Keep the Lights On - a reading challenge

Autumn is here, and hopefully cooler temperatures will usher in soon. What do you think of during autumn? For me, it’s sweaters, hoodies, hot chocolate, throw blankets, curling up with a few good books, school, hearing the cheers of football games from my house (I live a block away from the local field), costumes, pumpkins, squash soup, and trick-or-treating.

During October in particular, I also think of scary stories. That, most naturally, got me thinking of potential reading challenges for this spooktacular month. Since I don’t support most horror stories but know other people enjoy being spooked by them, I thought this month’s reading challenge should allow for various degrees of fright.

Speaking of scary movies, one of the few horror movies I’ve actually seen [and even better, enjoyed] was The Bat {1959}, starring Agnes Moorehead; it wasn’t really scary to me, more of a murder mystery, but it’s classified as “horror.”

KEEP THE LIGHTS ON READING CHALLENGE

Read books from any combination of these categories:

NIGHTTIME WALK

Mystery books are great for this time of year. They often are whodunits but not super scary or extra tense (although, I’m sure there are a few that push into those areas). Authors who have books in this genre include Anna Katharine Green, Julianna Deering, Louis Tracy, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Agatha Christie, and Lois Gladys Leppard.

FREAKY COSTUMES

Thriller stories are generally fast paced and keep you on the edge of your seat. Sometimes they’re scary, but other times not so much. It really depends on the author’s style and each particular book. Some authors in this genre are Lynette Eason, Ted Dekker, Dana Mentink, Aurthur Marchmont, Lisa Harris, and Robert Ludlum.

HAUNTED HOUSE

Suspense books range from mildly suspenseful to full-blown psychologically scary. Some authors who write this genre are Dee Henderson, Sandra Orchard, Liz Johnson, Patricia Bradley, Terri Blackstock, and Colleen Coble.

Since I don’t like horror books, I won’t create a category for them. However, in case you enjoy them, I will allow them for this challenge. They will be considered bonus books. Stephen King is a popular mainstay of this genre, and one of my trusted friends says that Fred M. White is fairly clean.

Note 1: Some of the above-mentioned authors write for the general market, which means they might not be completely clean of questionable content. Reader discretion is advised.

Note 2: Sometimes suspense and thrillers are put into the same category, because they are similar. If you are unsure of which category a book belongs in, feel free to ask. I’ll be glad to look it up for you and/or ask my friends who might know.

Acknowledgements: Thank you to the Chatter Box Girls (my writing & encouragement buddies) for helping me out with some authors for these categories. You ladies are amazing and so helpful in sharing some of your favorite authors with my readers and me.

What are some of your favorite thriller, suspense, and mystery books?

How do you celebrate Halloween, if you do?

What sort of things do you associate with autumn?

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Last call for those Back to School books!