For most, the Halloween season is about carved pumpkins, pumpkin pies, pumpkin spice lattes, costume-themed parties, and ghoulish themed feasts. But for some, it is an occasion to dip into the macabre words of those who invented the creeps; The literary masters whose words still linger like cobwebs in the corners of our imagination.

There’s a particular charm to spending the season in their company, twilight on the horizon, crinkle of the yellowing pages of a well-worn hardcover, and silence thick enough to let the ghosts of prose whisper through. The blue glare of our screens fades, replaced by the soft flicker of lamplight and the anticipation of a story that still knows how to unsettle.

All that’s missing? Spirits worthy of their spirit. A drink, a cocktail, if you will, that defines the author, their era and their work. We’ve compiled four macabre pairings that can take the scare skin-deep below.

P.S. Read at your own discretion! 

Mary Shelly, Frankenstein

Legend goes that Mary began work on Frankenstein when she was still in her teens. As part of a ‘parlour’ dare between her, and poets Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. What followed was the literary world’s first gothic sci-fi novel. The story follows all conventions of gothic literature and a structure that is truly a sign of the times. Victor Frankenstein, an infamous scientist, stitches together a giant man, from the parts of other men, the titular Frankenstein’s Monster. Once conceived, the scientist is horrified by his creation. For this legend, the accompanying suggested spirit is, Absinthe (a spirit that will recur far too often in this list!)

 ‘The Corpse Reviver,’ Adapted from A Gothic Cookbook’s vintage-style cocktail booklet

• 30 ml dry gin
• 30 ml Chartreuse
• 1-2 ml (or 1 dash) of absinthe
• 15 ml of lemon juice
• Lemon twist, to serve

Add the spirits in a cocktail shaker with some ice and shake well!

Oscar Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde is famously said to have boasted that he could “resist everything except temptation,” and rightly so his life and writings have reflected the decadence and excesses of the ‘Fin de Siecle,’ associated with many other symbolist figures from that period such as,  Rimbaud, Maupassant and Baudelaire. Like many others, Wilde became associated with the Green Fairy of absinthe, a drink thought to be symbolic of fantasy, depravity and madness. So, a cocktail dedicated to Wilde would be one made with a combination of (Irish) whiskey and absinthe, it would work just fine while you read Dorian Gray or any of his other classics.

Oscar’s folly

• 60 ml Irish whiskey
• 7.5 ml absinthe
• 7.5 ml Maraschino liqueur
• 5 ml crème de menthe
• 1 lime peel

Shake the whiskey, absinthe and the other liqueurs with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

Poe can inspire many cocktails. All of his famous works are definitive enough to inspire a party favourite. Whether it’s ‘The Masque of Red Death’ or a ‘Nevermore’ eggnog, named after his most cited work, ‘Raven’, American’s favourite gothic author has a morbid charm to his name. Poe is known to have loved the traditional ‘eggnog,’ an interesting choice given this drink generally only finds its way into the cocktail repertoire during Christmas. But the recipe for this drink is said to have been in his family’s cookbook since 1790 and uses a combination of brandy and rum. And what better choice of drink but the eggnog, to snuggle into a chilly night-in!

The Nevermore Eggnog

• 1 egg, separated (yolk in one bowl, white in another)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 2 tbsp cream
• 90 ml brandy
• 15 ml rum
• Nutmeg

Whisk egg yolk and sugar; temper with warm milk and cook on low heat until thick, then stir in cream and let it chill. Once cold, mix in the brandy and the rum with cold milk and the beaten egg white; serve with nutmeg.

Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

HP Lovecraft, the infamous author of a voluminous collection of cosmic and existential horror, is known to have been quite the teetotaller, and for good measure, perhaps! Liquor and spirits may have seemed too ‘daemonic’ for this troubled author, who was already quite plagued by visions from beyond! So, to appease this chap from New England, might we suggest a cocktail made of… tea? Yes, Earl Gray.

Cthulhu’s antidote

• 1 bag Earl Grey tea
• 240 ml simmering water
• 45 ml whiskey
• 15 ml lemon juice
• 15 ml honey
• Lemon wedge and cinnamon stick

Steep the tea bag in water for about a minute. Add the whiskey and lemon juice, and some honey. Stir to combine and garnish with a lemon wedge and cinnamon stick.

There you have it! We wish you have a spooky enough read that really give you a shudder and some creeps!

Which cocktail pairing do you recommend with your favourite gothic author? Let us know in the comments!