As the days are getting shorter, the sky darker and the proliferation of strange and spooky paraphernalia starts taking over, it can only mean one thing. Halloween!
Now whether you’re a Halloween lover or a Halloween hater we’ve got the perfect books and events for you on this spooky weekend.
Now where better to start a blog about Halloween than with zombies. But Zone One isn’t just any zombie novel. This is a zombie novel with brains. In this brilliantly original take on the post-apocalyptic horror novel, Colson Whitehead shakes up the zombie genre with genius results. But don’t just take my word for it – Olivia Laing at the New Statesman thought this… ‘The smallest of details is marked by originality of language… this profoundly thoughtful novel is above all visual, creating its topography of the future with meticulous care… Zone One is a dark mirror, to be sure, but there is no doubt it is our own age that is being scrutinised here’.
Click here to listen to a section of our audio edition to get you in the Halloween mood!
For those who’d like dress up and celebrate Halloween with a literary edge, there’s Stories Before Bedtime, in association with the Reader Organisation and Vintage Classics. Stories Before Bedtime is a wonderful event of late-night readings on Friday 28th October at the Criterion Theatre, designed to champion the love of reading and stories and to transport the audience back to when being read aloud before bedtime was a fundamental part of one’s daily life. So get dressed up in your favourite Halloween oufit, order a Devil's handshake cocktail from the bar, and listen to Mark Gatiss (of the League of Gentlemen) reading E.F.Benson and Tim McInnerney (Notting Hill, Blackadder) reading M R James.
Now the adaptation of Susan Hill’s spine-chilling The Woman in Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame, isn’t hitting the big screens until February, but this is the perfect opportunity to read the book before you see the film! I’ve only just read the 1983 classic (shame on me) – and am very glad I’ve finally done so! Menacing, nail-biting, eerie, chilling, terrifying – it’s the perfect ghost story. A word of advice – try not to read it in a public place, my little jumps of terror definitely confused my fellow commuters. Here’s the trailer for the film to whet your appetite…
And speaking of chilling classics – why not take a look at some of our terrifying Vintage Classics. From Dracula to The Turn of the Screw, and Frankenstein to The Murders in the Rue Morgue – there’s a classic for any dark, creepy October night.
Enjoy your Halloween!
Vicki, Vintage Marketing