F. Marion Crawford for Halloween

For tonight's (third) countdown to Halloween post, a reading suggestion: the stories of F. Marion Crawford. One of my favourite, I must say, as Crawford is not shy of using gory effects and violence, but never to the detriment of atmosphere and suspense. It is never gratuitous. The one I first discovered is The Upper Berth, which is about a drowned corpse haunting the cabin of a ship, but you also have For the Blood is the Life, which is a classic vampire story and The Screaming Skull which is a ghost story about a... well, a skull that screams. And bites. And kills. Deliciously dark stuff. Now, I must confess, I haven't read The Witch of Prague yet. Because it's more magical realism and fantasy than proper horror, or so I have been told, and because I was kind of hoping to read it the city where it is set one day. We did discuss taking holiday there last year and before. That said, I might make it part of next year's countdown TBR, early in the season.