The Curator: let's get spooky 👻
a spooky fall reading guide, full of new and trustworthy titles, for all moods and vibes.
Last week I shared my weird habit of turning to witchy stuff when in need of a comfort read. A few of you graciously shared your comfort reads in return that inspired me and maybe also put my little witch stories to shame (Proust!). You dear readers make this all worth it, so thank you. 🧡
Enough feelings. Let’s get spooky!
As you may have guessed from my professed love of witches, I love all things spooky, including books. Hence MY fall reading guide is strictly spooky. I understand that it’s summer September not even fall September, but look. We have less than seven weeks until Halloween. We need to cram as many endorphins into these next few weeks as possible until the turkeys and snowmen take over (the very amazing impressive OC famous Roger’s Gardens artisanal boutique starts Christmas on OCTOBER 6TH. WTF).
I know what you’re thinking. What’s the vibe of this guide? How terrified am I going to be?
Think: any song by Danny Elfman, skeletons in costumes, the Disney Channel original movie Halloweentown, people in loafers acting superior, gothic retellings, vampires with manners. Creepy visions and psychic children but we aren’t taking off people’s skin and wearing them as outfits. Instead, we are wearing cute ghostie sweaters, drinking coffee, and enjoying a little murder or mayhem.
I want you to feel some kind of way when you read this fall, but terrified out of your socks just ain’t it. If I wanted that I would make you watch Hereditary.
I have to admit I was overwhelmed by the prospect of bringing you a spooky reading guide. THERE ARE SO MANY CHOICES. Also I love lists. I love categorizing and comparing. My love language is listicles. That’s why this newsletter is called the curator. But long lists are boring. Your time is precious.
Instead, I’m bringing you a super scientific breakdown of what you should read this fall season based on your personal Spooky Vibe. I hope this list helps you find a new or new-to-you read that makes your spooky season that much better. Or at least more tolerable. Godspeed!
FURTHER READING →
If you get overwhelmed by too many choices, I love this more curated spooky reading list.
Or if maybe the opposite is true, here are 34 books to read this fall.
Oprah needs you to have a spooky night in with these 33 books.
Spooky Reading Guide📓
By Spooky Vibe. You are allowed to be all types. Run free my child.
The Classic Reader
Your ideal spooky season entails sipping cider, watching Hitchcock films, and taking moderately frightening haunted hayrides without needing to document the whole thing for Instagram. These are the titles that have stood the test of time, appear on fall reading lists year after year, and whisper humans have always been a little creepy. Which makes them perfect for your secretly creepy ass.
Feeling let down by your own average regular non-haunted house? Go for The Haunting of Hill House by Miss Shirley Jackson. Hate your family and feel a kindred spirit to Wednesday Adams? Try another Shirley classic We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
Perhaps you live in perpetual childhood, nostalgic for the days when you could run wild in the street but concerned about death (?) even at the tender age of 13. Pick up The Halloween Tree or Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.
Of if you take the Hitchcock thing seriously, Psycho by Robert Bloch will scratch the itch. Thinking more malevolent-spirits-as-vehicles-for-exploring-the-psychological-effects-of-slavery? It’s Toni Morrison’s Beloved.
The Lit Fic Reader
Your perfect spooky season is a mix of modern macabre cultural art exhibits, watching horror movies with strong female protagonists, and debating candy corn vs. peeps as the most appalling Halloween candy. A modern-day classic in the making, the lit fic choice is a tit above the rest in their superiori-tee, which makes these books perfect for your sophisticated taste.
If your favorite part of the fall season is purchasing a new pair of loafers to go with your inflated self-worth, you need The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
Looking for something slightly goth but still prize-winning level so you won’t be embarrassed on the train? Try The Keep by Jennifer Egan or White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi.
Maybe you are exhausted with beauty culture and the impossibility of keeping up your perfect good looks? I’m prescribing Rouge by Mona Awad AND Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado.
The Cultish Reader
You, my friend, live on the edge. Your ideal spooky season involves deeply disturbing haunted houses, pounding back anything seasonally flavored as long as it’s spiked, and watching The Crow on repeat. These are the authors with a cult-like following, some heavy nostalgia, and a mystique that precedes their name. Pumpkin spice Zima, anyone?
If your idea of a good time involves listening to Nine Inch Nails on vinyl while posting cryptically worrisome quotes on stories, get Carrie by Stephen King. If you’d rather listen to Fiona Apple on cassette while reminiscing about your long-lost Tumblr, My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix is your best bet.
