Urge of Creativity

Horror, mystery, thriller, fantasy and psychological books have always been a favorite among us. And there is nothing better than a spooky, scary, spine chilling horror story. Now you may have watched quite a few scary movies but here’s a list of the scariest books ever written:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – By Stieg Larsson

Originally published in Swedish Language, this psychological thriller by Swedish Author and Journalist Steig Larson became an international best-selling novel. Based on true events, the book deals with rape, sexual abuse, serial murder, incest, corruption and severe psychological disorder of the characters. Due to its posthumous publication, the book became a global sensation. The explanation of brutal murders of women and girls does make us feel the chill inside our bones.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – By Ransom Riggs

In 2011, American author Ransom Riggs published his debut novel “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”. The story starts with a little boy who suffers a horrible family tragedy and then follows clues which lead him to an abandoned orphanage. And then the story leads you to some spooky scary events with vintage photographs that guarantee to haunt you in your dreams.

Pet Sematary – By Stephen King

Pet Sematary is a horror novel by Stephen King. Published in 1983, King himself declared this book as his scariest work. The book was nominated for a “World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984. With death, insanity and bizarre burial rituals, this book is indeed one of the scariest books of all the time. if you have a heart of a rabbit, we advise you to think twice before you read the book.

The Replacement – By Brenna Yovanoff

How do you feel when something important to you is replaced or you have to replace it with other for some reasons. Don’t you get angry? Well in this book by Brenna Yovanoff you have no chance to get angry for the replacement caused, rather, be afraid, be very afraid! The story tells us about a small town where once in a while a baby is taken and it is replaced by another double with lots of trouble that dies soon after the switch.

The Shining – By Stephen King

Another horror novel by Stephen King published in 1977 “The Shinning” is one of Kings’ remarkable novels. Published in January 28, 1977 this novel is based on true events experienced by King himself. “The Shining” makes you feel the horror going through your spine when you read the story of the young boy’s psychic ability to go see a hotel’s horrific past.

The Haunting of Hill House – By Shirley Jackson

The most horrific thing about this horror classic by Shirley Jackson is that it leaves you unanswered with many questions at the end. Published in 1959, the novel basically relies on terror rather than horror. The story starts with Dr. Montage renting the eighty-year old Hill House hoping to find scientific evidence of the supernatural. However, Eleanor, the shy young woman who resides in the house is possessed by evil spirits. At the end, Eleanor dies but it is not explained properly in the book whether she was an emotionally disturbed young lady who committed suicide or any demonic or supernatural power caused her death.

The Amityville Horror – By Jay Anson

If you are planning to move to new house, we suggest you to avoid reading this horror novel by Jay Anson before that. Published in 1977, the book is based on true paranormal events experienced by the “Lutz family”, but it has led to quite a bit controversy over its truthfulness. From Kathy feeling “being embraced in a loving way” by an unseen force to George finding bite marks on his ankles, the book tells you every worst thing that might happen to you in a haunted house.  True or not, this book definitely makes us want to hide inside the blanket after reading the book.

Frankenstein – By Mary Shelly

Frankenstein or “The Modern Prometheus” is a science fiction by English writer Mary Shelly published in 1818. Based on a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein, Mary Shelly started writing this novel when she was just 18. However, though the book is a science fiction, it is indeed amazing to see Victor Frankenstein creating a monster and scaring the hell out of us still after almost 200 years from the date of publication.

Dracula – By Bram Stoker

Imagine someone crawling through your walls and then entering your room to suck the blood out of you! Scary? Now imagine you becoming one of them. Even more scary isn’t it? This Gothic novel by Irish author Bram Stoker introduces us to the concept of vampires or the blood drinkers. Now it is obvious these days that we have seen vampires as a hot and happening character, but this novel doesn’t allow you to keep that image on your mind for long. Even after more than 100 years of publication, this novel is still one of the scariest and interesting novels of all the time.

The Exorcist – By William Peter Blatty

Regan MacNeil, a 12 year old girl was possessed by demons and it’s when her mother decided to call two priests who performed exorcism on her. Based on true story, this horror novel was published in 1971. The exorcism ritual, Regan’s unnatural behavior and the demon, we just cannot forget these three things even in the brightest day light when we complete reading the book.

People who love to read horror novels or want to test their bravery must read these novels. Now I may not have included all of them, but this one can be much of a help if you are a gothic fan.

