Harrowing Halloween Recommendations from NYPL's Horror Committee

The mist is rising, the wolves are howling, and the bats are starting to emerge from their caves; it's that time of year again! The New York Public Library's Horror Committee is here to take you by the (skeletal, clawed, and/or tentacled) hand and serve as your guide through forbidden forests, pumpkin patches and haunted houses. They've already spent all year carefully curating the most monstrous and macabre reads of 2021 for the diabolical delectation of readers everywhere. We asked this cadre (or do I mean coven?) of trained professionals, all of them well-versed in everything creepy-crawly, which must-read library books, movies and music they'd recommend to ensure your Halloween is, well... to die for!

Read the full list below... if you dare!

David Cronenberg has been my all-time favorite director for many years, but his son Brandon is catching up quickly! Possessor plunges you into the inner workings of a shady conspiratorial tech company that hacks random people’s minds and compels them to do horrible things. It’s visceral, sadistic, needlessly gory and will make you paranoid for a long, long time. A masterpiece! Plus, any movie that features Jennifer Jason Leigh is automatically worth watching in my book.

What do you say about a horror anthology with so very many standouts? Though the stories in Tiny Nightmares are works of very short fiction (each 1,500 words or fewer), the scares they generate are positively outsize and will take up massive space in your brain. The book’s dedication reads "For all of us, screaming in horror" and I’ve never felt more seen.

—Exsanguinating Isaiah Pittman is the Adult Librarian at Inwood Library. He would also like to give a shout out to the anthology Voices in the Darkness (edited by David Niall Wilson) and old Vincent Price horror films, especially Theater of Blood.

One of the hallmark texts of Gothic horror, Matthew Lewis'sThe Monk still holds up since its publication in 1796. With its titular character, driven by lust, and adding in a bleeding nun ghost and Lucifer along the way, the book plays out like an eighteenth century soap opera from hell.

Wondering what shoujo manga would look like if it was created by Dario Argento? I haven’t, but Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House is amazing all the same. This is one of the most insane horror films out there, following a simple premise—a young girl invites her friends to stay over at her aunt’s house—but shot through a kaleidoscope of blood, exuberant colors, evil white cats, man-eating pianos, and lots of bananas.

—Rachel “Possessed” Kahn is an Adult Librarian at Sedgwick Library. She would also like to give a shout out to horror films of the silent era (particularly Benjamin Christensen’s Haxan and Tod Browning’s The Unknown), and Rachel Harrison’s deliciously witchy new book Cackle.

Nobody does literary fiction and makes it creepy like Joyce Carol Oates. Dis Mem Ber is a short story collection that blends mystery and suspense with a hefty dash of horror. ‘Welcome to Friendly Skies!’ is a standout story for those who dislike flying. For those who do enjoy flying (i.e. birds), Joyce also contributed a story to Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow, which explores our feathered companions, in all their magic and mystery. Other contributing authors include A.C. Wise, Seanan McGuire and Usman T. Malik.

French psychological horror like Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Diabolique has stood the test of time partly due to the acting of Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot and Paul Meurisse and partly thanks to a 1996 remake. Still not convinced yet? Check out the trailer on IMDB.com!”

—Jenny “Lugubrious” Baum is a Librarian currently at Mulberry Street Library. She would also like to give a shout out to horror author and feral kitten rescuer Brian Keene.

The Internet is awash in the artwork of writer/artist Itō Junji, from the countless memefied panels of his deeply horrifying manga to freaky sketches of his beloved cats, Tenmaru and Tomichi. But if you want to take the plunge into his corpus of cosmic horror, Gyo: The Death-Stench Creeps can be a great initiation. A fast-paced, stomach-turning thriller of rot and the end of the world that asks the horrifying question: what if dead fish had sharp legs? It's cosmic horror in vast, overwhelming hopelessness, but Ito’s most visceral and apparent draw is bloody disgusting drawings, illustrating bodies that already look sickly and then twisting them into shapes they just… shouldn’t take on.

If it is Halloween, I also need to mix visceral with that feeling of cold wind through wilting branches. Something that brings out those distinctly autumn creeps is Through the Woodsby Emily Carroll, a graphic collection of six stories full of dark pastorals and folktales drenched in blood. Minimalism and disturbing plot twists meet in "His Face All Red," the tale of a younger brother living in the shadow of a stranger he both recognizes and knows to be false. "The Nesting Place" is a chilling, absolutely freaky story about disturbing beasts, only to end on an unexpected, tearful note that shows even monsters share our universal fears. Carroll illustrates the book in dark toons, frequently highlighted by blood-red amidst the autumn leaves. It’s great any time, but ideal for the season.

