I read a few spooky books this month in honor of Halloween. Oddly enough the thing that struck me about them wasn’t anything dealing with the paranormal.

The first book I read was Dreamcatcher by Stephen King. It was about space aliens. It was about ESP. But most of all it was about the enduring power of friendship. It reminded me of how much I value my own childhood friends.

Stephen King is an interesting guy. He’s got a mind full of monsters and a heart of gold.

The novel was fast-moving and hard to put down. The characterizations were suburb. No one can make a character come to life in my mind faster than Stephen King.

The second book I read was A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson. I loved the movie staring Kevin Bacon so I was curious to read the book. The thing that struck me was the difference in atmosphere. The book was published in 1958 and things have changed a lot since then. None of the women in the book work outside the home. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with being a full-time mother. I think it’s a needed and noble profession. But it felt weird to read a book and not hear about any of the woman characters having a job.

There were some differences from the movie. For instance, the sister-in-law character is a brother-in-law in the novel. On the whole it was pleasantly creepy and I enjoyed it.