Top 30 Halloween Horror Books
“It is only when a man feels himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand their true import.”
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Halloween horror books are designed to stoke fear, suspense, and a thrill of adrenaline, often leaning into the supernatural, monstrous or psychological terrors that make this season so deliciously atmospheric. They’re jaunty, chilling companions for those who crave a good scare wrapped in clever plotting and a dash of mischief, perfect for reading when the nights grow long and the pumpkins glow a little more ominously.
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⭐ Book Club Top Pick ⭐
Jack by R.P. Howley
A town steeped in tradition. A festival built on hope. A legend that refuses to die.
Charli Clarke never wanted to visit Brackenholt, a secluded town in the middle of nowhere. She never wanted to spend a weekend picking pumpkins. She never wanted to leave the city behind.
But her fiancé and twin brother had other ideas. They promised her countryside charm, crisp air, and a weekend of peace. What they got was something else entirely.
The town is too quiet. The villagers whisper the legend of ‘Jack.’ And as Halloween approaches, Brackenholt’s strange harvest ritual take a terrifying turn.
Charli soon realizes the festival isn’t about celebration. It’s about the feast.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
Unholy Blood by Ian Gielen
A hidden cave. A Halloween party. A nightmare waiting to unfold.
While exploring off-trail on Coon Mountain in the breathtaking Adirondacks, college seniors Jack and Mason stumble upon a mysterious cave, concealed behind a curtain of tangled vines.
Excited by the discovery, they return days later with their friends for a once-in-a-lifetime private Halloween party in its shadowy depths.
But beyond the laughter, booming music, and crackling campfire, something stirs. Something ancient. Something ravenous.
Their arrival has awakened a presence that has waited in the shadows for years—hungry for its favorite meal.
This Halloween, the party ends when the screaming starts.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
This Does Not End Well by Adrian J Walker
Be careful what you wish for...
In the throes of a mid-life crisis, 40-something father Adam moves his family from the stresses of London life to a remote French farmhouse.
Awaiting the arrival of his wife and daughter, Adam endures the idiosyncrasies of an old house with his father, who suffers from dementia, and his son, a victim of bullying.
But when a storm leaves them isolated from the small, rural community, Adam's hope for blissful isolation turns to terror.
The house is not what he thought it was, and the longer they spend within its walls, the further things seem to drift from reality.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan
Former Air Force special investigator Annie Gore joined the military right after high school to escape the fraught homelife of her childhood. Now, she’s getting by as a private investigator, and her latest case takes her to an Appalachian holler not unlike the one where she grew up.
Ten years ago, three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town. While one was returned, the others were never seen again. After all this time without answers, the brother of one of the girls wants to hire an outsider, and he wants Annie. While she may not be from his town, she gets mountain towns. Mountain people. Driving back into the hills for a case this old―it might be a fool’s errand. But Annie needs to put money in the bank and she can’t turn down a case. Not even one that dredges up her own painful past.
In the shadow of the Blue Ridge, Annie begins to track down the truth, navigating a decade’s worth of secrets, folklore of witches and crows, and a whole town that prefers to forget. But while the case may have been forgotten, echoes of the past linger. And Annie’s arrival stirs someone into action.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
No Rest for the Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams
In one Halloween obsessed Midwestern town, everyone’s on red alert after a local politician goes missing. Little do they know it’s only the beginning.
It’s been close to twenty years since forensic pathologist Dolores Hawthorne left her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin. The town is famous for its Halloween celebrations, but also its history of violent deaths linked to the holiday.
To Dolores, it’s the place she fled, family, bad memories, and all. Until the FBI calls to tell her that her father--the former mayor turned US Senator--is missing under mysterious circumstances.
Some people count to ten to wake up from a nightmare. Dolores always counts the bones of her head instead: sphenoid, frontal, lacrimal. But no matter how many times she counts them, it doesn’t change the fact that her father is missing, that his final words of warning to her were to trust no one, and that now, the rest of her family is giving Dolores a chilling welcome.
With Halloween fast approaching, Dolores must face the past she left behind before it’s too late.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
Salem's Fall by Rektok Ross
A hotshot young attorney. An enigmatic billionaire accused of murder. To uncover the truth, she’ll have to play his game—and try not to fall in love with the devil.
