Books to take to the beach that will scare you out of the water

I recently made the excellent decision to read Tananarive Due's wickedly, chillingly wonderful short story collection, Ghost Summer, just after a dip in the James River. The first story kept me up all night worrying about what would happen to me. (I'm fine...so far.) Seriously, this book is insanely creepy and wonderful. It has literally every kind of scare: zombies; post apocalyptic things; conjure tales; vengeful ghosts; possession; good ol' swamp monsters. Put this in your beach bag and keep an eye on what might be lurking in the lake.

Ruth Ware's (author of In a Dark, Dark Wood) The Woman in Cabin 10 JUST walked in the library and leaped right into my weekend reading pile aaaand I'm already done with it. Fans of Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train) and Emma Healey (Elizabeth is Missing) will love this damp and claustrophobic thriller with a wonderfully flawed, unreliable narrator, set on board a cruise ship. No vacation destination is spared.

Now for the gross-out novels to end all gross out novels: Nick Cutter's nightmarish and cleverly disgusting  (sort of series?) The Troop and The Deep.  If you liked The Ruins by Scott Smith but thought it would have been better with worms, The Troop, a terrifying tale of Boy Scouts trapped on an island with a science experiment gone horribly awry, is for you. If you thought The Troop could have been a whole lot ickier, then go check out The Deep and never, ever get back in the water again. Fan of Stephen King's Dreamcatcher and Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted--these are for you.

BLOGtober Fest: Thrills and Chills!

I've been waiting for this all year. The leaves are turning, the days are shorter, decorative gourds are EVERYWHERE. It's time for round-the-clock scary books and movies at my house. Halloween is in, like, 2 days! TWO. DAYS. Can you believe it? I'm knee-deep in falling foliage and pumpkin spice EVERYTHING, fiendishly devising ways to strike terror in the hearts of little trick-or-treaters. If you are still craving something terrifying to read under the covers, alone with nothing but a flashlight in a creepy, creaky old house, then bolt the doors and check out a few of these RPL bloggers' favorite thrills and chills!

Natasha: "I recommend Ransom Riggs!!! Both books, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Hollow City." The reason why I am obsessed over these two YA reads is because of the eerie mysteries that coexist with the involvement of the characters in these stories. The photography is wonderful as well and brings an alluring element to the books. I am really looking forward to Tim Burton's film adaptation to the first book.

Ellen: "Here's one I bet none of you has read: "The Night Country" by . . . wait for it . . .Stewart O'Nan! (He can do ANYthing.) On the Halloween a year after three teenagers are killed in a horrific wreck, they come back to finish the job. Move over Ray Bradbury and Shirley Jackson: something wicked and deliciously scary, and literary to boo(t)" - (sorry, couldn't resist.)"

Tonya: "I recommend anything by Ransom Riggs and Dan Wells (the "I am a Serial Killer" trilogy.) Also Rick Yancey's Monstrumologist series is brilliant."

Natalie: Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky gives me chills! This Russian sci-fi novel originally published in the Soviet Union in 1971 has been newly re-translated and restored to its uncensored glory. An advanced alien race temporarily set up shop somewhere in Canada and has since evacuated, leaving behind dangerous and mysterious alien stuff. Terror ensues as people known as "stalkers" try to collect and study the extraterrestrial refuse. It inspired the Andrei Tarkovsky (Solaris) film Stalker, and apparently a video game of the same name.

It by Stephen King is insanely scary. The novel about a terrifying clown terrorizing children usually needs little introduction. Just say "They all float down here" and watch people shudder. Egad I'm still creeped out and I read it 20 years ago. (Fun fact: I enjoyed a brief correspondence with The King when I was a wee 12 year old library patron. I wrote to Mr. King to ask him for a list of all the books he had written because I was going to read them all and wanted to do so in chronological order. He replied promptly with a complete list. I followed up to suggest he write more stuff like The Langoliers because it was my favorite and it wasn't too long. He wrote back to thank me for the suggestion. Emboldened by two replies I wrote again, this time to extend a formal invitation to a Halloween party at which, of course, he would be the guest of honor, but he had to wear a costume. He declined. In a fit of pique, or perhaps simply embarrassed by my own earnestness, I destroyed the letters.)