Updated: October 17, 2024
What better time to trick or treat yo’ self to an unsettling, spooky, or flat-out scary read than Halloween? 🎃👻 Our unBOOlievable list contains 21 Halloween books that will keep you up at night with fear and anticipation of what the next page will bring.
So turn on all the lights, keep your ears open for things that go bump in the night, and get ready for some skele-fun! ☠️
1. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
This one’s a legend. The Exorcist is one of the most controversial novels ever written. Inspired by a true story, the book focuses on Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of a movie actress. A small group of determined individuals tries to rescue Regan from her unspeakable fate. The drama that ensues is gripping and unfailingly terrifying.
It’s one of those Halloween books that has the extraordinary ability to disturb readers and cause them to forget that it is “just a story”, which explains why it spent fifty-seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and seventeen consecutively at number one. 1️⃣
2. It: A Novel by Stephen King
This is not just a horror story. It’s more of a coming-of-age type of book; it’s about childhood and friendships that seem like they will last forever.
Derry appears to be a nice small city, but every 27 years, something horrifying happens. Bill, Richie, Stan, Bev, Eddie, and Mike, “the losers”, were teenagers when they first investigated the strange happenings in their town.
Now, years later, children are being murdered again. So they are contacted and asked to return to solve the mystery. Will you join them in this spooky adventure?
3. The House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski
Make sure you keep your lights on for this one! 🫢 The story focuses on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane and discovers something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
Shortly after they move in, the house starts changing, and a door appears out of nowhere. What is through that door and how it impacts the family subsequently become the focus of an incredible volume of speculation and literary criticism within the universe of the story, with every nuance of the house and the family analyzed minutely.
4. Bird Box, by Josh Malerman
f the name sounds familiar, that’s because Netflix has turned it into a movie. But we promise you, the book is even more terrifying than the adaptation. And a perfect addition to your Halloween books list!
Bird Box is a story about an apocalypse with a theme of sight, but one taken in a slightly unexpected direction.
The story begins when Malorie sets off with her two children on a dangerous twenty-mile boat trip upriver to find safety. In a world where simply seeing creatures drives people to madness and suicide, Malorie must remain blindfolded, relying only on her and her children’s hearing to navigate the dangers around them.
5. You by Caroline Kepnes
This novel is a terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation.
The beautiful Guinevere Beck strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works. Because he forgets to ask for her number, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card, a perfectly reasonable solution for a serial stalker.
Joe will stop at nothing to insert himself into Beck’s life, even if it means removing the people in her life. What makes this book truly scary is relatability. We wouldn’t be surprised if, after reading this book, you would think twice about what you’re posting on social media. 😵
6. The Witching Hour, by Anne Rice
This wouldn’t be a proper Halloween book list without some witchcraft.🧙🔮
The book begins in the 1980s in New Orleans but swiftly whisks readers back in time to the 16th century in the Scottish Highlands during the height of the European witch hunts.
The story circles around the Mayfair family and the generations of Mayfair witches who have accumulated one of the world’s great fortunes while awaiting the thirteenth witch in their succession. “The thirteenth” is to become the doorway by which a supernormal entity enters the human world and takes flesh. You know, just your regular witch novel.🤭
7. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks
What’s Halloween without some zombies, right? 🧟
The story spans from New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the outbreak began with twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the cold northern forests where many sought refuge.
It then takes readers to Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan offered hope at a terrible cost, and to the Rockies, where the tide finally turned in North America.
The novel reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War. The subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus.
8. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic takes readers deep into the misty mountains of 1950s Mexico, where glamor, decay, and madness intertwine.
This highly acclaimed horror tale features the story of Noemí Taboada, a glamorous socialite called to rescue her cousin from a mysterious and decaying estate known as High Place. With each step down the shadowy corridors of the house, Noemí uncovers horrifying truths lurking beneath its walls—and the further she goes, the harder it is to leave. 😶🌫️
Gripping, unsettling, and dripping with gothic allure, Mexican Gothic is one of those Halloween books that will hold you in its chilling grip until the very last page. You can’t miss it!
9. The Year of the Witching, by Alexis Henderson
In this stunning feminist fantasy horror debut, a young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself. So grab those brooms and fly away to the wondrous dark world that Alexis Henderson has created. 🧹
Immanuelle uncovers dark secrets about her past and a curse that could tear her world apart. As whispers of witches grow louder and danger closes in, she must decide: Will she embrace the darkness—or be consumed by it? 😶🌫️
With a riveting storyline, The Year of the Witching is a non-stop horror ride from the first pages and twisted enough to make you fall in love with all of the madness.
10. Naomi’s Room, by Jonathan Aycliffe
This one is basically a parent’s worst nightmare.😳 Naomi’s Room follows a family who, on Christmas Eve, take their daughter Naomi out shopping – sounds pretty normal, right?
But then, the 4-year-old Naomi gets abducted from a toy shop and later unfortunately turns up dead in an alleyway, horrifically mutilated. The couple tries to accept their daughter’s death, but as grief settles on their house, strange occurrences start to happen.
The ending is not the happiest, either. The story goes to really dark places and explores the parents’ nightmare, dealing with the psychological effects.
We’re sure this book will surely spook even the most courageous readers. Happy haunting, ghoulfriends!
11. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Witty, darkly humorous, and dripping with Southern Gothic flair, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is your next must-read horror book for the upcoming spooky season!
The story lures readers into the charming yet eerie world of 1990s Charleston, where the lives of a group of suburban housewives take a sinister turn. What starts as a mundane book club gathering quickly spirals into real-life terror that threatens their families and their very lives. 🫢🫢
Get ready for a thrilling ride with one of Grady Hendrix’s most acclaimed works! This Halloween book will keep you on the edge of your seat, laughing and shivering until the final page.
