Favourite Spooky Book Settings

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme previously hosted by the lovely folks @ The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl

Favourite Spooky Book Settings

This week is a Halloween Freebie – there are so many ways to spin this topic but I’m going to focus my list on my favourite spooky settings! I actually started this post a couple of week’s back (when the topic was Favourite Book Settings) and decided to focus on settings that fit in with the Halloween spirit. I ended up running out of time and never got around to finishing it. Since I’m feeling pretty poorly today (got a nasty cold that’s doing the rounds) I’ve decided to ‘repurpose’ or ‘resurrect’ (hehe) my unfinished post!

1. Haunted Houses

C’mon, this setting is a classic for a reason, right? There are loads of horror books set in haunted houses and most never fail to creep me out (I think it has something to do with the whole place you live being a place that isn’t safe like a home should be). There’s nothing scarier to me, if I’m being honest…

2. Asylums/Hospitals

I think the real horror surrounding asylums is the terrible things that were done to the patients unlucky enough to end up in them. It’s frightening to think if I had been born in earlier times I may have ended up in one (given I have mental health issues myself). Asylums are definitely scary places – the horrible things that happened in them could definitely leave an echo of pain and suffering.

3. Fairgrounds/Amusement Parks

These are kinda scary in a good way (especially if they are empty/abandoned!) I know nearly everyone will have all seen footage of the  Pripyat amusement park, abandoned along with the rest of the city after the Chernobyl Disaster. It is eerily empty and forgotten – a stark reminder of the event that changed the lives of so many people.

4. Ghost Towns/Creepy Little Towns

Following on from the last choice, Chernobyl is again another example of a ‘ghost’ city/town but there are many more of them and they are all deeply unsettling – Roanoke comes to mind as does Hashima Island. There are a lot of places left to crumble and rot in the world. It definitely would make for a creepy horror setting!

5. Graveyards/Cemeteries

I don’t know about you guys but I’ve always found graveyards to be rather unnerving places (as well as being deeply sad). As a rule, they are a place to respect and mourn the dead, which conversely makes them the ideal setting for a horror novel. I’ve read a few and they never fail to creep me out.

6. Forests/Woods

Woods are creepy places – there are no two ways about it! I actually cannot think of anything scarier than being lost in the woods or being chased through them by some kind of killer or supernatural monster. A lot of my nightmares as a child tended to revolve around being chased, most often through a dense forest, so it is definitely a spooky setting that would work well for a horror story.

7. Cabin in the Woods

This links into the above rather well haha! I’m classing this as a separate entity because there are various stories where the protagonists are stuck in a cabin or chalet or house in the woods and they always freak me right out! I’ve obviously watched the Evil Dead way too much!!

8. Boarding Schools

Boarding schools are a horror unto themselves, I will never be convinced otherwise! I read many books as a child about boarding schools which were more of the fluffy variety (think Enid Blyton or the Chalet School series by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer) but I guess the scarier ones made more of an impact! I actually couldn’t imagine being stuck at school with peers 24/7 – it just sounds like a nightmare to me (I am an introvert that likes my own space too much).

9. Haunted Hotels

Hotels can be creepy anyway but I shudder at the thought of haunted hotels. As much as the subject fascinates me I know I would never get a wink of sleep if I stayed at one. Needless to say, the setting is definitely one of my favourite in spooky reads – there are loads of books set around haunted hotels and they all scare the ever-loving daylights out of me!

10. Creepy Attics/Cellars

I probably find basements scarier than attics but I have to admit both can be pretty downright creepy. I’m thinking of the film Sinister here with the Super 8 footage of the murders of the previous residents is found in the attic of the writer and his family. That film is nightmare fuel and solidified the fact these settings are seriously spine-chilling!!

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