Last October, Neil Gaiman posted a suggestion that everyone inaugurate the tradition of giving scary books to one another on Halloween.

I propose that, on Hallowe’en or during the week of Hallowe’en, we give each other scary books. Give children scary books they’ll like and can handle. Give adults scary books they’ll enjoy.

I propose that stories by authors like John Bellairs and Stephen King and Arthur Machen and Ramsey Campbell and M R James and Lisa Tuttle and Peter Straub and Daphne Du Maurier and Clive Barker and a hundred hundred others change hands — new books or old or second-hand, beloved books or unknown. Give someone a scary book for Hallowe’en. Make their flesh creep…

It was an idea that quickly gained steam, with fans enthusiastically gifting books to each other, and it also spawned a Website with an amusing FAQ and a nice list of book recommendations.

Now it’s time to gear up for the second year (which will actually make it a tradition instead of, “that good idea somebody had that one year”). Think about gifting a book to a friend, or hand one to the clerk at your favorite coffee shop. Arrange a book-swap party, where everyone arrives with a favorite spooky book and leaves with a different one. Read from a book of spooky stories at a child’s Halloween party and send the guests home with copies.

To my unending dismay, I live in a location which never ever gets trick-or-treaters, or else I’d also keep a small selection of books on hand to give as treats. Not to everyone, mind you…just to the kids proudly wearing their homemade Halloween costumes, or the ones who greet me with monster roars, or anyone else, regardless of age, who makes it clear that they know Halloween is about more than free candy.

Bonus: Here’s Neil Gaiman himself explaining the concept behind the tradition.