Monstrous Reads for Our Favorite Ghouls
[Photo by Joy Marino from Pexels]
It’s spooky season once again, and while everybody is gearing up to bring the scares and take it easy on Halloween night this year, there are some beings in the many realms of the known and unknown who are in their heaviest work season of the year—the monsters. Every year, people talk about what a burden it must be for Santa Claus to go about his appointed rounds, but what about those creeps who dole out the frights in October? Don’t they get any empathy? With that in mind, check out this list of books that would be perfect reads for some of our favorite ghouls before they lay their heads down to sleep.
Pinhead and The Piercing Bible by Elayne Angel
Created by Clive Barker for his novella, The Hellbound Heart, Pinhead has become one of those cult classic monsters that has a nearly rabid fan following. His appearances are many, in film, comic books, novels, and perhaps soon, television. As one of the most alternative horror characters, Pinhead is covered in piercings and also likes to use the practice of piercing on his victims as a means of torture. That is why The Piercing Bible would be a perfect match for the dark destroyer of souls. Body modification and art techniques change all the time, and there is no doubt that Pinhead might need a little bit of brushing up.
Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Bookshop
The Sanderson Sisters and Cursed Objects by J.W. Ocker
Hocus Pocus is a Halloween classic. No October is complete without witches. For a lot of people, those witches are Winifred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson. The Sanderson sisters are an interesting lot whose entire story is driven almost solely by two cursed objects: a candle which brings them back to life nearly three hundred years after their deaths, and a book of evil spells wrapped in the skin of a dead man. Perhaps if the Sandersons ever make it back to this earthly realm, they might have better luck seeing their plans to fruition with some new items. That is why Cursed Objects by J.W. Ocker would be a perfect match to help them prepare for their next attack on Salem, Massachusetts.
Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Bookshop
Leather Face and The River Cottage Curing and Smoking Handbook by Steven Lamb
Leather Face is clearly one of those artisanal type guys. He makes his own leather goods (including masks), he is handy with gardening tools, and he seems like the type of guy who would be into curing his own meats. He does have the meat hooks to do it. That is why The River Cottage Curing and Smoking Handbook would be perfect for Halloween’s favorite Texan. After a long hard day of murdering, he could easily cure himself up a little long pig and refuel for the next day’s labors.
Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Bookshop
Dracula and Stuff Every Cheese Lover Should Know by Alexandra Jones
He may not drink wine, but Count Dracula is a fancy guy. His favorite drink of choice must have distinct flavors and undertones based on its vintage. A nice cheese pairing would go well with nearly any red liquids. That is why Dracula needs to get to studying up Stuff Every Cheese Lover Should Know. Always the consummate host, the good count would be ashamed if he had a poorly planned cheese pairing.
Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Bookshop
Pennywise the Clown and Balloonology by Jeremy Telford
Everybody loves a clown, right? Not so much when that clown is Pennywise. The monster from Stephen King’s novel and films, It, might be great at dancing, but he could really use some work on upping his balloon game. All he does is carry around big red balloons to hand out to the kids of Derry, Maine. Maybe the kids would be way more into it if he were working some balloon animals into his clowning gigs. That is why some time with Jeremy Telford’s Balloonology would be perfect, even if Pennywise had to start out small by making snakes.
Buy the book:
