You may have stocked up on treats, inflated the giant skeleton in your front yard, and dusted off your old “Monster Mash” seven-inch, but if you’re a book lover, your Halloween planning isn’t complete until you’ve shored up your spooky reading list.

Luckily, you still have time. There’s no greater Halloween pleasure than reading a scary horror novel in between trips to the front door to give candy to trick-or-treaters. You can’t go wrong with the classics or the suggestions from a horror master, but if you’re looking for something a little more contemporary, there’s more than enough to choose from.

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This year, authors have wasted no time bringing the scares to readers whose favorite part of the seat is the edge. Here are 20 horror books from 2023 to read under a blanket at home (or, if you’re really brave, at that abandoned amusement park near the old cemetery that the locals prefer not to talk about). 

Isabel Cañas, “Vampires of El Norte” (Berkeley)

Cañas’ follow-up to her well-received “The Hacienda” is a Western with a twist. Nena, a woman in 1840s Mexico, is thought dead by her partner, Néstor, after she’s attacked by a vampire. But she survived and encounters her former beau years later as monsters lay siege to the Rio Grande Valley.

V. Castro, “The Haunting of Alejandra” (Del Rey)

The title character in Castro’s latest novel is a profoundly depressed woman who is haunted by La Llorona, the vengeful ghost of Mexican legend. Alejandra soon learns that she’s not the only woman in her family to deal with the specter.

Johnny Compton, “The Spite House” (Tor Nightfire)

This debut novel follows Eric, a man who agrees to take a job living in a supposedly haunted house in the Texas Hill Country and recording the supernatural activities he witnesses there. Eric doesn’t at first realize that there’s much more to the house than he’s been told.

Tananarive Due, “The Wishing Pool and Other Stories” (Akashic Books)

The latest book from acclaimed author Due, who teaches Black Horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA, contains previously published and new stories that feature her knack for scary prose and clever twist endings. Due’s next novel, “The Reformatory,” which is set in a cruel reform school in the Jim Crow South, is slated for publication by Gallery/Saga Press on Halloween.

Jennifer Dugan, “The Last Girls Standing” (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers)

Dugan’s latest novel is meant for young adults, but older readers who grew up with films like “Friday the 13th” and “Sleepaway Camp” will likely be entertained, too. This book follows Sloan and Cherry, two girlfriends who survive an attack on the summer camp where they’re counselors – Sloan starts to think that Cherry isn’t as innocent as she seems.

Alicia Elliott, “And Then She Fell” (Dutton)

The second book from Canadian author Elliott follows Alice, a Mohawk woman who’s working on a new retelling of the Haudenosaunee creation story. She soon starts hearing voices and losing track of time; the novel culminates in a bizarre surprise ending.

Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell, “Our Share of Night” (Hogarth)

Argentine author Enriquez unsettled U.S. readers with her short story collections “Things We Lost in the Fire” and “The Dangers of Smoking in Bed.” Her first novel to be translated into English is a terrifying tale about a man mourning the loss of his wife and trying to save their son from the late woman’s family, members of a violent cult.

Leopoldo Gout, “Piñata” (Tor Nightfire)

In this novel by filmmaker, artist, and author Gout, architect Carmen Sánchez brings her two daughters with her to a restoration job in Mexico. After an accident at the site, a terrible spirit is unleashed and follows the family back to New York.

Elizabeth Hand, “A Haunting on the Hill” (Mulholland Books)

Fans of Shirley Jackson’s classic “The Haunting of Hill House” will likely be interested in this authorized follow-up to the 1959 novel. In this one, a playwright and her girlfriend take residence in the creepy mansion, unaware of the ghosts that haunt it.

Ling Ling Huang, “Natural Beauty” (Dutton)

Acclaimed violinist Huang makes her literary debut with this novel about a Chinese American pianist in New York who gets a job at a wellness store that caters to the jet set. Unfortunately, she soon realizes that the beauty products she’s using and selling have a dark side. Huang’s novel is being adapted into a television series by Constance Wu and Drew Comins.

Stephen Graham Jones, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” (Gallery/Saga Press)

If one scary novel just won’t do, you might want to consider picking up Jones’ 2021 novel, “My Heart Is a Chainsaw,” and this new sequel. Both books follow Jade, a slasher film devotee whose hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, is rocked by a real-life serial killer.

Cassandra Khaw, “The Salt Grows Heavy” (Tor Nightfire)

For anyone looking for a quicker read that doesn’t skimp on the horror, Khaw’s novella might be just the thing. It follows an unspeaking mermaid who flees her kingdom for the forest, where she encounters a plague doctor. The pair stumble onto a village populated by disfigured children and the three doctors who control them.

