Spooky titles to bring back the Halloween shivers

Throughout October, a.k.a. Halloween month, we've been promoting all things horror and paranormal at our outlets. Halloween or All Hallow's Eve is marked every 31 October, on the eve of the Western Christian feast All Saints' Day, as a day to remember the departed.

The religious aspects of Halloween seem to have been eclipsed by how it is celebrated these days in many places, with activities such as trick-or-treating, costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, and telling, reading, or watching cerita seram being more common.

Scary season may be over but it's all about the atmosphere, isn't it? Relive the thrill with some spooky titles about the scary or the supernatural – preferably not by the likes of Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, and Stephen King. How about...

I Feed Her To Beast And The Beast Is Me (UK edition) by Jamison Shea
Hot Key Books
9781471414862

Perfectionist Laure Mesny is a Black girl struggling to succeed in the elite and cutthroat world of the Parisian ballet. But when hard work and success isn't enough to put her above her more privileged White competitors, Laure makes a deal with a sinister river of blood under Paris's catacombs. The power and influence she gains from this dark compact takes her to new heights and terrifying depths, compelling her to do anything to remain at the top. But how long can she keep this up?

Dark Demon Rising by Tunku Halim
Fixi
9789672128144

Corporate lawyer Shazral Abas lives the sweet life in Kuala Lumpur. About a decade ago, he left his kampung in anger. Now, a call from his hometown bears news that is estranged father is dying. Pak Abas is no mere villager but a bomoh, and he wants to pass something to his son before death. Will the law practitioner become a traditional healer? And just what is the true nature of Shazral's "inheritance"?

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig
Del Rey
9780399182150

Nate and Maddie do not have nice memories about their hometown in rural Pennsylvania. The former grew up with an abusive father and the latter, after seeing something in her room, started making creepy sculptures. Years later, both are married with a son and return to Nate's childhood home. Strange things begin to happen not long after. But what does all this have to do with a sinister presence that once haunted the tunnels, coal mines and mountains of Nate's hometown?

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf
HarperCollins US
9780062940964

At five years old, Suraya "inherits" a pelesit – a creature of darkness – that she names Pink. Pink used to belong to her grandmother, a witch who had just passed away. Suraya is initially welcoming of Pink, but as she grows older and becomes the target of bullies, she is increasingly uncomfortable with the creature's way of setting things right for her. When she becomes friends with a new girl at school, Pink feels threatened and starts acting up in jealousy. What will their fates be?

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
William Morrow
9780062227331

Pan Li Lan, wed against her wishes to a deceased son of the wealthy Lim family as a ghost bride, consumes a medium's preparation that boots her soul out of her body after one too many visits from her dead husband. Now a ghost herself, Li Lan embarks on an adventure to satisfy her curiosity over the family she married into. Avoiding animal-headed demon constables from hell tasked with capturing errant spirits is just part of it, as she risks finding out too much about her in-laws ... and becoming a wandering ghost forever.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
Titan Books
9781803363660

Centuries ago in Japan, a bride has herself buried under the foundations of a mansion to wait for her ghost of her deceased groom to return. For years after that, a girl would be sacrificed annually to keep her company. Perhaps the last place for a destination wedding in the modern day, but that's what a group of thrill-seeking friends do, and the bride's dream is to be married in a haunted house. Hosting nuptials over the bones of a dead bride from long ago is kind of like, well, asking for it.

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Hope these titles won't disappoint, and have a fun and scary time!