Halloween Book List
May 18th, 2011 by John Wolfe
As part of his entry in the Halloween in America Giveaway, ssflipo13 asked me to create a post where visitors could recommend their all-time favorite Halloween books. I thought he had a great idea, so here’s that entry. Please, feel free to leave a comment listing your favorites–it doesn’t matter if they pertain to Halloween collectibles, home haunt/prop building how-to’s, macabre Halloween stuff, Halloween history and folklore, or even campy Halloween things; I’m interested (and so is ssflipo) in hearing your feedback.
I don’t have a big collection of Halloween books myself, other than a few from my childhood. But I do highly recommend the one I’m currently giving away: Halloween in America. I was looking through it this morning, and it has everything a Halloween lover could want (especially someone who appreciates Halloween’s past). In fact, the spooky images in this post came from that book (page 62 and page 177). Another great book I personally recommend is Halloween Vintage Holiday Graphics. I look forward to reading your list of awesome Halloween tomes!
May 18th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Excellent! I keep my favorite up all year round on the shelf. It’s “Halloween” by Silver Ravenwolf. It has pagan customs, recipes, the origins of Halloween, and spells. I get so in the mood reading it.
May 18th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
That sounds awesome, autumn! I’m fascinated by anything pagan. I find I connect with my spirituality in a big way through nature (especially via water). And, I love reading about Halloween’s roots. Thanks for sharing. I’m looking forward to checking that one out!
May 18th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
I have a book shelf in my magic/music room that is dedicated to Halloweenish books….my latest favorite addition has more to do with my monker than Halloween….but it is really cute and I like anything Halloween related Froggy’s Halloween by Johnathan London.
Reading wise I would have to say that it goes between a few different books. The Book of Halloween – printed by Forgotten books, is a reprint of a book that was published in 1919. It was the first major publication about Halloween. I would love an original copy someday, when I win the lottery…..but for now the reprint will have to do. If you do not own this one, find it today – you can thank me later
I am a big fan of essay type books on historical subjects and one of my favorites of that type of book is Halloween and Other Festivals and Death and Life. Since it is written in essay form from about 13 different authors from different scholars – you get a perspective from different countries and cultures. There is a section deals specifically about the idea of a holiday based on death. Fascinating read, if you like that sort of thing.
And of course any of Lesley’s books – they are all in my collection and I read them many times.
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing what everyone has to say.
Cheers!
May 18th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
The Frog Queen,
That’s a great list. I feel you on the cute stuff — I enjoy cutesy Halloween things, too, in all areas except for having them in my yard haunt. And The Book of Halloween sounds like it’d be right up my alley. I’ll thank you now and probably later, too.
I’m definitely going to look into that one. Not only are you guys giving me ideas for starting my own collection, but also for potential future giveaways.
May 18th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
I love anything by Lesley Bannatyne! All of her books are detailed and she does her research! Check out my in interview with her here. Go visit my site to check out the interesting interview I had with her. I have you listed on my NEW website as a featured blogger. Stay tuned for details….
May 19th, 2011 at 9:01 am
I’ve got a couple faves. But my new favorite is Lesley Bannatynne’s “HALLOWEEN NATION” (damn, I wish I thought of that name). The book’s all about Halloween Fanatics in Modern day America. There’s even a section on Haunters! John, if you haven’t heard of this book, I highly recommend it!
May 19th, 2011 at 11:23 am
ScaryVisions,
Looking forward to it! I’ll swing by today and check it out. Thanks for including your book recommendations and for listing Season of Shadows on your site!
Damian,
That does it — I’m gonna have to check out Lesley’s work for sure, since you, The Frog Queen and ScaryVisions have all recommended it. Whenever I receive that much input about a certain thing, I know it’s meant for me to look into it. Thanks for adding your favorite to the list.
May 19th, 2011 at 11:23 am
like you, the “Halloween Vintage Holiday Graphics” is a good one and since Frog Queen thinks so highly of “The Book of Halloween”, I’m thinking I’m gonna’ have to acquire one of those! for me, as regards Halloween decorating/prop making/inspiration and just general guidance, etc., I gotta vote for the “How to Haunt Your House” books by Shawn and Lynne Mitchell and “The Complete Haunted House Book” by Tim Harkleroad which I think is now out of print. Always feel inspired after I browse through these.
May 19th, 2011 at 11:48 am
pam morris,
I think I’ve seen Shawn and Lynne Mitchell’s book on Amazon before, and I think Damian’s mentioned it to me before too. So, there’s another one I want to check out since it’s come my way more than once. I haven’t heard of “The Complete Haunted House Book”, but maybe I can locate that one on AbeBooks if it’s out of print.
Thanks for sharing, Pam. I appreciate it.