James Woodsen is used to being underestimated. Top of her class at Harvard Law, she’s brilliant, beautiful, and now the youngest female associate at Boston’s most elite criminal defense firm. But after a devastating misstep on her first case, she has one last shot at redemption. Her assignment? Defend Damien Blackhollow—a dangerously charming billionaire accused of murdering his fiancée.
When James follows the trail to a small New England town with a dark history, she realizes this case is far more twisted than she ever imagined. Alone in Salem’s Fall with her trusted black cat, she uncovers Damien’s haunting family legacy with ties to a secret society and a pattern of ritualistic murders. James begins to wonder if she's defending a monster... or worse, falling for one. As Halloween looms and the bodies pile up, James fears that losing this case doesn't just mean her career—it means her life.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas
In 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancé, Carlos, to his family’s isolated mine for refuge. But safety proves fleeting as other dangers soon bare their teeth: Alba begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Something angry. Something wrong.
Elías, haunted by a troubled past, came to the New World to make his fortune and escape his family’s legacy of greed. Alba, as his cousin’s betrothed, is none of his business. Which is of course why he can’t help but notice the growing tension between them every time she enters the room…and why he notices her deteriorate when the demon’s thirst for blood gets stronger.
In the fight for her life, Alba and Elías become entangled with the occult, the Church, long-kept secrets, and each other… not knowing that one of these things will spell their doom.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
The October Film Haunt by Michael Wehunt
Ten years ago, Jorie Stroud was the rising star of the October Film Haunt – a trio of horror enthusiasts who camped out at the filming locations of their favorite scary movies, sharing their love through their popular blog. But after a night in the graveyard from Proof of Demons – perhaps the most chilling cult film ever made, directed by the enigmatic Hélène Enriquez – everything unraveled.
Now, Jorie has built an isolated life with her young son in Vermont. In the devastating wake of her viral, truth-stretching Proof of Demons blog entry — hysteria, internet backlash, and the death of a young woman — Jorie has put it all, along with her intense love for the horror genre, behind her.
Until a videotape arrives in the mail. Jorie fears someone might be filming her. And the “Rickies” – Enriquez obsessives who would do anything for the reclusive director – begin to cross lines in shocking ways. It seems Hélène Enriquez is making a new kind of sequel…and Jorie is her final girl.
As the dangers grow even more unexpected and strange, Jorie must search for answers before the Proof of the movie’s title finds her and takes everything she loves.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
One Dark Night by Hannah Richell
On Halloween, a group of teenage students meet in the woods near Sally in the Wood, a road steeped in local lore and rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered girl.
By the end of the night, one student will be dead.
Rachel, the school guidance counselor, is trying to keep a handle on her increasingly distant teenaged daughter, Ellie, while students and parents panic and mourn.
Her ex-husband and detective Ben, dealing with a personal crisis of his own, has concerns about his daughter’s safety as he investigates the death.
Meanwhile, Ellie is keeping secrets from both her parents, including one about where she was that night.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
Whistle by Linwood Barclay
Annie Blunt has had an unimaginably terrible year. First, her husband was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident, then one of the children’s books she’s built her writing and illustrating career on ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her son Charlie to a charming small town in upstate New York where they can begin to heal. But Annie’s year is about to get worse.
Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed on their property. Annie is glad to see Charlie happy, but there’s something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night—she could swear she hears a train, but there isn’t an active track for miles—and bizarre things begin happening in the neighborhood. Worse, Annie can’t seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children’s book.
Grief can do strange things to the mind, but Annie is beginning to think she’s walked out of one nightmare straight into another, only this one is far more terrifying…
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates
It was supposed to be the party of the century: miles of idyllic white sand beaches, lush jungle foliage...and a dark legend nobody dreamed might be all too true.
When an online influencer and several hundred of his most loyal fans land on Prosperity Island, the plan is simple: five days of elaborate games, drinking, and suntanned fun.
A week in paradise should have been a welcome respite. The only survivor of an infamous cult, Ruth wants nothing more than to keep her head down and not draw attention. She's spent decades outrunning her blood-soaked childhood, and her identity is a closely held secret.
