Reading Recs

This video game is, in my opinion, perfect for players that are into scary games. It is set in an underwater place, so everything is darker. Along with the dark aspect there is a lot of creepy aspects to this game and a lot of jump scares to the point that I trusted no corpse. This game is perfect for gamers that like creepy games though. – Cole

Love historical fiction and mystery? Get sucked into a daughter’s journey to discover the truth behind a medieval book in her father’s library. Through letters and oral accounts her father tells her about Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula), the cruel ruler of Wallachia is still alive. As she learns about her father’s school mentor and her long-dead mother, strange things start happening. Three complex plots are richly woven together in this page turner. – Stephanie

The zombie apocalypse is winding down. Mark Spitz and a group of other survivors have volunteered as sweepers to clear out the remaining zombies in a stretch of Manhattan termed "Zone One" so that it can be resettled. While there are a few aggressive, eat-your-face zombies left in Zone One, most of those left are a weird zombie subtype called "stragglers" that just go through a pantomime of aspects of their lives before they were turned. Like the stragglers, Mark and the other survivors are trying to recreate normal in the aftermath of the end of the world, all while trying to work through their Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder, deal with the inconsistent and not always helpful supplies sent by the government in Buffalo and its corporate sponsors, and their worry that it isn't still all going to come crashing down anyway. Zone One is literary horror fiction, less about scares than it is about dread and despair. Bleak, reflective, and at times darkly funny, Zone One is a reminder that there are endlessly different ways to tell the classic zombie story. – Carl H.

“The Pendleton, a luxury apartment building originally built in the late 1800s, has a dark past which has been forgotten. Now, an evil entity has awoken, with phantom-voices muttering in strange languages, shadows creeping across the walls, and mysterious figures lurking in the basement, with the residents of the apartment fighting to survive the night.” This book is Dean Koontz at his finest. It’s one of his most terrifying and will keep you turning the pages well into the night. And you might want to leave extra lights on in your home while you read it. – Susan

When the Locke family—Mom, two brothers, and one sister—returns to the ancestral Keyhouse after a family tragedy, who is the mysterious young woman in the well that gives the youngest Locke child, Bode, an equally mysterious key? How is it related to their father’s murder and a secret that goes back centuries? Explore these enigmas and more in the 6 volume graphic novel masterpiece by Joe Hill. Mr. Hill is the son of Stephen King, and while this work stands very well on its own excellent merits, the themes echo those of King’s masterpiece of multigenerational horror: IT. – Karl

Edgar Allen Poe is the American master of gothic horror. Artist Gareth Hinds has illustrated some of Poe’s dark work and created a fantastic graphic novel. “The Telltale Heart” is one of my favorite stories about the heartbeat hidden beneath the floorboards and having that adapted to something visual adds a new level of spooky. – Heather

Angela Carter has been one of the most influential authors on my own writing style. Her powerful, flowing, twisting prose has fascinated me since the first time I read one of her stories, “The Company of Wolves,” which is included in this particular collection. The way she upturns and reworks fairy tales is both beguiling and frightening, which is the very essence of a fairy tale. Most people wouldn’t include a collection of fairy tales in a horror listing, what with Disney’s popular renditions. But the real stories, the original stories, are full of horror, for they are the stories that parents would tell their children at night just before sleep when the branches scratched against the windows and any number of bad things could happen. – Brittany

Looking to try out some classic horror this Halloween? Check out this illustrated adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula! Without this gripping tale, modern vampire fiction would look very different. The illustrated adaptation is the perfect read for someone looking to experience the story, but might be intimidated by the dense and hard to understand writing style. – Bridget

Okay, so, "horror" may be pushing it here. But it is a satire of classic horror movies! And there's a monster! That's something! In this Mel Brooks comedy classic, Gene Wilder is a descendant of the original Dr. Frankenstein who wants nothing to do with reanimating the dead. Until he decides to do exactly that after inheriting the Frankenstein castle, all its scientific equipment, and the servant Igor. Alternating between clever, raunchy, and delightfully dumb humor, Young Frankenstein allows you to take a break between horror movies while keeping up the Halloween theme. – Carl H.
Also available as a DVD: DVDs - 3rd floor Classics DV 4822

The Silent Hill series, especially the 2nd installment, brought an emotional depth to the survival horror genre, incorporating themes of guilt, grief, desire, and loss of innocence. Explore the eerily deserted but not entirely unpopulated town of Silent Hill, which incorporates elements of Lovecraftian mythology, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks series, and other horror tropes, and has in turn been an influence on later works such as the concept of the Upside Down in Stranger Things. – Karl