Tag Archives: Halloween

Ghouls for Love: Halloween Romance

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Looking for romance with a spooky twist? Are you a die-hard romance reader but want to flirt with a little fear? Taste a little terror? Give some of these titles a stab. They run the gamut from historical to contemporary romance and some are sweet while others are a tad racy. All of them are to die for.

DEAD ROMANTICS by Ashley Poston (DB 108912)

“Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead. When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father. For ten years, she’s run from the town that never understood her, and even though she misses the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric, loving family and their funeral parlor, she can’t bring herself to stay. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed. And she hates it. Until she finds a ghost standing at the funeral parlor’s front door, just as broad and infuriatingly handsome as ever, and he’s just as confused about why he’s there as she is. Romance is most certainly dead . . . but so is her new editor, and his unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories.” Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.

EX HEX by Erin Sterling (DB 105193)

Small-town witch Vivi Jones had her heart broken when she was nineteen, and impulsively cast a curse on her ex, Rhys Penhallow. It wasn’t supposed to work. And it doesn’t—until Rhys comes back to town. The two will have to work together to lift the curse. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

LEAGUE OF GENTLEWOMEN WITCHES: DANGEROUS DAMSELS, BOOK 2 by India Holton (DB 107171)

When the long-lost amulet of Black Beryl is discovered, it is up to Miss Charlotte Pettifer, as future leader of the League of Gentlewomen Witches, to make sure the powerful talisman does not fall into the wrong hands. Therefore, it is most unfortunate when she crosses paths with pirate Alex O’Riley. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.

NAKED WEREWOLF. BOOKS 1-3 by Molly Harper (DB 99973)

Three romances, written between 2011 and 2014, about a secret community of werewolves in Grundy, Alaska. Includes How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf, The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf, and How to Run with a Naked Werewolf. Some violence, some strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2013.

PAYBACK’S A WITCH by Lana Harper (DB 105199)

Emmy Harlow is a witch. Her power is limited because of her self-imposed exile from her magical hometown after her breakup with Gareth Blackmoore. On her first night home in years, Emmy runs into the intriguing Talia Avramov, who is another, more recent ex of Gareth. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

SOME GIRLS BITE: CHCAGOLAND VAMPIRES, BOOK 1 by Chloe Neill (DB 104541)

Merit, a graduate student in Chicago, is unexpectedly attacked by vampires. After being turned by a master vampire, she has to learn to fit into the society of vampires. As if understanding her new powers and limitations wasn’t enough of a challenge, Merit also fears that someone is trying to take her out. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2009.

SOULLESS; CHANGELESS; BLAMELESS by Gail Carriger (DB 81166)

First three books in a romantic steampunk series. In Soulless, Alexia Tarabotti accidentally kills a vampire, and Lord Maccon—a werewolf—investigates. In Changeless, Alexia’s new husband disappears in Scotland. In Blameless, a scandal forces Alexia from her home, and vampires want her dead. Descriptions of sex and some violence. 2014.

TROUBLE THE SAINTS by Alaya Dawn Johnson (DB 100117)

In Jazz Age New York, Phyllis, an African American woman passing as white, uses her supernatural knife skills in the service of a Russian mob boss. Phyllis once believed her kills served justice, but that changes when she reconnects with her policeman ex-boyfriend. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

UNDEAD SERIES. BOOKS 1-5 by Mary Janice Davidson (DB 85448)

First five books, written between 2004 and 2006, in a series about Betsy Taylor, shopping enthusiast and vampire queen. Includes Undead and Unwed, Undead and Unemployed, Undead and Unappreciated, Undead and Unreturnable, and Undead and Unpopular. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2006.

Get Spooky, the Texas Way!

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October is here! Halloween is right around the corner and this time of year we start getting calls from patrons asking for spooky tales, ghost stories, and witchy legends. In case you didn’t know, one great subcategory of these types of books is what we like to call ‘spooky tales of the Loan Star State’ and we have those available to borrow. So how about this year you get in the spooky spirit with one of these books about haunted Texas.

GHOSTS ALONG THE TEXAS COAST  by Docia Schultz Williams   DBC14328

Accounts of strange occurrences and unexplainable presences in the Texas coastal area. Violence.

SPIRITS OF SAN ANTONIO AND SOUTH TEXAS WILLIAMS by Docia Schultz Williams DBC14314

Steeped in history and tradition, San Antonio has numerous buildings and locations that, many claim, are also home to ghosts. Accounts of these haunts are given here.

PHANTOMS OF THE PLAINS: TALES OF WEST TEXAS GHOSTS by Docia Schultz Williams.  DBC14342

Stories of ghostly encounters on the Texas plains, including accounts of early settlers and Indians and reports of ghosts and hauntings connected with the old West Texas forts.

