In no particular order, here is an incomplete list of some awesome things about Spooky Season: bats, witches, vampires, scary ghost stories, sad ghost stories, funny ghost stories, werewolves, dogs in Halloween costumes, tiny candy bars, full-size candy bars, caramel corn, bobbing for apples, a chill in the air, staying up late to watch scary movies, dressing as your alter-ego, dressing as your hero, dressing as your monster, looking at other people’s costumes, shuffling around in crunchy leaves, spooky music, haunted houses, orange things, purple things, black things, and the poem ‘The Raven.’
In this episode, we take a virtual tour around the globe to atmospheric and historic destinations to celebrate Halloween. We find out if coffin races are a real thing, get into the OG New England vampires, and celebrate the history of the largest nighttime gathering in the United States. (Spoiler: There are costumes involved.)
Then we recommend five books worthy of adding to your Spooky Season celebration: a cozy story of witchy friendship set in upstate New York, a haunted house story with a heroine who refuses to leave, a modern riff on a classic mystery trope set on Halloween, a horror novel for the Covid era, and a mashup of ghost story, family saga, and travelogue set in Italy.
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://strongsenseofplace.com/books/cackle_harrison">Cackle by Rachel Harrison</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://strongsenseofplace.com/books/the_september_house_orlando">The September House by Carissa Orlando</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://strongsenseofplace.com/books/daisy_darker_feeney">Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://strongsenseofplace.com/books/bat_eater_and_other_names_baker">Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://strongsenseofplace.com/books/diavola_thorne">Diavola by Jennifer Thorne</a></li>
</ul>
For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, <a href="http://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/2025-10-10-halloween">visit show notes</a>.

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<a href="http://strongsenseofplace.com/transcriptions/73_halloween_transcript">Transcript of Halloween: About 31% More Gothic than Normal</a>

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