Here are 95 books that Haunted Air fans have personally recommended if you like Haunted Air. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween

Lesley Pratt Bannatyne Author Of Halloween Nation: Behind the Scenes of America's Fright Night

From my list on Halloween celebrations.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved Halloween since I ran through the suburban streets of southern Connecticut with ears and a tail. For more than thirty years I’ve been researching and writing about the holiday, and each year I find something new. Most of all, I’m a Halloween advocate: At Halloween we can wrap our arms around the reality of the other 364 days and satirize, exorcize, and celebrate it. The joy of Halloween is not that it’s dark and we revel in that; it’s that Halloween can bring a bit of light and laughter into the darkness. And, of course, it’s big, creative, candy-fueled fun.

Lesley's book list on Halloween celebrations

Lesley Pratt Bannatyne Why Lesley loves this book

Trick or Treat takes the history of Halloween and brings it into the 21st century. The book chronicles the holiday’s long history—distant and more recent, misconceptions and globalization—and offers up similar holiday stories as well, such as chapters on Dias de Los Muertos and All Saints Day celebrations. Looking for something to read or watch or listen to? Here you’ll find a chronicle of Halloween’s literature through 2012, as well as recent movies and music that capture the holiday’s culture in our world today.

By Lisa Morton ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Trick or Treat as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Trick or Treat is the first book to both examine the origins and history of Halloween and explore in depth its current global popularity. Festivals like the Celtic Samhain and Catholic All Souls' Day have blended to produce the modern Halloween, which has been reborn in America - but there are also related but independent holidays, especially Mexico's Day of the Dead. Lisa Morton explores the explosion in popularity of haunted attractions and the impact of events such as the global economic recession, as well as the effect Halloween has had on popular culture through literary works, films and television…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain

Lesley Pratt Bannatyne Author Of Halloween Nation: Behind the Scenes of America's Fright Night

From my list on Halloween celebrations.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved Halloween since I ran through the suburban streets of southern Connecticut with ears and a tail. For more than thirty years I’ve been researching and writing about the holiday, and each year I find something new. Most of all, I’m a Halloween advocate: At Halloween we can wrap our arms around the reality of the other 364 days and satirize, exorcize, and celebrate it. The joy of Halloween is not that it’s dark and we revel in that; it’s that Halloween can bring a bit of light and laughter into the darkness. And, of course, it’s big, creative, candy-fueled fun.

Lesley's book list on Halloween celebrations

Lesley Pratt Bannatyne Why Lesley loves this book

This is my go-to book whenever I start a new Halloween writing project. It grounds me in details about the origins of Halloween (and holidays throughout the year) and illustrates brilliantly why the turning of the seasons has always been critical, and how holidays mark important cultural moments in so many ways. The origin of Halloween is here, but so is the origin of celebration itself.

By Ronald Hutton ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Stations of the Sun as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Comprehensive and engaging, this colourful study covers the whole sweep of ritual history from the earliest written records to the present day. From May Day revels and Midsummer fires, to Harvest Home and Hallowe'en, to the twelve days of Christmas, Ronald Hutton takes us on a fascinating journey through the ritual year in Britain. He challenges many common assumptions about the customs of the past, and debunks many myths surrounding festivals of the present, to
illuminate the history of the calendar year we live by today.


Book cover of Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

Megaera C. Lorenz Author Of The Shabti

From my list on fascination with ghosts, hauntings, and afterlife.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been nostalgic. I long for a connection with times and places I’ve never experienced, and I think my fascination with ghosts and the uncanny is connected to that. As a child, I fell in love with ancient Egypt, with its famously complex religious traditions concerning death and the afterlife. I earned a PhD in Egyptology and spent a lifetime crafting stories about the past, often with a speculative or supernatural twist. For me, ghosts and history are a natural combination.   

Megaera's book list on fascination with ghosts, hauntings, and afterlife

Megaera C. Lorenz Why Megaera loves this book

This is the book that started my love affair with spiritualism. Mary Roach’s accessible and often hilarious approach to science writing made a huge impression on me when I first picked it up in my early 20s.

The personal and adventurous nature of her investigations also intrigued me, earning Roach a spot high on my list of people I want to be when I grow up and cementing her place as one of my few auto-buy authors.

