10 Books to Get You In the Mood for Halloween
It's that time of year again when the leaves turn colour and Pumpkin Spice Lattes make a comeback. If you're looking for an excellent book to get your blood pumping for Halloween, look no further! We've compiled a list of our favourites for the season.
Bird Box is a truly creepy book. There is something in this world that mysteriously started one day- one look and you turn to extreme violence. Five years after it began, Malorie and her two young children hide in an abandoned house by the river. Now that they are four years old, it's time to leave. The trip isn't going to be an easy one; it's twenty miles down the river blindfolded with only the children's trained ears to guide them. All while something unknown follows them. While switching from past to present, it shows how everything began and it's pretty disturbing. Seriously, this book creeped me out for days. Also, listen to the audiobook if you can!
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The Girl from the Well is Rin Chupeco's debut novel. Inspired by Japanese myths and horror movies such as The Grudge, it's the story of a vengeful spirit taking out her revenge on those who have hurt children. When a mysterious boy moves into town, bringing with him a new evil, the two of them will be drawn into a series of events that will span between America and Japan. Plus, you get a chance to see some well-deserved gruesome retribution towards sadistic murderers.
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Evie, a young modern flapper, doesn't believe in the supernatural. After a party in her hometown of Zenith, Ohio goes wrong, she is sent to live with her uncle in Manhatten. Evie's uncle runs the museum for the supernatural and the occult, and as murders begin occurring in the city, he helps with the investigation. Evie, who is headstrong and fearless, inserts herself into the unfolding inquiries. As bodies start piling up, Evie may need to come to terms with her unique abilities to save the city. Where this book shines, is the characters. Libba Bray does an excellent job of creating a diverse cast of characters with their own arcs. When their stories begin to intersect in the second half of the book, you'll get chills. If you get the chance, definitely check out the audiobook for The Diviners, the narration is fantastic.
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City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab is her first middle-grade novel after an admirable number of both Young Adult and Adult fiction. Plotted out in a more accessible way for younger audiences, City still holds that Schwab staple prose that explores curiosity of what lingers just beyond. The story focuses on Cassidy, a girl who almost drowned and can now see past a thin veil that separates our human world from one of spirits. Ironically, she travels to Scotland, the City of Ghosts that the novel takes its name from, with her parents who are popular Ghost-hunters yet do not necessarily believe or understand their daughter. The first in a series of worldwide Ghost tales, Cassidy begins her journey to learning her place beyond simply being a girl with a ghost best friend.
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While different from Holly's fae books, this one is equally as dark and twisted. It takes place in a world where vampires live in quarantined Coldtowns that if you enter as a human, you can't easily leave. After a seemingly normal party, Tana wakes up to a massacre with only herself, her vampire virus infected ex-boyfriend, and a mysterious boy left alive. The only thing she can think to do is take them to the nearest Coldtown, filled with danger and monsters. It's violent and perfect for a spoopy read.
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Alex is a bruja, and she wants to get rid of her powers. So, on her deathday, she accidentally wishes her family away to another world. She hires Nova, a brujo to guide her to her family. Thus begins the story of a bi latina witch trying to rescue her family from Los Lagos, a limbo-like land. Zoraida has a way of writing that peppers the story with references and humour to lighten the mood a bit. There were impressive monsters and an abundance of magic, all inspired by the author's own background. It's a little less scary than some of the other options on this list, but it's a great book to add some magic to your holiday.
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The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco is a story like no other. Told through past and present points of view, Chupeco taunts you with what has come to pass, and whispers of what brought the characters to that end. In a world where magic defines your future and your heart is tied on a chain around your neck, Chupeco creates a story about growing up and learning that not everything is as it was made to seem, and about the sacrifices the world asks of you. It is about family and lengths you would go to to protect who you love. It is also about strange and dark magic, a magic that can both give and take. This world, combined with Chupeco's wonderful storytelling, creates a beautiful yet haunting tale, full of skeletons, resurrections, and even a demon or two.
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This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab explores a world where monstrous acts leave a more… literal shadow on the city of Verity. Told in two points of view – a girl who aims to be more monstrous and a boy that wishes he could be more than the monster he is, TSS follows the pair into the lightless crevices of their city where the real monsters dwell and the shadows of their fathers can’t follow. The book was inspired by a line from another of Schwab’s stories: “Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human,” a line given by Victor Vale in Vicious. Perfect for any time of year but especially thrilling around Halloween, Schwab’s prose asks a question of the reader: who are you when the lights are off?
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The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater opens with our protagonist, Blue Sargent, reminiscing on a fortune she has been told by the women in her family – all clairvoyants who have all seen that if Blue kisses her true love, he will die. This fortune has never gone further than simply annoying Blue until she sees the ghost of a local boy, only possible if the specter is of her true love or someone she has killed. As much as she'd hoped to avoid any risk, this leads to her befriending the boy, named Gansey, and his gang of misfit private school boys as they hunt for a dead Welsh King. Through these four and their steadfast loyalty and love for each other, she learns about herself while trying to come to terms with knowing that the leader of their pack will die soon. Stiefvater writes a fictional town of Henrietta, Virginia with lyrical prose and more secrets than you might think one book could hold. A perfect Halloween read, it shows the true beauty behind friendship and the magic that can be unlocked by taking the lead part in your own life.
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Stalking Jack the Ripper is a mix of mystery and historical fiction as Kerri Maniscalco recreates the story of the Jack the Ripper killings, but with her own personal twist. The narrator, Audrey Rose Wadsworth, is fascinated with forensics and mysteries, even though her society and family disapprove of her hobbies. Paired with Thomas, her infuriatingly charming co-apprentice of forensic medicine, she sets out to discover the person behind the Jack the Ripper killings, as well as their motivations. Maniscalco creates a fast-paced story where anything and everything can happen, with descriptions so gruesome and chilling that you may just need to read with the lights on.
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