Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday: Creepy Books To Read For Halloween





This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is a Halloween free-for-all. I can write about whatever I want! I’m going to show you some of the creepy/suspenseful/corpse-filled books I am looking forward to reading. Have you read any of them? Let me know if they are worth my time.






My Creepy TBR








Age of Blight: Stories by Kristine Ong Muslim


What if the end of man is not caused by some cataclysmic event, but by the nature of humans themselves? In Age of Blight, a young scientist's harsh and unnecessary experiments on monkeys are recorded for posterity; children are replaced by their doppelgangers, which emerge like flowers in their backyards; and two men standing on opposing cliff faces bear witness to each other's terrifying ends.













A government special agent known only as the Signalman gets off a train on a stunningly hot morning in Winslow, Arizona. Later that day he meets a woman in a diner to exchange information about an event that happened a week earlier for which neither has an explanation, but which haunts the Signalman. 
In a ranch house near the shore of the Salton Sea a cult leader gathers up the weak and susceptible—the Children of the Next Level—and offers them something to believe in and a chance for transcendence. The future is coming and they will help to usher it in. 
A day after the events at the ranch house which disturbed the Signalman so deeply that he and his government sought out help from ‘other’ sources, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory abruptly loses contact with NASA’s interplanetary probe New Horizons. Something out beyond the orbit of Pluto has made contact.













American War by Omar El Akkad


Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, that unmanned drones fill the sky. And when her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she quickly begins to be shaped by her particular time and place until, finally, through the influence of a mysterious functionary, she is turned into a deadly instrument of war. Telling her story is her nephew, Benjamin Chestnut, born during war—part of the Miraculous Generation–now an old man confronting the dark secret of his past, his family’s role in the conflict and, in particular, that of his aunt, a woman who saved his life while destroying untold others.













When a newly engaged couple climbs Mount Ararat in Turkey, an avalanche forces them to seek shelter inside a massive cave uncovered by the snow fall. The cave is actually an ancient, buried ship that many quickly come to believe is really Noah’s Ark. When a team of scholars, archaeologists, and filmmakers make it inside the ark for the first time, they discover an elaborate coffin in its recesses. The artifact tempts their professional curiosity; so they break it open. Inside, they find an ugly, misshapen cadaver—not the holy man that they expected, a hideous creature with horns. A massive blizzard blows in, trapping them in that cave thousands of meters up the side of a remote mountain . . . but they are not alone.













Molly Mavity is not a normal teenage girl. For one thing, her father is a convicted murderer, and his execution date is fast approaching. For another, Molly refuses to believe that her mother is dead, and she waits for the day when they’ll be reunited . . . despite all evidence that this will never happen. 
Pepper Yusef is not your average teenage boy. A Kuwaiti immigrant with epilepsy, serious girl problems, and the most useless seizure dog in existence, he has to write a series of essays over the summer . . . or fail out of school. 
And Ava Dreyman—the brave and beautiful East German resistance fighter whose murder at seventeen led to the destruction of the Berlin Wall—is unlike anyone you’ve met before. 
When Molly gets a package leading her to Pepper, they’re tasked with solving a decades-old mystery: find out who killed Ava, back in 1989. Using Ava’s diary for clues, Molly and Pepper realize there’s more to her life—and death—than meets the eye. Someone is lying to them. And someone out there is guiding them along, desperate for answers.













Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from. 
Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remains, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it's time to go, but the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat—blindfolded—with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?












The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells


In The Island of Dr. Moreau, a shipwrecked gentleman named Edward Prendick, stranded on a Pacific island lorded over by the notorious Dr. Moreau, confronts dark secrets, strange creatures, and a reason to run for his life.












The Black Project by Gareth Brooks


Getting yourself a girlfriend is easy, according to Richard. All you need is papier mache, string, soft material, a balloon, some old fashioned bellows, and a good pair of scissors. The difficult bit is keeping her secret. Set in an English suburb in the early 1990s, this is the story of Richard's all-consuming passion for creating 'girls' from household objects. But as his hobby begins to flourish, his real life friendships and family relationships deteriorate.













Georgian London. Summer 1763. 
Anne Jaccob is coming of age, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. When she is taken advantage of by her tutor—a great friend of her father’s—and is set up to marry a squeamish snob named Simeon Onions, she begins to realize just how powerless she is in Georgian society. Anne is watchful, cunning, and bored. 
Her savior appears in the form of Fub, the butcher’s boy. Their romance is both a great spur and an excitement. Anne knows she is doomed to a loveless marriage to Onions and she is determined to escape with Fub and be his mistress. But will Fub ultimately be her salvation or damnation? And how far will she go to get what she wants?













