Celebrating Halloween as a university student is an ordeal and a half. Deciding where you’re gonna fall on the cute-to-slutty costume scale, being too broke to splurge on Loblaws’ mega-packs of candy, and recovering from post-midterm stress is enough to turn anyone off of the holiday. But fear not, dear readers! I’ve come up with a foolproof method to enjoy this accursed holiday that doesn’t even involve leaving your bed. Cue the candle light, turn the kettle on, and grab your fluffiest blanket ‘cause it’s time for some spooky book recs.
#1: Villette by Charlotte Brontë
Nobody does a ghost story better than the Gothic queen herself, Charlotte Brontë. Villette has to be one of my favourite novels of all time on account of its unforgettable protagonist, spunky love-interest, and mind-bending plot twist. Follow Lucy Snowe as she navigates her new job as a professor in the fictional town of Villette (based on Brussels, where Brontë taught and fell in love herself). The story is littered with graveyard scenes, dark cobblestone alleys, and even features a mysterious schoolyard ghost. As with Jane Eyre, Brontë explores the tension between morality and desire which the inadvertent cruelty of men inspire in her female protagonists. Let there be no doubt: Villette will haunt you.
#2: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
This novella inspired the Netflix hit, The Haunting of Bly Manor. A governess with a dark past is charged with the care of a little boy and girl who live in the English countryside. She quickly learns that their previous governess died under questionable circumstances and there’s an unknown man who roams the grounds that none of the staff seem to be able to account for?! Wild. As someone whose Pinterest is covered with pictures of luxurious country manors, it felt like such a treat to see a house like this brought to life—literally and figuratively.
#3: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Not to be confused with Susan Hill’s deplorable The Woman in Black, this novel is brought to you by Wilkie Collins, a.k.a. the father of the modern mystery novel. Madness, forbidden love, family secrets, and weird aristocrats jumble together in this book. The drama begins when Walter Hartright, drawing master of a wealthy family, encounters a woman dressed entirely in white on a dark English road. As Hartright investigates the woman’s identity, he also falls deeply in love with his client, Laura. I like this book more for its aesthetically pleasing dimension rather than for its plot or mystery alone. What can I say, I’m a sucker for the eerie English countryside! I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone just getting into Gothic lit, since Collins is responsible for originating many tropes, not just the Gothic genre, but horrors and thrillers as well.
That’s all for today, folks. Wishing you a fabulous spooky season!