May 20th, 2011 at 11:19 am
This is a great post, John! I am really pleased to see so many responses that’ll feed my two loves- book and Halloween! Oddly enough, as much as we do love books around here, we don’t have that many about Halloween. It seems strange to me. The first of 3 that we do have and that I like very much is “Halloween Crafts” by Kasey Rogers and Mark Wood. It’s all about the eye candy for me. It has some great pictures that always inspire me.
Another one we have is “Haunted House Halloween Handbook” by Jerry Chavez. Jerry used to be a regular in some of the haunt groups that would discuss, via email, different aspects of haunting. They were a precursor to the forums of now days. Jerry was always so helpful to me in the Hall-L group, always had sage advice, technical know how and such an awesome sense of humor that when I found out he had written a book I ran out and bought it! If you want to turn your house into a properly run haunted house with all the bells, whistles and legal permits in place his is the book to get. It includes room layouts, prop building, staffing, scare techniques, basic make up- everything you can think of! It’s really for the home haunter who’s ready to take it to the next, semi-pro level.
Last but not least, “Halloween Vintage Holiday Graphics” compiled by Jim Heimann and talk about eye candy! Ooo- lordy! It’s all vintage decorations, Victorian Halloween ads, pictures of folks in costume from the early 20th century, old Halloween post cards, vintage masks- it’s just yummy!!! There isn’t corresponding text to go with the pictures so with some it’s a bit of guess work to sort out what you’re looking at for certain but it’s well worth a look if you like the vintage Victorian through 1950′s Halloween imagery!
I’m so excited to check out the recommendations of the other folks here!! Thank you to John for bringing this topic up!!
May 20th, 2011 at 11:53 am
Camile,
You’re like me — been a Halloween lover ever since I was old enough to go trick-or-treating, yet I never really collected books on the subject. At this point in my life, I think that comes from a place of enjoying simplicity and not owning a whole lot. I just don’t make many purchases for myself; I prefer buying things for others.
I remember some of the haunt groups! Those go back to the late ’90s, don’t they? I never belonged to one, but remember seeing info about them on the web while surfing through the old Halloween Webrings. Speaking of that, one of the first Halloween “sites” I came upon was an instructional page on how to build the original Trash Can Trauma prop in 1997. I always wanted to build one, but never got around to it.
Whoops, got off track there a little with my trip down memory lane when it comes to Halloween on the net. Those books sound awesome, Camile. Though I don’t own it, I’m such a fan of “Halloween Vintage Holiday Graphics” too! And Jerry’s book definitely sounds like a must-have for taking a haunt to the next level. Is his book still available?
Thank you, my friend, for leaving a terrific comment and sharing your collection with us.
May 21st, 2011 at 9:41 am
John,
Thank you so much and everyone that has added to this post. I am a true lover of Halloween in all aspects . From the vintage black and white art work of books from years ago to the stunning and shocking gore of today. The writtings and folklore and history Oh my! I just can`t get enough. Then I had to go and join a few Halloween “how to ” groups and then found this awesome site , you might have heard of it, ” Season Of Shadows” hosted by an Awesome guy John , who goes way beyond what normal halloween site do. Thank you John.
I was happy to see others with interest on the Pagan side of Halloween and it`s history and I too was going to reccomend “Halloween” by Silver Ravenwolf. Always plenty to do in her books.
I`m starting my shopping list now , with all these new and excitting authors and books. LOL my wife will think I`m crazy, really crazy, now with all these books I want. It`s bad enough I have a basement full of creepy and dead things.
thanks again to all
May 21st, 2011 at 10:08 am
ssflipo,
Thank you, brother, for the kind comments and for the idea to create this post. If there’s ever anything you’re interested in knowing about a Halloween subject, just let me know and I’ll post something on the topic so we can all discuss it together. I always want to be of service in any way I can and I want to learn from you guys in the process.
One of these days you’re going to have to make a video giving us a tour of your basement, and have your wife make an appearance, too. I’d love to see the expression on her face as you show us your Halloween collection! By the way, I hope she’s feeling better.
May 22nd, 2011 at 7:46 am
Well now that Halloween is so close. I`m sure I`ll be asking alot of questions about prop making and the true history of witches. Depending on what theme I will choose to go with this year.
As for the video. I`ll make that when I have to clean out my basement this summer.
Thanks again for all your help and for being a great Haunting friend.
May 22nd, 2011 at 10:27 am
ssflipo,
Please do. Feel free to bounce anything off me you like, and I’ll include your questions in future posts. I’d love to do a post featuring a lot of visitors’ questions — putting them out there for everyone to weigh in on.
I look forward to your video! Speaking of cleaning, there’s a lot of that to be done around here.
It’s my pleasure and thank you for being such a great friend as well.