Categories: Halloween

15 Books To Read As Spooky Season Approaches

A spooky season book is the ghost story you don’t need a campfire for. Gather under a cozy blanket, and dive into ghoulish tales, murders, or thrills all spooky season long. How many can you get through before the fear takes over?

Never Have I Ever – Joshilyn Jackson

What’s more terrifying than something seemingly perfect? What happens when the perfect begins to unravel. That’s exactly what happens to Amy Whey when a new stranger enters her book club. This stranger mesmerizes everyone but Amy. This stranger knows some secrets that could bring Amy’s cookie baking, driving lesson teaching, homemaking life crumbling down.

Explore the dark past Amy’s dying to keep quite. Who knows how far she’ll go to beat her opponent. Sometimes the scariest things in life aren’t the unbelievable creatures, but the unspeakable past. Start your spooky season book reading list right. Maybe this story doesn’t sound scary now… but only time will tell. 

Later – Stephen King

It’s no coincidence this author’s last name is king. He’s the king of spooky season books, and they seemingly all turn into movies. Get your hands on Later before the silver screen rolls, so you’ll know exactly when all the jump parts are coming. Scary comes from the real world and is masked in fantasy. King hits where it hurts portraying the loss of innocence and a looming killer who’s already dead.  

Jamie Conklin has powers his mother wants hidden, and he wants nothing more than to live a normal life. Unfortunately, a detective has other plans for Jamie.  A dead killer that’s still leaving threats and supernatural abilities. Maybe evil looks different than you thought. 

The Perfect Wife – Blake Pierce

Ahhh there it is again — this torturous idea of perfect. All the right turns still lead aspiring profiler, Jessie Hunt, down the wrong path. After moving to an idyllic Westport Beach mansion, with her husband, Jessie realizes the locked up serial killer in town isn’t the only one keeping secrets.  

This spooky season book is sure to have you taking a second glance at everyone around you. Even the prettiest smiles distort in the right shadows, and Serial Killers can still torture from behind bars. What can this serial killer tell Jessie about her past and why does he know details about her that are more than familiar? The real question in this spooky season book is: who’s keeping the most dangerous secret? 

Relic – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

New York’s Natural History Museum has something unnatural lurking in the corners. Days before a massive exhibition is set to open, people are murdered in dark hallways and hidden rooms. 

Despite the murders, the exhibition is still a go. Can this thing be caught before time runs out? A spooky season book set to make your skin crawl and turn on all the lights in your house…just in case.

Craven Manor – Darcy Coates

An abandoned manor, mysterious money, and a crypt. What more do you need in a spooky season book? Despite his gut instincts, Daniel accepts the mysterious offer to be a groundskeeper at an old estate. 

When he arrives, the estate appears abandoned. But there’s money for him with more on the way. Candles flicker in the windows of the estate, and strange occurrences happen all around Daniel. Once he figures out the estate’s dark secret, it might be too late. 

The Troop – Nick Cutter

This troops campfire stories come to life when a stranger joins the circle. The spooky season book takes place in the Canadian wilderness during a scout troop’s annual three-day camping trip. 

But the evil this stranger carries isn’t supernatural, it’s man-made. And the disease pits the troop against the elements, one another, and running from something they can’t even see. The troops surviving skills are put to the ultimate test. 

Ghost Road Blues – Jonathan Maberry

Jonathan Maberry is making a name for himself among spooky season books. A rural town in Pennsylvania buried the serial murderer who desecrated their town over 30 years ago. The town rebuilt itself, and now tourists flock there each year for their annual Halloween celebration. It’s the country’s largest Halloween celebration in what is deemed “The Spookiest Town In America.”

But this year the evil, that’s soaked, in the ground all these years rears its ugly head just before the celebration begins. This spooky season book taunts readers with their own demons. An evil that’s survived longer than any resident can imagine. Will the residents be strong enough this time to survive the apocalyptic showdown?

Broken Monsters – Lauren Beukes

Someone’s trying to create monsters out of victims, in this spooky season book. Detective Gabriella Versado of Detroit has victims unseen in history. Her latest half boy half deer fused together. But that’s only the first victim, and one of many mysteries plaguing the detective’s world.  

A daughter, who should know better than to get entangled with a predator. A journalist who will stop at nothing to keep up with the disturbing victims. A man who will do anything to keep his homeless family safe. Someone’s trying to remake the world to fit their sick and twisted views. 

