3. Young Goodman Brown - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Not your traditional Halloween tale yet filled with eerie imagery and a journey into darkness Young Goodman Brown is a must-read. Written by Hawthorne as an allegory for his disdain for the Puritan faith the story follows Goodman Brown as he leaves his wife, Faith, in order to venture upon a journey into the dark woods. Upon his travels he meets a dashing older man with a serpent staff that is hinted to be the devil. As Goodman Brown travels further into the darkness he comes across various townsfolk he is familiar with. He eventually comes across what may be a witch's sabbath leading us to believe that those of "purity and goodness" may actually have closer ties to the depraved. The story is short but is dark, spooky, and surreal while casting a myriad of shadows on the reader's beliefs about their own morality. The tale is strongly related to the Salem witch trials which were taking place at the time of the story but placed the relationship with unnatural forces in the hands of the Puritans themselves. And when you think about it what is truly scarier than the devil? Regardless of your religion or lack thereof one can't deny that the roots of Halloween extend deep into the mythology of the most gruesome demon of them all.