Perhaps you like your vintage repurposed furniture-laden house with a side of sinister? Go for The Shining by Stephen King. If your style is more Paranormal Activity than vintage, I’d say House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski is right up your alley.
Looking for a sexy goth to sweep you off your Doc Martened feet? You’ve got two options: Interview with a Vampire or The Witching Hour by Anne Rice.
The Cozy Reader
And lastly, the sweet baby angels. You are the romantic observer. Your spooky season is full of cozy millennial beige textiles, artisanal handcrafted decorations, and increasingly obscure pumpkin-spice-flavored items. Nothing truly spooky in sight.
If you want a slightly spooky version of Jane Eyre to show your book club you’ve still got it, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is sure to get the gals going.
Like a little witchcraft with your romance? Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper is soothingly spooky. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen will also give you hope that not all men are evil incarnate.
Or if you’d prefer making generational witchcraft your entire personality, try the four-part Practical Magic Series by Alice Hoffman.
If your gentle Halloween is more Stranger Things meets Stand by Me, The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson is all you will ever need.
🧡🧡🧡
READING →
I did it. I started Demon Copperhead. I received quite a lot of encouragement on Bookstagram when I expressed hesitation to get started and now I’m hooked - sometimes all we need is a little support! I’m also halfway into Eliza Clark’s upcoming Penance - it’s like a podcast and Summer Heights High gave birth to an interview transcript but somehow I have to see it through.
BUYING →
I’ve now purchased this fancy olive oil set for a coworker’s wedding and for a friend’s 40th. It makes an excellent gift that is functional, consumable, impressive, and doesn’t require you to know their favorite color or really anything else about them.
WATCHING →
I finally FINALLY got Mark to watch the 90s cult classic The Craft. Maybe it was last week’s many Craft references or it just came up during his doomscrolling but we both watched the whole thing without falling asleep and it was every bit as wonderful as the last 18 times I watched it.
NEW BOOKS →
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff - Even though I own four of her books (book buying is a separate hobby from book reading), Fates and Furies this year was my first Groff. She’s a challenging author with a payoff if you can stick with it. Her new historical fiction sounds important and entertaining, as I’ve come to expect: “At once a thrilling adventure story and a penetrating fable about trying to find a new way of living in a world succumbing to the churn of colonialism. The Vaster Wilds… that tells the story of America in miniature, through one girl at a hinge point in history, to ask how--and if--we can adapt quickly enough to save ourselves”.
Rouge by Mona Awad - Perhaps my MOST anticipated book of spooky season, Rouge is “a horror-tinted, gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother's unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty.” Even though it was published back in 2023, Awad’s Bunny is still the ultimate weird girl accessory so I imagine Rouge will now be the ultimate SPOOKY weird girl accessory of the season.
Peach Pit: Sixteen Stories of Unsavory Women edited by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley - OK you know those cool girls who somehow know about all the cool things before everyone else? This is that in book form. Published only two days ago, it already has a weird indie cult following: “A stunning anthology of fierce and dangerous women, featuring stories from Lauren Groff, Deesha Philyaw, K-Ming Chang, and thirteen other award-winning and bestselling authors”. Can’t wait to order this and let it sit on my shelf so I can feel cool too.
LINKS →
Everyone is currently obsessed with Mona Awad’s new book Rouge (see below). Seems fitting it’s about seeking perfection.
Americans are apparently losing faith the in value of college (and perhaps a liberal arts education).
RESTACK OF THE WEEK →
I loved this post from
about not loving a book until you do. Sometimes it’s perfectly okay - even better! - to set aside a book until the time is right. Also perfectly fluffy biscuits.LET’S CHAT →
This week: Leave a comment with your favorite all-time spooky read. From this list, I pick two - The Halloween Tree and Something Wicked This Way Comes both by Ray Bradbury. He is the MASTER of creepy cute.
Or per ush, let me know what you’ve been reading in the comments. I’m always game for a good rec (or warning, grievances, etc. ). If you tell me your favorite TV show or movie lately, I’ll give you a book recommendation.
In Case You Missed It 🖤
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See you around the bookshelf!
Natalie
10/10
This was spectacular! Are you doing one for this year?!
I’m not a spooky book, show, or movie person, but I do enjoy your newsletter. My fave parts? The Christmas WTF on Oct 6th, the condescending loafers person, fancy flavored olive oils (I cook my eggs with them 😋), and your one-line descriptions of each book (really fun).
I gave up on Barbara Kingsolver because after a while I felt like she had a formulaic style and repetitive themes. I’ve been told Demon Copperhead is not her usual fare. Have you read her other stuff? Can you opine here?