But then the true history of the island is revealed…along with its sinister connection to Ruth's past. As guests go missing and games turn deadly, Ruth and the rest of the attendees are forced to question whether they've really been invited to paradise...or whether something much darker―and far bloodier―is waiting for them just beyond the bonfire's light.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
A Spell to Wake the Dead by Nicole Lesperance
When Mazzy and her best friend Nora sneak down to the beach one moonlit night to cast a spell, they don’t expect to find a dead body. But as the tide rolls in, it carries the remains of a woman who is missing her hands and teeth.
The girls know they should leave the investigation to the police, but they can’t shake the weird, supernatural connection they feel with the dead woman. Using spellwork and divination, they set out to find answers of their own. But after they uncover a rash of local disappearances stretching back years—and both girls start having occult visions and hearing ghostly, whispering voices—Mazzy worries that she and Nora are in danger.
Then, Nora finds a second body. And the whispering voice is telling her where to find more. With everything spiraling, Mazzy needs to figure out who to trust and how to sever this supernatural connection—or she and Nora might be the next bodies to wash up on the beach.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
13 Months Haunted by Jimmy Juliano
Piper Lowery, a public library clerk in charge of liaising with the local middle school, can tell right away there’s something strange about the new girl in eighth grade.
Avery Wallace won’t touch any kind of technology, not even the computers at the library, and her mother comes to school with her every day, refusing to leave her side—not even when Avery uses the restroom.
And then there are the rumors, the whispers Piper hears from kids in the hallway and parents around town: Avery’s mother is a witch. Her sister and father were killed by something supernatural. A strange virus killed them.
Seeing how isolated and lonely Avery is, Piper befriends her but quickly realizes it might just be the worst decision she’s ever made. Because there’s something dark inside Avery Wallace, and it’s spreading . . .
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
The Unseen by Ania Ahlborn
Isla Hansen, a mother reeling from a devastating loss, is beside herself when a mysteriously orphaned child appears on the outskirts of the Hansens’ secluded Colorado property.
Although strange and unexplainable, the child’s presence breathes new life into Isla. But as the child settles in, Isla’s husband, Luke, and their five children notice peculiarities that hint at something far beyond the ordinary—anomalies that challenge the very fabric of reality itself.
The tension within the Hansen household grows, and with it, the sense that there is something very wrong with the new kid in the house.
The Unseen is a haunting tale that walks the line between the familiar and the unknown, drawing us into a chilling narrative where reality itself feels just out of reach.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig
Five high school friends are bonded by an oath to protect one another no matter what.
Then, on a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something extraordinary: a mysterious staircase to nowhere.
One friend walks up—and never comes back down. Then the staircase disappears.
Twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared.
Now the group returns to find the lost boy—and what lies beyond the staircase in the woods. . . .
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth.
But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?”
When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the question over and over, Bela understands that unless she says yes, her family will soon pay.
Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder.
Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe, but other incidents show cracks in her parents’ marriage. The safety Bela relies on is about to unravel.
But Other Mommy needs an answer.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, New Books 2025.
The Scarecrow Massacre by Matthew Doggett
Ten stories. One night. No survivors. A collection of Halloween nightmares you’ll never forget.
Story 1: A small farming community is terrorized when bloodthirsty scarecrows suddenly come to life.
Story 2: Halloween on a cult compound means poisoned candy for all, but can one clever child escape the mass suicide?
Story 3: A plastic snowman on the porch of an abandoned house brings Halloween monsters to life.
Story 4: A home invasion turns into a nightmare when a thief sees what’s happening downstairs.
Story 5: On Halloween night, the pumpkin patch calls to the children … and only two teenagers can save them from certain death.
And five more stories perfect for spooky season.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024
Flesh Bargain by Iain Rob Wright
Some deals shouldn't be made...
With his eldest daughter fighting deadly cancer and his youngest determined to get herself into all kinds of trouble, Jake Penshaw is a man on the very edges of a breakdown.
A father is supposed to keep his children safe, but no matter what he does, things only ever seem to get worse.
He’s sick of being powerless. He’s sick of failing as a man.
It’s time for him to do something drastic, something that will finally fix his problems once and for all.
It’s time to make a deal.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024.
The Intruders by Louise Jensen
They were told to leave. They should have listened.
