Spooky Books for Halloween & a giveaway

I don't handle scary well.  I think I realized this when I tried to pick up Stephen King's It around the age of 10.  Of course, horror movies of even the most cheesy variety had frightened me too, so this shouldn't have been surprising.  I snuck the worn book back into my aunt's bookcase, but to this day, I'm still scared of vents (Pennywise might get tired of drains!).  I stuck with R.L. Stine for a while.  I could handle being spooked if not terrified.  Around five years later, I tried another Stephen King book.  I don't exactly remember which one, but I wasn't very far in when I realized that the book was the cause of me not sleeping well.  I decided that horror was not for me.  And that was okay.

For whatever reason my brain had no issue with zombies or thrillers.  Silence of the Lambs and I Am Legend (it is quite different than the candified Will Smith movie) crept into my bones and chilled me.  In high school I curled up on the corner of my bed, against the wall, and read until the wee hours of the morning.  I knew that each page would maybe haunt me the next time I was home alone in the dark, but I still couldn't stop turning them.  This is still very much true. 

It is a delightful feeling to be scared by images created by words.  So I was very happy to see this post from Neil Gaiman proposing a new tradition.  Simply this: On Halloween or the week of Halloween, give each other scary books.  Pretty frakking brilliant.

I want to get the word out and help perpetuate this tradition.  To this end, I want to give one reader a scary book.  Granted, because I'm a few days off my game, you're going to get the book a little after Halloween but I hope you don't mind.

How to Enter
1. Leave a comment telling me about a book that scared you BEFORE 9pm PST on Friday, 10/29.
2. Use a valid email with this comment.
3. Be able to reply by Monday evening with a shipping address if you're the winner.  You'll also need to let me know what level of scary you like.

What book do you get?  Well, it will my choice and it will be a surprise. 
Happy Halloween!  Now, go give books!

Also, the Washington Post started a #booksthatfreakedmeout tag on Twitter.  Add to it and find some new books for your reading list.