On this evening of trick or treats, I have been thinking about the spookiest books that I"ve read. I'm not fond of horror, but I enjoy a good gothic novel. Hands down, my favorite book for Halloween is Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. Melding the magical and the mundane, this story revolves around two sisters who come from a long line of witches. They grow up in New England in a spooky house and are raised by their maiden aunts. Strange things regularly happen.... It combines Hoffman's always lyrical writing with a fantastical story sure to keep your interest. The movie is well worth watching too.
A more recent book with magical elements is The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Elizabeth Howe. Doctoral student Connie Godwin inherits an extremely old vine-covered house in Massachusetts filled with bottles and potions. Connie soon begins experiencing rather odd and frightening phenomena in this house. She finds a reference to goodwife Deliverance Dane and begins to use her skills as a historian to investigate what is happening. The story moves back and forth between Connie's contemporary life and accused witch Deliverance Dane's in the seventeenth century. This title is a case of art imitating life as Howe is related to both Salem's Elizabeth Howe and Elizabeth Proctor, women who were accused and convicted of witchcraft during the historic trials.
If you enjoy a story with an unreliable narrator, like Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train, you might enjoy a book that's been out for awhile, Flora by Gail Godwin. Set on the top of a mountain in the North Carolina woods in a decaying family home, this story is about love and regret. It's the end of World War II, and the father of the family is gone doing secret war work. His isolated ten-year-old daughter Helen, grieving the loss of her mother and grandmother, bonds ferociously with her summer caregiver, Flora. Oh, what will the summer bring....