Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
The Halloween freebie post is one of my favourite recurring Top Ten Tuesday topics because Halloween is my favourite holiday of the year and I love seeing what everyone does with this theme.
Here are the Halloween posts I’ve written for Top Ten Tuesday in previous years: Free Horror Stories, My Favourite Halloween Treats, Halloween Picture Books, Halloween Things I’ve Never Done, Things I Love About Halloween, and LGBTQ+ Horror Novels.
This year I’m blogging about ghost stories which is one of those genres I return to over and over again and never grow tired of reading. The best ones in my opinion are the ones that end with the spirit finding closure with their death and being able to move on from this earthly plane. With that being said, not every tale follows that pattern as not every ghost was necessarily a good person in life or is currently able to heal.
Here are some of the best ghost stories I’ve ever read and still remember the titles of.
1. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
2. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
3.The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
4. Beloved by Toni Morrison
5. The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs
6. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
7. The Shining by Stephen King
8. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
If you like this genre, too, feel free to share your favourites in your comment if you wish!
Poe is so memorably creepy. It’s been DECADES since I read him, but the lyricity of his stories makes them linger on.
Yes, exactly!
Great list — I’ve read all of them except The Monkey’s Paw, so I”m thinking I should give it a try! I do love a good ghost story, and I’ve read a few really good haunted house books over the years… but nothing really beats The Shining.
For sure! Hope you like The Monkey’s Paw.
Great list. I’ve only read The Lovely Bones from your selection I think.
It was a good read in my opinion!
I have a copy of The Little Stranger but I’ve never gotten around to it. I hadn’t realised it was spooky. Maybe I’ll save it for next October…
May you enjoy it. Yes, there are several very spooky scenes in it.
Great post. I liked The Lovely Bones.
Thank you. 🙂
Ghost stories are the ones that terrify me the most but I do have Beloved on my TBR and I hope to read it one day. I just need to work up the courage! 😂
It’s very scary in some places, but i hope you like it if or when you read it.
Good seasonal topic.
Thank you.
I only read ghost stories accidentally! 😂😂😂 One I remember is The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Miao.
Oh, too funny!
I read The Shining a gazillion years ago and don’t remember much about it. I hope you have a great Halloween!
Thank you. Happy Halloween to you as well.
I don’t feel as though I’d LOVE ghost stories, BUT I have a movie or two that’s a “ghost” like tale that I enjoy. So maybe I would like them? I don’t know. I feel like a book like The Turn of the Screw (which I’ve seen) would be a good place to start. 🙂 Thanks for visiting my list today!
You’re welcome and that makes sense. 🙂
I love ghost stories, too, so your list is right up my bookish alley. ;D Simone St. James and Darcy Coates have both written some really good ghost stories.
Yay! I’m looking those two up now.
A few of these ghost stories are ones I want to read too! I read the Monkey’s Paw in 7th grade as an assigned reading and It stayed with me. The Woman in Black movie really creeped me out! & I did not know Beloved is a ghost story…interesting!
I hope you like them. Yeah, The Woman in Black movie was very scary.
Beloved has many layers to it. Hope you like if you read it or watch the film.
I really do need to read Beloved, I’ve owned it for quite a few years now.
It’s a modern classic in my opinion!
I love a good ghost story and some of my favs are on your list. Beloved is so good. Happy Halloween! I’m off to check some of your other Halloween posts.
Thank you. Happy Halloween to you as well.
The Tell Tale Heart really freaked me out as a kid!
It was so scary. 🙂
Every fall I want to read The Turn of the Screw and every year I put it off, I need to look for an edition to buy
I hope you love it when you read it. It’ a bit of a slow burn in the beginning, but the ending is wonderful.
I didn’t know Beloved was a ghost story 😂 thanks for dropping by my post!
Yes, it is! Or at least that’s one interpretation of the plot. I don’t want to give away spoilers by sharing what other possible interpretations might be, but it’s quite thought provoking.
I really enjoy your posts, and this week’s spin is absolutely perfect! I’ve read a few of these, but some others are on my TBR. I don’t usually go out of my way to read ghost stories, but these sound really good.
Thank you, Leah! I hope you like them if you read them, but no pressure.
I have only read Poe of this though I do want to read The Monkey’s Paw..
It’s such a good short story!
I remember reading The Tell-Tale Heart in high school and thinking, “Wow, this Poe dude is really messed up”. LOL! I love his work. Have a happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween to you as well. Yeah, Poe was something else.
I like a good ghost story too, as long as it’s not too terrifying! A shivery spine-tingler is great, but I don’t want nightmares, you know?
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
That makes total sense. 🙂
Edgar Allen Poe writes some of the best creepy stories (that I am not too scared to read, LOL). I should revisit his work sometime soon! I loved it when I was younger.
Happy TTT on a Wednesday! Somehow I scheduled my post in advance and then completely forgot yesterday was Tuesday, LOL.
Yes, he sure did!
Happy belated TTT.
Beloved is on my TBR and it has been for such a long time. Ghosts stories are ones that can be so good! Great topic!! Happy Halloween!
I hope you love it if or when you read it.
I do try to comment on your post every week, but your comment system doesn’t work for me.
Thank you for coming over to say hello!
Love The Tell-Tale Heart. I’ve never read The Shining, but I do love the movie (even though I heard they are not similar).
It’s been so long since I read the book that I don’t remember the differences, only that were were some. 🙂
We were thinking alike this week. I need to try The Monkey’s Paw.
Isn’t it fun when that happens? 🙂 Enjoy The Monkey’s Paw. It’s an especially good read around this time of year.
I like friendly ghost stories! Thanks for sharing your list!
You’re welcome. Enjoy.
The Monkey’s Paw and the Alice Sebold book are both ones I liked too! Great picks!
Thank you. 🙂
I hope you have a wonderful time tonight enjoying your favorite holiday! I’ve seen The Tell-Tale Heart and The Shining on a lot of lists. I know I’ve read Poe but I don’t think I ever did read The Shining and I’m too old and scared to do that now.
Aww, thank you. Yes, I had a great time.
And no worries there. The Shining was really scary.
I’m surprised by how many of these I’ve read, since I don’t usually read ghost stories! Mind you, a good ghost story doesn’t have to be horror…
So very true! It’s cool you’ve read a lot of them.
I never really thought about The Lovely Bones being a ghost story before, but it definitely is. I’ll have to check out some of the books here I haven’t yet read because I love a good ghost story. Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by my blog earlier this week.
You’re welcome. I hope you like the ones you haven’t read yet.
I’ve only read the last three you listed but all these books have such reputations for being chilling I know about them even if I haven’t read them!! I love your list!
Thank you very much. 🙂 Yes, they have chilling reputations for sure.