The wide, weird array of research she presents in her book—and her open-minded take on it all—left me with a burning desire to learn more (and a tiny, nagging scrap of hope that just maybe there could be such a thing as ghosts). 

By Mary Roach ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Spook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that-the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my lap-top?" In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die.


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon

Lesley Pratt Bannatyne Author Of Halloween Nation: Behind the Scenes of America's Fright Night

From my list on Halloween celebrations.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved Halloween since I ran through the suburban streets of southern Connecticut with ears and a tail. For more than thirty years I’ve been researching and writing about the holiday, and each year I find something new. Most of all, I’m a Halloween advocate: At Halloween we can wrap our arms around the reality of the other 364 days and satirize, exorcize, and celebrate it. The joy of Halloween is not that it’s dark and we revel in that; it’s that Halloween can bring a bit of light and laughter into the darkness. And, of course, it’s big, creative, candy-fueled fun.

Lesley's book list on Halloween celebrations

Lesley Pratt Bannatyne Why Lesley loves this book

Not only is this a complete history of pumpkins – it’s a fascinating history of America. There’s good, solid jack-o-lantern history alongside descriptions and photos of the gazillion ways we celebrate, decorate, grow, eat, idolize, and display pumpkins. Emerging as a symbol of lust in medieval Europe, the pumpkin became synonymous with the American wilderness, then came to stand for rustic life, and now Halloween. If you like history and Americana as well as Halloween, you’ll like this one. And if you’re a Halloween nerd like I am, you’ll love the 100 pages of footnotes.

By Cindy Ott ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Pumpkin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Why do so many Americans drive for miles each autumn to buy a vegetable that they are unlikely to eat? While most people around the world eat pumpkin throughout the year, North Americans reserve it for holiday pies and other desserts that celebrate the harvest season and the rural past. They decorate their houses with pumpkins every autumn and welcome Halloween trick-or-treaters with elaborately carved jack-o'-lanterns. Towns hold annual pumpkin festivals featuring giant pumpkins and carving contests, even though few have any historic ties to the crop.

In this fascinating cultural and natural history, Cindy Ott tells the story of…


Book cover of Queens: Portraits of Black Women and their Fabulous Hair

St. Clair Detrick-Jules Author Of My Beautiful Black Hair: 101 Natural Hair Stories from the Sisterhood

From my list on celebrating Black hair.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an Afro-Caribbean-American filmmaker, photographer, author, and activist from Washington, DC. After graduating from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in French and Francophone Studies, I began pursuing a completely different career path: social activism through art and storytelling. I capture personal stories and intimate moments centering on Black liberation, immigrant justice, and women’s rights. My work is grounded in radical love, joy, and the knowledge that a more just world is possible. My award-winning documentary DACAmented has been internationally recognized, and my book My Beautiful Black Hair has been featured in The Washington Post, Buzzfeed News, and NPR’s Strange Fruit, among others.

St.'s book list on celebrating Black hair

St. Clair Detrick-Jules Why St. loves this book

The narratives in this book from women in the United States, London, and Ghana--accompanied by gorgeous portraits--capture a slice of the Black hair diaspora and the place where it all started: West Africa. The title says it all and yet can’t begin to capture the gorgeous array of women, hairstyles, and lived experiences captured by Cunningham and Alexander.

By Michael Cunningham , George Alexander ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Queens as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Crowns photographer Michael Cunningham and author and journalist George Alexander have captured the marvelous trinity of black women, hair, and beauty salons in the glorious Queens: Portraits of Black Women and Their Fabulous Hair.

Angela Garner says that “The beauty salon is the one great thing we get to share as African American women. It’s therapeutic.” Tisch Sims says that wearing fantasy hair makes her feel “like a goddess, a queen.”

From the afro to the ponytail to dreadlocks to braids to relaxed hair to fantasy hair; from “good hair” to bad hair days, in this stunningly designed book black…


Book cover of Lee Miller: A Woman's War

Janet Somerville Author Of Yours, for Probably Always: Martha Gellhorn's Letters of Love and War 1930-1949

From my list on women war correspondents.

Why am I passionate about this?