—Jon “Haunted Scarecrow” Shapiro is the Information Assistant and Teen Programmer at Spuyten Duyvil Library. They would also recommend two spooky treats for the audio-inclined. One shout out to Rusty Quill’s epic horror serial The Magnus Archives, a blend of every sort of horror under the sun with mystery and a lot of heart. The other shout out goes to the collective discography of Aurelio Voltaire, whose upbeat, spooky cabaret will have you bouncing around your living room.

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the Salem Witch Trials. Set 60 years before the trials began, Robert Egger's The Witch: A New England Folktalecaptures the essence of one of the darkest chapters in American history. Historical accuracy permeates the film in various forms, be it the sets, costume designs, or the period-typical dialogue that is lifted from historical transcripts of real exorcisms. This horror film is a slow-burn descent into madness with one of the most chilling final shots I've ever seen.

If you enjoyedThe Haunting of Bly Manor or The Innocents, I recommend going back to where it all started: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. This novella follows a young governess as she struggles to keep two orphans safe from the sinister forces they seem to strangely desire. In its exploration of madness, repression, and the supernatural, The Turn of the Screw encapsulates everything I love about the Gothic.

—Estefania “Oooky Spooky” Velez is the Young Adult Information Assistant at Woodlawn Heights Library. She would also like to give a shout out to Dark Histories podcast and the creepiest horror movie nobody knows about: Lake Mungo.
 

The Woman in Black absolutely terrified me. Although the novel was published in 1983, it reads like a classic Victorian Gothic novel. So much so, in fact, that the story begins with a family gathered for Christmas Eve and telling ghost stories, which was tradition. The story centers around Arthur Kipps, a lawyer, who travels to the town of Crythin Gifford to settle the estate of the late Mrs. Alice Drablow. At her funeral, Arthur sees a woman dressed in black that only the children seem to be able to see. As he stays at the isolated Eel Marsh House, which is cut off from the mainland during high tide, sorting through Mrs. Drablow’s papers, he is haunted by the tragedies that occurred in the family and have spread to the community. The novel was adapted into a 2012 film, with some liberties taken, and stars Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps.

If haunted music is more your speed, I recommend Now That's What I Call Halloween. It has a mixture of movie music (including the "Halloween" theme and "This is Halloween") with some fun deep dives, like Oingo Boingo’s "Dead Man’s Party’"and "Ghost Town" by The Specials. It’s the perfect album to get you in the spooky spirit, with low cheese factor.

—Angela “Queen of the Damned” Switzer is a Children’s Librarian at Riverdale and would like to give a shout out to Cackle by Rachel Harrison, which was one of her favorite books this year, and Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a Halloween tradition.

Since I spend most of my year reading horror, I tend to devote most of the Halloween season to watching horror. I like to start my spooky season off with something fun, light, and campy before switching to darker, more heart-pounding fare. While not traditional horror like The Exorcist or The Thing, Robert Zemeckis’s Death Becomes Her is just SO MUCH FUN. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn play two aging frenemies who have been engaged in a back and forth rivalry for decades until things finally turn deadly. The body horror is excellent, the lines are iconic, and it has a scene where Goldie and Meryl are trying to beat the living daylights out of each other with shovels. What’s not to love?

Now if you’re looking for horror that is a little out there and different from your typical slasher fare but still features quite a bit of blood and gore check out The Brood written and directed by David Cronenberg. The premise: a father is trying to gain custody of his daughter after suspecting his mentally unstable wife of abuse. The wife is a patient at an experimental psychiatric compound directed by a doctor who believes that the best way to get through your past trauma is to give in to your unbridled rage...I think you can guess what happens next. If you’re the type that likes to discuss and dissect your movies afterwards, I think this one has a lot you can work with. There’s the horror scenes themselves, the vicious cycle of trauma within families, what the heck was that ending?!, etc.. The list goes on!

—Amanda “A Monster” Pagan is a Children’s Librarian at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library and would also like to give a shout out to Mystery Science Theater 3000’s episode, "Night of the Blood Beast" if you’re looking for a fun, schlocky 1950s B-movie. Funnily enough, that’s actually one of their Thanksgiving episodes. Also to piggyback off of Jon Shapiro’s shoutout, Aurelio Voltaire also has a Gothic homemaking YouTube channel so if you want to add some spooky pizzazz to your home all year round, check it out!

For a dark and vengeful story, check out Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitcheryby Brom. A young British woman is forced to marry a farmer in a Puritan colony in Connecticut and struggles to stay out of trouble in the strict society she would not have chosen for herself. After her husband's sudden death, Abitha must ensure her livelihood alone while keeping mortal and supernatural enemies at bay. Abitha's plight and encounter with the sinister entity Slewfoot collide with whispers of witchcraft in the town, taking readers on a twisted journey. 

