This month our reading recommendations feature five books in the horror genre for Halloween and five books from Hispanic/Latinx American authors.
Who doesn’t love a scary story about things that go bump in the night?
Hispanic Heritage Month is an inexact term. There are many people with Indigenous roots going back centuries before the first Spanish explorers came to the Americas. It’s important to recognize and include all Americans with Hispanic and Latinx heritage.
We are featuring works about Hispanic and Latinx culture by authors who are Hispanic/Latinx Americans.
Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15-October 15, so it’s really spread over two months.
My heritage qualifies as mutt. I’m extremely proud to be a little of this and a little of that. It makes me feel more connected to people of different cultures, but I don’t have cherished family traditions or stories to pass on to the next generation. Maybe that’s why I enjoy celebrating heritage months. What separates us should also unite us if we let it. Enjoy!
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury – The carnival comes to town the week before Halloween. Two boys learn the secrets of its smoke and mirrors and the heavy cost of wishes that become nightmares.
The October Country by Ray Bradbury – A collection of short stories combining dark fantasy, classic horror, and suspense.
Widow’s Point by Richard Chizmar and W. H. Chizmar – This father/son duo of horror authors has teamed up to create a terrifying story about doomed thrill seekers trapped in a haunted house.
Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968 - 1980) by Eleanor Johnson – The author tracks the horror genre’s ability to adapt to the political landscape. She doesn’t excuse the abuses of male directors behind several of the projects.
Not Forever, But For Now by Chuck Palahniuk – Two brothers grew up in the Wesh countryside enjoying the best life had to offer while waiting to join the family business, the murder business. What could possibly go wrong?
The Eternal Forest: A Memoir of the Cuban Diaspora by Elena Sheppard – The author intertwines Cuban history, myth, and literature with her family’s story of their exile from Cuba.
Short Stories by Latin American Women: The Magic and the Real - edited by Celia Correas Zapat – collected stories by 31 women authors from North, Central, and South America about their cultures, traditions, and struggles.
Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology – edited by Rigoberto González – Includes more than 180 poets spanning from the 17th century to today. These poems are presented in their original Spanish and also translated into English.
I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez – When Julia’s sister Olga dies in a tragic accident, Julia is supposed to take her place as the perfect obedient daughter in her Mexican American family. She’s not supposed to leave her family to go away to school. She can’t move out unless it’s to make a home with her husband. That’s what Olga would have done along with a host of other saintly behaviors. Julia isn’t Olga and as Julia explores her sister’s life, she learns Olga might not be the saint her mother knew.
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros – When Lala and her family make their yearly trip from Chicago to her grandparents house in Mexico City, she tries to prepare herself for her spending time with her awful grandmother. When Lala attempts to make sense of her grandmother’s life story and what caused her to become so awful, nothing adds up. Grandmother calls Lala an exaggerator, but Lala knows she’s hiding something. Where does family history end and lies begin?