Tag Archive for: fall reading list

Cult of Weird Fall Reading List

Morbid Must-Reads: 2017 Fall Reading List

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Curl up in the candlelight this fall with one of these macabre recommendations from the Cult of Weird book club.

The leaves are falling and the veil is thinning. This year’s roundup of fall reading recommendations is here to satisfy your morbid curiosity with new releases from Cult of Weird favorites like J.W. Ocker, Lindsey Fitzharris, and Caitlin Doughty.

The Butchering Art

The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris
Before anesthesia and antiseptics, Victorian surgery was a brutal affair often more dangerous than the affliction it was meant to fix. Medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris of the web series Under the Knife tells the story of visionary surgeon Joseph Lister’s work to transform surgical practices during a time when doctors were still digging up cadavers for dissection.
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From Here to Eternity

From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Douhgty
The followup to her best-selling look at the death industry Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, mortician Caitlin Doughty travels the world to examine funeral practices from unique cultures around the globe.
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Death and Douglas

Death and Douglas by JW Ocker
When “incredibly out of the ordinary” murder victims start showing up at Douglas’s family’s funeral home, he and his friends set out to solve the mystery.
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The Apparitionists

The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln's Ghost
The story of how spirit photographer William Mumler captured America’s imagination in the wake of the death and tragedy of the Civil War by photographing grieving family members with apparitions of the dearly departed.
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Tales from a Talking Board

Tales from a Talking Board
Fourteen new supernatural stories exploring divination and communication with the dead through Ouija boards, tarot, and “stranger things.”
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Confessions of a Funeral Director

Confessions of a Funeral Director by Caleb Wilde
Caleb Wilde reveals what he’s learned about life and death as a sixth-generation funeral director who’s been around the deceased and grieving his entire life.
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The Witch

The Witch by Ronald Hutton
The witch came to prominence—and often a painful death—in early modern Europe, yet her origins are much more geographically diverse and historically deep. In this landmark book, Ronald Hutton traces witchcraft from the ancient world to the early-modern stake.
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Atlas of Cursed Places

Atlas of Cursed Places
Oliver Le Carrer brings us a fascinating history and armchair journey to the world’s most dangerous and frightful places, complete with vintage maps and period illustrations in a handsome volume.
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199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die

199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die by Loren Rhoads
A hauntingly beautiful travel guide to the world’s most visited cemeteries, told through spectacular photography and their unique histories and residents.
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It Devours!

It Devours! a Welcome to Night Vale novel
A new page-turning mystery about science, faith, love and belonging, set in a friendly desert community where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are commonplace parts of everyday life. Welcome to Night Vale…
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The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures by
A fascinating, beautifully illustrated guide to the monsters that are part of our collective psyche, featuring both rare and best-loved stories from the hit podcast Lore, soon to be an online streaming series.
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The Magician and the Spirits

The Magician and the Spirits
The story of Houdini’s quest to uncover the truth behind spiritualism, mediums, and messages from the afterlife.
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Understanding Cemetery Symbols

Understanding Cemetery Symbols
A guide to the meanings behind the symbols found on gravestones.
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California Infernal

California Infernal: Anton LaVey & Jayne Mansfield
Fischer’s unique collection of photos takes us straight into the ritual chamber of the Church of Satan in LaVey’s infamous “black house” in San Francisco, as well as into Mansfield’s Hollywood “pink palace.” We also get to follow LaVey on excursions to his friend Forrest “Famous Monsters of Filmland” Ackerman, to Marilyn Monroe’s grave, to TV studios and back, to Satanic weddings and Zeena’s baptism at the Church of Satan HQ.
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Quackery

Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything
Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices. Ranging from the merely weird to the outright dangerous, here are dozens of outlandish, morbidly hilarious “treatments”—conceived by doctors and scientists, by spiritualists and snake oil salesmen (yes, they literally tried to sell snake oil)—that were predicated on a range of cluelessness, trial and error, and straight-up scams.
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Death: A Graveside Companion

Death: A Graveside Companion by Joanna Ebenstein
Edited by Joanna Ebenstein, Death explores the intersection of art and death through over 1,000 images, many never published before, created throughout the centuries as humanity has struggled to understand and rectify death through morbid beauty.
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Paperbacks from Hell

Paperbacks from Hell
A history of the paperback horror boom of the 70s and 80s, and the twisted stories and cover art it spawned.
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Want more? Here are the fall reading lists from previous years:

2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013

Or you can find them all and more here: Cult of Weird Recommended Reading

10 Morbid Must-Reads for the Fall Season

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Morbid and fascinating book recommendations for the fall season from the Cult of Weird book club.
2016 Cult of Weird fall reading list

If you’re looking for a macabre read for the fall season, something to curl up to while the air turns crisp and the veil thins, look no further. The list below has some compelling new releases, as well as some older work you may not have been aware of, to keep your brain cells tingling and your spine chilling this Halloween season.

