With Spooky season in full swing and October 31st almost upon us I thought I'd share some of my favourite spooky, scary or Halloween adjacent reads from the past twelve months, so whether you've stacked your TBRs with spine-chilling horrors or prefer a your reads magical and cosy there's plenty to choose from.
So without further ado, here are my picks for the best books to curl up with this October.
Sunyi Dean's deliciously dark and gorgeously atmospheric, Gothic Horror feast of a book has easily been one of my favourite reads of the year and October is the perfect month to loose yourself in this genre-defying tale of motherhood, sacrifice and the complexities of love in all its many forms.
It follows Devon, a book eater (supernatural beings who must consume books for sustenance instead of food) who flees from her claustrophobic life when her son, Cai is born with a rarer and darker hunger than the rest of her kind. An urge to feed (Zombie-like) on the minds of humans instead of books.
Mind eaters are a perversion of her kind and there are only two outcomes her family will accept—turn him into a weapon, or put him to death...
An exquisitely crafted and vividly detailed gothic style horror that definitely packs the right amount creepy elements and uncomfortably unsettling characters to make this an absolute must read for October—though be warned, you'll never look at a mushroom the same way again!
After recieving a frantic letter from her newly wed cousin, begging to be saved, Noemie travels to High Place, to make sure her alls well with the newlyweds. But what she finds is a peculiar and reclusive family whose colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes for generations, a family full of dark secrets and a history violence and madness.
Even the house itself is strange, and Noemie is certain it's begun to invade her dreams with visions of violence, blood and doom...
A decadently lush gothic retelling of Dracula told from the POV of his first vampire bride, Constanta.
It’s a refreshingly intoxicating tale which focuses on the lives of the previously voiceless (and unnamed) Brides behind the iconic vampire that fans of Bram Stoker or Anne Rice should definitely check out!
Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from medieval peasant into a bride for an undead king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and starving artist into his web of deceit, Constanta realises that her beloved is capable of terrible things.
Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husbands’ dark secrets. But with the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta with have to make a decision—to choose between her own freedom or her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death…
Another gothic feast of a novel, Alexis Henderson’s House of Hunger is an atmospherically lush and incredibly detailed sapphic horror centering around hedonism, greed and obsessive love, which takes inspiration from Elizabeth Bathory and gives us a new spin on vampires (and vampire lore) that gothic horror lovers will thoroughly enjoy this Halloween.
It follows Marion Shaw, one of the poorest residents of Prane, a child of the city’s slums who dreams of escaping the city and its miseries for the North, where the wealthy live in luxury and drink the blood of their well compensated servants (known as Bloodmaids.) Applying for a position as a Bloodmaid leads Marion into the service of The House of Hunger.
In a matter of days Marion is swept into this world of extravagance and dark debauchery—and at the centre of it all is the Countess Lisavet. Mysterious, Magnetic, charismatic and seductive— Marion is eager to please her new mistress. But when her fellow bloodmaids. begin to disappear in the night, Marion finds herself in a vicious game of cat and mouse. She must learn the rule of her new home—and quickly—or it’s halls will soon become her grave…
An atmospherically gothic, Ethiopian inspired (and loosely based) reimagining of Jane Eyre that I read earlier in the year and thoroughly enjoyed!
It’s not an exact retelling but there are a few parallels that are pretty easy to spot. Magnus is our Mr Rochester (a young heir to a chocolate enterprise who finds himself cursed from the Evil Eye (A kinder and far more charismatic love interest than the original.) Andie (Andromeda) is our Jane, though instead of a governess she’s a Debtera-a person trained to create intricate amulets that can break curses or ward off the evil eye, and the job Andie accepts is to help break the curse that plagues Magnus's family.
But she quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she's been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, but leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option. Evil may roam the castle’s halls, but so does a burning desire.
Set in modern day Malaysia, Zen Cho’s witty and deliciously immersive paranormal fantasy, with it’s ghosts, gods and gangsters was such an interesting take on a ghost story and is definitely worth reading this spooky season.