If you've been wanting to visit Neil Gaiman's alluring world in The Sandman series, start at the beginning with The Sandman Volume 1: Preludes & Nocturnes (illustrated by Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, and Malcolm Jones III). For readers who want an unsettling and at times gory visual experience, this series wraps a fantastic narrative in chilling and fun landscapes. Follow cosmic being Dream as he escapes accidental capture by occultists (who actually wanted his big sister, Death) and travels Earth, the underworld and beyond for his scattered objects of power. Not for the faint of heart, this will pull you in and make you wary of sleep.

— Bre “The Banshee” Jeffries is the coordinator of the College and Career Pathways program. She would also like to shout out Scream, Queen! which is a comedy horror podcast from a queer, BIPOC perspective talking about horror movies through lenses not usually represented (sure to give you great recs, commentary and laughs) and the atmospheric survival horror game The Last of Us Part I & II for those who love a heartfelt and compelling story, incredible creature design...and an elevated heart rate while at the controls.

Hellboy: The Complete Short Stories Vol. 2by Mike Mignola: Hellboy, "the world’s greatest paranormal investigator" is the best comic series ever (in my opinion) and a lot of what makes it great is Eisner Award winning author/illustrator Mike Mignola’s mastery of the eerie. While the vast comic series is a cinematic, longform epic about the reluctant Beast of the Apocalypse and his weird friends coming up against the end of the world, where it shines are in the one-shot short stories that pepper the series’ nearly 30-year run. Hellboy investigates haunted churches, graveyards, ancient ruins, abandoned villages and backwoods shacks and encounters all manner of horrible creatures from folklore around the world. These could be big, splashy superhero stories but Mike Mignola and long-time colorist Dave Stewart (also a perennial Eisner Award darling) always manage to keep things creepy and subdued in the absolute best way. Even when the stories are funny, which they often are, there is always a beautiful sense of macabre solemnity.”

My second recommendation is The Great God Pan and Other Horror Stories by Arthur Machen. This is one of the big ones. The title story of this collection is the story that inspired nearly every important horror purveyor of the twentieth century. If you enjoyed the weird fiction of H.P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard, loved Pan’s Labyrinth, The Wicker Man, or Altered States, generally just enjoy eerie, creepy tales of strange science and eldritch things beyond human comprehension (and who doesn’t?), you have to read The Great God Pan. It’s both spooky and educational! A lot of your favorite classic masters of horror were directly inspired by this story and you can trace much of what the twentieth century found deeply, intensely frightening to this very novella.

—Brian Levy, aka Dr. Dracula “Skeletons” Frighten-Master, is an Information Assistant at 53rd Street Library. The main thing he would like the horror-inclined to see is Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories. If you like Tim and Eric then you already know what their whole thing is. They're mainly trying to make people laugh, but many Bedtime Stories episodes end up being deeply unsettling and disturbing but remain funny in a very specific “if you get it, you get it” kind of way, but it’s mostly a horror show. There are also straight-up comedy episodes, but they’re always spooky… except for the “Bathroom Boys” episode. That’s just a goofy dumb-dumb episode. Otherwise it’s very dark and spooky!

You haven't read a vampire story until you've read one by Stephen King. King is a master storyteller and 'Salem’s Lot, one of his earlier novels, is a great example of that. Ben Mears returns to his hometown of Jerusalem's Lot and moves into an old mansion hoping to gain some inspiration for his new book. Instead, a young boy disappears and suddenly the town is under siege by dark forces. As people slowly start disappearing and the town changes, Mears realizes things may spiral to a point way beyond anyone's control. One thing that King does well is write characters, and this is no exception. He draws the reader completely into the town and as events take a turn for the worse you can't help but feel a part of every twist and turn. This book was my introduction to King as a teen and it stays with me to this day.

Staying in the vampire theme, the classic '80s film The Hunger is one of my favorites. Vampire Miriam lives off the blood of her lovers who don’t age until she no longer has a need for them. John, her current companion, discovers his time is ending and he will die in 24 hours. He seeks the help of a doctor who doesn’t believe him until Miriam chooses her as her next victim. This is an iconic film and a fun ride. Miriam’s seduction of the doctor, played by Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon respectively, is both sensual and creepy. David Bowie as the lover about to die is, well, Bowie, and he makes the most of his short time on screen. Add to that the classic '80s soundtrack and you’ll have a bloody good time. Not the scariest vampire film but certainly on the list of ones to see.

—Chasity “I’ll Tear Your Soul Apart” Moreno is a Librarian in the Ask NYPL department. She would like to give a shout out to two anthology television series, Tales from the Darkside and Monsters for bringing her creepy good fun as a child and cementing her love for horror.