Since it is October and Halloween is right around the corner, I decided to make a post of my favorite spooky/scary books for Halloween. These aren't necessarily thrillers/horror books but are books that have spooky tones. None of these are in any particular order.
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is a retelling of Frankenstein with Elizabeth (aka Victor's betrothed) as the main character. It is a feminist retelling with Elizabeth as a morally grey character and follows her from when she moves in with Victor and his family until after Victor creates the monster. This is a very atmospheric and spooky book with an intriguing villain and shows that some monsters can be human.
Stalking Jack the Ripper follows Audrey Rose, an upperclass woman in the 18th century who'd rather be studying forensic medicine with her uncle than doing all the things a woman of her age and stature should be doing. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial killer, her search for answers brings her a little closer to her own sheltered world than she expects. This is filled with graphic descriptions, an eerie ambience and twists and turns that you never see coming.
Contagion is a science fiction horror book about a ragtag group/crew who are sent to an outer rim planet, in response to a distress call. They have no idea what to expect and when they arrive they find it abandoned and littered with dead bodies along with creepy written warnings. They all have to figure out what happened and discover that some things are better left alone. This is such a scary book and it is also one of my favorite books. It is a perfect book if you want to be scared but don't want a straight horror book.
Pitch Dark is another sci-fi/horror book that is scary but isn't straight horror. It's about Tuck who has been in cryo/stasis aboard the USS John Muir for centuries along with his crew. The ship has part of Earth on it which is the last hope for the failing human race. Laura Cruz is a ship raider who is searching the galaxy for the history that was scattered across the stars. Her family locates the John Muir and its precious cargo and they are sure that the human civilization is saved, however they must work together to save the John Muir from the enemies and brutal monsters.
The Hazel Wood is about a girl who's mother has made her move around a lot because of bad luck that is constantly following them around. Her grandmother is a reclusive author of dark fairy tales and when she dies alone on her estate aka the Hazel Wood. Alice's mom is then stolen away by a figure who comes from the Hinterland, the supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice has to work with a fan of her grandmother's work and venture into the hazel wood. The Hazel Wood itself is such a scary atmosphere which makes the book a perfectly spooky addition to this list.
One of Us is Lying is a young adult thriller which is about five students who have detention together but only five students come out of detention as one of them has died during it. According to investigators, his death was not an accident. Also, the very next day, he had planned to post juicy reveals about the other classmates which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. This is a less scary book than many of the others on this list but it still has it's creepy moments.
The Darkest Part of the Forest is another creepy fantasy book. It's about Hazel and her brother Ben who live in a town where humans and fae exist side by side. There is also a glass coffin in the woods with a fae boy sleeping in there. Both Hazel and Ben have been in love with him since they were children but he never woke up until one day he does and their lives are turned upside down. The fae world that Holly Black creates is very dark and mysterious causing it to have a spooky atmosphere. It's very eerie but also beautiful and if you haven't already read it, then you should try it.
8. Ten by Gretchen McNeil
Ten is a retelling/reimagining of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. It is about some teenagers who are invited to an exclusive house party on an island and they are expecting a weekend of fun, however when they discover a DVD with a sinister message, things take a turn for the worse. The teens are cut off from the outside world as a storm rages outside and a killer begins picking them off one by one. The teens turn on each other and the main character: Meg has to figure out the killer before more people die. This is such a scary thriller and I read it pretty quickly because I had to figure out who the killer was.
This is probably one of the scariest books on this list. Don't read it at night! It's eerie and suspenseful and has a lot of classic horror elements aka woods, old houses and dolls. This is about Silla and Nori who arrive at their aunt Cath's manor house which is a house that has been in the family for generations. The manor is creepy and the woods surrounding them are eerily still and there are also many secrets and questions that Silla wants to figure out. The trees keep moving forward, a boy has been appearing from nowhere and her sister (Nori) has been playing with a man in the basement that only she can see. It's a super creepy book and will give you shivers long after it ends.
This is a science-fiction thriller with horror, mystery and historical fiction aspects. It's about a girl who has been selected out of hundreds of other candidates to fly to France and help with the excavation of a vast, underground palace under the suburbs of Paris. She and several other gifted teenagers are the first to set foot in it for over two centuries, or so they're told. However, they soon find themselves in a game that is far more dangerous and sinister than they could have ever imagined. The book is super suspenseful and full of twists and turns that you could never see coming.
This is a spooky book that also has a bit of a fairytale vibe. Shea Ernshaw created a story soaked in revenge, and fear. This is about the town of Sparrow where two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three girls so that they may seek their revenge by luring boys into the harbor and drowning them. Penny Talbot is a seventeen year old local girl who has accepted the fate of the town, however this year a boy named Bo arrives and has no idea the danger he's just stumbled into. Books about small towns that also feature some kind of supernatural event are always a spooky favorite.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to?