Her grandmother may be dead but she isn’t done with life just yet. As Jess packs for her move to Malaysia with her family, she begins to hear a strange (and rather bossy) voice in her head. Having just graduated, Jess is broke, jobless and is unprepared for the ghosts, gods and shenanigans that surround life in the country of her birth.
But Jess soon realises the voice isn’t a stress induced hallucination but the ghost of her grandmother, Ah Ma—who worshipped Black Water Sister, a local goddess who’s shrine is under threat and Ah Ma has sworn vengeance upon the perpetrator. Now she’s decided Jess will help whether she wants to or not, borrowing Jess’s body to make mischief.
As Jess is drawn ever deeper into a world of peril, family secrets and getting a job are the least of her troubles.
The sequel to the sumptuously gothic YA fantasy, Lakesedge is an absolute must read for dark fantasy lovers. If like me you were absolutely obsessed with Lakesedge and fell in love with the beautifully haunting imagery, slow burn romance and Hades and Persephone style premise then you're gonna love this one even more. And I yes we get to see more of The Lord Under and his mysterious underworld dominion.
The curse that haunted Lakesedge has been broken, but at great cost. Violeta Graceling has sacrificed herself to end the Corruption.
To escape death, Leta makes a desperate bargain with the Lord Under, one that sees her living at his side in the land of the dead. And though he claims to have given her all he promised, Leta knows this world of souls and mists hides many secrets.
When she discovers she is still bound to Rowan, Leta goes to drastic lengths to reforge their connection. But her search for answers, and a path back home, will see her drawn into even more dangerous bargains, and struggling to resist the allure of a new, dark, power.
Another marvellously moody, gothic YA fantasy was Adalyn Grace's Belladonna about a girl (Signa) who confronts death and her own deadly powers to solve a murder.
For as long as Signa Farrow’s has been alive, the people around her have all succumbed to an early grave. Orphaned as a baby, nineteen year old Sign has has a string of guardians, each more interested in her vast inheritance than her well-being—and each has met and untimely death.
Her only remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family who live at the gloomy and imposing Thorn Grove, an estate still steeped in the patriarch’s grief for his late wife—a wife who still haunts its walls and a daughter who suffers a similar ailment.
But when said wife’s spirit appears to Signa claiming she was poisoned, Signa realises the family she depends on could be in grave danger, and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to help hunt down the killer.
If spooky books aren't your thing then Sangu Mandanna's cosy, heartwarming witchy romance just might be the perfect book for you. It's a lighthearted tale of love, acceptance and found family with the sweetest most loveable protagonist you've ever encountered.
It follows Mika Moon, a witch who (like most witches) lost her parents at a young age and was raised in isolation so as not to draw attention to her magic. Mika has gotten used to her solitary life, only meeting with fellow witches sporadically to limit the risk of detection.
But, all that changes when Mika receives a message asking her to travel to Nowhere House and teach three young witches in need of her guidance—a post she readily accepts.
Mika’s arrival at Nowhere house heralds a big change for the young witches, their guardians and for Mika who feels—for the first time in her life—that she can truly belong.
Erin Sterling's hilariously swoon-worthy and utterly addictive sequel to the rom-com TikTok sensation, The Ex Hex is an absolute must read this October (though I do recommend reading book 1 first) It's the perfect read if you like your spooky books witty and full of romance.
It follows Gwyn Jones who is perfectly happy with her life in Graves Glen. She’s formed a powerful new coven with her family; she’s running a successful witch shop called Something Wicked and she’s even mentoring some of the town’s younger witches. There’s only one problem—Llewellyn ‘Wells’ Penhallow.
Wells has come to Graves Glen for two reasons—to reestablish his family’s connection with the town and to finally make a new life for himself away from his father. But, after opening a magic shop just across the road from Gwyn’s, he quickly realises that going up against her won’t be as easy as he initially thought…especially after an accidental, magic inspired (and very hot) kiss.
And though Gwyn and Wells are fully committed to their witchy rivalry, they find themselves thrown together when they have to deal with the sudden appearance of a mysterious new coven and Gwyn’s concern that something—or someone—is messing with her magic…
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