I know that all the Halloween reading challenges have probably officially run their course today and typically I am late to the party. The reason for this is I rarely read scary books, but I decided to dig through my past posts to see how rarely really?

Well, it turns out really very rarely. But I managed to find ten books I read that sort of fir the Halloween mood. So dress up, and after your Covid-safe trick or treating relax on a couch with something warm to drink, munching on your hard earned sweets and check those out:

Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead – Olga Tokarczuk – whiel it is not your typical ghost story Tokarczuk has a lot of fun with the genres in this book and some parts are certainly chilling, especially with all the wild nature

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon – Stephen King – here we have lots of nature again. A little girl lost in a forest… written by Stephen King, what more can you ask for?

Dark Tales – Shirley Jackson – what can I say Jackson is the best. She was born to write scary stories. And there will be more of her books in this list as I simply love her. And I’m so excited to watch the movie Shirley!

Frankenstein in Baghdad – Ahmed Saadawi – war is horror in and of its own, but add to it our favorite creature and it really is a Halloween worthy novel that will get you thinking.

The Loney – Andrew Michael Hurley – what could be more scary than a religious ritual in a desolate, windswept, rainy place?

Ghosts of Christmas Past – yes, I know not a Halloween one per se. But it is a collection of ghost stories, even if Christmas related. Also I’ve already heard Last Christmas on the radio this year and supermarkets start to stock up on festive booze.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson – one of the most atmospheric books I’ve ever read. For me its musical equivalent is the Lullaby from Rosemary’s Baby.

Beloved – Toni Morisson – I know, it is not a book about ghosts exactly. And yet Beloved is clearly a spectre of sorts. It certainly is haunting, even if not in the most traditional sense.

It – Stephen King – a book that is equally a tribute to the most glorious summers of childhood and an exploration of fear itself. A classic.

The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson – and yet, despite It, there can only one to rule them all…

What are your favorite Halloween reads?

Photo by Violetta Kaszubowska @vkphotospace.com