That spine tingling chill...

Many people are fans of that spine tingling chill happens when your reading an exciting book or a scary book. But if you are not a huge fan of scary - why not try a Gothic style chill instead? Gothic fiction is a genre or mode of literature that combines fiction, horror, death and Romanticism. Still not so sure about the horror and death part? What about a Gothic romance instead?

Try a classic such as Victoria Holt's Mistress of Mellyn where a young Victorian girl accepts a position as governess at Mellyn Manor, an estate shrouded in rumors of mystery and murder.

Or there is Barbara Michaels' Ammie, Come Home. Hosting what was supposed to be a harmless sâeance to entertain her visiting niece, Sara, in her elegant Georgetown home, Ruth Bennett comes face to face with an unwelcome spirit who reveals a dark history of lust, treachery, violence, and murder that now plagues the modern-day inhabitants of the haunted house. Michaels' other titles have spooky tales of governesses and orphan girls battling sinister thoughts of their employers and other menace.

For a tad more modern approach, there is Simone St. James' award winning book The Haunting of Maddy Clare. In 1920s England, Sarah Piper is sent by her temporary agency to assist a ghost hunter, Alistair Gellis, as he investigates the spirit of Maddy Clare, a young serving maid said to haunt the barn where she committed suicide. The ghost is no hoax, and Sarah is soon caught up in trying to discover who Maddy was, where she came from, and why she is desperate for revenge.

Mary Stewart's The Moonspinners was made into a film, but the book is much more menacing as our heroine tries to figure out who is telling the truth as she vacations on the islands of Greece.

And if you like a bit of satire, Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey does a wonderful send up of the Gothic genre. Austen knew what she was writing about since Gothics were a popular trend at the time.

So try reading something a little bit different this year for Halloween. Enjoy!