by Public Service Associate Juliana
Many Octobers I have steeped myself in scary movies, but this year I feel driven to read something scary. There’s no better place to start than with a classic from horror queen, Shirley Jackson. When I searched the fiction stacks I found The Haunting of Hill House. Orange and black cover, inky, black-edged pages and the title in gothic font, I was immediately obsessed.
It occurred to me to recruit my husband to read it as well. We could make a spookfest of the season, read late into the evenings while bats flap above the school across the street, chat about our progress each morning over dark roast coffee. If he reads it too, at least he will understand why I’ve started asking him to leave the lights on.
Fear of the dark aside, I’ve begun to approach the horror genre with curiosity. While horror can often be gory and gratuitous, it’s rarely without some kind of overarching commentary. When it comes to horror, author Nat Cassidy says he’s made it his life’s work to defend it “specifically because of its unique ability to allow us to address larger issues under the cover of entertainment.” Horror can convey societal issues and anxieties in ways that create space for dialogue about difficult topics.
As a new fall tradition, invite someone to read with you and meet up for a pumpkin spice latte and bookish conversation. Here are a few novels to get you started: The Changeling by Victor LaVelle, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, or Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.
