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Spooky season is finally upon us. When the chilly mornings start rolling in and the auburn leaves fall from the trees, there are few better things to do than curl up in a chair, wrapped in a blanket and coffee in hand, to read a good scary story.
Whether looking for a classic haunting or a modern twist on familiar genres, I’ve pulled together 15 of the most spine-tingling books to get you in the Halloween spirit.
“Whatever Walked There, Walked Alone”: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
I’ll begin in a predictable manner. A classic of the genre, and one of my all-time favourites, The Haunting of Hill House is guaranteed to deliver delightful frights which play with the minds of its characters—and the reader. Three strangers gather in Hill House for a summer to help occult scholar Dr Montague study hauntings. What follows is an ambiguous tale of psychological torment and supernatural suspense.
While Mike Flanagan’s stunning Netflix series of the same name captures the disquieting sadness and unsettling terror of Jackson’s book and shouldn’t be missed, it is an entirely different beast. There is nothing quite like exploring the ominous hallways of Hill House through Jackson’s mesmerising prose, with her remarkable ability to breathe life into the notorious house.
Close to Home: Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay
A highly contagious disease sweeps across New England. Medical professionals try their best to stop the spread and save lives, but despite their best efforts, they are woefully underfunded and unprepared, thanks to the government’s inability to secure appropriate PPE and life-saving equipment. Misinformation spreads like wildfire, carrying the disease with it. Things unravel pretty quickly. Sound familiar?
Paul Tremblay’s Survivor Song was released in the summer of 2020, and his accurate prediction of how the world would respond to a devastating outbreak in modern times is frighteningly realistic. The story follows paediatrician Ramola Sherman as she desperately tries to keep her heavily pregnant friend, Natalie, safe as civilisation teeters on the brink of breakdown. While not my favourite of Tremblay’s novels (A Head Full of Ghosts is a tough one to beat), his ability to capture society’s rapid descent into chaos in a time of crisis is truly unnerving.
Undead Reimagined: Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Beyond Dracula, Buffy and Blade, vampires aren’t typically my thing. It can turn too corny too quickly. But Certain Dark Things breathes fresh life into worn tropes. I’ve previously sung Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s praises for her wonderfully creepy Mexican Gothic, and her 2016 vampire novel proves that her writing style has plenty of bite for any horror fan.
Set in an alternate Mexico City, street kid Domingo becomes entangled in Atl, a vampire on the run from a rival clan. The story infuses European vampire lore and Aztec mythology with gang warfare to create a unique action-horror blend. Narrated from multiple POVs, we’re introduced to vivid characters, all feeding us information to create a fully fleshed-out world. A fast-paced, entertaining read with a gritty neo-noir vibe, Moreno-Garcia has returned sharp fangs to the modern vampire.
Digital Demons: The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp
This creepy delight is best entered cold: the less you know, the better. An underrated modern horror, it thrusts hauntings into the digital age and questions how we examine the irrational and inexplicable when we can instantly share our every thought and experience, camera phones at the ready.
British journalist, supernatural sceptic, and all-’round-arsehole Jack Sparks is researching the occult for a new book. When a mysterious video appears on his YouTube channel, which Sparks didn’t post, he might have to re-evaluate his beliefs. Just when you thought the Twittersphere couldn't get any more horrifying, The Last Days of Jack Sparks will have you laughing one moment, then flipping on all the lights the very next.
Into the Jungle: The Ruins by Scott Smith
As someone who likes to spend a lot of time outdoors, ecohorror tends to hit a nerve. The concept of Smith’s book is incredibly simple: a group of insufferable, underprepared teens venture into the Mexican jungle on an impromptu excursion and find themselves trapped in a nightmare scenario that quickly spins out of control.
This book moves like a rocket, firing you into the thick of it and keeping the tension uncomfortably high until the final pages. Smith’s strengths lie in his characterisation, as he explores our innate human ability to wander blindly into danger then wonder how we ended up there before fixating on the (im)possibility of escape. The ripple effect of each difficult decision makes The Ruins a compelling read as you race to the end, desperate to find out if the characters will survive the horrors they encounter.
