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[stills from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Paramount Television]

October, the month of Halloween, has long been the time to revel in fears and scares. For the crew of Starfleet vessels, however, they have no time for safe cathartic thrills when constantly threatened by hostile species, new forms of alien life and the harsh environment of space. It could seem counterintuitive to believe that Starfleet officers are afraid of anything when they so regularly prove themselves to be cool under pressure, calmly handling the week’s latest potentially deadly crisis. Yet these Starfleet officers have rather unconventional fears – nonplussed by a Romulan sneak attack, but intimidated by something far less deadly.

[still from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, 20th Century Fox]

Stephen King once said, in the original foreword to Night Shift, that “the great appeal of horror fiction…is that it serves as a rehearsal for our own deaths.” With Halloween around the corner, scary stories are everywhere – on TV, on the bookshelves at your local indie, under your bed – but why do we get so excited about stories that give us goosebumps that we turn into something resembling brain-hungry zombies?

Have you ever wondered where the expression “monkey on my back” comes from? Fret no longer. Quirk Books is here to help with that dang monkey.

[still from The Walking Dead, AMC]

The Walking Dead presents a harsh look at the difficulty survivors of a post-apocalyptic event have in banding together, surviving, and trying to create some semblance of normalcy. We’ve spent the last few seasons watching how Rick and the group cope with the new world order and struggle to retain their humanity as they have to survive against zombies and other people who might wish them harm. How might these other characters fare?

Picking the perfect name for your furry friend can be a challenge. And when there's a challenge, what do we turn to? Good ol' literature. October is Adopt a Shelter Pet Month, so to celebrate, we are giving you nine dog and nine cat names inspired by books to help you figure out what to name that wonderful new pet you’re hopefully bringing home from the shelter!

This weekend, The Walking Dead returns after an agonizingly (thanks to the season 6 finale's doozy of a cliffhanger) long hiatus, and we already know that, as always, Rick and his ragtag gang of survivors have managed to get themselves into quite a pickle. Not all of our favorites made it out of season 6 in one piece, and for those who are left, things are looking (again, as always) rather grim.