October Staff Picks
October is here! A time of crisp air, crunchy leaves, and renewal. We’ve been picking a theme for staff picks the last few months but this month is a free-for-all. There is plenty of magic, ghosts, and horror below, but if you are looking for an even spooky vibes we’ll have more recommendations on the way. Find them all here.
I am experiencing a dislocation of reality. This line appears on the very first page of THE THIRD HOTEL and has lingered in the back of my mind since I read it last year at Danni's recommendation. Clare, recently widowed, is attending a horror film festival in her deceased husband's stead, but when she lands in Havana there he is: her husband Richard, hale and whole. Terribly confused, Clare follows her dead husband over the following days, and the edges of reality become so blurred that they may as well have not existed in the first place. It's not a ghost story, exactly; it's not horror, it's not a psychological thriller, there is no Shocking Twist that brings the facts to light. It is a story about a woman grieving in a city where she does not belong. It's not a ghost story, but this book has haunted me, as it will haunt you. —Abby
Return to Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy with an entirely new class of students. Brakebills is now accepting hedgewitches as students, and with the threat of a new “villain” they are offering a new, but dangerous, course of study—battle magic. The queer representation is absolutely *chef’s kiss* and not just an afterthought. It’s the perfect continuation of the world Grossman has created in his trilogy and is now expanding in this new graphic series! —Anthony
This quietly powerful novel is built on a strong indictment of white privilege through the difficult navigations of Wallace, a black gay man in a predominantly white midwestern PhD program. The beauty of Real Life hinges on Taylor’s ability to reveal the profound in the mundane. While the plot only takes place over the course of a single waning summer weekend, this is all the setting needed to mine subterranean worlds stretching miles deep; a world of private suffering, deep secrets, and how these repressions can manifest in unexpected ways. I came away from this story aching and touched, electrified by the prose, and reveling in Taylor’s mastery of tender yearning and savage wit. —Colleen
Published in 1991 by Dell Books, a new press that promised to expand horror fiction, this cult-classic horror novel is about a disaffected young man named Nicholas and a directionless young woman named Nakota. The lukewarm, sometimey couple stumble upon a black hole in the basement of Nicholas' apartment building. The Funhole, as they come to call it, distorts all that enters it. The young man's hand accidentally enters into the Funhole, and once withdrawn, has a blackness that weeps. Memorable partly for its (original) cover and partly for the way it juxtaposes horror with the quotidian, this horror novel touches on the existential matters of depression, the broken promises of adulthood, and capitalism. If you think this novel is not for you, this novel is for you. —Danni
I was introduced to Brad Watson by my friend, the writer MO Walsh, when he wrote a literary eulogy for him in the Paris Review. Watson died this past summer at the age of 64, having written two short-story collections and two novels during the course of his writing life, but his oeuvre, while slim, is a true testament to the expression: quality over quantity. The Heaven of Mercury is a masterpiece, as is his later novel Miss Jane. Watson was often compared to Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor but his writing reminded me of William Trevor. His prose is sad without being maudlin, revelatory without being ornate. Read this book. You won't regret it.
*N.B.: This book takes place in Jim Crow Mississippi so a certain racial epithet is employed frequently. Also, one of the characters is kind of a necrophiliac. —Eddie
The Friend is a great book to read in October and here's why--it's about death and imagination and fiction and friendship and love and, yes, a very big dog. It's about turning grief into art, which is something we could all use these days. It will not, however, make you want to adopt an elderly Great Dane. —Emma
Haunting and nightmarish! Teenage Silvie joins her father on a field trip to a historical reenactment camp in Northern Ireland where they live like Iron Age Britons. What begins as a sweet getaway turns into a torture camp for Silvie when her father acts out on his misogynistic & xenophobic beliefs. I originally bought Ghost Wall because I wanted a slim book that fit in my purse to read on the subway home. I started reading on the train then finished at home in my bed a couple hours later. I just could not put it down! While you read ask yourself: How far has society come from the “primitive mindset” of our ancestors? —Jacque
Alice Hoffman + witches = perfection every time. Magic Lessons is the next book in the story of the Owen's women and is a great prequel to Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic, but is also lovely as a standalone read. As in most of Hoffman's books, the female relationships are incredibly rich and propulsive. Bonus: much of the novel takes place in Salem, Massachusetts (one of my favorite places!) making it perfect for this upcoming ~spooky~ season. —Lindsay
You know that feeling you get when TOO many people tell you you’ll love something, that makes you not want to read it for fear of disappointment? That feeling is the very reason I resisted reading Saga for a long time, but now that I’ve dived in, I can safely say that Saga is every bit as charming and downright cool as everyone says it is. Told from the perspective of their child, the story of sci-fi star-crossed lovers Alana and Marko is immediately engrossing and impossible to put down. — Michael Chin
Wiloetta Greg shows her prowess as a poet in this autobiographical novel. Her language and imagery of a small town in Poland shine as characters weave in and out of the light and darkness. An absolutely stunning book, it is expertly translated from the Polish by Eliza Marciniak. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. —Nick
This book is so vivid, I could imagine the horror and terror Barba describes in San Cristobal. I found myself dreaming about the children and their motivations. This book will stay with you. —Mike
This probably isn’t surprising given the title, but The Frightened Ones is truly the most in-depth examination of fear–where it comes from, how it moves, its power over reality–I’ve ever read. Subtle, complex, and deeply psychological, it conveys the extent to which the violence and brutality can upend reality. Dima Wannous has a sharp eye for detail that gives the novel moments of beauty and moments of devastating clarity. —Nika
We choose new staff picks every month, so stay tuned for regular updates.
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