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5 Spooky Reads for your Halloween Needs

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Cal State LA chapter.

Halloween season is almost over, but fret not! There is always something out there that can make you feel the suspense and horror that October nights bring… books! Halloween isn’t just about going out to parties anymore. For whatever reason that you’d rather stay in than go out in a costume but can’t think of anything to do, we got you! Here is a list of spook-tacular books that will make your spine tingle!

1. “Carrie” by Stephen King

If you want a mind-boggling, terrifyingly crazy read, you could never go wrong with the Horror King himself, Stephen King. You may have already seen this debut novel of his as a movie, but reading it will give you a scarier look into Carrie’s life. This book is all about Carrie, a girl who is always bullied, has no friends, and has been raised by a mother who thinks being a girl is a sin itself, but not only does she have it that bad in life, she also have a terrifying power. Read this book and you will see how all of this humiliation causes Carrie to unleash her rage and take revenge.

2. “Anna Dressed in Blood” by Kendare Blake

This book is a horror, paranormal young adult book with some twist of romance. This book is a series, where the male protagonist, Cas Lowood, pulls a Winchester brothers (from Supernatural) move and hunts killer ghosts and other bad supernatural beings. But when Cas meets Anna, his usual ritual of hunt and kill is suddenly of no use. Find out how Anna was murdered and became a homicidal ghost and what will Cas do about this circumstance!

3. “Slasher Girls & Monster Boys” edited by April Genevieve Tucholke

If you want a quick scare and that is all the spookiness you can handle, then this horror anthology might be for you! With 14 short stories that ranges from eerie and creepy to horror that takes away your sleep, written by different authors, you can easily pick your quick Halloween read and do something else after. Or you know, read some more!

4. “Asylum” by Madeleine Roux

This one is quite unique on its own because while being the first book of a thriller trilogy, it also contains some creepy photos of abandoned asylums! We all know that abandoned asylums are a scary place, and in this book, three friends have to live in the dorms that used to be one over the summer for college prep program. But hold on because this sanatorium isn’t just a regular asylum—it is a last resort for criminally insane. And the scariness doesn’t stop there because apparently these three friends have some connection to their new summer home…

5. “Daughters unto Devils” by Amy Lukavics

Imagine moving in a cabin in prairie in the winter season, only to discover that your new home is covered in blood. Yeah, double scary! That’s what the protagonist, Amanda, feels like in the beginning of this book, only 100 times that. Amanda is already having trouble dealing with her scary troubling past; add some demons, ghost babies, and scary cabin in the mix and you’ve got yourself something that you should only read when someone is actually next to you! 

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Faith Gabriel

Cal State LA

Faith Gabriel is a sophomore at Cal State LA majoring in Biology while completing pre-medical courses. Her career goal is to be an amazing Pediatrics Orthopedic Surgeon. She's also a part of Delta Zeta Sorority, Theta Rho chapter and is serving in CSULA Panhellenic Council. When she's not busy with school work and Greek Life activities, she enjoys reading fiction (mostly Young Adult), as well as watching Neflix, blogging about books on Tumblr, and sleeping in. Obviously, she loves the color blue; you can tell just by looking at her hair, or her laptop, or just at her phone case really.
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Yzzy Gonzalez

Cal State LA

Yzzy (real name Ysabel, for the record) is obsessed with a myriad of things, including Inception, traveling, Downtown LA, and laser tagging. Majoring in Television, Film and Media and a lover of creative writing, Yzzy is torn between visual storytelling and using a whole bunch of words. Twitter: @yzzygonzalez