No unfortunate happenings got in the way of me posting this on time in October, I just wanted to indulge in Halloween, so I didn’t set aside the time to work on it. October was a strange month, as it was so eventful that it didn’t just fly by, but I also find myself marveling at how little I was able to finish doing with respect to the blog. Work has continued to be a lot busier than normal. I also managed to do a lot of fun things for the Halloween season, though, so my life still has a little balance.

Enough rambling about life, we’re here to talk about books!

New Books

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is a book I’ve been interested in checking out for a while now. There’s plenty of great literature out there that I haven’t touched, but I’ve heard enough talk about this book from creators/artists I follow that my interest has been more piqued. I actually know more about the background of the author than the story itself, as he tragically ended his life before his manuscript was accepted for publication. Goodness knows when I will get around to it, but I was pleased to find this like-new-looking copy in a local thrift store.

I’m pretty sure Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët was previously featured in one of these posts, though I’m not sure how long ago it was. I bought it as a Halloween read for this year, though it’s not precisely a horror book. It does, however, include rather dark and disturbing scenes. I used a birthday code to pick this one up, so I suppose it as a gift to myself, and as it turns out I really did treat myself. It’s an unsettling tale of pixies forced to live in the wilderness after fleeing their home, with their darker impulses overcoming their better natures in a way that starkly contrasts the style of the beautiful watercolour art.

I also picked up Black Paradox by Junji Ito, which is an Ito story from the late 2000s, continuing my trend of picking up each new book of his as they’ve been newly released in English. It wasn’t strictly a horror book, though it definitely included some frightening imagery, and I’m happy I was able to read it for the spooky season.

Novel Discoveries

Hyperion by Dan Simmons is a fantasy novel from the 1989 recommended to me by a coworker. We spent a lot of time the other night talking about books, the work of Dan Simmons coming up from him. We spoke about a lot of things, so I don’t clearly remember what was said about this book specifically, only that this is one he recommended above all others. So, it is added to the ever-expanding to-read shelf.

The Great God Pan and Other Horror Stories by Arthur Machen is a bit redundant because I already have a tiny book including that titular story on its own. However, I really want to read more Machen and have been meaning to pick up more of his work for a long time, and this hardcover edition by Oxford University Press looks really appealing to me, so it looks like I’ve finally found one I’m determined to pick up.

Closing Thoughts

I was able to have a more relaxing Halloween night, despite how busy work has been, including pumpkin carving and watching Halloween 3: Season of the Witch, which was an okay film. Then, I used some free time to myself to read through Beautiful Darkness. I kind of wish I had squeezed in another horror film, but I haven’t actually finished Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities yet, so as per usual I’ve still got horror content on the horizon.

How did you spend your Halloween? I’d love to hear about it.

Until next time, thank you for reading.