Our shadows may seem insubstantial, but their reach is long, and they are always with us (except for the one in Andersen’s “The Shadow“. Our reflections may not reveal what we hope for: sometimes, as with the hobgoblin’s mirror in Andersen’s “The Snow Queen”, beauty is distorted into ugliness. It’s no wonder that it is unsettling to discover a shadow self– either a nearly perfect double, or a dark half (or sometimes both).  They’re everywhere in literature, from Shakespeare to Shelley. The next time you’re feeling lonely, try one of these out.

 

Weep No More, My Lady by Mary Higgins Clark

This suspenseful mystery centers on Elizabeth Lange, whose sister, the famous actress Leila LaSalle, was recently murdered. Leila’s fiance, wealthy businessman Ted Winters, is on trial for her murder, and Elizabeth will soon testify at his trial. Despite this, Elizabeth accepts an invitation from Ted to spend several days at a luxury spa in California, where she discovers that Ted is not the only one with a motive for murder. While there’s no physical double for either of the main characters, an unexpected similarity is key to the mystery.

 

An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire

This is the third book in Seanan McGuire’s October Daye urban fantasy series, which presents a world where Faerie and contemporary human society intersect. October is a changeling, with a background as a private detective, and she does a great job at getting herself into deadly situations. In this book, her Fetch, an exact double named May Daye, appears. Typically, a Fetch is an omen of death,and naturally, it’s disconcerting to have an omen of death following you around,  but May becomes an entertaining and well-developed character. Since there are additional books, I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to say that October survives the book and May follows her into the next one. McGuire also does a fabulous job writing about doubles and reflections in the two books Indexing and Indexing: Reflections.

 

The Second Lady by Irving Wallace

I first read this political thriller in middle school in the 1980s, and it was slightly more plausible then. It’s a little dated now, but still holds up well, so long as you remember that it does, in fact, take place in the early 1980’s (the most recent president mentioned is Carter) and has absolutely no connection to reality. The premise is that a Soviet intelligence agent discovers an actress, Vera Vavilova, who is almost a perfect physical double of the American First Lady, Billie Bradford. He trains Vera to be a perfect double in every way, good enough to step right into Billie’s shoes at a sensitive time in negotiations between America and the U.S.S.R.  The plot is clunky, but the idea is pretty awesome, and the conclusion is chilling to think about.

 

Stranger With My Face by Lois Duncan

In this YA title, Laurie, who has morphed into a lovely teenage girl over the summer, discovers she is adopted and has a twin who she can reach through astral projection. Of course, no good can come from this. It is creepy as all get out, and if you ever wished for a twin, you won’t do it again after you finish this book.

 

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Our nameless narrator describes how wealthy widower Maximilian de Winter swept her away from her cares, married her, and took her to his estate, Manderley, leaving her to the tender mercies of the hostile housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. Mrs. Danvers clearly worshipped Maxim’s first wife, Rebecca, and there is great mystique about her, and mystery about her untimely demise. As her insecurities about her marriage grow, the second Mrs. de Winter becomes increasingly obsessed with Rebecca.

 

The Dark Half by Stephen King

The Dark Half is almost semi-autobiographical. Just about the time it was published, King announced he was retiring his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. In the book, writer Thad Beaumont has been successfully writing gory thrillers under the pseudonym George Stark. When Beaumont decides to kill off George Stark, he does not go gently. Instead, he comes fully to life, and goes on a murderous rampage. This isn’t King’s best book, but it is memorable, and a heck of a story.

 

Dopplegangster by Laura Resnick

This is the second book in the Esther Diamond urban fantasy series (I recommend starting with Disappearing Nightly, the first one). Esther is a different kind of urban fantasy protagonist: she’s an aspiring actress who waitresses part-time at a mob-owned restaurant, hangs out with an ancient magician named Max and a retired wiseguy named Lucky, and she might be involved with the policeman in charge of the Organized Crime Unit. More of an entertainer than a badass, somehow she always ends up entangled in supernatural events. In Doppelgangster, Esther witnesses the murder of a mobster just after an exact double appears in the restaurant she is working in. As more doubles pop up, followed by murders of the originals, Esther and her friends search for the solution to the crimes, ending up in absurd situations along the way. For humor, mystery, and the paranormal, with a touch of romance, you can’t go wrong.

 

The Willow Files, vol. 2 by Yvonne Navarro

This out-of-print book focuses on episodes from the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer that put an emphasis on the character of Willow, and includes the novelization of Doppelgangland, where Willow meets her doppelganger, identical in appearance, but from an alternate dimension in which she is a bored, charismatic, and very evil vampire.

 

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

You can’t go wrong with a classic. Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments on himself with a potion that is supposed to divide him into “good” and “evil” individuals temporarily. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Hyde, his dark and unexpectedly violent alter ego, has no intention of reintegrating with Dr. Jekyll.

 

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Don’t write this off because it has achieved the status of a classic: it is absolutely chilling. Dorian Gray is a young man, angelic in appearance, with an excess of charisma. He’s also selfish and manipulative. An artist in love with Dorian paints an extraordinary portrait of him, which turns out to possess an unsettling quality: it takes on the evidence of age and the ugliness that would otherwise appear in his face, leaving him looking forever young and handsome as he commits more and more unspeakable acts. The portrait, however, becomes a hideous reflection of his true self.

 

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

In this extremely creepy children’s book, Coraline has just moved into a new house with parents that more or less ignore her, and bizarre neighbors nearby. As she explores the house, she finds a door in the wall that leads her to the family of her dreams. They’re almost like her parents, except they’re attentive and loving, and oh yes, they have buttons for eyes. Obviously, no good can come from this. I’m just going to say that the Other Mother, with her button eyes, has always creeped me out– so much so that I had to hide my daughter’s Lalaloopsy doll.