Being a superhero fan, I imagine sometimes what it would be like to have immense powers and then help people. We all have been fans of Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and the list goes on! But then there are a few female superheroes that are perfect combinations of power, humanity, beauty, and brain. Here is a list of 10 most  powerful female superheroes we cannot afford to miss:

She-Hulk

She-Hulk, who happens to be the cousin of Bruce Benner (The Hulk), is actually a timid, shy and low confident girl. Her real name is Jennifer Walters, a lawyer by profession. She was first infected with her powers when she was shot by enemies and Bruce had to give her his blood. Though Bruce tends to be a form of rage and destruction, Jennifer on the other hand was empowered both physically and emotionally. She became strong, confident, and rather independent post her transformation. However, she chose to stay in her transformed Hulk-form so that she could help those girls who could not help themselves physically. We love her for her this heroic move.

Captain Marvel

Carol Danvers or Captain Marvel has always been a deeply loved superhero from Marvel Universe. But, she rather had a pretty normal early life for a superhero. She grew up without any supernormal powers. But then growing up, she joined NASA, and eventually, in an Alien encounter, she got powers that included strength, stamina, and few others. She was previously known as Ms. Marvel for quite a few years but after a lot of struggles and hard times, she changed her name to Captain Marvel. She is indeed a superhero we can turn ourselves when it comes to motivation and encouragement.

Hippolyta

Hippolyta is a Greek God possessing a hell lot of powers. She was the Queen of the Amazons and was the first Wonder Woman before it was passed to her daughter. She defeated Heracles and created Themyscira with the help of her sister Antiope. However, Heracles tricked her by offering peace and then chained her up in his palace. Somehow she escaped from there. After that, she and her followers settled at Paradise Island, and there she fought against evil for 3000 years.

Black Canary

This beautiful superhero vigilante chooses Martial Arts and a sonic scream attack to fight. Her real name is Dinah Lance. Born into a fighter family, her mother, Dinah Drake herself was a vigilante and her father was a cop. She is one of the most powerful and greatest female superheroes in the DC Universe. However, she fights alongside the Green Arrow and they are romantically involved. Who won’t fall in love with someone like Black Canary anyway? Isn’t it?

Storm

Ororo Munroe, AKA Storm is a mutant superhero who can manipulate the weather and flight. She was born in Harlem and raised in Egypt till her parents were alive, but was unable to have control over her mutant powers. And this is when she had to go to Professor X for help and she joined the X-Men. Thanks to her control over the weather and the flight, she is one of the most remarkable and powerful female superheroes of all time. Well, her powers and her abilities do make her intimidating and freaking cool!

Harbinger

We loved Harbinger and yet we so much hate it that she has been missing from our comic book since she gave up her life to save someone else against Darkseid. With the ability to fly, manipulation of energy, and duplicating herself, Harbinger often gave the bad guys a tough time. Now we are glad that she is coming back in the New 52, but her superpowers will all be gone. Don’t worry; she will be able to control many technologies. With or without superpowers, we cannot stop loving this powerful female superhero. Can we?

Scarlet Witch

Wanda Maximoff and her brother Pietro (aka Quicksilver) had superhuman abilities. She could alter reality in a different way. However, she was not quite able to control her powers at the initial but later she managed to keep her powers in control. Wanda was initially anti-superhero along with her brother as a part of the Evil Mutants and fought with the X-Men quite a few times but they both abandoned their evil sides and joined the Avengers. However, with her ability to control reality, we surely think that she is one of the most powerful Female Superheroes of all time.

Black Widow

Started off as an antagonist in Iron Man, Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow has a unique life journey. Even though there has not been a full-time movie based on her, she has got the most screen attention than any other female superheroes. During her childhood, she was trained specifically to be a spy for a Black Widow program and she was brainwashed. This is why she turned out to be a defective adult. In spite of being an antagonist at first, Natasha later changed her mind and became an active member of the Avengers. Now we love the way she kicks the butt of bad guys. Don’t we?

Wonder Woman

The daughter of the Demi-God has got the power to put Batman and Superman down. This badass leader of the Amazon race has immense powers and has been a member of the Justice League since the day it was created. We cannot even complete counting the names of the villains she has put down over the years. She is an incredibly beautiful and yet invincible superhero of all the time. No wonder they call her Wonder Woman.

Super Girl

Now how can we forget our Alien female superhero! She is a Kryptonian female Superhero who is extremely beautiful yet immensely powerful. She took down villains like Kryptonian Man, Silver Banshee, Metallo and the list goes on and on. Now that cannot be too difficult for a superhuman cousin of a superhuman superhero. Can it be? We all love Super Girl and we always root for something more from her each time.

Now here are these super girls who make us think twice about the myth that women cannot fight or women are weak. I mean look at them, are not they the strongest and most powerful? They are a blend of beauty, brain, and power. Here’s to Girl Power!

