September does not exactly arrive with a chill in Cyprus. The sea is still warm, the afternoons remain suspiciously summery and ordering an iced coffee is still perfectly reasonable. And yet, something changes.
Perhaps it is the evenings arriving a little earlier. Perhaps it is simply knowing that October is around the corner. Either way, this is when our reading tastes begin drifting towards something darker.
We want atmosphere. Secrets. Strange houses. Unreliable narrators. A ghost would not hurt.
So, as September slips into October and Halloween slowly comes into view, here are five books for the darker side of your reading list.
1. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Four strangers arrive at the notoriously unsettling Hill House to investigate its supposed supernatural activity. At the centre is Eleanor, a lonely young woman whose connection to the house becomes increasingly difficult to understand.
Jackson never tells us exactly where the haunting ends and Eleanor begins. Quiet, psychological and deeply unnerving, this is haunted-house fiction at its best.
And once you have finished the book, the television series is highly recommended too. It takes considerable liberties with Jackson's story, but becomes something haunting and moving in its own right.
2. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
A young woman marries the wealthy Maxim de Winter and arrives at Manderley, his magnificent country estate, only to discover that his dead first wife is still very much present in everyone's minds.
Elegant, claustrophobic and full of secrets, Rebecca proves that a ghost does not actually have to appear to haunt a story.
3. Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez
Dark, sprawling and genuinely disturbing, Our Share of Night follows a father and son through an Argentina scarred by dictatorship while a secretive supernatural order pursues them.
Enriquez blends horror with political violence, family trauma and grief, creating something far more ambitious than a conventional scary story. This is the one for readers who want to disappear into something truly dark.
4. The Shining by Stephen King
Jack Torrance takes a job as winter caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel, bringing his wife and young son with him. Then the snow arrives, and leaving becomes impossible.
King combines supernatural terror with addiction, anger and family vulnerability, making the human story almost as frightening as the haunting itself.
Perhaps don't read this one alone in a hotel.
5. The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings by Edgar Allan Poe
October would feel incomplete without Edgar Allan Poe. His stories are filled with obsession, guilt, madness and narrators who insist they are perfectly sane while giving us every reason to believe otherwise.
Short enough to read in an evening and unsettling enough to stay with you considerably longer, Poe is best saved for when Halloween is properly approaching.
Happy reading, and maybe leave a light on.
