in the series, Wychwood. was recently reviewed at SFFWorld HERE.)

Over to George…

As the nights begin to draw in, the log fires are lit and we find ourselves delving ever deeper into the Autumn months, I thought it would be a nice idea to tell you all about some of my most beloved works of dark and creepy fiction, and some of the stories that have influenced my writing over the years, including my most recent novel, Hallowdene. Here, then, are six of my favourite chilling reads for your delectation.

Dagon and Other Macabre Tales, by H.P. Lovecraft

This was my first introduction to Lovecraft’s work, at the age of around 13 or 14, and it left an indelible impression on my young mind. While Lovecraft’s stories must now be viewed in the context they were written, they nevertheless opened up new vistas of terror, in the way they spoke of unknowable cosmic horrors, things from other realms that would drive you insane if you even attempted to comprehend them. That mythic quality, the notion of old, forgotten gods that might one day stir, has influenced much of what came after in the field.

20^th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill

What a revelation this short story collection was, when it first appeared in 2005. The ideas on show here are incredible, from the ‘Museum of Silence’ which contains the last breaths of the deceased, to the eponymous ‘black phone’, which lies disconnected in a basement, yet still rings for a young boy trapped in that basement, with calls from other, unexpected victims. What Hill does so well, for me, is anchor these stories in pop culture, with references to famous writers, or movies, or places. And the voices on the other end of that phone will stay with me forever.

Carnacki – the Ghost-Finder, by William Hope Hodgson

One of the earliest and most famous examples of a supernatural or occult detective, William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki only appears in a handful of short stories, but together they form an essential component, I believe, of the Victorian/Edwardian ghost story tradition. The stories follow a particular form – a group of characters are summoned to Carnacki’s house of an evening, during which he will recite the tale of one of his recent investigations, which include everything from ghostly horses to whistling rooms, as well as a terrifying entity in the form of a massive hog. Carnacki himself is perhaps not the most engaging of characters, but his methods and the tales he weaves are

well worth your attention.

Never the Bride, by Paul Magrs

A novel, this time, and one of great character. This is the first in Magrs’s series of ‘Brenda & Effie’ mysteries, about the Bride of Frankenstein and her friend, an old witch, who have retired to Whitby in their dotage. Wildly inventive, and hilarious to boot, they’re not books to chill your soul, but rather to warm your cockles on a cold night. Magrs makes use of the horror genre to craft his own literary space, and the results are fabulous.

Anno Dracula, by Kim Newman

Newman is another master of subversion, and this alternate history of Dracula, now married to the widowed Queen Victoria and ruling over the British Empire, is a triumph. Again, this isn’t a story to read for the chills, but it’s a lovingly crafted homage to classic Victorian ghost stories, to the vampire genre, to Hammer Horror – you name it, Newman has sneaked in a sly reference. In doing so, though, he’s crafted one of the very best alternate histories in the genre, and this is but the first of an ongoing series of great depth and quality.

The Collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, by Steven Erikson

Perhaps an unusual choice, as they are more likely to be considered fantasy stories, but Steven Erikson’s darkly comedic tales of the two necromancers, Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, are both disturbing and amusing in equal measure, particular as told through eyes of their hapless – and terrified – manservant, Emancipor Reece. The six novellas that comprise the series take in everything from grisly murders, reanimated dead, horrific alchemical creations, poison and uneasy spirits, and the trio often find themselves having to move on at the end of each story to escape undue attention for Korbal Broach’s ‘experiments’ on the local populace. Dark and acerbic, they are some of the best dark fantasy I’ve read in a very long time.