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.

Turn of the Screw by Henry James! So spooky.

For me it is The Shining by Stephen King. Always scary...

Fun, spooky and educational books for babies and toddlers are BabyLit's Frankenstein and Dracula from the same series. I will be buying them for my daughter. Frankenstein is an anatomy primer and Dracula a colour primer. So cute!

I'd love to win this set because I have not read Harry Potter yet! I might be the last person over 10 years old left who hasn't...

If I had all the books there would be no excuse not to - I'd snuggle up with a blanket and a cup of tea on the sofa when the kids are asleep and read the whole series this autumn/winter. What a treat that would be - a full and long series to look forward to, with no waiting between books! :)

Also, I love paperback books!

Fingers crossed!

My kids are all massive fans of The Gruffalo, and Harry Potter, and if I'm honest I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to scary ... but not quite so bad as my DH who cower behind a cushion whilst watching Scream!! However, I have just read a wonderful book Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta and I've told so many people about it - it's a MUST READ. It was proper nail-biting stuff, expertly written and I had to read it super quick ... you can't leave terror and fear hanging in the balance!! Fingers crossed we manage to win the Harry Potter set, as we've not read all the books and my two youngest have misplaced and/or damaged the ones that I had!

For kids: It's already been mentioned but definitely 'Grimms Fairy Tales'... They are the perfect antidote to Walt Disney's fairytales! (Even though Grimms' came first!)

For Adults: I picked up a Val McDermid book once, at the library, totally unaware of what was to come in the next pages! I had no clue what her genre was. After, I discovered Sophie Hannah, then Tana French. Psychological thrillers are now my new favourite genre!!

I just know I've read other scary books. Back when I was a teen. But I can't remember what. OOH a quick google search informs me that they were the Point Horror series! The first one I remember reading was called 'Krazy 4 U'. Wow, that's just taken me back! ;)

Thanks to the pp who mentioned Haunted House by Jan Pienkowski - I'd forgotten all about that! Absolutely loved it as a kid. Another one I loved was the Reluctant Vampire by Eric Morecombe. More silly than sppoky, as you might expect from that author.

The small hand by Susan Hill is creepy. I agree Dark Matter by Michelle Paver too.

The Owl Service by Alan Garner. Spooky, strange and an interesting reworking of a lovely, ancient Welsh myth.

Tales of the grotesque and arabesque by Edgar Allen Poe

I have to say that Frankenstein wins every time for me as one of the best horror books, purely for its chilling description and portrayal of the monster.

I remember as a child forcing myself to read my favourite point horror books every Halloween and failing miserably!

Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Footsteps on the stairs by C.S Adler.

Lovely but creepy when you are 11.

The Woman in Black is my own personal spooky favourite - guaranteed to send a shiver down the steeliest of spines!

And for children - older ones might enjoy Which Witch by Eva Ibbotson 9assuming you can still buy this!), a spooky take of a competition to see who can be the darkest witch. Or for smaller readers, perhaps Spider Sandwiches, a favourite of my three year old. Delightfully disgusting!

Misery by Stephen king

The Haunted Cottage by James Herbert was rather spooky.

The Haunted Cottage by James Herbert is rather spooky.

'Dark Matter' by Michelle Paver. I think its better if you go into it not expecting to have that big terrified moment though. The fear sort of creeps up on you through the atmosphere of the writing. I originally read it because I was a big fan of her 'Chronicles of Ancient Darkness' children's books. 'Dark Matter' is definitely adult's literature though, it's terrifying!

'Little Stranger' by Sarah Waters is another great one. Lots more going on beyond the ghost story, a really fantastic read.

Grimm's fairy Tales was my favourite book as a child, although the Little Mermaid suffered for her love, & The Little Tin soldier had me in tears. Most of the stories had some frightening parts in them but I read them over & over again. Stephen King has now become my horror author & I do like The shining for being rather frightening.

The Exorcist

not ghost stories in genre or anything like that but deffinetely mind numingly distrubing and scary at times are karin slaughter books for adults.but hell does she make you fall in love with pysch thrillers.she is amazing.

for kids i always remember goosebumps.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK!

Room 13 by Robert Swindells immediately comes to mind as one from my childhood, I would say aged 9+, it was that good a book that I still have it

Good story with some scare included, the story isn't lost in the attempt at being scary. Its good one to start with at that sort of age because its not too scary

Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake by Bernard Taylor is a fantastic little story contained within Julian Lloyd Webber's compilation, Short Sharp Shocks. It's about a baby left in a pram outside the pub whilst his mum drinks, when she eventually goes back to him, he kills her and gets a nice adopted family. It finishes with the adopted parents standing over his cot saying how he'll never know what happened, and what a bad start he'd had. Then we switch to the baby's thoughts, who basically had done everything on purpose!! Beware new mothers, treat them well.........or else!!

JubJubBirds, I'm with you. The Michelle Paver Dark Materials was really scary. The Little Stranger also made me feel very uneasy. Both excellent books.

When I was a child I read the Complete works of Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy Tales and Stories. Some of these were quite scary as a child to find the characters being horrible.

As an adult Stephen King's novels send a shiver down the spine

I've always found Stephen Kings Pet Semetary one of the scariest books I've ever read. I only read it once when I was a teenager & have never had the courage to read it again.