16 books to read this Halloween


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Editor's note: This story is part of a series from The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for National Book Month. Read more from this series: ASU collection of rare books made accessible online.

This Halloween season, explore eerie, spine-chilling books written by Arizona State University faculty on everything from gothic true crime and dystopian fiction to vampires, Frankenstein’s monster and ghosts.

Richard Newhauser, English professor in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and author of several books on the seven deadly sins, said topics of this nature can help us examine and understand humanity from a new, unlikely perspective. 

“One of the things that I find so interesting about medieval ghost stories is that those who come to visit humans often bring a lesson with them, something they wish to teach humanity,” Newhauser said. “It’s often the case with longer stories, about people who visit hell and return to tell their tales to an audience they think requires some moral improvement. This is not to say that the lessons are without discomfort. Just the opposite: Pain is part of the message.” 

Discover something to read this fall, with this selection of 16 books curated by The College and the Department of English:

Top image by Jody Lu/The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

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