What are you reading this Halloween? Some spooky suggestions | Book Talk

Ken Summers of Northfield is a paranormal investigator, but he didn’t have to hold a microphone in a graveyard at midnight to write “Weirdly Queer: Exploring the LGBTQ Perspective of the Paranormal, Occult, & Mysterious World.” The investigation here is research into the crossover of gay culture and history with the supernatural.

It’s quite a crossover. The first part of the book is research on spiritualists, mediums and cross-dressers of the mid-19th century, dipping into the table-rapping craze of the 1840s and into the work of writers like Louisa May Alcott, which revealed that she had romantic feelings for other women.

The research continues with British art figures like Noel Coward and Oscar Wilde, some who were derided and persecuted while others were regarded as merely eccentric. The Victorian holdover craze for seances and Ouija boards leads into the 20th century.

Much of the book is the lives and deaths of notable gay people and gay icons, some who were interested in the supernatural. Subjects as varied as Liberace and Lizzie Borden are covered. In his introduction, Summers remarks on “our discomfort level regarding homophobia and its connections with the most frightening monsters of all: serial killers.”

“Weirdly Queer” (270 pages, softcover) costs $21.99 from online retailers. Summers also is the author of “Haunted Cuyahoga: Spirits of the Valley” and contributed to “Haunted Akron.”

‘Hannah and Other Stories’

“Hannah and Other Stories” is a collection of seven short horror stories by Ohio State University student Rami Ungar.

The lead story, “Hannah,” takes a pair of ghost hunters with a video blog to an abandoned Ohio elementary school, where the story goes that a little girl died by suicide decades before. They think they haven’t found what they’ve been looking for — until they do.

In “Queen Alice,” a TV newsman investigates a viral internet legend about a girl who draws people into a cult. It, and the savage “The Autopsy Kid and Doctor Sarah,” are horror stories that explore the vulnerability of teens ripe for exploitation.

Other stories involve ghastly animal mutations, strange visitors in a Minnesota town, ancient gods and conspiracy theorists. Ungar doesn’t shy away from the gore.

“Hannah and Other Stories” (626kb) costs $2.99 from online retailers. Ungar’s novels include “The Pure World Comes.”

‘The Weird Cat’

“The Weird Cat” is an anthology of cat-related stories and poems by prominent authors of the past and some of today’s writers. Katherine Kerestman of Parkman, who is the co-editor with S.T. Joshi, contributed “The Witch of the Dark Woods,” a modern fairy tale about a brother and sister recruited by cats to rule their kingdom, but they must travel through a haunted forest and a school for demons. It ends in a grand battle.

Kerestman also provides “Cats and the Occult: A Canthropology,” one of several nonfiction essays; it surveys the history of cats used in religious ritual, as witches’ familiars and in superstition.

Berea poet Mary A. Turzillo’s “Ailurophobe” is a disquieting bit of erotic visitation in which a nightmare does not end upon waking.

Some of the bygone writers are Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ambrose Bierce and William Butler Yeats.

“The Weird Cat” (340 pages, softcover) costs $18.99 from Wordcrafts Press.

‘Munch! Crunch!’

The creepy-crawlies continue with “Munch! Crunch! Bugs for Lunch,” an informative children’s book by Gloria G. Adams. Many American kids eat sandwiches and chicken nuggets, but in other countries bugs are served up.

Adams explains what kind of bugs are on the menu, where they are popular and how they are prepared: fried rhinoceros beetles from Africa, boiled dragonflies in Bali. She explains that many insects are nutritious and includes kids’ testimonials about their taste (most “seem to have a nutty flavor.”)

There are bright, full-color photos. The gross factor hits the roof with Peruvian roasted weevil grubs.

“Munch! Crunch!” (32 pages, hardcover) costs $23.95 from Slanted Ink. Adams, a former librarian who lives in Stow, also is the author of “James A. Bailey: The Genius Behind the Barnum & Bailey Circus,” an illustrated biography for middle readers.