Related: Weird Book Recommendations

Morbid Curiosities

Morbid Curiosities by Paul Gambino featuring the oddities collection of Ryan Matthew Cohn
Paul Gambino examines the truly extraordinary and bizarre objects in the collections of Ryan Matthew Cohn, Evan Michelson, and more. These macabre curiosities are showcased, some for the first time, with beautiful photos and accompanying descriptions illuminating the dark corners of history through skulls, occult objects, sideshow ephemera, mummified body parts, vintage spirit communication devices and other oddities.
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Ghostland

Ghostland by Colin Dickey
Ghostland is a haunted roadtrip through history by way of America’s most notoriously dark places, where the spirits of the past refuse to rest.
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A Season with the Witch

Halloween in Salem, MA is the focus of A Season with the Witch by J.W. Ocker
J.W. Ocker, travel writer and chronicler of strange destinations on Odd Things I’ve Seen, spent a Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts to see what makes it the “Capital of Creepy.”
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Anatomical Venus

Anatomical Venus by Joanna Ebenstein
Joanna Ebenstein of the Morbid Anatomy Museum explores the grotesquely erotic wax anatomy work from the past depicting beautiful female figures in varying stages of dissection.
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Tales of the Peculiar

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs
Ransom Riggs, author of the enchantingly odd series Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, expands on the bizarre mythos he’s dreamed up with a new installment of stories from the secret history of the peculiar world.
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The Ghastling: Book Four

The Ghastling book four
The Ghastling is a series featuring genuinely chilling short stories by various authors. Book #4 is the latest installment, and it promises to be even more gruesome than previous issues.
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The Victorian Book of the Dead

Victorian Book of the Dead by Chris Woodward
Victorian-era dead and mourning traditions, ghost stories, premature burials, post-mortem photography, and bizarre tales unearthed from newspapers and journals from the 19th century.
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Cabinet of Curiosities

Cabinet of Curiosities by Gordon Grice
A beginner’s guide to creating your own cabinet of curiosities, from finding and identifying specimens to preserving and mounting them for display.
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The American Way of Death

The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford
First published in 1963, then later updated for modern trends in 1996, Jessica Mitford’s celebrated book exposes the US death industry with wit and humor, tackling the embalming process, cremation, funerals and more.
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The Rose Of Paracelsus

The Rose of Paracelsus: On Secrets and Sacraments by William Leonard Pickard
From the description: “A Harvard graduate student and researcher explores a global entheogen system, discovering their practices leading to cognitive enhancement and, arguably, the next human form.”
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Looking for more? Check out these Weird Book Club picks from previous years:

Cult of Weird 2015 Fall Reading List

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Peculiar children, cannibalism, and the glorious misadventures of a dead man’s head top the list of macabre history and strange fiction on this year’s fall reading list.
Cult of Weird fall reading list

If you’re looking for the perfect weird book to curl with this fall, here is a collection of macabre history and strange fiction recommended by the Cult of Weird community. *Cult of Weird is not responsible for paper cuts, nightmares, existential breakdowns or sudden metamorphosis from your larval stage.

Last year: Fall Reading List 2014

Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs

Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
Library of Souls is the third installment of the best selling Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.
BUY IT HERE

Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar

Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar
If you feel like you’re having a bad day, this book details something horrible that’s happened in history for every day of the year. Your lousy day at work has nothing on the great molasses flood of 1919.
BUY IT HERE

Lady ParaNorma by Vincent Marcone

The Lady ParaNorma by Vincent Marcone
If your familiar with the work of Vincent Marcone and his design studio My Pet Skeleton, you won’t want to miss his first lavishly illustrated book about a haunted woman who finds happiness in an unlikely place.
BUY IT HERE

Monster Hunters by Tea Krulos

Monster Hunters by Tea Krulos
What’s it like to be a paranormal investigator? Tag along with Tea Krulos as he hunts for ghosts, UFOs, Bigfoot and other legends with those who have dedicated their lives to finding the answers.
BUY IT HERE

Memento Mori: The Dead Among Us by Paul Koudounaris

Memento Mori by Paul Koudounaris
Explore the strange ways that cultures around the world celebrate and remember their dead, from extravagant bone-filled catacombs to vibrant festivals where the remains of their ancestors are the guests of honor.
BUY IT HERE