Now that it is a decade of all these technologies and stuff, there are a few things that haven’t changed yet. Reading books is one of them. Well, books have always been the key to one’s insight into knowledge and we all have read at least one book in our lifetime. Now here is a list of a few non-fiction books you might want to read before you kick the bucket:

A Feminine Mystique – By Betty Friedan

In the era of the blooming feminism concept, The Feminine Mystique is quite an interesting book to start with. First published in 1963, this book by Betty Friedan deals with the amusing beginning of feminism in the United States. Friedan, a student of Smith College, was asked to interview her college mates for their 15^th Anniversary Reunion, where she found out that almost every woman she talked with wasn’t quite happy about their lives despite having all the luxuries in their lives. This led Friedan to a deep digging into the matter and she started interviewing other suburban housewives. However, she found out that this was not only a problem of a small group of women but almost everyone was facing the same. Initially, she wanted to publish an article about this topic but no magazines wanted to publish the same. Eventually, Friedan published her own book. Well, we are glad that there is something we can look up to when we need some answers about Feminism.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – By Maya Angelou

Based on her early life, Maya Angelou penned-down this beautiful autobiography in 1969. This is the first volume of her seven-volume series where she tries to explore things like racism, identity, rape, and literacy. She called her younger self which is the main character in the book as the “symbolic character for every black girl growing up in America.” The story begins with a sweet three-year-old Maya and her brother being sent to live with their grandmother at Stamps Arkansas and ends with Maya becoming a mother at the age of 16. This beautiful book teaches you how to be strong and how your love for literature can bring a difference in your life and overcome trauma.

An Autobiography of Malcolm X – By Alex Haley/ Malcolm X

This biography based on the Human Rights activist Malcolm X was published in 1965, as a result of the collaboration of the activist himself and the Journalist Alex Haley. During the years from 1963 to 1965, Alex conducted a few series of interviews with Malcolm X and later he published these interviews in the form of a book. However, this book deals with Malcolm X’s philosophy towards black people and their pride, Black Nationalism, and Pan-Africanism.

The Second World War – Winston Churchill

If you are an admirer of History, here is our Nobel Prize winner “The Second World War”. Published in 1953, Winston Churchill portrayed the period from the end of the First World War to July 1945 beautifully in the book. However, he used his own notes and scribbles along with some official documents but as he penned-down the book from his point of view, it misses quite a few details about the World War. But the book was a major commercial success in Great Britain and later was awarded The Nobel Prize for literature in 1953.

The Civil War: A Narrative – By Shelby Foote

Shelby Foote, formerly a novelist penned-down this non-fictional narrative history based on the American Civil War. It deals with the military history of America although it touches the sides of political and social themes at times. There are three volumes of this particular book- Fort Summer to Perryville, Fredericksburg to Meridian, and Red River to Appomattox. You definitely want to go for it if you want some insight knowledge about the American Civil War.

A Brief History of Time – By Stephen Hawking

In an attempt to explain the range of subjects in Cosmology, the British Physicist Stephen Hawking wrote the book “A Brief History of Time.” There have been four revised editions of the book till now where he tries to explain the chances of time travel, wormholes, and also the possibility of a universe without a quantum singularity at the beginning of time. It has been a best-seller over time and sold more than a million copies in the last 20 years and it has been translated to more than 35 languages Worldwide.

In Cold Blood – By Truman Capote

Based on true events, “In Cold Blood” is a novel written by American author Truman Capote. It deals with the murders of four members of a family living in Holcomb, Kansas. In 1959, all the family members of Herbert Clutter were murdered in their own house and when Capote learned about it, he flew to Kansas along with his friend and fellow author Harper Lee. There they investigated the case, talked to neighbors and other people, and gathered details. After six years of hard work on the book, Capote published the book in 1966 and it was a massive success. If you are a fan of crime and true events, you mustn’t miss it at any cost.

Black Boy – By Richard Wright

“Black Boy” by Richard Wright was first published in 1945 which is basically an autobiography based on Wright’s childhood and young adulthood. The book deals with his encounters with extreme racism and brutal violence, which stays with him for the entire life. The book starts with a mysterious, rebellious boy burning down his grandmother’s house and ends with he trying to start a revolution through his writing.

The Diary of a Young Girl – By Anne Frank

It has been ages and we still cannot miss out on this one. The Diary of a Young Girl is actually based on true events that took place during the occupation of the Netherlands by the Nazis. Anne Frank, a 14-year-old girl, liked to note down her day to day life in a diary. During her days of hiding with her family, she maintained a diary where she put every little detail about her and her family’s life. In 1944, the family was apprehended but she died of typhus in the camp. It was her father who later found the diary and published it as a book in 1959.