12. Endless Night, by Richard Laymon
⚠️Warning – This book is absolutely not for the faint of heart!
Endless Night is an extraordinary novel that will keep you on edge from the first page to the last. It’s a must-read for all those who enjoy a little deadly hide-and-seek, gore details, murder, and mayhem. 🖤
The story goes like this: Jody stays at her friend Evelyn’s house. While she’s there, a group of killers break in, and then… You’ll have to discover the rest for yourself; we’re not giving away any spoilers! 🤭
13. The Institute, by Stephen King
No one has ever escaped from the Institute.
But when one child, Luke Ellis, is determined to escape, the odds are grim. This Halloween book follows children who are kidnapped from their homes in the dead of night and taken to a secret facility known as the Institute. There, they are subjected to horrifying experiments for their unique psychic abilities.
With an ending that will leave you breathless, The Institute is a deeply unsettling tale that will rattle even the bravest readers. Get your courage and enjoy, ghoulfriends!
14. Bunny by Mona Awad
Welcome to Bunny. You’re invited to a peculiar world of a graduate writing program where darkness and absurdity intermingle. What begins as an unassuming exploration of friendship soon spirals into a surreal nightmare, marked by sinister rituals, unsettling obsessions, and a chilling sense of belonging.
Think you can handle it? 😳 Follow Samantha as she navigates the eerie camaraderie of her fellow students—an exclusive clique of seemingly perfect “bunnies”.
Captivating, surreal, and dripping with spooky charm, Bunny will get you hooked in its bizarre grip, so (don’t) think twice before you add it to your Halloween books TBR.
15. The Call, by Peadar O’Guilin
When you think of fairies, you usually think of kindness and tenderness, right? But that’s not the case for these fairies. 🙃
During The Call, teens disappear for a little over three minutes, only to find themselves alone in a sickly gray land with more horrors in it than one would ever wish to know about. When they do reappear, they unfortunately end up dead and/or horribly mutated by magic.
The plot follows several teens into the Grey Land, delivering blisteringly fast-paced and graphic descriptions of the tortures the children endure.
16. Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill
We hope you’ll still be able to wear suits after reading this one! 🫢
The plot can be easily summarized: an aging heavy-metal star buys a haunted suit over the Internet, thinking it will be perfect for his ghoulish artifact collection.
However, the suit has a mind of its own and other secrets of its own, too. And it would rather go ravaging through the rock star’s life than be part of his creepy little museum. Boo-tiful!
17. Ghost Story, by Peter Straub
How does one fight a ghost? Vampires can’t be in the sun, werewolves can be shot with silver bullets, but what are you supposed to do when a ghost decides to haunt you? 🧛
You don’t know what they want or what they can do to you. They just torment you until they get bored.
Even though it’s harder for them to catch you off guard because they can’t just jump at you, they will always find a way to creep in. Ghost Story is probably one of the most terrifying ghost novels you will ever read because it feels way too real to be comfortable and conventionally “fun.”
18. What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
From the award-winning author of The Twisted Ones, here comes a gripping retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic The Fall of the House of Usher. 😳
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, finds out that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruravia.
What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. A fearless British mycologist and a perplexed American doctor must join forces to uncover the mystery of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
19. House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson
Looking for something decadently dark to add to your TBR? 🖤Step inside House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson —If you dare… 🩸
Marion Shaw was raised in the slums, where want and deprivation were all she knew. But despite longing to leave the city and its miseries, she finds herself the newest bloodmaid at the notorious House of Hunger.
There, she’s swept into a world of dark debauchery-and at the center of it all is her. She’ll need to learn the rules of her new home (and fast!) or its halls will soon become her grave. 🪦
With vampiric intrigue, gothic vibes, and plenty of blood, this is one Halloween story that’ll sink its teeth into you! 😬
20. Lone Women by Victor LaValle
Blue skies, empty land — and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. 🤐
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.
Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose with an unforgettable cast of adventurers along a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen.
Don’t miss out on this Halloween-coded story of a woman desperate to bury her past—or redeem it.
21. The Passage, by Justin Cronin
What if vampires could be the result of government experiments?🦇
The story starts in the near future, with government experiments on a virus that gives those infected superhuman strengths and eternal life. The downside is that it also gives them fangs, claws, glowstick orange skin, a taste for human flesh, and raging photophobia.
The novel details the virus’s discovery and subsequent tests. It’s taut and tight, and from the amorality of the military experiments to the passing references to America’s polluted, lawless state, everything drips with dread.
So there you have it, 21 wickedly awesome Halloween books that you should absolutely add to your Bookly shelf.
More Spooky Books To Add To Your TBR
Make sure you check out our must-read horror books list and get ready for some really thrilling serial killer stories! 🔪
Dare to Face Your Darkest Reads and Creep It Real? 📚💚
If you’re all about ghostly vibes, dark humor, and Halloween thrills, join the spookiest reading challenge of the season!
Welcome to the Wicked Bookly Readathon – where the pages are cursed, the stories are spine-chilling, and your only escape is through the next book. From October 24th to November 3rd, it’s time to exorcize those books! 👹
Head over to our blog for all the details & rules, and let’s creep it real!
Don’t Forget to Keep Track of Your Reading Progress With Bookly
Whether you track your reading progress in a spreadsheet, journal, notebook, or app, just remember to do it! Bookly makes it easy to track your progress.
Bookly can help keep you accountable, track books, and improve your reading habits. 😎
And don’t forget that Bloo, your reading assistant, will always be by your side and help you improve by tracking all the books you read.🎏
Download Bookly for iOS 👉 https://bookly.onelink.me/t5hz/x4sel69s
Download Bookly for Android 👉 https://bookly.onelink.me/t5hz/x4sel69s
