If you are anything like me, you love Halloween! Having a good book to read to add to the spooky ambiance of the holiday is a must. Lucky for you, I have compiled a short list of fantastic books to keep you sufficiently spooked and entertained this October.
These books are perfect eerie, gothic romances that will transport you to mysterious worlds where anything is possible. Enjoy the books and happy Halloween!
1. The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Pick it up for an eerie whodunit
In 1983, a health aide Kit McDeere is caring for mute and elderly Lenora Hope, the alleged killer of a 1929 family massacre. As Lenora begins to reveal her side of the story through a typewriter, Kit’s suspicion arises that the seemingly harmless woman might be much more sinister than originally thought.
2. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Pick it up for a 50’s thriller
Noemí Taboada is a glamorous debutante tasked with the journey of rescuing her cousin from a mysterious doom in the remote ‘High Place’. As she dives into the mansion’s secrets she becomes enchanted by its terrifying charm, discovering a world of violence and madness that may trap her within its walls.
3. Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky
Pick it up for an homage to classic horror films
Rachel Chavez, the new girl at Manhattan Prep, is drawn to horror films. She is recruited by The Mary Shelley Club, a group that orchestrates ‘Fear Tests’ based on urban legends and movies. As the pranks begin to turn deadly, Rachel realizes she’s stuck in a high-stakes game.
4. Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
Pick it up for a ghostly haunt
Daisy sees dead people, she takes the opportunity to escape bustling Toronto to stay in a mansion in Ontario. However, she soon realizes that her Mother’s secrets and the spirits of the mansion are more powerful than she thought. A decade later, Brittany, the creator of the Haunted web series investigates the mansion’s past. The parallel stories of the girls connect as they confront the real, hidden monsters in their lives.
5. What Happened on Hicks Road by Hannah Jayne
Pick it up for a psychological thriller
Lennox Oliver has a strange encounter on Hicks Road, which her friend claims is haunted when a blonde girl appears on the road. Lennox knows she hit the girl because she felt the thump in her car. However, she finds no body and her friends deny seeing anything irregular. Could this be a manifestation of hereditary schizophrenia or is there more to the story?
6. Your Lonely Nights Are Over by Adam Sass
Pick it up for a High School slasher story
The queen bees of Stone Grove High School, Dearie and Cole, are met with a terrifying situation when a never-caught serial killer emerges and is hunting the school’s Queer Club. While fighting for survival, the pair starts to uncover some dark secrets in their desert community
7. The Haunting by Natasha Preston
Pick it up for a perfect Halloween thriller
Penny is trying to move on from her ex, Nash. His Father murdered four teenagers last year. As she prepares for Halloween, she discovers a classmate stabbed and bleeding out on the floor of the Halloween store. Penny suspects a copycat killer, despite what the adults say.
8. The Black Queen by Jumata Emill
Pick it up for a modern-day murder mystery
Nova Albright is Lovett High’s first Black homecoming queen, but she’s found dead on the day she is to be crowned. Duchess Simons, Nova’s best friend is convinced Tinsley is to blame, as it is her family’s legacy to be homecoming queen. In an attempt to prove her guilty, Duchess must get close to Tinsley, but Tinsley has her own agenda.