The Interpretation of Dreams – By Sigmund Freud

Psychology is one thing that makes us curious. We all want to go deep through it. So here is a book by Sigmund Freud explaining your dreams. This book was first published on November 4, 1899. Freud here introduces the theory of the unconscious human mind and tells us about how dreams work. According to Freud, dreams are our very own unfulfilled desires that we attempt to fulfill it on our unconscious mind. What’s more? Well, you need to go through the book by yourself to get more insight.

Bottom Line

So I have provided you some best possible options of books that you might want to go for. Read as much as books as you can and gain knowledge. As they say—“Knowledge is power.”

History is an interesting subject and we all want to know so many things that happened in the past.  Most of us find history boring but a good historical novel will always make you feel good when you are bored by those romantic ones. If you are a history fan, then we are providing you a list of the best historian books you must read in your lifetime.

The Twentieth Wife – By Indu Sundaresan

This historical fiction by Indu Sundaresan is one of the most remarkable books in historical fiction. First published on January 29, 2002, this book won the “2003 Washington State Book Award”. The story tells about one of the most powerful Queens of the Mughal Dynasty, Nurjahan. Sundaresan describes Nurjahan’s (formerly known as Meherunnisa) early life, her love for Emperor Jahangir, and how she became Jahangir’s twentieth and last wife. Their love story is no less than Mumtaz and Shah-Jahan’s.

Regeneration – By Pat Barker

This historical and anti-war novel by Pat Barker was released in 1991. This epic work by Barker was nominated for the Booker Prize and it is regarded as one of the best four novels of the year published by New York Times Book Review. Based on the First World War concept, Barker took us into a life that was set in the year 1917, and yet we could no more feel any distance from the soldiers and their lives. It’s truly subtle and touching historical fiction.

Gone with the Wind – By Margaret Mitchell

First published in 1936, Gone with the Wind is based on American Civil War and Reconstruction. Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Award in 1937 for this historical fiction. The story tells us about young Scarlett’s struggles in her life to come out of poverty, who happened to be a rich spoiled child of a well-to-do plantation owner once.

War and Peace – By Leo Tolstoy

This historical novel by Leo Tolstoy was first published in the Russian Language in the year 1969 and then translated into the English version naming “War and Peace” by Nathan Haskell Dole in the year 1899. The story is based upon the French invasion of Russia and the effect of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society. This novel is known as the finest work literary work of Leo Tolstoy.

Romola – By George Elliot

With her pseudonym George Elliot, Mary Ann Evans penned-down this beautiful historical novel. The novel was published during 1862-63 in two parts. The story of Romola takes place during the historical events of the Italian Renaissance. However, the history of Florence society is beautifully explained in the novel. It is basically a “deep study of life in the city of Florence from an intellectual, artistic, religious and social point of view”.

Affinity – By Sarah Waters

Sarah Waters published her historical fiction “Affinity” in the year 1999. This novel is set in the year 1874. The story tells us about Margaret Prior, an unmarried woman from an aristocratic society who is an unhappy person. Her father’s death and other issues lead her to unsuccessful suicide attempts. Hoping to get over from her grieves; she decides to visit the female prisoners in “Milbank Prison” in the Victorian Era. There she meets Selina Dawes, a medium of spirits. The spiritual element in this historical fiction makes it more interesting.

Wolf Hall – By Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall is a historical novel published in 2009 by English Author Hilary Mantel. This is actually a fictionalized biography about Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII. IN 2012, the book won the Booker Prize and The National Book Critics Circle Award. There are two more sequels for this book. The first one is “Bring up the Bodies’ published in 2012 and the second one “The Mirror and the Light” will be published soon.

The Name of the Rose – By Umberto Eco

This historical mystery novel was set in the year 1327. Italian author Umberto Eco made his debut as a novelist through this novel. Published in 1980 the book deals with a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery. The book combines fiction, medieval studies, biblical analysis, and literary theory. The novel was first published in the Italian Language and was later translated to English by William Weaver in 1983.

A place of Greater safety – By Hilary Mantel

Again another masterpiece by Hilary Mantel. Published in the year 1992, this historical novel is based on the French Revolution. The story is based on the lives of four people from their childhood. They are basically doomed from the beginning but it’s the end that makes us cry.

A Tale of Two Cities – By Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel by Charles Dickens published in 1859. The novel is based on the time during and after the French Revolution. “The two Cities” as mentioned in the title depicts London and Paris. The story tells us about the negligence of the French aristocrats towards the peasants. It beautifully illustrates the lives of two different cities’ people but also shows us the brutality of the aristocracy.

Bottom Line

So here is our list of the 10 best historical fiction of all time. Do read the books and you may thank us later. If you want to add some more to the list, please let us know in the comment box.