Heavy drops of rain slide through the glass of your window frame, forming an ambiance of coziness and comfort. You find yourself sugging inside your blanket with a hot cup of tea that calms your soul. Now it’s time to grab a book that does justice to your mood book reading in this weather!
Let me take you through 5 books that are must-haves in your bookshelf to serve you with that spine-tingling, ghastly, and intriguing sensation that we all look for just when the sky gets gloomy and pours down violently.
Taranath Tantrik [তারানাথ তান্ত্রিক]
In the darkness of night, brides wearing veils emerge from the riverside in fraid and start surrounding the Tantrik involved in shob shadhona or veneration of the dead. This spine-chilling description of horror comes from the book written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, later completed by his son Taradas Bandyopadhyay. A terrifying adventure into the horrific realm of the occult, where black magic and the supernatural coexist peacefully, awaits you in Taranath Tantrik. This book depicts effortlessly the culture, superstitions, and mannerisms that are long gone within a decade. Taranath Tantrik will give you an escape from reality into the world of tantra, a domain of Hinduism, and with its mind-numbing stories of fright. The title character, an experienced Tantrik, who becomes a professional astrologer later on, faces evil forces hiding in Kolkata’s shadows and discovers horrifying secrets. The book’s evocative storyline seeps into your mind, leaving you in a maze long after it ends. As the riddles are revealed, expect chills, and take caution—the ghosts might decide to follow you home right at this cloudy evening!
Chader Amabasya [চাঁদের অমাবস্যা]
Delve into the maze of psychological complexity, nerve-wracking thrills, and a ruthless social reality with a young school teacher. Here the protagonist stands as a witness to the murder of a marginal woman. As the name suggests, you’ll find yourself lost in the moonless night of a rural Bengal that holds dark secrets and unspoken horrors. What else do we ask for in those gloomy monsoon weather? A feeling of terror deepens as the village’s eerie silence gives way to unnerving whispers and bizarre happenings inside one’s mind. The novel masterfully wovens a sense of self-remorse with the elements of folklore, dragging you into the twists and turns of the human psyche and the thrill of exploring the case of murder. And the writer of this soul-stirring novel is none other than Syed Waliullah. So what awaits you from grabbing this book right now?
The Manchurian Candidate
Have you ever been intrigued by the game of solitaire? What if this very game that people play to pass their leisure, becomes the weapon of destruction? While you look for something to keep you hooked and let the fright run through your veins, this book is just the right one. The creepy, dysfunctional, and manipulative plot of this psychological thriller will keep you on edge as a decorative war hero, Raymond Shaw becomes ensnared in a deadly conspiracy. Surrounded by power-hungry politicians and a mad system, the story depicts a dystopian society where every other institution is broken, the media are manipulated and the people are way too aloof and complacent. Rooted in the atmosphere of paranoia and the Cold War era, it presents the thrilling journey of a soldier Marco deployed in the Korean War. He finds himself tormented by recurring nightmares that take his platoon back into the harrowing landscape of Manchuria surrounded by a group of elderly women. As the dream unfolds, the faces are transformed into their Soviet and Chinese captors. Further unveiling of the plot will leave you guessing, how the sight of the Queen of Diamonds’s card in the solitaire game triggers Shaw into turning into a deadly assassin who immediately forgets of the murder he just committed. The enigmatic conclusion of the story will leave you in awe of this ever-classic political thriller by Richard Condon in this gloominess of monsoon.
Then She Was Gone
Let me unveil to you another world of psychological thriller, unlike the classic above, where you’ll find the dark corners of loss, hidden secrets, and obsession- from being just under your cozy blanket in this weather of torrential rain. The book will drag you into the mysterious disappearance of a teenage girl Ellie, whose mother Laurel has been grappling with the obscurity of that disappearance for a long. All this while, Laurel keeps on wrestling with her self, deeming her a failure as a mom. Such an hour for her worsens far more when she undergoes a divorce. Being consumed by this frustrating maze, she sees nothing but melancholy and hopelessness ahead. At such a point, the plot takes its twist and turn. Laurel meets a charming and handsome guy beaming within her a beacon of hope. Right there and then, the unsettling truth begins to unravel itself when Laurel finds the daughter of that guy bearing an uncanny resemblance to Ellie. With that cup of tea in your hand, you will find the writer Jewell masterfully crafting and weaving the intricacies of chilling deceit, enigma, and tension that linger in your mind long after you’ve turned the pages.
And the Trees Creeped In
In this weather of downpour, I bet your mind will enjoy a slow-burning, spooky, and paranormal story with twists and turns that will leave you shivering. And this book is just the right one for that experience. Escaping the house of abusive parents, two sisters Silla and Nori take shelter in a giant creepy mansion of their aunt located deep inside the forest. In the beginning two of them experience a wonderful ambiance of safety and calmness in that house. But as time passes by, they start feeling the presence of a shadow around them. With each passing day, the creepy trees around seem to come closer as if they are alive. The sisters at a point reach the verge of losing connection with reality. The overall isolation, dreadfulness, and dark secrets all around leave the sisters puzzled about whether they are in reality or living a nightmare. So what’s keeping you away from grabbing this spooky book and jumping inside the warm blanket? I bet it will keep you up all night!
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Writer
Alima Zaim
Intern, Content Writing Department
YSSE.