If you’re looking for spooky new books to read, Quirk Books has you covered. The publisher behind iconic titles like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and My Best Friend’s Exorcism (one of the decade’s best horror novels), Quirk has been releasing chilling reads for years. So to celebrate Halloween this week, we’ve partnered with them for a giveaway!
One winner will receive four horror-themed books—two novels and two nonfiction titles—published by Quirk in the last year. Here’s the scoop on each one:
The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman
For Fans of: True Crime, Supernatural Thrillers, Horror
Publisher’s Description: Ella Louise has lived in the woods surrounding Pilot’s Creek, Virginia, for nearly a decade. Publicly, she and her daughter Jessica are shunned by their upper-crust family and the Pilot’s Creek residents. Privately, desperate townspeople visit her apothecary for a cure to what ails them—until Ella Louise is blamed for the death of a prominent customer. Accused of witchcraft, both mother and daughter are burned at the stake in the middle of the night
Their story will take the shape of an urban legend as it’s told around a campfire by a man forever marked by his boyhood encounters with Jessica. Decades later, a boy at that campfire will cast Amber Pendleton as Jessica in a ‘70s horror movie inspired by the Witch Girl of Pilot’s Creek. Amber’s experiences on that set and its meta-remake in the ‘90s will ripple through pop culture, ruining her life and career after she becomes the target of a witch hunt. Amber’s best chance to break the cycle of horror comes when a true-crime investigator tracks her down to interview her for his popular podcast. But will this final act of storytelling redeem her—or will it bring the story full circle, ready to be told once again? And again. And again…
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix
For Fans of: Heavy Metal, Supernatural Thrillers, Road Trips
Publisher’s Description: Every morning, Kris Pulaski wakes up in hell. In the ‘90s she was lead guitarist of Dürt Würk, a heavy-metal band on the brink of breakout success until lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom, leaving his bandmates to rot in obscurity.
Now Kris works as night manager of a Best Western; she’s tired, broke and unhappy. One day everything changes—a shocking act of violence turns her life upside down, and she begins to suspect that Terry sabotaged more than just the band. Kris hits the road, hoping to reunite Dürt Würk and confront the man who ruined her life. Her journey will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a celebrity rehab center to a satanic music festival. A furious power ballad about never giving up, We Sold Our Souls is one woman’s epic journey to reclaim her life—and save her soul.
Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson
For Fans of: Biographies, Horror Literature, History
Publisher’s Description: Frankenstein was just the beginning: horror stories and other weird fiction wouldn’t exist without the women who created it. From Gothic ghost stories to psychological horror to science fiction, women have been primary architects of speculative literature of all sorts. And their own life stories are as intriguing as their fiction.
Everyone knows about Mary Shelley, creator of Frankenstein, who was rumored to keep her late husband’s heart in her desk drawer. But have you heard of Margaret “Mad Madge” Cavendish, who wrote a science-fiction epic 150 years earlier (and liked to wear topless gowns to the theater)? If you know the astounding work of Shirley Jackson, whose novel The Haunting of Hill House was reinvented as a Netflix series, then try the psychological hauntings of Violet Paget, who was openly involved in long-term romantic relationships with women in the Victorian era. You’ll meet celebrated icons (Ann Radcliffe, V. C. Andrews), forgotten wordsmiths (Eli Colter, Ruby Jean Jensen) and today’s vanguard (Helen Oyeyemi). Part biography, part reader’s guide, the engaging write-ups and detailed reading lists will introduce you to more than 100 authors and over 200 of their mysterious and spooky novels, novellas and stories.
How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith
For Fans of: Humor, Not Getting Murdered, Horror Movies
Publisher’s Description: Are you reading this in a cornfield, at a summer camp or in an abandoned mental institution? Have you noticed that everything is poorly lit, or that music surges every time you open a door? If the answer is yes, you’re probably trapped in a horror movie. But don’t freak out—just read this book! With it you will learn how to overcome every obstacle found in scary films, including:
• How to determine what type of horror film you’re trapped in
• The five types of slashers and how to defeat them
• How to handle killer dolls, murderous automobiles and other haunted objects
• How to deal with alien invasions, zombie apocalypses, and other global threats
• What to do if you did something last summer, if your corn has children in it or if you suspect you’re already dead
Written by bestselling author, screenwriter and producer Seth Grahame-Smith (Stephen King’s It), with an introduction by horror icon Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street), this is a hilarious must-read for any horror movie fan…and it just might save your life.
To enter the giveaway, follow @PasteBooks on Twitter and retweet this tweet by 5 p.m. EST on Thursday, October 31st. You must have a U.S. address to enter. We’ll announce the winner the night of Halloween!