CJ Leede, “Maeve Fly” (Tor Nightfire)

You’ve (hopefully) never seen L.A. like this. Leede’s novel follows the titular antihero, a theme park “ice princess” with a dark side that’s awakened when her best friend’s brother comes to town. Horror author Grady Hendrix calls this one “an apocalyptic Anaheim Psycho,” and — warning — it’s nearly as violent as the Bret Easton Ellis novel he’s referencing.

Mattie Lubchansky, “Boys Weekend” (Pantheon)

Cartoonist Lubchansky’s graphic novel tells the story of Sammie, a transgender artist’s assistant who travels to a friend’s bachelor weekend in the floating city of El Campo. Sammie can’t help but notice that their hotel is also inhabited by a murderous cult — a fact their friends are mysteriously oblivious to.

Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams, editors, “Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror” (Random House)

Filmmaker Peele (“Get Out”) and editor Adams — both of whom know a thing or two about horror — present an anthology of all-new scary stories from Black authors including Lesley Nneka Arimah, P. Djèlí Clark, N.K. Jemisin, Nnedi Okorafor, and Rion Amilcar Scott.

Keith Rosson, “Fever House” (Random House)

The latest novel from author Rosson is a wild ride. The “hero” of the book is Hutch Holtz, a petty criminal who works collecting drug money for a Portland, Oregon, delinquent. Hutch is caught off-guard when he finds a severed hand in a debtor’s refrigerator — and even more so when he discovers that the hand causes insanity in anyone it comes near.

Related links

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Craig Russell, “The Devil’s Playground” (Doubleday)

Scottish author turns his eye to the Golden Age of Hollywood in his latest novel, about a film buff on the trail of a copy of “​​The Devil’s Playground,” a (not real, don’t check Netflix) 1927 horror film that supposedly cursed everyone involved in its making.

Richard Z. Santos, editor, “A Night of Screams: Latino Horror Stories” (Arte Público Press)

Texas-based journalist and novelist Santos curates a collection of spine-chilling tales, some of which touch on contemporary themes including immigration and racism. Contributors to the anthology, published by the acclaimed Houston press Arte Público, include Ann Davila Cardinal, V. Castro, Richie Narvaez, and Ivelisse Rodriguez.

Lisa Springer, “There’s No Way I’d Die First” (Delacorte Press)

Perfect for teen readers who prefer some laughs with their scares, this debut young-adult novel follows Noelle, a 17-year-old horror movie buff who invites a dozen classmates to her Halloween party on Long Island. One problem: The scary clown she’s hired as cheesy entertainment turns out to have a taste for blood, and he’s brought along an axe.

Trang Thanh Tran, “She Is a Haunting” (Bloomsbury)

Young adult readers with a taste for chills will likely be entranced by this debut novel about Jade, a young woman who visits her estranged father in Vietnam. Jade’s dad is fixing up a colonial house, and she’s convinced the building is trying to destroy her and her family.

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Rebecca Johnson | Chicago Tribune (TNS)

CHICAGO — In Chicago’s Hermosa neighborhood, a modest two-story home sits on North Tripp Avenue. While typically unassuming, dozens of people lined up outside it Sunday, some in clothes featuring Mickey Mouse, waiting for a chance to peek inside the green and gray wood cottage.

Walt Disney’s childhood home opened to the public for the first time this weekend as part of Chicago Architecture Center’s Open House Chicago. Organizers said they hope to keep Disney’s legacy alive, give insight into how the pioneer of animated cartoon films grew up, and inspire other young people in the neighborhood to pursue their dreams.

“We are in an inner city of Chicago, so the understanding of dreaming and doing and achieving, because you truly never know who you’re going to become. You never know who you’re going to inspire,” said Angel Reyes, an ambassador for the home and Miss Illinois USA 2022.

Elias Disney, Walt’s father, purchased the property at 2156 N. Tripp Ave. in 1891. The following year he got a permit to build the two-story wood cottage for $800, and Flora, Walt’s mother, crafted the architectural plans. In early 1893, the couple and their two sons, Herbert and Raymond, moved in. Their third son, Roy, was born soon after. In a second-floor bedroom, Walter Elias Disney was born on Dec. 5, 1901.

“(Elias) was a contractor who built homes like this one, and he was the one who built this house. Flora was the one who designed it,” said Rey Colón, project director of the Walt Disney Birthplace. “Very progressive that both Flora and Elias’ names were on the deed. He didn’t just have her listed as wife. She was an equal partner with him in his business ventures.”

