Halloween is my favorite day of the year, and reading aloud is one of my favorite activities. I do not have nearly enough time or excuses to indulge either of these loves of mine, so I have combined them into one glorious project. I had originally intended it to extend over all thirty-one days of October, but that turned out to be too much. Instead, I am going to read one creepy story for each of the twelve days leading up to Halloween, and then one on Halloween itself. I will be uploading the readings to Dropbox and sharing the links here. Audio only; no one needs to see my face.
I have spent an enormous amount of time just compiling the list of stories, trying to choose the perfect ones and arrange them in the perfect order. I combed the Internet and my own personal collection, and enlisted the help of some other horror fans who have excellent taste. I enjoy both scary and silly horror and I have tried for an even mix of the two for this project, alternating between them with each day and including a few different lengths so that hopefully there will be something for everyone. The schedule is below and links to text copies of the stories will be included in their individual posts when available.
I am really very excited about this!
- October 19: “”Snow, Glass, Apples” from “Smoke and Mirrors” by Neil Gaiman
- October 20: “The Black Velvet Ribbon” from “Tales for the Midnight Hour” by J. B. Stamper
- October 21: “The Specialist’s Hat” from “Pretty Monsters” by Kelly Link
- October 22: “The Black Mare” from “More Tales for the Midnight Hour” by J. B. Stamper
- October 23: “The Erlking” from “Nocturnes” by John Connolly
- October 24: “Tailypo” from “Still More Tales for the Midnight Hour” by J. B. Stamper
- October 25: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- October 26: “The Wendigo” from “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” by Alvin Schwartz
- October 27: “Harming Obsession” by Bev Vincent
- October 28: various Creepypastas: “The Bad Dream”, “Sarah O’Bannon”, “Wake Up”, “The Portraits”, “The Photographs”, “Upstairs”, “Cabinets”
- October 29: “It’s A Good Life” by Jerome Bixby
- October 30: various urban legends: “Aren’t You Glad You Didn’t Turn on the Light?”, “The Killer in the Backseat”, “Hairy-Armed Hitchhiker”, “Humans Can Lick Too”, “Letter of Intent”, “Clown Statue”, “Microwaved Baby”, “Bride and Seek”
- October 31: “Strawberry Spring” from “Night Shift” by Stephen King
