As you can probably tell by the late hour for this post, I’ve been running to stand still today — but it’s also Halloween, which seems the perfect time for some listicle fun. And what better theme than tales that bridge the human and supernatural realms, especially those with a little but of dark and spooky thrown in.

Starting with the now-classic Faerie Tale by Raymond E Feist, the definitely eerie tale of power struggles in Faerie breaking through into the everyday world, with dangerous and often terrifying results.

One of the great Halloween legends is that of Tam Lin, a knight stolen away to Faerie who will be given as tribute to hell unless he can escape or be rescued. In order to attempt the rescue, his lover, Janet, must dare faerie ground at Halloween…

Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin retells the legend, but it’s referenced in other works, including The House At The End of the Sea by Victoria M Adams — which also traverses the crossover between this world and faerie, to the detriment of those that cross or make bargains with the Fae.

Another famous novel in the same vein is Ellen Kushner’s retelling of Thomas the Rhymer, in which a minstrel is (again) stolen away into Faerie for seven years and returns blessed, or cursed, to speak only the truth…

My own Thornspell is also set in the dangerous intersection of the faerie and human realms, a border the hero must traverse in order to undo the spell that has condemned a princess and entire castle to sleep for a hundred years — and in so doing thwart a wicked fae’s ongoing malevolence.

If a little more spooky is what you fancy for your Halloween reading, then it’s hard to go past Margaret Mahy’s The Changeover, which is a tale of supernatural possession.

And TL Huchu has deployed the ghostly and other supernatural elements, chiefly but not exclusively Scottish, to great effect in his Edinburgh Dead series. Plenty of spookiness to encounter here, so stop and have a read.

The supernatural, including vengeful ghosts and powerful and sometimes malevolent crossroads’ spirits, also abounds in Seanan Maguire’s Sparrow Hill Road, with its uniquely US-ian ethos of rural highways, truck stops, and diners.

Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, an anthology edited by Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn, draws on Asian folklore in its disquieting tales of possession, horror, and otherness. There’s sure to be one, if not all, that’s your perfect read for Halloween.

Last, but not least, if you can get your hands on a copy of Miserere: An Autumn Tale by T Frohock, you’ll find yourself drawn deep into a world of demonic possession and the eternal battle between hell and heaven, fought out through human agents in the realm of Woerld. Another great read for when the nights are drawing in and you want to light a lantern against the dark.