The tour began at the parlor on the first floor, the space where the family entertained. Colón said much of the original wood trim and walls were removed over the years, and that there was just one closet that had samples of the wood. He said they re-created the original rosettes and trim from one tree, “which we believe is the way Elias would have wanted it done.”

There’s also a colorized photo of Walt and his younger sister, Ruth, at the home in 1905 inside the parlor.

A 1905 picture of Walt Disney and his sister Ruth is displayed in the parlor as visitors tour the childhood home of Disney at the corner of North Tripp Avenue and West Palmer Street in Chicago’s Hermosa neighborhood on Oct. 15, 2023, during Open House Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Tour guide Rich Frachey said Elias had many other jobs during his life — furniture-maker, orange farmer and even a fiddle player. Inside the parlor, Frachey said it’s easy for him to imagine him playing the fiddle or telling stories about the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago where he was a construction worker.

“All the innovations that were debuted there, including the first Ferris wheel, Cracker Jacks, Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum, a machine that would wash the dishes, elevators, typewriters and more,” Frachey said. “Did they sit in this parlor and read the book called ‘The Wizard of Oz’?”

Some biographers speculate Elias’ stories of the fair influenced Walt’s creation of Disneyland and some of its popular attractions such as “Tomorrowland,” “Frontierland” and “Main Street, U.S.A.”

The tour then went through the family’s dining room and kitchen, which included items such as a washboard, a butter churn and a rug beater. Inside what is now a closet on the first floor, Elias built a toilet, which organizers said was innovative for the time.

Upstairs, after climbing a set of steep stairs, people glimpsed at a bigger bedroom belonging to Herbert and Raymond, while Walt and Roy shared a smaller one. The home the Disney family lived in was 1,200 square feet. Later on, organizers said, additional rooms were added in the back of the home, which they now use as office space.

The Disneys moved out in 1906, relocating to Missouri. They eventually returned to Chicago in 1917 when Walt was a teenager. They lived in the North Lawndale neighborhood, and Walt attended McKinley High School.

Colón said even with Saturday’s rain, more than 550 people showed up for the tour. While attendance was less on Sunday, he still expected a sizable turnout. Before they only did private tours, he said.

According to Walt Disney Birthplace, Chicago attempted to designate the property as a historical landmark in 1991, but the owner fought the designation and won. Today, the new owners are working with the city to restore the home to its 1901 state.

Colón said there’s been around 10 years of fundraising to get the home to its current state but more contributions are needed to fully restore and furnish it. He said it’s exciting to see lots of interest in the home, and they hope to organize more tours in the future.

“We’re still trying to figure out how, how do we go about the registration process, getting people in, how often do we do it,” Colón said.

For Reyes, who was born and raised in Hermosa, the turnout was “overwhelming but in a good way.”

“Just to see how many people are still interested in knowing the front story, when Walt began and what that looked like for him, we’re definitely thrilled,” she said.

___

©2023 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Lauren J. Mapp | The San Diego Union-Tribune

When Vista resident Michelle Harvey packed an overnight bag so her son could undergo testing at Rady Children’s Hospital in June 2020, she expected to return home the following day. Instead, Mason Harvey was hospitalized for two months as he was diagnosed and subsequently treated for Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease marked by chronic inflammation in the digestive system.

Prior to his hospital stay, a blood test showed that Mason had low levels of hemoglobin — the protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. He weighed about 45 pounds, much lower than the 60 to 120 pounds that is typical for an 11-year-old boy.

Mason was diagnosed nine days into his hospital stay, but before he could be sent home, doctors wanted to ensure he was in stable condition. For four weeks of his stay, he was on “gut rest,” meaning he was unable to eat solid foods.

“It was pretty hard because I like snacks and stuff, especially when going through hard times,” said Mason, who is now 14. “I was getting shots and things, but I couldn’t eat anything; I couldn’t even drink water.”

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that the National Institutes of Health estimates impacts half a million people throughout the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1.3 percent of American adults — about 3 million people — are diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, meaning they have either a form of Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

“It’s really an isolating disease, and it’s a silent disease because you can’t tell if someone has Crohn’s or colitis just by looking at them,” she said.

While both conditions are chronic, Crohn’s disease most commonly affects the small intestine and the beginning of the colon, according to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Ulcerative colitis, however, only affects the rectum and the innermost lining of the colon, also known as the large intestine.

Because there isn’t a single diagnostic test for inflammatory bowel disease, many patients spend years either undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or untreated. A 2014 study published in the United European Gastroenterology journal found that about 10 percent of inflammatory bowel disease patients are misdiagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, and about 3 percent spend at least five or more years before receiving the correct diagnosis.

