Sorry I'm a bit late this week, but I wanted to actually finish this book before I rec'ed it. (Crazy, I know.) I was thinking it would be fun to rec a scary book this week, seeing as how Halloween is this weekend. But, I'm a bit of a wimp, really. The only time I've willingly watched horror movies was while doing research for a paper in grad school. With the lights on. During the day. So, I was having trouble committing to a truly scary book. I finally decided on Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, because I thought it might be spooky (I mean, look at the cover!) and I love Neil Gaiman.
From NeilGaiman.com:
Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place-he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their timely ghostly teachings-like the ability to Fade. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are things like ghouls that aren't really one thing or the other. This chilling tale is Neil Gaiman's first full-length novel for middle-grade readers since the internationally bestselling and universally acclaimed Coraline. Like Coraline, this book is sure to enchant and surprise young readers as well as Neil Gaiman's legion of adult fans.
I'd love to say that this book was super creepy and scared the bejeebus out of me, but it didn't. I absolutely LOVED this book, scary or not, and I've been telling everyone who will listen about it since I finished. First, Neil Gaiman is a master. That's a given, but this book is just about perfect. I loved every moment of it and was sad to reach the final page. The characters are brilliantly written, especially the dead ones. And Bod Owens is one of the best protagonists around. When I finished this book, I had chills (but not the scary kind), and tears in my eyes.
The Graveyard Book is a perfect pick for this week, especially if you're a bit of a wimp like me, but still enjoy a good book about dead people.
That being said, I'd love to hear your scary book picks! Do you read scary books? Or are you easily frightened, like me?
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Loved The Graveyard Book. Neil Gaiman is my writing hero.
ReplyDelete*sigh* Julie, I reference Neil in my bio on this site. He's so amazing that anytime I read anything by him I practically lose the will to write. But then I regain it, and usually pretty fast. ;)
ReplyDeleteI really need to get on with reading him! Everyone keeps recommending him and I just haven't picked him up yet! But, this sounds kind of awesome.
ReplyDeleteI used to read really scary books in high school--but, they would freak me out so bad that I'd have to read something afterwards, like a magazine, or another lighter book to make me not obsess with the book. I still like some scary books-like about zombies. But, while they don't necessarily scare me while I'm reading them, they haunt my dreams and I never really sleep because I keep waking up. Perhaps I should take up my old habits and read something between zombies and sleep :)
The scariest book I've ever read was Phantoms by Dean R. Koontz (I refuse to drop the R...and I stopped reading him since he dropped the R, not because of that, but b/c I stopped liking his books, but I think the R was perhaps related. Drops the R, drops the gift). I used to read it over and over and it would still scare the crap out of me everytime. I loved it.
I love this book! I actually have the audiobook, which Neil narrates. Freaking fantastic. I could listen to him all day! It's a (fairly) quick listen, and definitely worth it. Oh Bod, I adore you.
ReplyDeleteI don't read a lot of horror novels, but I do love all things zombie, especially graphic novels. The Walking Dead series is fantastic. So is World War Z, if you'd like a more rational perspective on the zombie apocalypse (no, I'm not joking... it could happen!).
ReplyDeleteWorld War Z was the one zombie book that really really haunted my dreams-it was so real!
ReplyDeleteI read the children's edition 'cause I didn't know that there were one for adults too. But I herd that the text should be the same - only the pictures were made scarier for the adult edition.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if that's true? If not, i would love to read the adult edition as well.