Share your favourite spooky books for Halloween to win a box set of new edition Harry Potter books

[RachelMumsnet]

We're wanting you to share your favourite spooky tales / terrifying horror stories for both adults and children so we can put together a compilation of the best books for Halloween. Let us know which books send shivers down your spine by posting on this thread before the end of Friday 17 October. Everyone who contributes will be entered into a draw to win a beautiful boxed set containing all seven Harry Potter novels in new edition paperback.

House Of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski. Creepy as all hell. (Adults only!)

Tom's Midnight Garden springs to mind. I read it as a child and although not scary, I enjoyed the ghost element. Funnybones is a good one for Halloween for littlies and DD has enjoyed the Skulduggery Pleasant books.

The ghost stories of M.R.James are unforgettably chilling. Also the stories of Algernon Blackwood, not read as much these days but his best are seriously scary! Try "The Doll".......

As crazy as it sounds, I think that Wuthering Heights is spooky (amongst other things). Lots of supernatural images!

1. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (ghost story - teens/adults)

1. Coraline by Neil Gaiman (child/adult crossover - great film, too!)

1. Room 13 by Robert Swindells (Loved this as a 10 year old!)

Eaaily badjelly the witch by spike Milligan. No one I have ever met has heard of it, but it is legendary in my family, officially the best book ever!

I bought a copy for DH as our own personal pregnancy announcement. Bizarrely most kiwis and Aussies know the book due to BBC radio kids hour. DH is a kiwi.

Honestly if you don't have a copy, get one now. It is a kids book you will love more than them. And it has characters named fluffybum and mudwiggle!

However DH and I also adore zHP and the kids have Stephen Fry reading them the philosophers stone every night. Forget yoga, it is the best and most chilled out 15m of my day. I even re listen when I can't sleep.

Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad, by M R James. Also made into an excellent short film by the BBC for one of their annual Christmas ghost stories (but would advise to give the newer adaptation a miss).

The Monkey's Paw by W W Jacobs

Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

For children. These have long been favourites of ours

The Ghost of Thomas Kempe - Penelope Lively

The Phantom Cyclist (and other stories) - Ruth Ainsworth

There's another one we have. A short story, for younger readers, about a girl with a ribbon tied around her neck which she will never unfasten, nor tell why she must keep it so.

Ah! The story I was thinking of was called The Green Ribbon. From the book In a Dark, Dark Room and other Scary Stories, by Alvin Schwartz and Dirk Zimmer. Based on traditional folktales and stories, apparently.

One short story that scares me to this day, even though it's technically a children's story is called "The Shadow Cage"
I read it years ago in an anthology, and even now, over 30 years later, it still makes me shiver when I think about it.
It's by Philippa Pierce iirc and is truly spooky.
I definitely find the psychological scary stuff much more frightening than out and out "blood and guts" type stories.
Another one I remember is a sci-fi short. I can't remember the name and I think it could be by John Wyndham in his "Consider her Ways" anthology but not sure. It's one of those where the last line just caps the whole story and makes it all shivery and it's "look baby, lunch "
My favourite spooky story (to cheer myself a bit since I have to go up to bed, alone, in the dark, in a bit ) is "Humblepuppy" by Joan Aiken. It is a ghost story, but it has a happy ending and is so sweet, and I can read it to the children safely

A short story by Susan Hill called The Small Hand

On returning from a visit to a client, antiquarian book dealer Adam Snow takes a wrong turn and comes across a derelict Edwardian House. Overcome by curiosity he approaches the entrance and feels a small cold hand creeping into his own 'as if a child had taken hold of it'. Over the coming weeks he becomes subject to nightmares and panic attacks and further visits from the small hand. He vows to learn more about the house and its overgrown garden...

Am a huge fan of Susan Hill and Daphne du Maurier

I love horror stories especially the rats trilogy by James Herbert, and the beast house series by Richard Laymon, or the brother odd series by Dean koontz, or pretty much anything Stephen king has written. Ahh there's too many to choose from!!!!

For children I love the goosebumps books, scary but not too scary for my 7 year old.

The Spooks Books by Joseph Delaney are wonderfully chilling.

Great for teenagers and adults.

Dracula by Bram Stoker. Though ruined by Coppola.

As a teen I loved SK and was especially fond of Carrie and Misery.

Agree with Hansel and Gretel too. Why anyone would want to read this to their child is beyond me.

The Woman in Black - Susan Hill.. Terrifies me

The little stranger by Sarah Waters. The best ghost story for adults I've read in years. Intelligently written, a real page-turner with some disturbing aspects that make you question the narrator.

M R James' ghost stories are fab, as others have said, especially The Ash Tree, and Lost Hearts. I reread them every Christmas, all you need is a panelled room and a crackling open fire to really get the atmosphere!

I also like The Lost by Jonathan Aycliffe, and The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

Literally anything by Stephen King terrifies me, I went through a phase as a teen reading them. I think It frightened me most.

Also as a teen I read a lot of Lois Duncan. The spookiest was this one where these intelligent and talented children were selected to go to a fancy boarding school. It turned out though that the children were being used at the school, possessed by famous dead artists and authors and musicians. I can't remember what it was called.

I used to love Christopher Pike books. Chain Letter was a particular creepy, stalkery favourite.

As a child I loved the point horror books and the ghost of Thomas Kempe.

Now anytho g by James Herbert, especially the secret of crickley hall, the rats trilogy, the others and the dark. The dark is one of the creepiest books I've ever read.

1. Audrey Rose and The entity by Frank Design felitta

1. The Amityville Horror 1-3 by John G Jones

1. Incubus by Ray Russell

1. The exorcist by William Peter Beatty

Phil Rickman writes deliciously spooky books.

The magic cottage by James Herbert, I could only read it during the day as it creeped me out something stupid

Agree with Butch - The Woman in Black is creepy. Was glad to finish it - it gave me a sleepless night. Just something about that novel that really spooked me.

Whereas Dark Matter by Michelle Paver did absolutely nothing for me. DH recommended it to me as he'd found it really creepy, and he loves a good ghost story, the scarier the better - the sort that makes you want to sleep with the lights on stuff :o

DH says the best ones he's read recently are The Orphan Choir by Sophie Hannah, The Man in the Picture and The Small Hand both by Susan Hill, The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert and This House is Haunted by John Boyne.

I liked The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore - not really scary, but a ghost story all the same. Maybe more a study in loneliness and the effect it can have on the mind.