Reader beware: this one does contain some skin-crawling body horror.
Ice-olation: Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
Michelle Paver’s horror stories are designed to be read under the covers by torchlight. Short bursts of unnerving energy, each of her ghostly offerings have chilled me to the bone. But none of her stories have filled me with dread quite like Dark Matter.
The story follows young Jack from the heart of pre-war London to the isolated Arctic in search of adventure, joining a small expedition that will camp at Gruhuken for a year. But Jack finds more than he bargained for in the deep snow. Paranoia and unease descend on the small camp just as quickly as the Arctic darkness. Paver brilliantly captures a claustrophobic atmosphere, making Dark Matter a suspenseful read perfect for cold days.
Bewitching Dark Fantasy: The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
Witches have had a resurgence recently. No longer being the vilified outcast, they empower women to embrace change and challenge oppressive structures. Alexis Henderson has built upon the power of this new-wave witch wonderfully in The Year of the Witching, with wider social commentary interweaving with tales of superstition in this dystopian feminist fantasy.
Immanuelle Moore lives in the puritanical society of Bethel where she struggles to shake her dead mother’s “sins”. When Immanuelle is lured into the forbidden Darkwood, she is gifted her mother’s diary, which is filled with intriguing confessions about witches—and an apocalyptic warning. The Handmaid’s Tale meets Robert Eggers’ The Witch, The Year of the Witching is a solid debut that will have you clenching your fist in fury while holding your breath to see what happens next.
A Classic Haunting: Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Heralded as one of the twentieth century’s greatest works of horror fiction by Stephen King, Ghost Story is another classic worth revisiting when the dark nights descend. Straub’s breakout hit isn’t a fast-paced thriller, but a slow burn that sizzles with an oppressive atmosphere and pays off with searing frights.
A group of old friends, known as The Chowder Society, regularly gather to tell each other ghost stories, an effort with their haunted past. But during one fateful gathering, it seems something from their younger years won’t stay buried… Ghost Story is an excellent homage to authors like Henry James, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nathanial Hawthorne, probing at the nature of fear from different angles until it creeps under your skin.
Slasher Romp: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
It’s no secret that I love Grady Hendrix. His fresh take on horror tropes always makes for a fun time. In his latest novel, Hendrix puts Slasher films under the microscope and questions trauma: what happened to the women who survived the deranged monsters who kept coming back; and what happens when a new monster appears on the scene, determined to pick the final girls off, one by one?
Slasher fans will get a real kick out of all the references. The chapter titles alone are an absolute hoot. More action-heavy than some of his previous outings, The Final Girl Support Group lacks the chills of My Best Friend’s Exorcism or The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires but is a blistering read which will have you on the edge of your seat, with all the over-the-top villains and high-octane action sequences you’d expect from a Slasher franchise. Despite being hot-off-the-press, this one’s already in development at HBO Max, with Charlize Theron and IT’s Barbara and Andy Muschietti behind the wheel.
Real World Horror: Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates
I don’t add Laura Bates’ incredible study of the manosphere and its proven links to violence and murder to this list as a glib gesture. It is, hand on heart, the most terrifying book I have read this year. Unfortunately, the trolls who exist in reality are far more threatening than their fictional counterparts could ever hope to be.
Bates’ exploration of the manosphere (popular sub-sections of the internet where men foam at the mouth about women, feminism, and “political correctness gone mad”) is a bone-chilling read. Bates clearly lays out just how incel-adjacent beliefs have become normalised in our society, spreading like a black mould, even infecting our own governments. This ghastly tour of the internet is as horrifying as any work of fiction, but essential reading if we want to tackle the extremism sitting right under our noses.
Spellbinding Biography: Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin
Shirley Jackson liked to preserve an enigmatic air around her personal life and creative processes. She boldly claimed to be a witch in her author bios and surrounded herself with magical rumours. But her true power lay in her uncanny ability to find the darker side of human nature hidden among the mundane.
