October is the perfect month because it is just finally becoming cool enough for cozy sweaters, but not cold enough that you need to break out your winter jacket. Our New England weather tends to bring us rainy days in October. Although you may have to cancel your pumpkin picking, or haunted house plans, take advantage of these rainy days to have some time to yourself and curl up with a good book. And since it’s Halloween season, pick up a scary novel to read. Here are 9 spooky novels you should read this October.
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1. The Amityville Horror, by Jay Anson is based on the true story about the Lutz family who moves into their new home, only to move out twenty-eight days later because of the horrors that went on inside the house: the voices telling them to get out, and their daughters new “playmate” named Jodie. Read it for yourself to see if you believe their stories.
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2. The Shining, by Stephen King. You can’t have anything horror related without something by the King himself (lol get it? Because he’s the King of horror and his last name is King)! King’s third novel is about Jack Torrance and his family who move to the Overlook hotel, where Jack gets a job as the caretaker of the hotel while it is closed for the winter. While isolated during the winter months, the evil that lives in the hotel tries to use Jack to get to his son Danny and his special power. (If you have already read the Shining and liked it I highly suggest the sequel Doctor Sleep!)
3. The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris. The sequel to Red Dragon, follows FBI trainee Clarice Starling as she tries to track down a gruesome serial killer known as Buffalo Bill. During the investigation, she finds help in the last person she’d expect, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a former psychiatrist locked away in an asylum for his murders and cannibalistic ways.
4. American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis. This psychological thriller is told through the eyes of Patrick Bateman, who throughout the book you realize is mentally unstable. By day he is an investment banker, but by night he becomes a killer, taking his victims back to his apartment where he tortures them. Many times throughout the book he confesses to the murders but no one seems to believe him, or  “misunderstands” what he’s trying to say. When he starts experiencing hallucinations, he begins killing people in public. This results in the SWAT team showing up, which causes him to run away. The interesting part is how the story ends because it’s as if none of the murders even happened. The story ends with Bates leaving readers wondering which part of the story is even real. Â
5. Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King. Another one of King’s earlier novels tells the story of Ben Mears, an author who returns to Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine (a place he spent time at as a child). He returns to write about the town’s haunted house, which has terrorized him since he was little. When he arrives, people start mysteriously dying, even though they were healthy to begin with. Come to find out, these people who are presumed to be dead have actually been turned into vampires by two outsiders who moved to town just before Ben did. Now it’s up to Ben and a few others to try and stop them from turning the rest of the town into the army of the undead.
6. The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson. In the span of a week, readers will follow Dr. John Montague, an expert in anthropology and philosophy, who has a passion for supernatural phenomenons. He has spent his life trying to find a truly haunted house and after countless research and interviews, it leads him to Hill House. With the help of two assistants who both have a background in dealing with the paranormal, and one of the owners of the house, the four of them try to unlock the mysteries of Hill House. Â
7. Misery, by Stephen King. In many of King’s novels, the main character tends to be a writer. In Misery, the main character is Paul Sheldon, a writer best known for his romantic novels that features the character Misery Chastain. When he gets into a car accident, he is rescued by his number one fan, Annie Wilkes, who takes him to her house to nurse him back to health. When she finds out that Paul has killed off Misery in one of his books, she holds him hostage and forces him to write another book that brings Misery back to life.
8. Rosemary’s Baby, by Ira Levin. This tells the story of a young couple renting an apartment in Manhattan that has a gruesome past including residents who were witches, killers, and Satanists. Irregardless of that information, Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move in and begin their new life in the city. They soon become friends with their neighbors, Roman and Minnie Castevet. Rosemary becomes very suspicious of them and things take a turn for the worst as she finds out her new neighbors might worship Satan and could be planning on using her baby as a sacrifice.  Â
9. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, by Alvin Schwartz. For all my 90’s kids, this collection of short stories was probably the spookiest thing you could read growing up. This book was filled with ghost stories and urban legends that would make you shiver around the campfire. But the real question was whether the stories or the illustrations were scarier?
Hopefully this inspired you to take a chance and get spooked within the comforts of your own home, but if reading is not your thing, or you don’t have time, many of the novels have been turned into movies that you could watch with all your friends. Either way, it’s a good way to get into the Halloween spirit! Â
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