There are several forms of inflammatory bowel diseases that can impact different parts of the digestive system in various ways, but some common symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, rectal bleeding, weight loss and mild to intense abdominal pain or cramps after eating.

Although inflammatory bowel diseases share some symptoms with irritable bowel syndrome, such as abdominal pain and nausea, there are some major differences. Unlike colitis or Crohn’s disease, IBS doesn’t cause inflammation, rarely causes hospitalization or surgery, and it does not increase the risk for colon cancer.

Inflammatory bowel diseases can cause someone to drastically alter their lifestyle, especially when they’re experiencing a flare-up of symptoms.

“Many patients know where every bathroom is anywhere they travel, any route they go on, because of that urgency,” said Cindie Barbera, the chapter’s deputy executive director.

Treating inflammatory bowel disease

Although there is not yet a cure for inflammatory bowel disease, it is possible to be in a state of remission by adhering to a treatment plan to reduce inflammation. That plan can involve various medications, avoiding trigger foods, eating foods that contain healthy fats and insoluble fiber.

In some cases, treatment for inflammatory bowel disease can require surgery, as was the case for former San Diego Chargers kicker Rolf Benirschke.

In 1979, as a 23-year-old during his second season playing professional football, Benirschke thought he had caught the flu from some of his teammates when his first symptoms of Crohn’s disease started. But when his symptoms persisted long after his teammates got better, his father — who was a physician — connected him with a gastroenterology specialist at UC San Diego.

When he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, Benirschke said he “continued to play and manage my illness as best I could, but there were not a lot of medical options” at the time.

Although he was taking two medications to stave off symptoms, he started to lose weight — about 20 pounds — and experienced a bad stomachache with bloody diarrhea throughout the season. After playing games on Sunday, he would be brought to the hospital to be fed intravenously throughout most of the week, then released on Saturdays to play with the team.

“If you look statistically at the 10 years that I played, it was really one of the better seasons of my career, but there could have been a footnote that said, ‘Young kicker is dying,’ ” Benirschke said.

During the off-season, he changed his diet and tried every possible treatment, including acupuncture and biofeedback, an alternative medicine approach that aims to teach people to have a greater awareness and control of their bodily functions.

But while flying home from New England a few games into his third season, Benirschke fainted on the plane. After landing, he was taken to the hospital, where he experienced a series of surgeries to remove his large intestine and install two ostomy bags.

Benirschke thought his career was over, but one of the Chargers coaches trained him during his recuperation. He rejoined the Chargers the following year, won the NFL Man of the Year award in 1983 and played until retiring from the league in 1987.

VISTA, CA – SEPTEMBER 26, 2023: Pages of a book about living with Crohn’s disease by Mason Harvey, 14, who has Crohn’s disease, and his mother, Michelle Harvey on Tuesday, September 26, 2023. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Although living with the disease has impacted him in many ways, Benirschke said it has also given his life meaning. For decades, he has been an advocate for bringing greater awareness of inflammatory bowel diseases, and has given other patients guidance, including Mason.

“I get the perspective now, looking back, and that illness changed my life,” he said. “Everything about me changed — who I am, what was important to me — it gave me a purpose, and ultimately, God turned it into just the richest life I could possibly have imagined.”

How caregivers can support loved ones with IBD

Caregiving for a loved one with colitis or Crohn’s disease demands not just patience and understanding, but also a deep well of empathy and knowledge to navigate the challenges of the care recipient’s complex condition.

The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation offers support to patients and caregivers by providing educational resources, hosting support group meetings and raising funds for research into treatment options. The organization also offers Camp Oasis, a weeklong summer camp for children with medically stable Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

Michelle and Jason Harvey said connecting with the organization was vital to understanding the disease when their son was first diagnosed.

“In the very beginning it was tough, but I think reaching out and looking for support and talking about it helped,” Michelle said.

Some patient and caregiver teams — like Mason and his parents — find it helpful to keep a meal journal to track whether any foods trigger a flare-up of symptoms.

Today, Mason’s parents check his weight daily so they can be aware of any sudden drops. To ensure he is getting enough vitamins and nutrients, they make him a supplemental drink three times daily by mixing lactose-free milk with Carnation Instant Breakfast. Twice a month he receives biologics, medicines that help the immune system target inflammation-causing proteins.

Throughout Mason’s two-month hospitalization, Michelle and Jason rotated between staying in his room and sleeping in their car in the parking lot because pandemic protocols meant only one parent could be there at a time. Because he was unable to eat for a full month during that time, Mason starting drawing all the foods he looked forward to snacking on.