As a child, Luke’s mother often tells him the story of the Dumb House, an experiment on newborn babies raised in silence, designed to test the innateness of language. As Luke grows up, his interest in language and the delicate balance of life and death leads to amateur dissections of small animals–tiny hearts revealed still pumping, as life trickles away. But as an adult, following the death of his mother, Luke’s obsession deepens, resulting in a haunting and bizarre experiment on Luke’s own children.















Have you read any of these? What did you think?








29 comments:

  1. I haven't read any of these, but Age of Blight and Ararat sound super creepy!

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  2. These all look so psychologically creepy! I have to say American War isn't really my style but it looks like a fascinating read.
    My TTT

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  3. These are all new to me. The Arsonist looks good.

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  4. I've only heard of one of these before :o fail lol I loved the book I've read by Stephanie Oakes so I think I'll definitely have to check out The Arsonist :)

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  5. I liked Ararat...slow burning, creepy and atmospheric for the first half then kicks off into demon style action second half.

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  6. Awesome list. I really, REALLY want to read Bird Box. You've reminded me that I have to go get this one. The Arsonist is on my list too.
    Rebecca @ The Portsmouth Review
    Follow me on Bloglovin'

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  7. These all sound delightfully creepy! And I haven't read any of them except The Island of Dr. Moreau! Bird Box has been on my TBR for AGES and I can't believe I forgot about it--I think I was saving it for October... oops. I seriously want to read all of these now, they all sound amazing. It looks like my TBR will be growing quite a bit today... Great list!

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  8. The Arsonist and The Black Project sound very good!! (*adds to TBR list) although, if I may be honest, I thought The Black Project would be about something else. Great books and Booooooooooo! Happy Halloween ;)

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  9. I love creepy books and this sounds like a great list!

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  10. I haven't had the pleasure of reading any of these books. This is a seriously creepy looking list. I want to read Ararat, Bird Box and The Dumb House. Thanks for sharing these!

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  11. There are so many of these that I want to read: Bird Box, Ararat and The Butcher's Hook. I have copies of all of them, I just need to find time!

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  12. The Arsonist was FABULOUS!! I totally recommend that book. It wasn't creepy-- just super good and mixed history and mystery together so well.

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  13. I adore this! I haven't read a few of these but there's so many titles that caught my attention on here that I kind of want to read ASAP

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  14. Hi AJ, what a great Halloween inspired list! Some of these are truly creepy... I can't imagine being buried in an avalanche! I too want to read Bird Box!! It sounds so good with her not being able to see... Agents of Dreamland caught my eye too... something so creepy about out in the middle of nowhere...

    I love top 10 Tuesday... Here is my post if you're interested in my choices <3 https://wp.me/p3LRfZ-6Vt

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  15. Thank goodness October is over. I like light and fluffy, not creepy and scary, BUT I do want to read The Arsonist. I have heard too many awesome things about it, so it is high on my list of "try-to-get" books.

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  16. American War sounds absolutely amazing. I hope you love it and all of these!

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  17. I'm really interested in American War as well...what should be fantasy may be all too plausible :(
    Butcher's Hook too has my curiosity piqued!
    Enjoyed your list!

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  18. The Arsonist looks especially interesting-!

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  19. Ooh, good and creepy! Christopher Golden writes some really scary books -- I'll have to check out Ararat!

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  20. I need to add Bucher's Hook and Bird Box to my TBR they sound right up my alley! I also need to finally read Island of Dr. Moreau. Great list!

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  21. I haven't read any of these, but they do sound very interesting and creepy!

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  22. I just added American War, The Butcher's Hook, and Ararat to my TBR list!

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  23. I haven't read any of these, but I really want to try Bird Box of these especially. :)

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  24. Bird Box has been on my TBR for ages! And the Island of Doctor Moreau is so good. If you haven't already, you should consider giving The Mad Man's Daughter.

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  25. I'm not a fan of creepy books, but I read The Arsonist! It's not so much creepy as suspenseful/thrilling. There's definitely violence and mystery and intrigue, though. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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  26. Agents of Dreamland has such an interesting title!

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  27. I haven't read any of these, although I have heard of many of them. The Arsonist is one I would really like to dip my toes into and see if I like it. The Island of Dr. Moreau is is one I would like to read as well. I am not familiar with The Butcher's Hook, but I'm intrigued by the blurb--and the cover.

    I hope you enjoy all of these!

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  28. Some new to me titles here, but I've been meaning to read The Dumb House for the longest time - I've heard a lot of good things about John Burnside's writing.

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  29. Interesting list! I love seeing what people do with the "freebies."

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