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach

Spook by Mary Roach
I haven’t had the opportunity to read anything by Mary Roach yet, but there’s no denying that she is a Cult of Weird favorite. Her name pops up again and again every time I’m looking for book recommendations. Last year’s list featured her book Stiff about cadavers, so this time we’ll take the next step…into the afterlife.
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House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielwski
I have no idea what House of Leaves is about, but after several recommendations and a compelling description, it seems like this list would be incomplete without it.
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Parasite by Mira Grant

Parasite by Mira Grant
Designer tapeworms…what could possibly go wrong?
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The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson

House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
Because a fall reading list isn’t complete without some historical cosmic horror. This is a classic work of weird fiction from 1908 that went on to influence H.P. Lovecraft.
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The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell: A Memoir by Marc Hartzman

The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell by Marc Hartzman
Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, but that was not the end of his story. He was later exhumed, hanged, beheaded, impaled, bought and sold until his final burial in 1960. This memoir recounts the many misadventures of Oliver Cromwell’s head through 300 years of bizarre history.
BUY IT HERE

Welcome to Night Vale

Welcome to Night Vale the novel
A shadowy government agency wants me to tell you that this book from the creators of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast should not be read, as it may cause a wormhole to open in your nostril…a serious threat to national security to be sure. Don’t read it. Just don’t. Okay, maybe just a little. But stop when the tingling starts.
BUY IT HERE

Mothman’s Curse by Christine Hayes

Mothman's Curse by Christine Hayes
What are the origins of the mothman? Does he cause death wherever he goes, or is he trying to help? Mothman’s Curse explores these questions through the story of three kids who find themselves hopelessly entangled in the creatures mysteries through a terrible disaster they hope they can prevent.
BUY IT HERE

Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal

Man-Eater by Harold Schechter
True crime author Harold Schechter tackles the sordid tale of one of America’s first cannibals. Was Alfred Packer a cold-blooded killer, or did he eat his travel companions in a last ditch effort to survive after they had already killed each other?
BUY IT HERE

Did you read something recently that belongs on this list?
Tell us about it in the comments below!

Cult of Weird Fall Reading List

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Autumn has arrived, and Halloween is just around the corner. This is the perfect time to kick back with something pumpkin spice flavored and pick up a good book about the weird, obscure and downright disturbing.

I had a few books in mind that needed to be included on this list, but most of these recommendations straight from the Cult sound like fascinating reads I had not even heard of.

More:

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitin Doughty
Mortician Caitlin Doughty (of the Ask a Mortician web series and The Order of the Good Death) reveals the grim and fascinating details of cremation and her experiences in the industry of death.

Available right here.

Goatman: Flesh or Folklore? by J. Nathan Couch

Goatman: Flesh or Folklore? by J. Nathan Couch
Cult contributor J. Nathan Couch tries to separate fact from fiction as he explores legends of the vile and murderous Goatman creature from across America.

Available right here.

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Geek Love is a story about a family of carnies who used poisons, chemicals and drugs to breed their own human oddities for their freak show.

Available right here.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Available right here.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Riggs weaves a fascinating tale about children with strange abilities and the monsters who want to eat them, supported by weird vintage found photos.

Available right here.

Taxidermy Art by Robert Marbury

Taxidermy Art rogue guide by Robert Marbury
Whether you are an aspiring taxidermist or just love the art form, this book is for you. Taxidermy Art is a guide to the culture of rogue taxidermy and the artists who work tirelessly to bring taxidermy out of the dusty shelves of natural history museums into the spotlights of modern art. The book also includes lessons and resources to help you get started.

Available right here.

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
Rant is a twisted vision of the future marked by a plague of rabies and recreational car crashing. This is the oral biography of the strange life and spectacular death of Buster Casey full of the witty and jaded nihilism you expect from Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk.

Available right here.

The Terror by Dan Simmons

The Terror by Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons tells a fictional story based on the true events leading to the loss of 129 men to madness and cannibalism on the doomed Franklin Expedition in 1845.

Available right here.

Satan Wants Me by Robert Irwin

Satan Wants Me by Robert Irwin
Sex, drugs and devil worship in 1960s London.

Available right here.

Dr. Mutter’s Marvels by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz

Dr. Mutter's Marvels by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
A biography of Thomas Dent Mütter, the Philadelphia doctor who revolutionized surgery through the use of ether as anesthesia and the sterilization of surgical tools. In 1858, his collection of medical oddities and anatomical specimens became the foundation of the Mutter Museum.

Available right here.

Did I miss a weird or macabre book that is perfect for fall reading?
Let me know in the comments below.