Janet Somerville taught literature for 25 years in Toronto. She served on the PEN Canada Board and chaired many benefits that featured writers including Diana Athill, Margaret Atwood, Roddy Doyle, Stephen King, Alice Munro, Azar Nafisi, and Ian Rankin. She contributes frequently to the Toronto Star Book Pages, and has been handwriting a #LetterADay for 8 years. Since 2015 she has been immersed in Martha Gellhorn’s life and words, with ongoing access to Gellhorn’s restricted papers in Boston. Yours, for Probably Always: Martha Gellhorn’s Letters of Love & War 1930-1949 is her first book, now also available from Penguin Random House Audio, read by the Tony Award-winning Ellen Barkin. 

Janet's book list on women war correspondents

Janet Somerville Why Janet loves this book

Miller was one of the great combat photographers of WWII, but she also documented the social consequences of the conflict, particularly the lives of women on the European front. She would also write about what she saw for British Vogue. She photographed Martha Gellhorn in London in 1943 as part of a series about women correspondents. 

In addition to an introduction by Miller’s son, Antony Penrose, Roberts provides insightful commentary that places each image within the context of women’s roles throughout the landscape of war.

By Hilary Roberts ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lee Miller as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Lee Miller photographed innumerable women during her career, first as a fashion photographer and then as a journalist during the Second World War, documenting the social consequences of the conflict, particularly the impact of the war on women across Europe. Her work as a war photographer is perhaps that for which she is best remembered - in fact she was among the 20th century's most important photographers on the subject. Published to coincide with an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, Lee Miller: A Woman's War tells the story beyond the battlefields of the Second World War by way of…


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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

Book cover of A Scot in the Dark

Jennifer Trethewey Author Of Saving the Scot

From my list on regency romances featuring hot highlanders.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about historical romance and romance readers. My favorite era in history is the Regency, the period during which the Prince of Wales was named Regent. It is also the time during which Jane Austen wrote. Austen readers are particular about details so it’s daunting to write Regency fiction. Still, I love to write it and read it. I’m also passionate about Scotland, its history, the land, the people, the customs, the folklore, the food, and the music. If you’ve never been, put Scotland on your bucket list. They say it’s the oldest rock on earth. There’s magic there, too. Really and truly. Magic.

Jennifer's book list on regency romances featuring hot highlanders

Jennifer Trethewey Why Jennifer loves this book

I’ve never met a Sarah Maclean book I didn’t love and this one is quite possibly my absolute favorite of hers. She always comes through with a hooky yet believable feminist heroine protagonist who knows what she is about and refuses to fit into the narrow confines of a woman’s role drawn by society. Also appealing are her male protagonists, usually brooding, deeply flawed, and the only human powerful enough in character and intelligence to measure up to his female counterpart. You will love the scandalous siren and the Highland devil. They are unforgettable. 

By Sarah MacLean ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Scot in the Dark as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Smart, sexy, and always romantic' Julia Quinn, Sunday Times bestselling author of the Bridgerton series
'Fabulous' Eloisa James
'For a smart, witty and passionate historical romance, I recommend anything by Sarah MacLean' Lisa Kleypas

The second in Sarah MacLean's sensational new Scandal & Scoundrels series . . . all the fun and guilty pleasure of celebrity gossip, with a Regency twist!

Lonesome Lily turned Scandalous Siren

Miss Lillian Harwood has lived much of her life alone in a gilded cage, longing for love and companionship. When an artist offers her pretty promises and begs her to pose for a scandalous…


Book cover of Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs

Marlene Adelstein Author Of Sophie Last Seen

From my list on by and about strong-willed, independent women.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a reader, I’m drawn to characters and subjects I can relate to. Strong women who go their own way, ones who march to their own drummer. There is a raw honesty to their stories with subjects of creativity, grief, and loss. And as a writer of both fiction and personal essay, I write about these same issues as well, subjects I seem to turn to again and again. When I write, I try to tap into the emotions that might be buried but I’m always looking to move my readers whether it’s with tears or laughter, and the women in the books I chose do that for me. 

Marlene's book list on by and about strong-willed, independent women

Marlene Adelstein Why Marlene loves this book

Hold Still by Sally Mann – another memoir by an intriguing, strong-willed, fascinating woman. I became interested in Sally Mann when I first saw her book of amazing photographs of her children, Immediate Family. Since then I kept up with her photography and was thrilled to read her memoir. She writes of her childhood in the south, her parents, her relationship with her husband and children, the controversy surrounding those early stages photographs, her career, and beyond in absolutely lovely prose accompanied by many photos. She’s an impressive, talented woman, and her success is well deserved.