My Soul To Keep Tananarive Due

‘Til death do us part. The wedding vows that pull at the heartstrings. But what happens when death isn’t an option for one of you? Jessica marries the man of her dreams, only to watch her life turn into a nightmare in this spooky season book. 

All of Jessica’s loved ones began dying horrific deaths around her until her husband reveals a secret. He’s immortal. He and others traded their humanity over 400 years ago for immortality. Now those others want David back, without his family. David won’t let that happen, and he’s about to perform a forbidden ritual to ensure he never ever has to leave his family. 

Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead – Olga Tokarczuk

The gripping psychological spooky season book makes you question your grip on reality. In rural Poland, Janina keeps to herself and has earned the reputation of a recluse. But her neighbor Big Foot dies one night, and then more and more turn up dead, under stranger circumstances. 

Despite Janina’s best efforts to aide the investigation, no one will listen to her. Is she living in a different reality than everyone else? Why can’t they see what she sees and why won’t they just listen?

The Three – Sarah Lotz

“They were given power over a fourth of the Earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and by the wild beasts of Earth” Revelations 6:7-8 NASAB

See Also

Maybe the end of the world doesn’t come exactly how we imagined. Four plane crashes, on different continents, only four hours apart, spark uproar around the world. Except for the fact that the planes seemingly dropped out of the sky, for no reason, there’s nothing odd about the plane crashes. Apart from the three child survivors, each from their own plane crash. 

A rapture cult leader believes these miracles are masked messages. The children are three of the four bearers of the apocalypse. As the children start to exhibit increasingly concerning behaviors, it gets harder to discount his rapture as lunacy. 

The Only Good Indians – Stephen Graham Jones

This spooky season book has been compared to the likes of Jordan Peele’s movies. An examination of breaking cultural traditions, and proving no matter how fast or far you run, your past catches up. 

Four American Indian men struggle with the youth they tried to leave behind. An entity, determined to reclaim the revenge it deserves, tracked them over time. This spooky season book provides sharp commentary on social elements. Dip your toes into ghost stories from other cultures and explore what else the world holds.

Death In Her Hands – Ottesa Moshfegh

Facing the aftermath of her husband’s death, the protagonist lives quietly and mostly keeps to herself. But while taking her dog on a daily walk, she comes across a note reading, “Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.” 

This spooky season book has an unreliable narrator. As she gets closer to the truth, you start to wonder if it’s even the right one. Because everyone has secrets. And those secrets change us.

 

White Is For Witching – Helen Oyeyemi

A classic spooky season figure, with a modern twist. A mother’s absence leaves a family grieving in a house that grows intensely attune to one special resident. Miranda’s newfound appetite for chalk and connection to spirits is only the beginning of unnatural. Especially in a house where winter apples grow on branches where there should be none. The generations of women living in the house’s walls beckon to Miranda more than her father or twin brother. 

Then she disappears. 

This is a spooky season book with an underlying gothic influence that is sure to set you in just the right mood for the season. 

Terrifying Tales – Edgar Allen Poe

Name a more historic figure with a calling for the creepy tales. Lay this spooky season book on your coffee table or nightstand for quick chills. This book is home to a collection of Poe’s most gruesome, skin crawling, and hair raising stories. Just one short essay should be enough to have you jumping at the slightest sound for the rest of your day. 

What spooky season book are you going to pick up first? How long can you read it until you have to put it down? Share the article with your friends for the perfect spooky season book club read.

Featured Image Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/401594491778786093/
Never Have I Ever Picture Credit: @andrealovesbooks11
Later Picture Credit: @il_nerdastro
The Perfect Wife Picture Credit: @violettheheeler
Relic Picture Credit: @ktxx22
Craven Manor Picture Credit: @ikizlerleokuyorum
The Troop Picture Credit: @xtremekatrine_reads
Ghost Road Blues Picture Credit: @just_a_british_bookworm
Broken Monsters Picture Credit: @awangweasley
My Soul To Keep Picture Credit: @read.rewind
Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead Picture Credit: @ahatforeveryread
The Three Picture Credit: @dubai_reading_group
The Only Good Indians Picture Credit: @thebookishnative
Death In Her Hands Picture Credit: @shitshereads
White Is For Witching Picture Credit: @bookishmarie
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Kayla Payette

A recent college graduate working her way into the publishing world. I love sharing stories for people, companies, and creators. I'll always have a passion for the written word even though digital marketing has spiked my interest. Thank you for reading my work and if you want to see what else I've done you can visit my online portfolio here! https://rosesrred125.wixsite.com/kaylapportfolio

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