Halloween recs

[magnetic_pole]

hp_halloween has started posting! The universe smiled on me and matched me with westernredcedar, who's written a bittersweet and perceptive ficlet about Filch and the line between the magical and Muggle worlds:

Enough, westernredcedar, Argus Filch, gen
Being a squib is difficult...except one day a year.

I'll be back with a few more recs once I've had a chance to read. Head on over to browse yourself! I think they're posting all day today. I love the variety of this fest and am always just *delighted* at how much folks can fit in 200 words.

And on another Halloween-themed note: I spent all day in bed yesterday (stomach bug, yuck) reading a long Inspector Lewis fic that thoroughly frightened me in a seasonally appropriate way:

Unfinished Business, somniare, James Hathaway and Robbie Lewis [Inspector Lewis fandom], 52,000 words, rated mature for (frankly disturbing) on-screen violence

This is a taut, well-crafted story about a haunting that works both as an old-fashioned ghost story (there's a haunting involved, and a creepy old manor) and a more literary exploration of what it might mean to be haunted by events of the past. Drawing on James' back story from the "Dead of Winter" episode about Crevecoeur Hall, this fic weaves together a mystery (what tragic events took place here, and who was responsible?) and a psychological journey (how does James deal with and move past his own unhappy childhood?). It's not just compelling, it will have you looking over your shoulder and turning on all the lights in the house.

Happy Halloween!