8 Frightful Fictions for Halloween Eve

Let's be honest: there is an endless list of horror stories you could find in any bookstore that could give you the required Halloween chills. But if you care to step outside of the horror genre just a bit, you'll find some classic fiction, some science fiction, some mystery, and even some fantasy. Check out these eight fiction stories for your Halloween weekend:

The Vampyre

"It happened that in the midst of the dissipations attendant upon a London winter, there appeared at the various parties of the leaders of the ton a nobleman, more remarkable for his singularities, than his rank."

"His character was dreadfully vicious, for that the possession of irresistible powers of seduction, rendered his licentious habits more dangerous to society."

Frankenstein

"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change."

"The labours of men of genius, however erroneously directed, scarcely ever fail in ultimately turning to the solid advantage of mankind."

Coraline

"Coraline went over to the window and watched the rain come down. It wasn't the kind of rain you could go out in - it was the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed where it landed. It was rain that meant business, and currently its business was turning the garden into a muddy, wet soup."

"Now you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names."

"I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn't mean anything? What then?"

And Then There Were None

"Ten little Indian boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine."

"I don't know. I don't know at all. And that's what's frightening the life out of me. To have no idea...."

"If this had been an old house, with creak­ing wood, and dark shad­ows, and heav­ily pan­elled walls, there might have been an eerie feel­ing. But this house was the essence of moder­ni­ty. There were no dark corners - ​no pos­si­ble slid­ing pan­els - it was flood­ed with elec­tric light - every­thing was new and bright and shining. There was noth­ing hid­den in this house, noth­ing con­cealed. It had no at­mo­sphere about it. Some­how, that was the most fright­en­ing thing of all."

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

"And he would have passed a pleasant life of it, in despite of the Devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was—a woman."

"Brom Bones, too, who shortly after his rival’s disappearance conducted the blooming Katrina in triumph to the altar, was observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related, and always burst into a hearty laugh at the mention of the pumpkin; which led some to suspect that he knew more about the matter than he chose to tell."

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Disclaimer: this one is not for the faint of heart. Or the easily squeamish. Or those with anything near vivid imaginations. Unless you enjoy being creeped out, frightened, and generally terrified.

What are your favorite Halloween reads?