[Top Ten Tuesday] Favorite Spooky Stories October 2018

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish but is currently being run by That Artsy Reader Girl. A prompt is given each week, and I hope to do it every week so I always have something going up on Tuesdays. This week I am talking about some of my favorite stories I read/watched in October for Halloween! I started a bit early and some of these may not make my favorites of the year, but they still deserve a little shout out.

So let's jump right into it!

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding 

by Alexandra Bracken 

Review 

This was such a good middle grade story! It was definitely one of my favorites and I cannot wait to read the second book once it's released early next year.  Honestly I am kind of on a middle grade spooky story kick and I really want to read more. I plan on doing so once I get through some of the rest of the books I have on the top of my TBR. If you're not a huge fan of anything too gory or horror filled this book is perfect for you or a younger reader. 

Coraline 

by Neil Gaiman 

Review

Coraline has been a favorite of mine for so long now, and it's been a tradition to read it every October. Last October (and maybe even the one before, if I recall correctly) I had totally skipped reading it to read other books. So I knew that I had to rectify that and re-read it. I hope to be better at reading it each October because it's really a favorite of mine. I plan on watching the movie on Halloween also. My fiancé and I have a movie marathon every Halloween and Coraline is a staple. I definitely recommend both movie and book! I am counting this as two answers because I honestly think they go hand in hand together. It's one of my favorite adaptations because although there are changes made to fit a more movie style film I think it really keeps the heart of Coraline's story. 

The Archived 

by Victoria Schwab 

Review 

The last half of 2018 I have been trying to do my best to get through as much of V.E./Victoria Schwab's books as I possibly can, and I've been doing a pretty good job at it. Although this may be my least favorite Schwab book out of all of them, it's still an amazing 4 star book and I absolutely plan on reading the sequel and short story. My biggest issue with the story was that the writing didn't flow as smoothly as the writing I am accustomed to with Schwab's writing but I think that shows her amazing development as a writer. Considering that The Archived was one of her earlier books. 

Shadow and Bone 

by Leigh Bardugo 

Review

I was completely hooked into this story from the get go and I am dying to get my hands on the next book in the trilogy. I am waiting for whatever evil person decided to rent them from the library, which stopped me from getting them the moment I finished this one. I am really excited to see what comes next in this story and I cannot believe it took me so long to read it. I do think it has some remnants of an older YA fantasy story, one big thing being the love triangle. However, despite the love triangle I am really interested in what is going to happen with these characters and even more so I am very excited to get to see more of this world. 

Firestarter 

Movie

This movie was a huge favorite of mine when I was younger, so I was really excited to re-watch this one.  My fiancé had only read the book (which I really want to do now) so he got to see it for the first time and I love being the one who has seen the movie first. He's more of a movie buff so it's always a rare thing when I've seen the movie before he has. I cannot compare it to the book because I read the book over 10 years ago so I mostly only remember the movie but I really recommend the movie. 

Trick 'r' Treat 

Movie

This is a favorite of ours. It's the second time I've watched it and I loved it once again. It had been a handful of years so I was a little spooked because I hadn't remembered everything but it was a lot of fun. I forgot how many famous actors and actresses were in this story! The director (and I believe the writer) plans on making a second one now that he's done directing the new Godzilla movie and I am really excited to see it! 

The Skeleton Key 

Movie

This is another one I've seen before but it had been some time. It's another favorite and although I think it's really good, I think it's also a favorite because of sentimental reasons. Which seems silly, but I never was really into scary movies when I was younger, and I got really brave and decided to watch this one day in high school. The ending completely threw me for a loop and I was completely mind blown. I remember being so incredibly shocked. And I cannot help but think it's one of the first times I realized I didn't hate scary movies as much as I thought. Despite still being a complete baby about them I still really enjoy watching scary movies. 

The  Haunting of Hill House 

Netflix Original 

I hadn't even heard of this show until it was released, and then all of a sudden everyone online was watching it and talking about it. Like I said just a moment ago, I am a big baby with scary movies/television shows so I was worried it would be too scary. But it ended up not being that scary at all. I do think the first few episodes are super annoyingly heavy with jump scares, but then it dies down and the story becomes really addicting. I do feel like I need to give out a content warning: suicide, mental illness. Especially in episode 5 and episode 9 where suicides are shown. This isn't any sort of spoiler, it's talked about pretty early on in the show. I just wanted to warn anyone who could be sensitive to those topics. Overall,  I think it was all handled really well and I'd describe the show as more haunting and chilling than scary. Theo is my absolute favorite character, Nell closely followed behind.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 

Netflix Original

I feel like this is cheating a little because I technically have not finished this show yet. I have four episodes left. However, I am really loving it and I can't see myself suddenly hating it by the end. I heavily disliked the comic (review here) so I am really happy I ended up liking the show so much more. I really love the actress who plays Sabrina, Kiernan Shipka. She's incredibly charming and I really love the way she portrays Sabrina. I also love what they do with Salem! I think this looked scarier in the trailers than it actually is and I think if you've watched shows like Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, etc you can probably handle this show. I highly recommend it. 

Thanks for reading!