Spooky season is officially upon us, which means it’s time to cozy up with books filled with suspense, paranormal beings, and all the fall vibes. In this post, we’ll be sharing 12 books to read in October. These are all books that Kayla has personally read and recommends!
Whether you like books about witches and ghosts or more sinister thrillers, this list has a little bit of everything for bookworms looking for new books to read in October.
If you’re a fellow bookworm searching for more reading inspiration and literary sites to visit around the world, check out our Books page and be sure to follow us on Goodreads!
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. That means at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission from your purchase which will go toward bringing you more travel tips, tricks, and tidbits!
Our Favorite Spooky Books to Read in October
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
Synopsis: This book features 19 chilling short stories by Ray Bradbury that will haunt your thoughts long after you’ve finished reading them. Kayla’s personal favorites are “The Wind”, which is about a man who is terrified that the wind is trying to kill him, and “Skeleton”, a tale about a man who becomes obsessed with finding a doctor who will help him understand why his skeleton causes him so much pain and macabre thoughts.
If you like classically spooky tales, you’ll love this book. It’s one of Kayla’s absolute favorite books to read in October – she tries to read it every year!
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
Synopsis: When Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100 year old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, she thinks this is just the fresh start she and her 3 daughters need. But when 2 of her daughters go missing, her worst nightmare is realized.
Liv becomes frantic as whispers in the town begin circulating about the dark past of witches being burned in a cave beneath the lighthouse and supernatural beings who mimic children lurking about.
Twenty years later, the remaining daughter is still searching for her missing sisters. But she is shocked when one of them turns back up and has not aged a day in 20 years. Will the lighthouse reveal its secrets after all these years?
This book also made our list of 14 Books Set in Scotland!
The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup
Synopsis: A killer is terrorizing Copenhagen, leaving a handmade doll made of matchsticks and chestnuts at each crime scene. When forensic testing shows one of the chestnut dolls contains a fingerprint from a government official’s daughter who disappeared and was murdered a year ago, the hunt for the killer intensifies.
Two detectives must put aside their differences as they race against the clock to find the Chestnut Man before he strikes again. Because he has no plans of stopping.
While Denmark is known for its Nordic Noir genre of suspenseful crime novels and creepy Grimms’ Fairy Tales, it’s a wonderful and safe place to visit! Check out our posts on Denmark to start planning your own trip to this stunning country!
The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
Synopsis: West Hall, Vermont, is a town known for its strange disappearances. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter.
In present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara’s farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that their family live off the grid, a decision that has consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has disappeared. In her search for clues, she finds a copy of Sara Harrison Shea’s diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother’s bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she’s not the only person looking for someone that they’ve lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom
Synopsis: In colonial New England, an ancient spirit has awakened. The wildfolk call him Father, slayer, protector. The colonists call him Slewfoot, demon, devil. Abitha is a recently widowed outcast struggling to keep her farm running and her horrible brother-in-law at bay from stealing it. The ancient spirit ends up being the only one she can turn to for help. Together, they ignite a battle between pagan and Puritan – one that threatens to destroy the entire village, leaving nothing but ashes and bloodshed in their wake.
This book is excellent on Audible!
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
Synopsis: Daisy Darker’s family has been avoiding each other for years, but they’ve agreed to meet at Nana’s remote house for her 80th birthday. The family arrives to the crumbling island house with secrets that will slowly come to light as the weekend unfolds.
As the tide comes in, they will be trapped in the house together and cut off from the rest of the world for 8 hours. This may not seem like a long time, but when Nana winds up dead at midnight and another family member’s death follows an hour later, time seems to stretch on for an eternity. Someone in the house is a killer, but will the mystery be solved before another death occurs?
If you’re a fan of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, this book is for you!
Weyward by Emilia Hart
Synopsis: Weaving together the stories of three women across five centuries, Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world. The women are separated by time but are tied together through their family name, their determination to overcome hardships, and their keen awareness of the nature around them that provides both comfort and power.
This book also made our list of 10 Books with Nature as a Main Character!
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Synopsis: Six years ago, everyone in Merricat Blackwood’s family was poisoned with arsenic. Now, the only people left in the house are Merricat, her little sister, and her Uncle (who was left crippled by the poison – both physically and mentally).
They choose to live an isolated life in an effort to avoid the townspeople who whisper insults in the streets and dare each other to visit the house with the dark past. Merricat serves as her family’s fierce protector, and she doubles down on her duties when Cousin Charles pays a visit with the goal of taking over the estate and the family’s money.
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
Synopsis: One summer night, Ethan and his best friend, Billy, camp out in Ethan’s backyard. When 10 year old Ethan wakes up the next morning, he discovers the tent has been slit open and Billy is gone. He is never seen again.
Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his hometown to stay at his old home. Ethan begins noticing strange occurrences at the house that suggest Billy might be back. But is Billy really trying to contact him or is Ethan’s insomnia and the overwhelming feeling that his mind has blocked key moments from that fateful night causing him to go insane?
Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
Synopsis: When Rowan Caine accepts a nannying job with substantial pay at a beautiful mansion in the Scotland, she doesn’t expect the job to end with herself in prison awaiting trial for the murder of a child. But that’s exactly what happens.
She struggles to explain to her lawyer all the events that led to the death – the hidden surveillance cameras in the house, the unexpected boom of music over the house speakers in the middle of the night, the lights going off inexplicably, and how she was left alone for weeks on end without anyone checking in. And while she admits to making mistakes in decisions she made while watching the children, she maintains her innocence. But if Rowan didn’t commit the murder, who did?
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
Synopsis: As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.
Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago.
Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind.
A Stephen King Book
This is sort of a cop out from having to just pick one Stephen King book, but there are so many good ones to choose from that it’s hard to settle on one! With that being said, reading a novel by the King of Horror is always a good choice for books to read in October.
Some of Kayla’s personal favorites:
A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world’s population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge—Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and the nefarious “Dark Man,” who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them—and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.
Kayla read this book during the early days of the COVID pandemic, which made it all the more eerie.
After a near-fatal car accident in rural Colorado leaves his body broken, a writer finds himself at the mercy of the terrifying rescuer who’s nursing him back to health – his self-proclaimed number one fan, Annie Wilkes. Annie has some very persuasive and violent methods to convince the writer to write a new novel just for her.
Kayla listened to this book on Audible while driving in Atlanta traffic, and on more than one occasion found herself gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white and her hands ached (and she had seen the movie so knew how it ended!).
The assassination of John F. Kennedy altered the course of history and continues to fascinate the world. But what if you had the chance to go back in time and prevent the murder of President Kennedy from ever happening? Jake Epping, an English teacher in Maine, gets the chance to do just that. His friend Al, who owns the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to the past, a particular day in 1958. And Al enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession – to prevent the Kennedy assassination.
Jake leaves behind his time of 2011 and is transported to the world of big American cars, sock hops, and cigarette smoke everywhere. In this haunting world, Jake falls dangerously in love with Sadie, a beautiful high school librarian. And, as the ominous date of 11/22/63 approaches, he encounters a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald.
11/22/63 is one of Kayla’s favorite books of all time. It is also featured on our list of 9 Captivating Audiobooks For Your Next Road Trip.
Do you have recommendations for books to read in October? Let us know in the comments below!
Save to Pinterest
Other Book Posts You May Enjoy
- 12 Spooky Books to Read in October
- 14 Books Set in Scotland
- Hay Festival Guide: Planning Your Visit to the Famous Book Festival in Wales
- 10 Books With Nature as a Main Character
- 10 Literary Sites in Savannah, Georgia Worth Visiting
- 9 Captivating Audiobooks For Your Next Road Trip
