If the song I used for a title for this post is getting stuck in your head, you can listen to a really fun version right here on YouTube to see if that will help.
I don't read much horror. At all. I don't do well with modern horror, as my imagination is just too vivid. I'm haunted by memories of the three or four modern horror movies I foolishly watched while in college. The one exception tends to be vampires -- I understand how to defeat vampires, so they don't terrify me, generally. (This may come from being a firm fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer [1997-2003] and its spin-off Angel [1999-2004].) You'll notice that there are multiple books involving vampires on this list, heh.
All those links lead to my reviews here on this blog, if you are curious about them. The movie-style ratings are how I rated them when I wrote those reviews, but I haven't always done ratings, so one of these doesn't have one.
1. Break the Beast by Allison Tebo (PG-13) -- Beowulf retelling in which Grendel gets a chance to learn how to be something other than a monster
2. Dracula by Bram Stoker (PG-13) -- evil, as personified by a vampire, cannot defeat humans who trust in God
3. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (PG-13) -- an orphan is raised by ghosts and a vampire and various monsters
4. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (PG) -- wizards and witches and sentient scarecrows and fire demons all are no match for the power of kindness and good sense
5. Crack the Stone by Emily Golus (PG-13) -- retelling of Les Miserables in which Jean Valjean is a goblin
6. From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury -- an undead family protects a human boy, who writes down their life stories as he grows up
7. Coraline by Neil Gaiman (PG-10) -- a girl stumbles into a nightmare parallel universe trying to usurp reality
8. Night of Wonders by Charity Bishop (PG-13) -- a love story set in India with creepy ghosts who have backwards feet
9. The Goblin and the Dancer by Allison Tebo (PG) -- "Steadfast Tin Soldier" retelling where the villain/goblin isn't evil
10. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (PG) -- a princess and a commoner become friends and have some adventures which tangentially involve goblins
Have you read any of these? Are you also a horror lightweight? Did you do a TTT post this week? If so, what was it about? Do share!
Dracula and Night of Wonders are the only two of these I've read. I started to watch the movie version of Coraline once, but it creeped me out so much I quit part way through and never looked back. LOL. I'll bet the book would be much better.
ReplyDeleteDKoren, um, yeah, I would not want to watch the movie version of Coraline. My imagination can filter scariness a bit when I read, but not when I watch.
DeleteYay for Buffy and Angel! I loved those shows, although I didn’t start watching them until years after they aired.
ReplyDeleteLydia, well, I got into them during Angel's first season, which was Buffy's fourth, so I wasn't quite an OG fan either. Had to eventually catch up on the first three seasons of Buffy via kind friends with video tapes. And now have all the seasons of both on DVD -- in fact, season 1 of Angel was the first DVD I bought, and we bought our first DVD player so I could watch them!
DeleteI think my overactive imagination is the biggest reason I struggle to read horror books. Though I have made the mistake of listening to a few in the mornings when I'm getting ready for work and then get spooked when I open the garage door and something moves outside. Of course that could also be the time of day I'm going to work. LOL! Here's my TTT for this week: https://readbakecreate.com/halloween-creatures-book-tag-2026-edition/
ReplyDeletePam, yes, I have to be choosy because I do vividly imagine what I read, and so icky and gory and disturbing things can overwhelm me.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
I am also a horror lightweight, LOL! I wasn't in my teens, but now I am have. Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteCindy, it's not the worst way to live, right? :-D Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteIt would be good to rewatch Buffy and Angel. :)
ReplyDeleteLauren, they are soooo good even nowadays. The humor still absolutely slaps, and all the outfits and settings and pop culture things get me so nostalgic.
DeleteHowl's Moving Castle is such a good book. I wish I read it as a kid. I would have been obsessed.
ReplyDeleteAJ, same! I first read Howl's Moving Castle only a few years ago, when my son got obsessed with it and insisted I read it. The movie is great too, but in a different way.
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