Spooky Reads for the Season

Have a #HappyHalloween With These Spooky-Season Reads 

During the Halloween season, movies tend to take the spotlight. Scary movies like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Trick r Treat, and family classics like Hocus Pocus often keep us glued to the screen throughout the season, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’d like to include some spooky seasonal reads, there are plenty to stock your shelves this fall. 

Modern and not-so-modern Classics 

Recent novels that are suited for the season include Brom’s Slewfoot, a historical tale about a woman accused of witchcraft in colonial New England. Silvia Moreno Garcia also has some great offerings, especially Mexican Gothic, a new take on the haunted house genre, and Certain Dark Things, a vampire thriller taking place in Mexico City. This novel was also the October Book of the Month for the Maple Grove Books Book Club in The Collective Retail & Artisan Shops in Williamson.   

If you’d like something a little less contemporary, there’s still plenty to choose from. Dracula and Frankenstein pretty much go without saying, but Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is an underrated Gothic mystery that will keep you turning the pages. Shirley Jackson, a prominent mid-20th century horror writer, also has plenty of spooky offerings to keep you up at night– while The Haunting of Hill House is her best known work, We Have Always Lived In the Castle is a fantastic and brief read for the Halloween season. 

Scares for Younger Readers 

Kids and teens might not be ready for the scariest offerings at the bookstore, but there are plenty of books out there for them as well. R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series is a modern classic for a reason– these short chapter books are addictive, and offer plenty of different types of scary stories for kids to enjoy. (Author’s warning: you might be tempted to pick up one of them and read it yourself!) The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs is another mid-grade spooky read with a great cover, and it’s perfect for Halloween. 

For the teens, Rory Power’s Wilder Girls is a spooky futuristic horror novel with lots to offer. The Babysitter’s Coven is a lighter-hearted offering about two teen girls bonding over surprising similarities. While it might not be your first thought when thinking about teen horror, Stephen King’s Carrie is a horror classic that’s perfect for high-school age students, given that it focuses on the horrors of, well, high school. 

Truth is Scarier than Fiction 

Finally, it might be tempting to focus on fiction for your spooky-season reading, but there are some great and seasonally appropriate nonfiction books as well. Behind the Horror by Dr. Lee Mellor dives into the true stories behind some of your favorite scary movies, while The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth by Thomas Morris is a shockingly-true read about bizarre medical tales. 

No matter what book is open on your lap, fall is the perfect time to sit outside and enjoy a good book while the autumn leaves fall around you. Happy reading!