Ruth Franklin respectfully delves into Jackson’s life. Weaving together insightful readings of Jackson’s works and her private experiences, drawing upon diary entries, cartoons, and never-before-published letters, Franklin creates a compassionate portrait of the author. Though Franklin gently points at the parallels between Jackson’s reality and her fiction, she always leaves room for speculation, allowing the reader to make up their own mind as to how much of Jackson’s own experiences bled into her creative works, honouring that hint of mystery that makes Jackson’s work so appealing.
The Perfect Halloween Read: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
But one strange wild dark long year, Halloween came early.
There are few books that perfectly capture the autumnal feeling of October, but Something Wicked This Way Comes feels like biting into a sticky red toffee apple as you crunch through orange leaves in that magical moment during the late afternoon when the sky begins to darken, hoping the spirits that wander the earth don’t follow you home. Familiar comforts mixed with an uncanny sense of unease.
Ray Bradbury’s classic coming-of-age story sees Cooger and Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show roll into Green Town, Illinois, the week before Halloween. The strange siren call of bright lights and candyfloss draws two young friends, Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway, to the mysterious carnival. But the boys soon come to realise there may be danger lurking under the alluring guise of candyfloss and rides…
The Master of Horror: Stephen King
The prolific Stephen King really does have an offering for everyone, no matter your interest. Coming-of-age classic? Try Carrie. Heart-pounding thrillers? Read the Bill Hodges trilogy. An action-packed sci-fi? Check out The Institute. Want to throw your phone away? Pick up Cell. A sprawling epic? Dive into the Dark Tower series. Retirees saving the world? You’ll love Insomnia. And of course, for a real scare, you can never go wrong with The Shining.
While his latest release, Billy Summers, is sitting high on my TBR pile, I’m currently revisiting one of the first King books I ever read; one which often flies under the radar: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. It’s a short, sharp read about nine-year-old baseball fan Trisha McFarland who strays from the path during a hike and gets lost in the woods. Trisha quickly discovers that she’s not the only one wandering among the trees… It’s a great story about strength and survival, full of suspense that will make you look over your shoulder next time you’re alone outdoors.
Spooky Shorts: Ghost Summer by Tananarive Due
Tananarive Due has written some excellent, terrifying fiction over the years (The Good House is a must-read for haunted house enthusiasts). But if you’re looking for a collection of brilliantly written, thematically rich short stories with well-rounded characters, Ghost Summer is the perfect way to dip into spooky season.
Short fiction collections can often be marred by hiding a couple of duds between the brightest sparks, but each of Due’s tales showcases her ability to master all kinds of horror, from tense slow-burns to adrenaline-thumping survival, from horror to speculative fiction. Filled with unique twists and surprises, Ghost Summer enthrals with every turn of the page. You’ll only wish it was longer.
Spooky Shorts: The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton is perhaps best known for being the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1921 for her novel The Age of Innocence. Drawing upon her experiences within New York’s aristocracy, her fiction offered realistic insight—and seething commentary—upon the morals of the elite. It may be surprising, then, to discover she also wrote a multitude of ghost stories. Deeply afraid of ghosts as a young woman, she purged her fears on the page by penning some of the era’s most chilling tales. She reportedly believed that a good ghost story should send “the cold shiver down one’s spine”.
Mixing the sensational with the satirical and incorporating all the elements required for an unsettling Gothic atmosphere, Wharton’s spooky shorts are well worth tracking down. “Afterward”, “The Eyes”, and “Miss Mary Pask” are often celebrated as some of her very best. Personally, “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” has left me a little on edge whenever I hear the light tinkle of a bell since reading it on a cold winter morning.
On Tuesday 2nd November, I donated 10% of any affiliate commissions earned throughout October to the End Violence Against Women Coalition, a group of specialist women’s support services, researchers, activists, survivors and NGOs who fight against some of the world’s real monsters by working to end violence against women and girls in all forms.