This year I decided follow the old tradition of reading ghost stories during Christmastime, and The Haunted Looking Glass was the perfect choice.

I fully admit, I originally bought this purely because Gorey had curated and illustrated the book; I honestly hadn’t expected to enjoy these old ghost stories so much! From Dickens to Stoker, the book features a dozen tales by some classic and familiar authors. And holy smokes, are they creepy. For some reason I wasn’t expecting older stories like these to get to me so much. The very first story, The Empty House (Algernon Blackwood), fully made me regret starting the book late at night. And Stoker’s tale The Judge’s House achieved Poe-level gruesomeness. So, if you’re looking for something borderline scary to read, I recommend you track down a copy of The Haunted Looking Glass and give it a whirl.