It’s a special October for fans of horror, mystery, thriller and all things scary. Not only is it spooky season, with Halloween ending the month, but Friday the 13th is just around the corner. Looking for a way to spend the crisp autumn days between the two creepiest holidays of the year? Try these dark, spooky and witchy new releases.
A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
Fans of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and the recent Netflix adaptation will be delighted by this new release, the first-ever novel authorized to return to the world Jackson created.
Holly Sherwin is struggling to get her big break as a playwright. But when a generous grant gives her the chance to bring her dream to fruition, she has to find the perfect place to rehearse Witching Night. What better place than the old, eerie mansion named Hill House, hidden outside of a remote village upstate?
When Holly’s girlfriend Nisa joins her in the newly-rented mansion, it begins. The troupe of actors each have their own secrets, sure, but it is the mysteries of Hill House that are much more frightening. Time bends in mysterious ways, strange creatures and disturbing sounds haunt the halls. This unconventional haunted house novel sends Holly and her friends face to face with the lingering secrets of Hill House.
The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson
This book is YA, but it still has the power to send shivers down your spine, no matter how old you are. Horror meets fantasy in this story of a Black queer teen navigating a boarding school — that is much more terrifying than he could have imagined.
Douglas Jones is trying to make it by — he doesn’t care about being molded into the upstanding leader that the prestigious Regent Academy promises. Everything is turned upside down when a student is murdered. But nobody remembers he ever existed, except for Douglas and the groundskeeper’s son, Everett. The search for answers leads the boys to the horrors in the forest, unearthing secrets that have been buried for centuries. Will they repay the debt of a bloodthirsty creature? Can Douglas handle the power he now holds, or will too much power lead to corruption?
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
It’s no surprise that Reese’s Book Club picked this gothic fantasy for October 2023. It has everything you could want in a dark read for the scariest month of the year — haunted houses, generational curses, witches and unrelenting nightmares.
Opal is determined to make a better life for her bother Jasper and finally make it out of Eden, Kentucky. Her obsession with a book by the late E. Starling, who disappeared over a century ago, gives her no choice but to say yes when she is invited to step inside Starling House. Inside, sinister forces threaten to unearth the secrets the house and its owner, Arthur, hold. With nightmares that grow stronger, ghosts that break free and fill the town of Eden, and the chance to make enough money to finally escape, Opal decides to stick around. She’ll be faced with the fight of her life in the haunted Starling House.
Prom Queen by Laura Wolfe
Carrie isn’t the only story that unleashes the terrors of prom night. After Bailey was crowned prom queen, she was murdered. Her best friend is ready to prove it.
Brooke fled town after the murder of her best friend and never wanted to look back. Twenty years later, she returns home. When she recognizes the necklace Bailey was wearing on prom night around the neck of a stranger in town, she is ready to uncover the truth. Bailey’s necklace had been missing for all of those years, so how did it end up here?
Jumping between the past and the present, full of red herrings, threatening notes, and twisted reveals from unexpected players, Prom Queen is a psychological thriller filled with suspense. Who took the necklace and why? Is Brooke truly safe as she digs up decades-old dark secrets? And to what lengths will people go to bury the truth?
The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey
Cosmic horror meets gritty fantasy as we take a ride into the dark, magical underbelly of New York City. Brace yourself for this new series full of demons, monsters body horror, and gritty adventures.
Julie is trying to make it in the underground world of magic, demon fighting and making deals with gods. At thirty, with a drug problem and a death wish, she is ready to give up if she can’t make it. But when her best friend Sarah shows up, asking for Julie’s help, she’s ready to protect her. Soon, the two friends — and the entire world — are in extreme danger. With eldritch horror, sharp wit, edgy and sarcastic heroes, this compelling adventure will take you on a thrill ride into the occult.
Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror by multiple authors, edited by Jordan Peele
Jordan Peele has inspired a new generation of horror with Get Out, Us, Nope, and more unsettling horror infused with commentary on race and injustice. This is his curated anthology of horror from Black authors who have something terrifying, and meaningful, to say.
A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents.
With stories from Tananarive Due, N.K. Jemisin, Erin E. Adams and more beloved horror authors, Peele has gathered a collection of horror that redefines what it means to be afraid.
Let Him In by William Friend
What seems at first to be an imaginary friend takes a dark, hair-raising turn in this ghostly debut thriller.
Alfie’s twin daughters claim there’s a man in their room, but after investigating, he assumes it’s just a nightmare about monsters under the bed. After all, they lost their mother nine months ago, leaving their father to care for them alone. An imaginary friend is a normal coping mechanism for girls their age. Until they start speaking to him, saving him a seat at dinner, insisting he plans to take them away. Soon after, Alfie starts feeling like he’s being watched and is haunted by visions, wondering what dark forces are at play. Is a psychiatrist enough to make this “friend” go away, or will it prove itself to be more than just grief taking shape?
Queen Hereafter by Isabelle Schuler
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is known as the quintessential haunted story filled with witches, curses and doomed tragic characters. But what is known of Lady Macbeth’s story? This historical epic reimagines the ruthless queen’s origins.
Gruoch’s marriage to the heir-elect Duncan should have fulfilled the prophecy that she would become queen. Hungry for power, she leaves home, family and her friend Macbethad to take her royal seat. Competition and tensions grow as her position is threatened, court life grows dangerous, and those with dark motives lurk in the corridors. Before her coronation, she flees, plotting a way to take the throne for good and eliminate all threats that come in the way of her power. This is the sinister and gripping story of a ruthless queen, female ambition, history, desire, hate and vengeance.