By Sally Mann ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Hold Still as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This National Book Award finalist is a revealing and beautifully written memoir and family history from acclaimed photographer Sally Mann.

In this groundbreaking book, a unique interplay of narrative and image, Mann's preoccupation with family, race, mortality, and the storied landscape of the American South are revealed as almost genetically predetermined, written into her DNA by the family history that precedes her.

Sorting through boxes of family papers and yellowed photographs she finds more than she bargained for: "deceit and scandal, alcohol, domestic abuse, car crashes, bogeymen, clandestine affairs, dearly loved and disputed family land . . . racial complications,…


Book cover of Beyond the Face: New Perspectives on Portraiture

Ludmilla Jordanova Author Of The Look of the Past: Visual and Material Evidence in Historical Practice

From my list on visual culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a historian and writer who strives to combine the history of science and medicine, the study of visual culture, and cultural history in my work. Although I hated being dragged round art galleries and museums as a child, something must have stuck, laying the foundations for my interest in using images and artefacts to understand both the past and the present. Since the early 1990s I’ve been writing about portraits, how they work, and why they are important—I remain gripped by the compelling ways they speak to identity.  It was a privilege to serve as a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery in London between 2001 and 2009.

Ludmilla's book list on visual culture

Ludmilla Jordanova Why Ludmilla loves this book

Published by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C., this beautifully produced and generously illustrated book contains essays on many aspects of portraiture with special emphasis on the USA. Portraits are fascinating; there is just so much to say about the ways in which materials such as paper, stone, metal, and canvas, ink, crayon, and paint can conjure up a human being. Nations, institutions, professions, families, and individuals all make use of portraits to affirm their positions, persuade those who view them of their worth, and shape forms of remembrance. The essays are relatively short, which encourages readers to browse, read a contribution and then come back often to look as well as read more about one of the most extraordinary forms of visual culture that has ever been produced.    

By Wendy Wick Reaves (editor) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Beyond the Face as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Explores new approaches to portraying identity and the human face and figure, through works from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery's collections and other institutions. Is there more to portraiture than eyes meeting eyes? Beyond the Face: New Perspectives on Portraiture presents sixteen essays by leading scholars who explore the subtle means by which artists - and subjects - convey a sense of identity and reveal historical context. Examining a wide range of topics, from early caricature and political vandalism of portraits to contemporary selfies and performance art, these studies challenge our traditional assumptions about portraiture. By probing the diversity and…


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Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.

In these and other intimate conversations, the book…

Book cover of Dark Desires

Emmanuelle de Maupassant Author Of The Lady's Guide to Tempting a Transylvanian Count

From my list on gothic historical romance for Halloween.

Why am I passionate about this?

From staying up late to watch old 'Hammer Horror' classics (only occasionally hiding behind the sofa) to reading the chilling romances of Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart, Emmanuelle knew early in life that Gothic Romance was her jam. Slightly sinister anti-heroes hiding a dark secret still make her swoon, and now she gets to create her own. Mind how you flee!

Emmanuelle's book list on gothic historical romance for Halloween

Emmanuelle de Maupassant Why Emmanuelle loves this book

This six-book series of standalone stories begins with our heroine accepting a position as assistant to a dangerously attractive anatomist, at his eerie estate. As she struggles with her fierce attraction, she must also face the possibility that her employer is a serial murderer. Fabulously creepy, satisfyingly steamy, and enough twists to keep you page-turning late into the night.

By Eve Silver ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dark Desires as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Betrayed by those she trusted, penniless and alone, Darcie Finch is forced to accept a position that no one else dares, as assistant to dangerously attractive Dr. Damien Cole. Ignoring the whispered warnings and rumours that he's a man to fear, she takes her position at his eerie estate where she quickly discovers that nothing is at it seems, least of all her handsome and brooding employer. As Darcie struggles with her fierce attraction to Damien, she must also deal with the blood, the disappearances … and the murders.

With her options dwindling and time running out, Darcie must rely…


Book cover of Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween
Book cover of The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain
Book cover of Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

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Interested in Halloween, murder, and murder mystery?

Halloween 107 books
Murder 1,134 books
Murder Mystery 600 books