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A long time ago, before the internet gave us pictures of cats in pumpkins to celebrate Halloween, people liked to gather together and tell scary stories. Even before Halloween as we know it became an official holiday the end of the harvest, the shortening of the days, the impending winter, and the chill in the air sent people rushing to huddle around a fire eager to scare each other witless. It wasn’t just about the fun of seeing who could be the last man standing, there was also a bond that was built that would be needed for the bleak months ahead. This was the case long before master of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe was even in short pants (which probably caught fire, given his luck), but after his works started to gain popularity there was a whole new batch of horrors for people to soil themselves to!

Poe’s works were visceral, unapologetic, gruesome, and psychological. He pioneered the “singular effect,” which basically meant if your aim is to write a scary story every single thing you put to paper should be for the sole purpose of making your reader curl into a fetal position and cry. Poe’s works are almost always from a first person perspective, meaning you jump into a person’s brain every time you read one and it seems like they’re always begging you personally to back them up. 

It also makes them the perfect works to read out loud in the storytelling tradition. For the audience, they get to see a performance rather than a reading, and for the reader, well, who doesn’t love the excuse to go a little mad from time to time?

In a world of graphic visual violence we often forget how terrifying just sound can be (until we hear something at the window while we’re trying to sleep and remember we live on the 10th floor). This Halloween, instead of just opting for another slasher-movie fest, or eating your weight’s worth in snickers, why not gather a group of friends together, dim the lights, and have a ghost story party? Special Guest star: Edgar Allan Poe. Plus 1: Terror.

Here are my top recommendations of Poe works to accomplish your singular effect of scary fun! Happy Halloween!

Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to…read?!? This year, instead of giving books to your Halloween visitors (because those get heavy!), fill your neighbor childrens' plastic pumpkins with one of these sweet book-inspired confections.

Being a werewolf is no walk in the park. How do you handle changing at the full moon every month? How do you prepare? Thankfully, The Worst-Case Scenario Handbook: Paranormal Edition has this totally covered. A good thing, too, or who knows what would happen.

Chances are, if you're a Quirk fan, you enjoy a good scary story. I mean, here at the Quirk HQ, we publish our fair share of them. The Pride & Prejudice & Zombies series, The Resurrectionist, Horrorstor, Bedbugs, Stuff Every College Student Should Know… the list goes on. 

Last October, we released an eBook exclusive reprint (ePrint?) of Suburban Legends by Sam Stall. A collection of creepy TRUE short stories of horror in the suburbs, it was a fun book to work on. And to promote it, we posted a number of excerpts on our Scribd page.

Since Halloween is quickly approaching, I figured we should give these to you guys once again. So here you go, four true stories of horror from the suburbs. 

Suburban Legends: Roadside Assistance

Suburban Legends: The Prime Time Poltergeiest

Suburban Legends: The Goatman Cometh

Suburban Legends: Guess What's Coming To Dinner?

Enjoy! 

Photo via Story World Central

In October, everyone—even those of you who aren’t horror fans—is tempted to read a creepy novel. Here are five steps to follow when reading a scary story. You’ll be terrified in no time.