It is definitely that time of year to pick up or listen to a book that may very well give you chills. Back in 2015, we put together a list of spooky reading recommendations for October, and now our spooky/mystery book-loving staff is at it again with an updated list of their favorite spooky reads!
While we know horror/mystery books are not for everyone, some, like Vicki in Adult Services, find them irresistible. Tune in to our latest podcast episode (#10) for a list of Vicki’s Top 5 Spooky Reads, and if you share your own list of favorites with us, you’ll be entered to win a prize. Details in the podcast!
Kids
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Baba Yaga’s Assistant by Marika McCoola
The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century by Sarah Elizabeth Miller
The Dark by Lemony Snicket
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (short story – try the audiobook for a cool twist on this classic tale)
The Monsters’ Monster by Patrick McDonnell
Nightmares! by Jason Segel (a series)
One for Sorrow: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn
The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. Book 1) by Jonathan Stroud
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Teens
The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender
The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (Book 1 in the Jasper Dent trilogy)
Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd (part of a series)
The Ravenous by Amy Lukavics
There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz
The Wrong Train by Jeremy De Quidt
Adults
The Bird Box by Josh Malerman
The Books of Blood by Clive Barker
The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey
The Cases That Haunt Us: From Jack the Ripper to JonBenet Ramsey, the FBI’s Legendary Mindhunter Sheds Light on the Mysteries that Won’t Go Away by John E. Douglas
Cujo by Stephen King
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King
The Fall of the House of Usher: And Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe (a short story compilation – definitely check out The Tell-Tale Heart)
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
Ghost Summer by Tananarive Due (a short story compilation that is on the lighter side when it comes to horror)
The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer by Philip Carlo (only have audiobook available)
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
IT by Stephen King
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman (series of Adult Graphic Novels)
Tales by H.P. Lovecraft (a short story compilation – definitely check out The Call of Cthulhu)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
