Those of you who are regular readers will know my love of a ghost story.  I really do have a bit of an obsession with creeping myself out to the point where my heart palpitates if I’m alone in a darkened hallway.

So, what better time is there to share my slightly unhinged reading habits?  Here are a few of my favourite supernatural and spooky reads…

 

Meg & Mog by Helen Nicholl

Frog in a bog, bat in a hat, snap crackle pop, and fancy that…

Colourful line drawings of witch Meg and her stripey cat Mog are perfect for little ones at Halloween. If the bright colours and simple illustrations don’t take you back to primary school in the 1980s your childhood was certainly deprived.

 

The Witches by Roald Dahl

As a child was there anything more thrilling as seeing an old lady wearing gloves, boots and scratching her head? She was most certainly a witch and thought you smelled of dog poo. My favourite Dahl book by far.

 

 

The Small Hand by Susan Hill

Imagine standing in an old garden looking out across a manicured expanse with a huge water fountain at the centre. A tiny child’s hand slips into yours. It’s icy cold. You look down and no one is there. Goosebumps much?

 

 

 

The Séance by John Harwood

The book that spurred my love of the ghost genre. Set in Victorian England it is a creepy homage to the ghost story traditions of old. Orphan girl Constance is left an unusual bequest from a distant relative, but it comes with a warning:

Sell the hall unseen; burn it to the ground and plough the earth with salt, if you will; but never live there.

If none of these classics take your fancy, stay tuned for Part II…