Halloween is around the corner and that means spooky and scary tales to send chills down your spine
Sections
3
Dreadfully Terrifying
Creep Factor
Spooky, Not Scary
Dreadfully Terrifying
Not being able to sleep at night should have everything to do with a good horror book
What happens when a serial killer runs rampant in a small Maryland town? A perfect remedy of true crime and horror :)
Chasing the Boogeyman: A Novel by Richard Chizmar
This book upped my creepiness tolerance – genuinely freaked me out.
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
What happens when a bridge you SWORE was there at night suddenly doesn't exist? Not to mention, the kidnapping of your new wife.
The Toll by Cherie Priest
The thing that all humans have in common but is pushed so far back into the mind that it eats away at us until it finds its way
The Sickness by Stephen R. King
Oh my gosh… a classic favorite of the OG haunted house investigation. A group of 4 that come face to face with the ghosts of Hill House
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Family secrets that shed a light
Now You're One of Us by Asa Nonami
This crazy tale ignites " The Mummy” in me. Going after a lost friend, ending up somewhere they shouldn't be. Seeing stuff that they wish they hadn't.
The Ruins by Scott Smith
A story for Gen Z, this memorable novel surrounds a 14-yo who is struggling with a demon possession while being filmed for reality tv.
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
This novel is bloody mind bending. A serial killer's sole survivor, an ambiguous death, no one will be sleeping soundly, yet.
Sleep Tight: A Novel by J.H. Markert
Being a fan is one thing, the other is becoming so obsessed as a fan that you'd do anything to complete your collection.
The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel
My gosh this is my favorite Autumn vibe story. I first read this for a school project but I am SO glad because it deserves the upmost recognition. Scary, dark, and chilling.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Another classic that deserves to be read during Halloween. The beginnings story of the vampire and his awakening.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The iconic movie was in fact based on this book that highlighted a true story of a demonic possession of a child in the 1940s.
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
This spooky story is amongst the top haunted house books. When a wealthy publisher is going to die, he hires a small group of investigators and researchers to establish what life is like after death.
Hell House: A Novel by Richard Matheson
I was debating whether or not this is a creep factor or a terrifying and honestly, it's pretty insane. The ghost of a person he bought off the internet. This one is a terror.
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Creep Factor
The in-between of insomnia and child's play
A perfect mix of Edgar Allan Poe horror, witchcraft and mystery. This little Maine town gets turned upside down when strange murders and occurences begin to riddle the 1846 town.
The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox
When I was in elementary school, these were the only books I would read! I LOVED these stories growing up and some still creep me out when I randomly think about it. A truly epic way to spend Halloween!
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Dark academia that follows Violet and her path to fitting in. Meanwhile she gets thrown into a mix of witchcraft and magic that ends up fueling her story and leaving a girl to be found dead.
The Furies: A Novel by Katie Lowe
I like to compare this story to Fantasy Island with a twist. A private island meets strangers expecting to participate in a reality show but turns deadly.
They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall
Zombies!! Talk about a Halloween treat, this tale follows a mapmaker and gravedigger through a Welsh village that will dig up more than just the living dead.
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones, Paperback - Barnes & Noble
A paleobotanist begins seeing and hearing movement within her home, she realizes that it's more than just an intruder, one who knows too much about her and her family.
The Need by Helen Phillips
When Lisa Evans winds up dead, she is unaware of how it happened but is stuck at a railways platform. Honestly, this one is spooky with a lot of feeling.
Platform Seven by Louise Doughty
This one is like an episode of the X-Files on steroids. A creepy, manic killer stalking the streets of Detroit and an investigator whose own daughter is in trouble. Two other characters that have their own reasons to find this killer.
Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
Spooky, Not Scary
Sometimes you're looking for something not as insane, that's okay :)
An eerie take on a Scottish island's secrets and a mother of three who learns the hard way
The Lighthouse Witches by C. J. Cooke
This tale is one reminiscent of R.L. Stine's Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls. Mysterious circus that comes and goes as the night continues. Never to be seen in the day. spooky for sure!
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
An eerie take on life when it is time to die. Through the imagination of a novelist, she enlists a biographer for one tale that she needs to tell.
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield
This thriller has a secret that has to be told before it can't. A winter storm makes it hard when the only person to warn has gone missing before.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
Similar to the boogeyman imo, the creeper is a faceless creature that only comes out at night
The Creeper by A.M. Shine
Hear me out, this is a WONDERFUL spooky story. A house with a mind of its own. Like an episode of The Librarians
The House Where Death Lives: An Anthology
Ughhh I LOVE this book. I love the film too. But the book has details that aren't in the movie that make it even more spooky. Truly a favorite since I was a kid!
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Before you buy a house, be sure that the nicknames people have for it isn't because it comes to life once a year!
The September House by Carissa Orlando
This one will make you wanna buy a hazmat suit. A deadly fungus that was thought to be properly contained, makes a return for the worse. The world is now at a race between destruction and saving humanity with the help of three people.