Adams is among about 120 authors, illustrators and photographers who will appear at the Buckeye Book Fair; it is preceded by the Buckeye Book Crawl with five author appearances at various Wooster venues; see the event listing below.

Events

Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson): James Gardner signs “A Chance to Breathe: Stories from a 1918 Road Trip,” featured Sept. 1 in Book Talk, 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights): Carlo Wolff signs “Invisible Soul: Uncovering Cleveland’s Underground Soul Scene,” 1 p.m. Sunday. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland presents poet Nicole Robinson (“Without a Field Guide”); at 7 p.m. Thursday, Emma Noyes signs her romance “Guy’s Girl.”

Books in Stock Used and Rare Books (140 E. Liberty St., Wooster): Mindy McGinnis talks about her young adult thriller “A Long Stretch of Bad Days,” 6 to 7 p.m. Monday.

Cleveland Public Library (Hough branch, 6530 Lexington Ave.): Jean Kwok talks about her novel “The Leftover Woman” in a Facebook and YouTube event at 7 p.m. Monday. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nicole D. Miller appears in person with “When Love Wins”; register at cpl.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Snow branch, 2121 Snow Road): Cookbook author and chef Kenny Gilbert gives a cooking demonstration from “Southern Cooking, Global Flavors,” 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Registration is free; $35 VIP admission includes priority seating and a copy of the book. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Undergrounds Café & Coffee House (146 E. Liberty St., Wooster): Annie Hunter Eriksen talks about “Along Came a Radioactive Spider: Strange Steve Ditko and the Creation of Spider-Man,” 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Beachwood branch, 25501 Shaker Blvd.): Philip J. Skerry talks about “Writing Errors and Their Ways: Correction Strategies for the Twenty-First Century,” 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library: Actor John Stamos, author of “If You Would Have Told Me,” joins the Online Author Talk series to talk about “Hollywood, Home, Heart, and Healing,” 8 p.m. Wednesday. Register at smfpl.org.

Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library (Willowick branch, 263 E. 305th St.): Michael DeAloia talks about “Lost Grand Hotels of Cleveland,” 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Register at we247.org.

Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library (Willoughby Hills branch, 35400 Chardon Road): Rick Porrello talks about his true-crime books, including “Bombs, Bullets, & Bribes” and “To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia,” 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Register at we247.org.

Grigio Wine & Cocktail Bar (211 S. Market St., Wooster): Anastasia Hastings talks about “Of Manners and Murder,” first in her “Dear Miss Hermione” mystery series, 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Carlo Wolff signs “Invisible Soul,” 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Minglewood Distilling Co. (437 E. South St., Wooster): Sports writers Tom Wolf, Lee Elder, J Daniel and Vince Guerrieri (“Weird Moments in Cleveland Sports: Bottlegate, Bedbugs, and Burying the Pennant and More!”) talk about their books, 4 to 6 p.m. Friday.

Acres of Fun (3889 Friendsville Road, Wooster): Samantha Tucker and Amy Spears discuss “Collective Chaos: A Roller Derby Team Memoir,” 8 to 9 p.m. Friday.

Buckeye Book Fair (Greystone Event Center, 50 Riffle Road, Wooster): The annual event brings more than 120 authors, illustrators and photographers who will sign their books and participate in panels on topics including sports and mystery writing. Authors include Marc Bona, Linda Castillo, former Ohio Gov. Richard Celest, Shelley Costa, Mark Dawidziak, Amanda Flower, Anastasia Hastings, Judy Orr James, David Lee Morgan Jr. and Andrew Welsh-Huggins. See the complete list at buckeyebookfair.org. Admission $2.

Twinsburg Public Library (10050 Ravenna Road): Philip C. Shackelford, author of “Rise of the Mavericks,” talks about the U.S. Air Force Security Service, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Register at twinsburglibrary.org.

Walls of Books (7783 W. Ridgewood Road, Parma): P.C. Nottingham signs his science fiction novel “Mummified Moon,” 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What are you reading this Halloween? Some spooky suggestions