Shiver Me Timbers

It's a chilly windy October day. Big masses of clouds push around in a bright blue sky. I love this weather. Trees are swaying, flouncing what's left of their leaves. The groundcover greenery is dead. Halloween decorations are going up. That's one of my goals today, make the place look a little spookish.

Last night I finished "Something Wicked This Way Comes". This is at least the 5th time I've read it, but the first time I noticed how very Stephen King-like it is. Which of course is backwards, because Bradbury wrote it in 1962. Actually, Stephen King is very Bradbury-horror-like. Next will be The Haunting of Hill House, the Jackson story that creeps me right out. I haven't decided whether it'll be Her Fearful Symmetry or Heart-shaped Box after that. Or maybe I'll take up The Best Ghost Stories of MR James.

If you've never read any James ghost stories, here are a couple to start you up:

"A Warning to the Curious"
http://www.litgothic.com/Texts/warning.html

"Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad"
http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/owhistle.htm

And here's more than you'll ever need to know about M.R. James, himself.
http://www.thin-ghost.org/
Most of his stories are also available on that site, and I highly recommend "The Scrapbook of Canon Alberic". Talk about shivers.

And for those who like the real classics, here's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Washington_Irving/The_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow/The_Legend_Of_Sleepy_Hollow_p1.html

Enjoy a nice spooky read tonight. Pleasant dreams...