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#TopTenTuesday: Spooky Thrills for Chickens Like Me!

Dini @ dinipandareads31 Comments

So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Halloween Freebie!

I’ve never been a big proponent of Halloween mostly because I don’t really read “traditionally scary” books or watch scary movies. I am the Ultimate Chicken™️ after all. I was a bit stumped on what to focus on for this week’s Halloween freebie but I wanted to keep it short and simple, so I’m sharing ten books that were a little spooky or creepy, but were just the right amount for those like me who don’t really handle scary things well. Some of these lean more towards thriller creepy but it definitely still counts, right?! While these might give you a spook, they’re more on the level of “just keep a night-light on” kind of scary, so if you are curious or would like to step out of your comfort zone, I’d definitely give these a go! 😂

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe – a cold creeping sensation that trails you around and makes you constantly look behind to make sure you’re alone. it was a fab psychological thriller!
The Bone Houses – this might be the only exception coz this wasn’t half as scary as i thought it’d be. still creepy enough at times though!
Stalking Jack the Ripper – this was a “gruesomely shocking scary” at times. one picture especially had me SHOOK when i read it in the middle of the night. it was totally unexpected!
House of Salt and Sorrows – this was another unexpectedly scary AF book. i knew it would be creepy but seriously, i wasn’t expecting this level of scary. so scary… 😅 but survivable for sure!
The Butterfly Garden – sick and absolutely twisted! this one made me sit up and gasp in total shock when i read it at the airport years ago. people stayed away from me after that!

Final Girls – my first book by sager and it was a great introduction to his creepy twisty thrillers!
Rules for Vanishing – yo, for real, i can’t believe i read this. it was 1000% something i’d normally never touch with a ten foot pole but i was feeling wild last halloween 😂 it was proper scary, but i lived!
The Grace Year – i did not expect this to get so spooky but wah, it really did! a bit of a ghost-y moment but not so bad that i couldn’t sleep at night (lights on for sure though)!
The Ruins – i don’t know why i picked this up but this is for real horror. like, get those plants away from me kind of horror. it was horrifyingly good.
Verity – this had that creepy atmosphere where everything felt incredibly wrong. my first romance thriller and it helped me kiss goodbye the worst slump i’ve ever experienced! *chefs kiss*

Do you read a lot of scary books or are you an Ultimate Chicken™️ like me? Have you read any of these? Any favourite spooky stories that aren’t too scary for the scardies? 😂

31 thoughts on “#TopTenTuesday: Spooky Thrills for Chickens Like Me!”

  2. What a lovely list, Dini.

    I like horror more than you do, but I shy away from anything gory or bloody. Let me imagine something scary in a dark corner instead. Haha!

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  3. Awesome list, and it IS super close to my idea! But I love how we have completely different books. 💕 I absolutely loved House of Salt and Sorrows, even though you’re right – it was surprisingly scary for an Ultimate Chicken like me (too). 😂 I really wanted to read Stalking Jack the Ripper but was a bit scared, but I’m planning to now, and The Bone Houses has been on my TBR forever. Thanks for the list!

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    • Omg, House of Salt and Sorrows took it to such an unexpected level of spookiness… Haha I was shook 😂 SJTR was definitely not the typical “ghost” spooky but the imagery and the atmosphere really adds to the spooky feeling. I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to hear what you think (also about The Bone Houses, which is awesome)!

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  4. This is a great list! I recently finished Stalking Jack the Ripper and it was definitely a little gruesome. I have dissected a cadaver myself at my undergraduate university and found it interesting the difference between reading about dissecting cadavers and actually having done it myself. I felt more squeamish when reading about it!

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  5. Great list, Dini! I really enjoyed Final Girls, too–I hope it’s adapted into a film soon, because all I could think while I was reading it was how entertaining it would be to watch on the big screen. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for House of Salt and Sorrows, but now I might have to give it a try!

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    • Ooh, I think Final Girls as a movie would be so good! I would definitely watch it 😯 House of Salt and Sorrows is definitely a spooky one if you want to give it a try, plus it’s a unique retelling that I’ve yet to read about before, so that was another bonus to it!

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    • Haha it took a while for me to finally read it but I did get around to it in December. I think it was one of the last books that I read in 2019 and it was so good 😍 I hope you enjoy it if you manage to get around to it this year 😉

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    • It was pretty disturbing! I don’t think I was expecting it at all when I picked it up but I did enjoy it 😅 I still have the rest of the series on my Kindle actually but haven’t got around to reading them yet. I’ve heard that none of them really compare though!

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    • The Loneliest Girl is definitely more psychological! Can’t imagine how much being in the same situation would drive me mental. And I have to say, Rules for Vanishing was pretty good for something so horrifying 🤣

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  10. The Loneliest Girl in the Universe has been on my TBR for so long! I’m glad you enjoyed that one – I had heard mixed reviews. I also really want to read Rules for Vanishing!

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  11. This is a great list for those of us who do not like scary!! I read Stalking Jack the Ripper and it was kinda creepy but not enough to deter me from the story! I agree with this list. I have Verity on my TBR!!

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    • STJR was definitely more on the shocking creepy than anything. It was that one photo that shook me in the middle of the night 🤣 I was not expecting how gruesome and shocking it would be! Haha ooh, I can’t wait to hear what you think of Verity! Hope you enjoy it 😉

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    • I hope you give it a try! It’s definitely a good one and I ended up liking it more than I expected, even with all the spookiness in it. Also, I can’t wait to hear what you think of Verity! There are definitely mixed reviews but I thought it was just soo good! Happy reading to you too, Dedra ❤

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    • Haha omg, I wasn’t expecting how scary The Ruins would be. I mean, I knew but then I didn’t know. Ugh, I kept myself away from plants for a while after that. It was pretty gruesome and sickening 😂 Definitely very unsettling!

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    • I now some of Sager’s books are to do with the paranormal but I’ve stayed away from those despite really wanting to read them. I just don’t know if I have the balls either 😂 But Final Girls was sooo good. The more I think about it the more I want to read it again! I hope you enjoy all of these, Andie 😉

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