12 Creepy Books to Read for Halloween

In honour of the pagan new year, I’ve got a few book recommendations for you to read as we approach Samhain. The veil is thinner between the worlds, and the likelihood of encounter a goblin or ghoul is high. Why not fully embrace the season and curl up with one of these spinge-tinglers?

I’ve organized them by sub-type, and this time we’ve got: monsters, folklore, and short stories. Those are my favourite types of horror!

I read ALL of these books thanks to my local public library! It’s important to me to try and live my values everyday, and that means avoiding Amazon and Indigo, purchasing used books when I can, supporting independent book sellers. But first and foremost: I don’t buy books, I borrow them!

CONTENT NOTES

All of these books contain mature themes and graphic content. Gore, interpersonal violence, systemic violence, child abuse, gentrification, racism and misogyny, all the notes common to horror books. Please proceed with caution.

MONSTERS

It’s no secret that I love monsters. Mythologial, modern, hairy, bloodthirsy. It doesn’t matter. They are all delicious. Here are few of my recent favourites. Perhaps categorizing them in this way is a spoiler, so maybe just forgetaboutit.

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Leigh Allen. If you love reality TV, monsters, AND gore, you will love this book. There are some twists and turns, and the story moves so perfectly through them, filling every page with action and interest. Even if you guess what’s happening early on, you will want to see this one through to the end.

Hide by Kiersten White centers upon a group of young adults who were brought to an abandoned amusement park in hopes of winning a cash prize. The only instruction they receive? They have to hide. But, hide from what? And why? The author does an amazing job of building nail-biting suspense within a book that follows folks who have to find unique ways to just sit still all day.

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks. One of my favourite monsters of all kind is the Sasquatch. Many of you might argue that they aren’t a monster at all, and to that I say, “read this”. I especially enjoyed the setting and backstory of the main action. Much schadenfreude.

FOLKLORE

Y’all, what is it about folklore and fairy tales that is SO CREEPY? Ancient evils, mysterious symbols, tales of the occult, curses, twins. Fungus. You know.

What Moves the Dead and What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher. This recommendation is a two-fer, but honestly you could grab anything by Kingfisher and have a good time. The former is based on The House of Usher, and the latter title is a standalone sequel. Queer and queer, if you get my meaning. Will absolutely make your spinge tingle, and your blood moan. The third book is on order at my library, and I’ve already got it on hold.

Nothing but Blackened Teeth and The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw are two of my favourite horror novellas. Of all time? Maybe! They are so deliciously creepy, like campfire stories when you were young. Short, shocking, scares your pants off, the end. Slay.

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Now, I would argue that this author has written creepier (better) novels –hello Mexican Gothic– but I had to add this title to the list because it’s just so unique. It somehow meshes Mexican horror movies and Nazi occultism, and the 90s culture references were icing on the cake. If you love horror movies, I think you will love this.

White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi. The house is a character! “Unsettling and cryptic” is the best way to describe this book. You will itch for no reason. You will keep looking over your shoulder, feeling like you’re being watched. You will question everything you’ve read, everything you think is true. You will reach the end and go “whhaaaatt the hell did I just read?” and want to dive right back in. Delicious madness.

STORIES

Scary short stories are great if you want to dip your toe in, but don’t want to get too freaked out.

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez is very Latin American. Which makes sense from this Argentinian writer. Each story weaves a huge and beautiful (and terrible) world, lacking nothing, yet filled with moral greyness. I was the bad guy in some of the tales! Honestly disturbing in all the best ways.

She Walks in Shadows by various authors and edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. All the stories are by and about women (love it!) and Lovecraftian mythos (hate it!). Y’all, I am NOT a fan of Lovecraft horror, but this book made it work for me. If you’re not familiar, Lovecraft wrote wild-ass creepy stories unlike anything that had existed up until that point. With otherworldy monsters and grotesque wrongness. He was also a raging white supremacist, and those views absolutely fill his books. Yuck! This story collection sees women take on Lovecraft themes (with retellings of actual Lovecraft tales) from a “feminine” POV. Every story is great. Most will shatter your brain a bit.

SLASHER

Here’s a bonus title for you! It didn’t really fit into one category as it has a bit of everything in it.

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones. Apparently, this is the first book in a trilogy, but I thought it had a satisfying-enough ending that I never went looking for more. Now is the perfect time to do that. Mr. Jones is a horror legend, and this book deserves all the hype it gets. A ghost story, a plucky yet disastrous heroine, murder murder murder, maybe witchcraft? CONTENT NOTE for suicide, and I unfortunately can’t remember if there is child sexual abuse on or off the page.

12 Creepy Books to Read for Halloween