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Halloween habits: the rise of horror in children's books

November 16, 2014

The-Guardian-logoTerror was a book. It was Whispers, by Dean Koontz.
Whispers was an adult novel, discarded by my mother for being “too scary” and retrieved by me for the very same reason. I knew it wasn’t meant for children, but that’s the great thing about books: they don’t come with age restrictions!
At that age I was always at the library anyway, secretly reading what I shouldn’t: racy books, violent books, even a book about sex for boys. However, Whispers switched me on to terror, and it was thrillers I learned to love best of all.
I moved onto other Koontz books – Phantoms, Night Chills, Shattered – swopping them with friends, borrowing them from the library, and then I stumbled uponThe Amityville Horror, by Jay Anson. I was way to young to watch the film – those darned age restrictions again! – yet no one fretted that I was reading the book on which the film was based, because reading couldn’t hurt anyone… right?

Read the full article @ The Guardian.