A manor house available rent-free to house-sitters is an offer too good to miss for Cass and James, who have been saving for a deposit on their own home for so long.
Although it had been abandoned for almost thirty years, after a home invasion left almost all the inhabitants dead, it is an amazing chance for them to build their future.
Shortly after moving in things take a sinister turn. Objects disappear and turn up in odd places, the clock always stops at the same time, the house is strangely oppressive and sometimes it feels like Cass and James are not alone.
Newington House may have bad energy, and a dark reputation. But surely there’s no reason for history to repeat itself, is there?
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024.
Madhouse by Christopher Artinian
A storm. An accident.
For Miss Trent and her students, what should have been a well-deserved celebration has suddenly turned into a desperate fight for survival.
There’s something lurking in the forest. Hunting them. Feeding off their fear. Nothing is what it seems. Until tonight, insanity was just a word. Now they’re going to learn its true meaning.
Tick—one by one they’re being taken. Tock—to suffer a fate worse than anything they could imagine.
Tick—screaming, pleading, praying—nothing will work. Tock—not everyone will make it.
Tick—but one thing’s for sure. Tock—when you enter the madhouse, you’ll never be the same again.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024.
The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke
Clem gets a call that is every mother’s worst nightmare. Her nineteen-year-old daughter Erin is unconscious in the hospital after a hiking trip with her friends on the remote Orkney Islands that met a horrifying end, leaving her boyfriend dead and her best friend missing.
When Erin wakes, she doesn’t recognize her mother. And she doesn’t answer to her name, but insists she is someone named Nyx.
Clem travels the site of her daughter’s accident, determined to find out what happened to her. The answer may lie in a dark secret in the history of the Orkneys: a woman wrongly accused of witchcraft and murder four centuries ago.
Clem begins to wonder if Erin’s strange behavior is a symptom of a broken mind, or the effects of an ancient curse?
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024.
Memorials by Richard Chizmar
1983: Three students from a small college embark on a weeklong road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class.
The project starts out as a fun adventure, with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another.
But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret.
Paranoia sets in when it appears they are being followed. Their vehicle is tampered with overnight, and some of the locals appear to be anything but welcoming.
Before long, the students can’t help but wonder if these roadside deaths were really random accidents…or is something terrifying at work here?
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024.
I'll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong
Nicola Laughton never expected to see adulthood, being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Then medical advances let her live into her thirties and she met Anton, who taught her to dream of a future… together. Months after they married, Anton died in a horrible car crash, but lived long enough to utter five words to her, “I’ll be waiting for you.”
That final private moment became public when someone from the crash scene took it to the press—the terminally ill woman holding her dying husband as he promised to wait for her on the other side. Worse, that person claimed it wasn’t Anton who said the words but his ghost, hovering over his body.
Since their story went public, Nicola has been hounded by spiritualists promising closure. In the hopes of stopping her downward spiral, friends and family find a reputable medium—a professor of parapsychology. For the séance, they rent the Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned.
The medium barely has time to begin his work before things start happening. Locked doors mysteriously open. Clouds of insects engulf the house. Nicola hears footsteps and voices and the creak of an old dumbwaiter…in an empty shaft. Throughout it all she’s haunted by nightmares of her past. Because, unbeknownst to the others, this isn’t her first time contacting the dead. And Nicola isn’t her real name.
That’s when she finds the first body..
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024.
Petrified by Graham Masterton
Braydon Harris and Suki, his little girl, are leaving her grandparent's house when a huge truck jack-knifes in front of their car. Suki is thrown from the vehicle and ends up in hospital suffering with terrible burns.
Luckily, cryptozoology professor Nathan Underhill is working on a perfect cure.
Underhill breeds mythological beasts, and lately he's been working with the legendary phoenix – whose cells he believes might hold exceptional healing properties against burns.
Despite the treatment, Suki finds that the pain from the burns only exacerbates a terrible nightmare she's had for years – one that's becoming realer by the minute, about scary things flying through the sky… and now they're headed straight for her.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024.
The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel
Welcome to the Hitchcock Hotel. Dedicated to the Master of Suspense. Full of props and memorabilia. Be sure to mind the birds. Be careful in the shower.
