Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Spooky Settings

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes, created by Gingerreadslainey. Check out the Goodreads group here.

Halloween is almost here (YES!) and to celebrate it, this week's Top 5 Wednesday is all about my favorite spooky settings. These are going to be a mix of settings that I've read already and thought were fantastically creepy and ones that I'm looking forward to reading, whether I've heard about them from someone else or whether I've seen the movie version and now want to read the source material.

5. Fangorn Forest, The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkein

I've been meaning to get to Lord of the Rings forever. The movies are old favorites and I can only imagine how much more amazing the book is. Fangorn Forest first appears in the second movie in the trilogy, The Two Towers, and the lighting and music set a very eerie tone. I look forward to reading this volume of the book to see if it is the same on the page.

4. Cabeswater, The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

There are little pockets of Cabeswater that are creepy, but I don't think that most people would call it creepy as a whole. The thing that creeps me out the most about it is the seasons changing as Blue and company journey through it, all in the span of an hour or less. That sort of pacing would get my senses up, definitely ramp up the paranoia, because obviously that is not normal and how do you fight against something like that?

3. Castle Gloom, Shadow Magic by Joshua Khan

Castle Gloom is the one of the best castle environments I've ever read in middle grade literature. It's got all manner of dark creatures being mentioned, the threat of undead, dark passageways, and more. Let's not forget, sequestered away, the GIANT BAT. :D

2. The Forest, The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

The Forest in this book was so freaky. You think you're getting into a nice retelling of your favorite fairy tales, you think you'll run into some nice woodland creatures? NOPE! Everything is off in one way or another. It's the not knowing and the thinking you do know that creeps me out. It keeps you from being able to keep your feet and in a weird situation, that's the best you can usually hope for. What do you have if not that?

1. New Hampshire College Prep, Asylum by Madeleine Roux

I haven't finished this book yet, but let me tell you why it ranks so high. It's take place in a former insane asylum. It's chock full of old photos that really set you into the setting. GHOSTS, MAN! This is not a book I'm going to read at night, let me tell you. I have a think about insane asylums. I will read them, but I tend to have a weird feeling about doing it at night. Something about the darkness makes it feel like these places could be even more real than simple ink on the page and midnight is the last time I want to feel vulnerable.

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