Halloween Bingo Pre-Party: Book Suggestions for the New Squares
1. Dark Academia: Any mystery, suspense, supernatural or horror that takes place at a
school - high school, college, boarding school, etc.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
2. Dystopian Hellscape: This is a multi-genre square! Any book that relates to the fictional depiction of a dystopian society, such as The Handmaid's Tale or The Hunger Games, would qualify!
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
1984 by George Orwell
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
3. International Woman of Mystery: This one is fairly obvious and is a twist on the "Terrifying Women" of years past - the only question is what does "international" mean? Basically, it means international to you - the reader. I'm in the U.S., so "international" means women mystery authors from Europe, South America, Asia, etc...
Still Life by Louise Penny
The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves
In the Woods by Tana French
The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor
Cover Her Face by PD James
4. Psych: Psychological thrillers, plot twists and suspense, unreliable narrators and other mind-fuckery. And, as an aside, any Halloween Bingo book that takes place within or related to an insane asylum, haunted or otherwise, would qualify!
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
5. Truly Terrifying: Non-fiction that has elements of suspense, horror or mystery, including true crime, both contemporary and historical. Examples would be The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, or The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. If you have another idea, run it by me - just remember that it has to fit into the general Halloween Bingo criteria of mystery, suspense, horror or supernatural!
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule
Bitter Harvest by Ann Rule
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
6. Paint It Black: Any book with a cover that is primarily black or has the word black in the title, was written by a black author, or relates to rock and roll music.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Dawn (Xenogenesis #1) by Octavia E. Butler
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones by Sheree Thomas (Editor)
7. Stranger Things: this is a twist on the past 80's Horror square with elements of the television show - any horror that has supernatural elements, portal/parallel universes, government plots gone awry or is set or was written in the 1980's.
14 by Peter Clines
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
The Mist by Stephen King
Watchers by Dean Koontz
Phantoms by Dean Koontz
8. Film at 11: The idea for this new space comes courtesy of Linda Hilton! Generally, in order to qualify for Halloween bingo, all books must fit into one of the general genres of horror, mystery, suspense or supernatural. This space is filled by any Halloween bingo book that has been adapted to film or television. For extra fun, you can watch the adaptation - although this is an optional add on!
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (see Netflix series. Seriously though the show messed up the ending of the series, they had some great stuff like the Broken Neck Lady. Shudder).
The Mist by Stephen King (see movie. Seriously though the ending! The ending was a gut punch is went more King than King did!)
It by Stephen King (there's now three movies (It was broken out into two movies for the latest go round).
The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker (otherwise known as Pinhead or the sexiest voice in horror movie land. Got to say that Hellraiser still holds up.
Books of Blood: Volume 1 by Clive Barker (you got to love The Midnight Meat Train movie. Probably the only time I could stand Bradley Cooper past 30 minutes in a movie that he is not playing a raccoon.
The Ring by Kōji Suzuki (The Ring movies (American version). I still jump during the well scene. You know which one.
9. King of Fear: You can read anything written by Stephen King or Joe Hill, or recommended by Stephen King (as long as the recommendation is otherwise eligible for Halloween Bingo).
Misery by Stephen King
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Cujo by Stephen King
Needful Things by Stephen King
Revival by Stephen King
19. Stone Cold Horror: this is a late addition because I had too much YA horror, so I combined a couple of categories into Fear Street & needed something else for the horror genre! Horror that takes place primarily in a winter/cold/snow type setting.
Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
White is for the Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Two by Allen Grove
Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
The Hunger by Alma Katsu
2
