The Annual Fall Reread of Fantasy Novels (And How This Became a Tradition for Me)

For the past few years, I’ve been watching aesthetic themed YouTube videos. To be honest, I really wanted to watch these YouTube videos in order to offset the crazy, not-so-cozy life I live. The escapism these videos have provided for me has been a great relief during some of the hardest and most stressful times of my adult life.

In these videos, they talk about a fall aesthetic book suggestions. When I was a child in the 1990’s, prior to the rise of the internet aesthetic, friends of mine would talk about fall being the perfect time to read certain books. I didn’t think about celebrating a season by reading specific books (Except for Christmas, Easter, and other Christian holidays), but it did peak my interest. So, I started to read the books they did. Now, I can’t see the fall and Halloween season without them.

Unlike many people I found online that make fall aesthetic book suggestions, my books are not exactly the same. Many of the books I read are fantasy novels. Not horror books. Fantasy novels. Some of the novels my friends suggested to me were the Lord of the Rings series and The Chronicles of Narnia. Other books were The Chronicles of Prydain, The Last Unicorn, and, if I could find it, the novelizations of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal as well as the novelization of the movie Dragonheart.

For them, all these books gave enough magic and mysticism that makes Halloween spooky. Yet, they don’t go far enough into a darker story that would upset them. My friends, like me, struggled to find good, clean books (And movies and TV shows) to read during the fall. We wanted magic, but we didn’t want to stray too far away from the good guy winning in the end. During the fall, especially in October, we didn’t like to see so many horror themed decor. Our costumes also reflected that. Some may argue this is due to our religion, and I wouldn’t argue with that. Yet, I always felt uneasy about how many of my fellow classmates loved the macabre side of Halloween. Some so much so it made me wonder if there is something going on in their lives they aren’t talking about. (Sadly, for some of them there was)

Reading fantasy novels, specifically ones with a happily ever after ending, made going through the fall and Halloween season much more enjoyable. Nobody except my friends understood this.

This year, I decided to revive my old tradition of reading fantasy novels. I’m rereading The Chronicles of Prydain and I’m loving it. So far I’m on book one, The Book of Three, and am nearing the halfway mark. Rereading it has brought me more joy than I thought it would. After I’m done with it, I plan on reading the other four books in the series. After I’m done with all four books, I’m not sure what I will read. I may dig into The Chronicles of Narnia or try to finish rereading the novelization of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. It depends on how much time I have until Halloween (The official cut off date for the rereading) or how long and complex the book I want to read will be.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!

Featured Image by Vlad Karpovich on Pexels.com