Those drawings eventually became the inspiration for “Not Your Average Slice of Pizza,” a children’s book that Mason and Michelle co-wrote about Crohn’s disease that they hope will help other children.

“You’re not alone with this disease, there’s a lot of other people out there and it’s different for everyone,” Mason said. “Someday you’re going to get into remission and everything’s gonna be fine.”

For more information about the nonprofit, call (619) 497-1300, email sandiego@crohnscolitisfoundation.org or visit crohnscolitisfoundation.org/chapters/sandiego.

Nina Metz | Chicago Tribune (TNS)

Titus Welliver has played Harry Bosch on television for nearly a decade, starting with the seven-season Amazon crime series “Bosch.” Once a grizzled cop who would squint into the harsh Los Angeles sun and uncover ugly truths hiding in dark crevices, he has since retired from the police force. “Bosch: Legacy,” now in its second season on Freevee, is proof that Harry’s story is more interesting — and closer to the noir sensibility hinted in the original — as a private investigator teaming up with the wily and poised defense attorney Honey Chandler, played by Mimi Rogers.

At first glance, they’re opposites. He’s gruff and hardened by life, happy to do his job in jeans and a T-shirt. She’s methodical and strategic and impeccably turned out. They share a world-weary cynicism that has not yet diminished their shared interest in righting a few wrongs. And their mutual respect remains unmuddied by sexual tension. Together, they are a formidable brain trust, thinking through all the angles. If the show were only about them I would give it four stars, no hesitation. Welliver and Rogers have such an easy chemistry playing this pair of professional puzzle-solvers.

But their efforts are only half the narrative.

The other half focuses on Harry’s daughter Maddie. A young cop, she’s eager and earnest and, as played by Madison Lintz, never once believable. Shoehorned into a role she doesn’t have the skill set to play — it’s a performance that amounts to staring and then staring harder — neither the writing nor the ensemble she’s surrounded with can inch things closer to the subtleties achieved in the Harry and Honey portions. Toggling back and forth, the show only invites this comparison, and not to its benefit.

Despite their dual need to project a tough exterior, Harry and Maddie have enough trauma between them to keep a team of psychiatrists in business. They pretend otherwise (get therapy? As if!) and that makes sense for the characters. But the show often falls into this trap as well. “Worrying about you has become a full-time distraction,” she tells her father. “OK, OK,” he replies annoyed, “so don’t worry about me.” It might be the most dysfunctional relationship on television, if only anyone took the time to seriously zing Maddie’s career arc (you’ll never get your father’s approval!) or didn’t just sigh and shake their heads exasperatingly at Harry’s reckless savior complex-slash-death wish.

The first two episodes of the season center on a grisly abduction, with Harry in rescue mode. I prefer him as the gruff, thinking man’s hero, and he reverts to form for the remaining episodes, which pick up four months later, when Honey hires him to work on another case. A woman’s been murdered. Honey believes her client didn’t do it. So she and Harry try to piece together what really happened, often skating around the law — greasing palms, mainly — with Honey gritting her teeth the entire time. They soon realize a pair of corrupt and wildly dangerous vice cops are somehow in the mix.

The FBI is also looking into one of Honey’s older cases involving a pipeline explosion, some murders and the Russians. The feds think she and Harry were involved, or at least connected. “The FBI is here asking for you,” says one of her colleagues. “Me?” Her shrug is so perfect. “Send them in.” This eventually ensnares Harry’s hacker-for-hire, played by Stephen A. Chang, whose overconfidence and desire to impress a pretty face might land him in hot water. Or not. Consequences are rarely long-lasting in this franchise.

That’s actually preferable when it comes to Honey. Steely but with a light touch, she’s thinking five steps ahead. The picture of class, she doesn’t raise her voice or lose her cool. She’s too seasoned, too organized for that. It’s a great late-career role for Rogers and one that has been overlooked by Emmy voters. With the number of TV series competing for attention right now, it’s harder for first-rate but nonshowy performances to stand out. Even so, the character’s shrewd competence is riveting in the hands of a veteran like Rogers.

The finale sets up a storyline that might put Honey and Harry on opposite sides going forward. If so, that will be a shame. Their partnership is the show’s primary draw.

The other draw, as always, is Harry’s house, with its floor-to-ceiling windows cantilevered over the Hollywood Hills. At night, the city glitters in the distance. The Bosch stories have never been interested in Hollywood, despite the L.A. of it all. Harry’s house is the show’s one nod to the glamour of its setting.

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‘BOSCH: LEGACY’

2.5 stars (out of 4)

Rating: TV-MA

How to watch: Freevee

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©2023 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.