The one thing anyone with cable knows best around this time of year is the ultimate movie marathon... 31 Days of Halloween or the OGs might remember the 13 Days/Nights of Halloween.
While we are avid readers here at The Crafty Bookstore, we are also avid movie watchers! And readers and movie watchers alike call this time the spooky season for good reason. The weather is cooler, the nights drift sooner, and we need our entertainment to match the darkening. But for us readers it has a little extra to it, we need words to chill us to our bones, to make us forego the tiny book lights to turn on the overhead lights. Words that make us go wide eyed, slack jawed, and gasping aloud. We need the haunting, the ghoulish, and the fiendish to come alive with words.
So, to help you succeed in this feat we offer to you 13 books to make it to Halloween, some with movie adaptations, because we want to create the spooky atmosphere you seek! Some of these books are even in our store, so why not give them a home on your shelves.
13 Spooky Reads to Halloween
(in no particular order)
The Photo by Amanda Russo - Available in our store
This paranormal suspense follows high school friends who make a terrible decision one Halloween night and immediately begin to suffer the consequences. The line between nightmares and reality blur with horrific results. You'll never play a spooky game on Halloween night again after reading this novel!
Carrie by Stephen King
Stephen King is a classic, renowned among the horror genre, so of course we have to include at least one. While Carrie might not truly be the scariest of King's novels, a teenage girl that can destroy things with her mind is pretty terrifying. And if you haven't read the book, the extent of her destruction is far worse than in the movie, not to mention her mom is way crazier!
(Movie adaptation: 1976 by Brian De Palma)
Phantoms by Dean Koontz
A monster and supernatural filled ride to a small mountain town will leave you confused about who and what is causing such destruction. An unlikely group bands together to solve the mystery, but let's just say something things cannot be prepared for. Koontz is best known for his thrillers, but his exploits in horror do not disappoint!
(Movie adaptation: 1998 by Joe Chappelle)
The Town the World Forgot by Boris Bacic
If you love mysterious towns, creepy townsfolk who will barely acknowledge visitors, a storm that sets off the chaos, and something evil lurking in the night... well this book just might be for you! The beginning of a series, this novel follows two people who end up at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Seven Sins by Miguel Estrada
Do you wanna play a game? If jigsaw was here, even he would say no thank you! This novel is every bit a mix of Saw and Seven (what’s in the box?!). A rollercoaster of graphic details and tension, leaving you to wonder who the mastermind behind these awful deeds is. There is a content warning for this book, so check for concerns before diving in.
Hollow by Davide Tarsitano
A writer, a cop, and a exorcist walk into a house. This isn't a joke, it's the three main characters in this police procedural meets suspense and horror novel. A mysterious murder, overwhelming grief, and the sense something is more than it seems is the primary focus. A supernatural entity is at work, but how can it be proved and how can it be stopped?
The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup - Available in our store
Nordic Noir is a must for any lover of thrillers and this one is no exception. You are thrown into the mix of gruesome and graphically detailed murders, a police investigation, all while wondering who is the person leaving behind chestnut men at these scenes?
(Netflix series: The Chestnut Man)
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski
If you like labyrinths, puzzles, and codes this book might just be for you. It's avant-garde mixed with a bit of inception of a story within a story. There are multiple narrators, confusion and the people who enjoyed said it kept them up and messed with them! Is that a selling point, it might be...
The Ritual by Adam Nevill
It wouldn’t be a well-rounded list without at least one folk horror novel. The Ritual combines the terrifying reality of being lost in the woods, with the fear inducing feeling of something evil and unnatural stalking.
(2017 movie adaptation by David Bruckner)
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
We didn't forget lovers of science fiction, horrors in space seem the most likely thing of all. And this novel brings it well! A distress signal in space, an unexpected find, and a swelling panic because where did all the passengers go.
The Lost Village by Camilla Sten - Available in our store
If you enjoyed Midsommar and/or The Blair Witch Project this book blends them both into a Nordic nightmare. A town known for the sudden disappearance of almost all its people, a documentary crew determined to find out the why. There is tension, confusion, and dual points of views and timelines to add a little something extra to this story.
Sleep Tight by J.H. Markert
Newly released, this book combines past and present police procedural with a haunting feeling the danger is not yet over. A town plagued by evil disguised as good, trauma, and someone eerily singing to their victims. This novel is a crime thriller with a dabble into horror for those that aren't quite a horror reader.
It by Stephen King
Clowns... enough said. While is classic from Stephen King is very long, it continues to terrify and captivate readers alike. Not just because of the clown but also the descriptive way King throws you into the mix with the characters, leaving you in awe of them as children and as adults as they navigate the chaos in life and of Pennywise.
(Series adaptation: 1990 by Tommy Lee Wallace, Movie adaptation: 2017 by Andy Muschietti)
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