Every year, I enthusiastically volunteer to host the Halloween gathering of one my two book clubs. This year, I have the esteemed honor of hosting both Halloween book clubs in the same week, which thrills me to no end (honestly). As I write this newsletter, a pad of paper sits nigh with ideas such as "Original Sin Hummus" and "tampons for decor." We are reading Stephen King's "Carrie," naturally. And yes, I started the new Mike Flanagan show over the weekend!
In spooky literary spirit, it's time to round up a list of favorite scary reads plus a menu item to complement the theme for your next book club SPOOKSTRAVAGANZA.
"We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson: We're reading this in the other book club. I have not yet devised the menu because I'm focused on tampon decor, so this exercise is productive. Many people think "The Haunting of Hill House" is Jackson's masterpiece, but for me, it's this story of an odd girl whose family has a dark secret. They've squirreled themselves away in a strange manor that represents their otherness, a feeling the author knew much about.
Snack: A key plot point involves sugared berries, so this one is obvious and delicious. Just be careful who serves it to you.
"Witchcraft for Wayward Girls" by Grady Hendrix: Last year's book club pick centers around pregnant girls in 1970 who are sent to a strict corrective facility in Florida. There they discover a book on witchcraft. Horror ensues! It's a chunky seasonal read for anyone who likes a twisty and witchy plot involving sweet, sweet, female revenge. And who doesn't?
Snack: The girls are kept on a strict and bland diet in the home, which won't be appetizing at your party. However, there are worms aplenty in this book, so I'm going with a dirt pudding graveyard full of gummy worms.
"Severance" by Ling Ma: This post-apocalyptic and satirical indictment of empty millennial pursuits amid the last gasps of capitalism is not specifically a Halloween read, but it's atmospheric, haunting and rife with zombies nonetheless. It made me break town in tears in a brewery, but millennials do love crying in public. (This book has nothing to do with the TV show of the same name except that they are both rad.)
Snack: Excellent news for those who hate to cook. The survivors of the apocalypse eat whatever junky vending machine snacks they can find.
"Beloved" by Toni Morrison: This might be the most famous ghost story ever told, or at least the most lauded. Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows a formerly enslaved mother who escaped to freedom after the Civil War, settling in Cincinnati where her home is haunted by a malicious spirt that represents trauma and grief.
Snack: This novel calls for a feast more than a snack. Food features prominently, including biscuits, greens, cornbread, turkey, cobblers and pies. In full transparency, I did host this book club a couple years back and provided nothing of the sort. I failed.
"Tender Is the Flesh" by Agustina Bazterrica: Ugh. UGGGGGGH. This is one of those books that I will never stop thinking about but will never read again. It's so powerful and so disturbing. You're going to need a tough-as-nails crew of readers with a strong stomach to get through the Argentine author's imagining of a world in which animal meat is poisonous and humans are factory farmed. I TOLD YOU.
Snack: You know what? On second thought, just don't.
