Free Books for Halloween

OK, my little goblins, what kind of treats and tricks can I offer you today?

As an old English teacher, I think it is about time that I get you reading. After all, I have already given you a list of free classical music for Halloween (here), 100 (actually, 101) free movies for Halloween (here), and a whole world of free old time radio (here) - all free, all on line, for your listening and viewing convenience.

Today, let's take a list of two dozen writers of spooky tales appropriate for Halloween and find books by them on line - for free, of course - to brighten (or is it, darken?) your Halloween.

Writers of free books for Halloween

I could tell you about these writers and their books, but I am going to enjoy a little trick and just give you a link to Wikipedia to find out more about each of them. You'll probably recognize at least some of the names, and you probably will not recognize all of them. All of them wrote in English. Some wrote only a few Halloween-appropriate books, but they all have something for your free reading pleasure.

A dozen writers of free books for Halloween

E.F. Benson [Wikipedia]
Ambrose Bierce [Wikipedia]
Algernon Blackwood [Wikipedia]
Robert W. Chambers [Wikipedia]
Charles Dickens [Wikipedia]
Lord Dunsany [Wikipedia]
Nikolai Gogol [Wikipedia]
Nathaniel Hawthorne [Wikipedia]
Lafacadio Hearn [Wikipedia]
W. W. Jacobs [Wikipedia]
Henry James [Wikipedia]
J. Sheridan Le Fanu [Wikipedia]

Another dozen writers of free books for Halloween

Matthew Gregory Lewis [Wikipedia]
H. P. Lovecraft [Wikipedia]
Arthur Machen [Wikipedia]
Charles Maturin [Wikipedia]
Oliver Onions [Wikipedia]
Edgar Allan Poe [Wikipedia]
Thomas Peckett [Preskett] Prest [Wikipedia]
Ann Radcliffe [Wikipedia]
Saki (H. H. Munro) [Wikipedia]
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley [Wikipedia]
Bram Stoker [Wikipedia]
Horace Walpole [Wikipedia]

Notice that since we are looking for free books, we are limited to older works, so, no Stephen King, no Anne Rice.

Free books for Halloween from Project Gutenberg

Since 1971 (yes, 1971!), Project Gutenberg (here) has been making available free, out-of-copyright texts. Now, the Project offers some 30,000 free texts. If you can access the Internet, you can access this treasure. Texts are available largely in plain text or HTML (web page format). There are not many Adobe PDFs or other such formats with more limited access.

Free books for Halloween from Munseys

Munseys (here) formerly Blackmask.com claims some 20,000 free out-of-copyright texts. A special feature of Munseys texts is that they are available in a variety of formats, including Mobipocket, which is the proprietary format used by the Amazon Kindle ebook reader. Think what treats you can provide for anyone you know who owns a Kindle - especially considering the prices of Kindle ebooks.

About your free books for Halloween

Here is your list. The links to the word "Gutenberg" take you to links for free books from Project Gutenberg, and the links to the word "Munseys" to free books (including Kindle-compatible Mobipocket ebooks) at Munseys. There are other sites on the Internet where you can download free books, but these are the two largest. Enjoy... and please don't toilet-paper my yard!

Find your free books for Halloween

E.F. Benson [Gutenberg]
Ambrose Bierce [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Algernon Blackwood [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Robert W. Chambers [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Charles Dickens [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Lord Dunsany [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Nikolai Gogol [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Nathaniel Hawthorne [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Lafacadio Hearn [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
W. W. Jacobs [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Henry James [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
J. Sheridan Le Fanu [Gutenberg] [Munseys]

Find more free books for Halloween

Matthew Gregory Lewis [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
H. P. Lovecraft [Munseys]
Arthur Machen [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Charles Maturin [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Oliver Onions [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Edgar Allan Poe [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Thomas Peckett [Preskett] Prest [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Ann Radcliffe [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Saki (H. H. Munro) [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Bram Stoker [Gutenberg] [Munseys]
Horace Walpole [Gutenberg] [Munseys]

You may find these articles useful and interesting:
"Classical Music for Halloween: Fifty Pieces" (here)
"100 Halloween Movies for Free" (here)
"War of the Worlds: Free Old Time Radio for Halloween" (here)
"Free Audiobooks for Halloween" (here)

This is a true but spooky story:
"The Beast of Gévaudan" (here)