Books to Celebrate Halloween

This morning, while my little one was still sleeping and I was waking up to start the day, I had the TV on the biography channel. What was on? Anne Rice followed by Bram Stoker.
Throughout the day, I was thinking of all my favorite horror authors. Anne Rice. Bram Stoker. Mary Shelley. Oscar Wilde. Emily Bronte. Steven King. So on and so on.
Why do I adore these authors? They were classically written. Let's go down the list. Anne Rice's character Lestat was an overall ass wipe with sum serious issues. But intrigued the reader with his adventure of ups and downs. Even though he was ignorant, he was also loveable.
Bram Stoker's character Dracula was mourning throughout the whole story. Finding someone who looked like the resurrected version of his love. I find Dracula to be an actual love story along with Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights. Why? It's the drama, the horror & the love of someone else.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Even though it doesn't seem like a love story and more horror, let's look at sum of the points: Dr Frankenstein falls in love with his "adopted" sister. He creates a monster. The monster realizes he will never be loved because of his looks. The monster goes after Frankenstein by killing his bride. He forces Frankenstein to bring the bride back to life as a monster as well. Tragic.
Oscar Wilde's The Portrait of Dorian Grey. A guy who pretty much sold his soul to stay young and good looking. His friends die of old age or diseases and he is still "perfect". He then kills himself feeling the loss of life. There is no reason to live after all his friends and loved ones die.
Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights was an actual love story surrounded with horror. Heathcliff being haunted by his loved one Catherine even though they were never together. The feelings between them were mutual, but was never able to happen. Catherine dies, and Heathcliff feels like he is being haunted by Catherine.
And of course, Steven King. By far my fave book from him is The Shining. Book and movie. Twist after twist. No reason to go on with this one, considering probably everyone knows about The Shining.
Tell me what your favorite horror author is. And tell me about their books. Feel free to comment :)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon by Erik Gustafson

Willy was the average 6 year old boy. Playing with little green plastic army men. Playing with his friend Rich in the backyard, the war between the men.
That's when the devastating nightmare started for Willy. A fire started in the backyard where the boys were playing. His mom saved him, but he only knew a certain story about Rich. His parents told him he was in the hospital and can't have any visitors.
Shortly after, Willy and his family move a couple of states away, and Willy made new friends.
That was the story that Willy grew up with. Including the nightmares and the hallucinations. Always dreaming that the army men were after him along with a black dragon (hence the title). Willy was never able to really understand all of this. But along with the nightmares and hallucinations, Willy kept hearing his name being called out, and he doesn't know who it is.
He has all these issues through middle and high school. He finally confides in his friend Kenny. Kenny was the only one about these issues. (He felt like his parents wouldn't understand).
After graduation, his parents finally say him down and told him the truth. Rich was dead. And so was his mom (his mom died trying to save Rich). Willy, of course, was angry at the fact that this was hidden from him.
He then started to put two and two together and figured out Rich was the voice that was always calling out to him.
Willy and Kenny go on their first road trip back to Willy's hometown/state in Iowa, to get to the bottom of all this. Thinking he would get closure from all the hallucinations and the nightmares and the voice.
I'm going to leave it at that without giving to much away. Why? Cause there is a lot that goes on after half the book (yes, I only described the first half lol. I'm leaving out A LOT!!!)
I found the book to be chilling yet emotional. Why? All the nightmares, the chilling voice that haunted Willy all those years, and emotional because of all the stuff that I'm leaving out (cliff hanger . . . MUAHAHAHAHA ;) )
I totally recommend this book if you like heart felt, chilling, mystery, suspense all wrapped up in 1 book.

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Vampire Redemption by Aaron Marcusson

Aaron Marcusson took my breath away with the piece "Vampire Redemption".
I have never read a story of a recipe mixing horror, paranormal and religion. All three mixed together makes a truly dark yet emotional book.
"Akim" was born along with eleven other boys in different tribes. All twelve were conceived by a fallen angel and a human mother. All twelve are the army of Lucifer, going against God during Armageddon.
Akim finds out his wife, Steph, was murdered outside her work place. So he goes on a mission to find her killer. Along his journey he runs into his brothers to get answers. He then goes to find Variel (another brother, more on that later on). While looking for Variel, he gets kidnapped by a Sgt. Smith.
Sgt. Smith goes after Akim, thinking he is the one who murdered his wife, and his daughters. Something so gruesome, will make any parent (like myself) cringe. A vampire who literally put the family's life in Smith's hands. Choosing between his wife or his daughter. And after his decision finds out his wife is pregnant with another girl.
While in this cave, he meets Dr. Jones. A woman who studied Akim while he was in this chamber. Sgt. Smith tries to get answers out of him, and when Akim doesn't give him the answer he wanted, Smith puts him to sleep. For weeks.
While sleeping, he has this dream of his real mother. The mother he had killed while she was giving birth to him. And she tells him this whole story of Adam and Lilith, with God and Satan. (I think we all have heard of the story)
When Akim wakes, he realizes he has this new power, a power to mind control. He saves Jones' life by invading her body to protect her from being raped and/or murdered. And in return, Jones' set him free.
And he goes off to hide from his brother Variel until he is prepared.
I'm only giving bits and pieces of this book, considering there is a lot going on, and I don't want to give away too much. Just the basics.
I really love the writing of Aaron Marcusson. From the very beginning he had me at "hello". This book really makes you think about the stories told in the bible & those that were never in the bible, but has been documented. It makes a whole different story on vampires, almost like the movie "Vampire 2000" but not as cheesy. How it was mixed with the bible, but still had the paranormal/horror take to it. I enjoyed it & I hope u try it & have the same appreciation for this book as I did.

You can order Vampire Redemption on Smashwords here.
And you have to make sure you check out his facebook and Twitter as well to get updates and to get to know him, and love him as much as I do.