HAUNTED TEXAS: FAMOUS PHANTOMS, SINISTER SITES, AND LINGERING LEGENDS by Scott Allen Williams  DT07757

Texas history buffs and travelers have an eerie need for this book, which offers an unusual twist to seeing the sights in the Lone Star state. Organized by region–Gulf Coast, Rio Grande Valley, South Texas, Central Texas, North Texas, and West Texas–this book is the complete guide for both hardcore ghost hunters and more earthly tourists seeking to add some spirited fun to their travels. 2017. (Book in process. Coming soon)

GHOST STORIES OF OLD TEXAS by Zinita Fowler    DBC12016  

The author, a longtime schoolteacher and librarian, has collected twenty-seven ghost stories for the young reader and the young at heart. Among the stories are “Revenge of the Ghost Buffalo,” “The Ghost Rider of Stampede Mesa,” and “The Mal Ojo” (or Evil Eye). For grades 6-9. 1983.


GHOST STORIES OF OLD TEXAS II  by Zinita Fowler  DBC14332

In 1983 when Zinita Fowler began telling the ghost stories from her first collection, her listeners would often relate tales that she had not previously heard. Those stories formed the core of this second volume of folktales that are genuinely part of the Texas heritage.


GHOST STORIES OF OLD TEXAS III by Zinita Fowler  DBC12058

A collection of eighteen ghostly tales illustrating the cultural heritage of Texas. Includes ‘The phantom light of Old Ford Stockton, ‘Uninvited guests at the Governor’s Mansion, and ‘Haunted bridges’.

Thirteen Classic Tales of Terror

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Looking for something scary to read this Halloween? Check out this list of classic horror stories to find something to make your heart race and your spine tingle.

Title: AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS AND OTHER NOVELS
Author: LOVECRAFT, H.P. (HOWARD PHILLIPS)
DB 62005

Title: DRACULA
Author: STOKER, BRAM
DB 31689

Title: EXORCIST
Author: BLATTY, WILLIAM PETER
BR 02230; BR 11946; DB 12688

Title: FRANKENSTEIN; OR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS
Author: SHELLEY, MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT, 1797-1851
DB 25835; LB 03683; LB 06283

Title: HELL HOUSE
Author: MATHESON, RICHARD, 1926-
BR 18208; DB 68106

Title: INVISIBLE MAN
Author: WELLS, H.G. (HERBERT GEORGE), 1866-1946
DB 09593 (BARD); DB 47064; LB 05997

Title: MONKEY’S PAW AND OTHER TALES OF MYSTERY AND THE MACABRE
Author: JACOBS, W.W. (WILLIAM WYMARK), 1863-1943
DB 46641

Title: ROSEMARY’S BABY
Author: LEVIN, IRA
BR 00521; DB 61169; DB 17695 (BARD)

Title: SHINING
Author: KING, STEPHEN, 1947-
BR 13271; DB 51373; DB 10563 (BARD)

Title: SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Author: HARRIS, THOMAS, 1940-
BR 13149; DB 27020

Title: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
Author: BRADBURY, RAY, 1920-2012
BR 12583; DB 50233; DB 09245 (BARD)

Title: TALES OF HORROR AND SUSPENSE
Author: POE, EDGAR ALLAN, 1809-1849
BR 18491; DB 69542

Title: TURN OF THE SCREW
Author: JAMES, HENRY, 1843-1916
BR 06763; DB 18129; LB 00333

This Halloween, get your monster on!

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Do you adore scary stories? Are you addicted to Horror novels or alien-monster films? Do your friends look at you sideways when they catch you reading yet another paperback that features a serial killer or a case of demonic possession?
Actually, your spooky predilection is mostly normal. Mostly. The magazine Psychology Today once asked Horror film director Clive Barker why people love to get scared. His answer: “It empowers them… One of the ways you take hold of the things that frighten you is to grasp the nettle very tightly, so it doesn’t sting.” That explains a lot.
So; now you have Clive Barker’s blessing to read scary things to your cob-webby heart’s content. And while you’re at it, find out more about why you love dark tales so much. Spend this Halloween reading some of the following titles.

  • ON MONSTERS: AN UNNATURAL HISTORY OF OUR WORST FEARS by Stephen Asma.  DB 72161 / BR 19224.
  • MEDUSA’S GAZE AND VAMPIRE’S BITE: THE SCIENCE OF MONSTERS by Matt Kaplan.  DB 75865.
  • POE’S CHILDREN: THE NEW HORROR, AN ANTHOLOGY.  DB 68446.
  • BIG BOOK OF GHOST STORIES. DB 76004.
  • MONSTER’S CORNER: STORIES THROUGH INHUMAN EYES. DB 75497.