Five guests are invited – all old friends. They go way back. Way, way back. No one’s seen reclusive owner Alfred in sixteen years.
And the question everyone’s asking: why are we here? Is it a game? A puzzle? It’s certainly a mystery.
But it’s also deadly serious. Because someone has a score to settle. And this will be the perfect opportunity.
After all, it wouldn’t be Hitchcock without a murder...
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024.
So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
Sloane Parker is dreading her birthday. She doesn’t need a reminder she’s getting older, or that she’s feeling indifferent about her own life.
Her husband surprises her with a birthday-weekend getaway—not with him, but with Sloane’s longtime best friend, troublemaker extraordinaire Naomi.
Sloane anticipates a weekend of wine tastings and cozy robes and strategic avoidance of issues she’d rather not confront, like her husband’s repeated infidelity.
But when they arrive at their rental cottage, it becomes clear Naomi has something else in mind. She wants Sloane to stop letting things happen to her, for Sloane to really live.
So Naomi orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers, only for it to take a horrifying turn that changes Sloane’s and Naomi’s lives literally forever.
The friends are forced to come to terms with some pretty eternal consequences in this bloody, seductive novel about how it’s never too late to find satisfaction, even though it might taste different than expected.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024.
Killer House Party by Lily Anderson
Red Solo cups? Check. Snacks? Check. Abandoned mansion full of countless horrors that won’t let you leave? Check.
The Deinhart Manor has been a looming shadow over town for as long as anyone can remember, and it's been abandoned for even longer. When the final Deinhart descendent passes, the huge gothic manor is up for sale for the first time ever.
Which means Arden can steal the keys from her mom’s real estate office... It’s time for a graduation party that no one will ever forget.
Arden and her friends each have different reasons for wanting to throw the party to end all parties.
But when the manor doors bar everyone inside and the walls begin to bleed, all anyone wants to do is make it out alive.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2024.
Twisted Tales of Halloween Horror by The Sisterhood of the Black Pen
Bloody Mary isn't real, right? A Halloween prank goes wrong when Rose is pulled into the mirror world.
Don't speak the poem, don't listen to it. Don't even think about it, if you do, the monster will come for you. Chaos ensues when a podcaster decides to read the poem, live on air Halloween night. Based on the real life legend of Saint Charles Missouri, this story will haunt you.
It should have been a night of shelling out candy and relaxing while her husband takes the kids out trick-or-treating, but when men wearing grotesque masks start coming to the door demanding candy, and the bowl runs empty, things take a terrifying turn.
From the bogeyman, to vampires and werewolves, Halloween legends and folklore come to life in this terrifying collection of 11 twisted tales curated by The Sisterhood of the Black Pen.
Put out your jack-o'-lanterns. Cover your mirrors. and above all, NEVER RUN OUT OF CANDY.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2023.
Halloween Horrors by Blair Daniels
The same trick-or-treater keeps coming to my house. He's starting to scare me.
There's a scarecrow standing in the vineyard--but we stopped using them years ago.
And there's something moving in the pumpkin patch...
HALLOWEEN HORRORS is a wildly terrifying anthology of Halloween stories.
Ghoulish trick-or-treaters, gruesome jack o'lanterns, and faceless specters haunt the pages of this book, ready to leap to life in the deepest corners of your mind.
Sit down in front of the fire, as the chilly autumn wind howls outside, and read... if you dare.
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2022.
The Creeper by A.M. Shine
Superstitions only survive if people believe in them...
Renowned academic Dr Sparling seeks help with his project on a remote Irish village. Historical researchers Ben and Chloe are thrilled to be chosen – until they arrive.
The village is isolated and forgotten. There is no record of its history, its stories. There is no friendliness from the locals, only wary looks and whispers. The villagers lock down their homes at sundown.
It seems a nameless fear stalks the streets, but nobody will talk – nobody except one little girl. Her words strike dread into the hearts of the newcomers. Three times you see him. Each night he comes closer...
That night, Ben and Chloe see a sinister figure watching them. He is the Creeper. He is the nameless fear in the night. Stories keep him alive. And nothing will keep him away...
Tags - Halloween Horror Books, Amazon, Goodreads, Published 2022.
Autumn Romance Books
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