I personally love to read mysteries, thrillers, and horror novels during Spooky Season the same way that fall calls for scary movies! Between all of the different authors and genres read and reviewed, and many mysteries solved and houses haunted, here are some of my favorites that I hope you can enjoy this month!
- The Secret History, Donna Tartt
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If you’re into the “dark academia” aesthetic of books, Donna Tartt’s The Secret History has probably been recommended to you already. Mysterious, creepy, and sometimes satirically comedic, this novel is perfect for the fall and definitely worth the hype. Set at an elite New England college, a cult-like group of classics students and their new classmate slowly become drawn into a life of obsession, corruption, betrayal, and evil while tensions in the group rise and end in murder. The very first page of the book will have you hooked.
- No Exit, Taylor Adams
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This thrilling horror novel by Taylor Adams follows a group of strangers stranded at a remote rest stop in the middle of a snowstorm–and one of the strangers has an abducted child in the back of their van. Any reader will be caught in suspense, wanting to finish this page turner to see if Darby, the young college student protagonist, will be able to risk her safety in the blizzard to save this child. The intensity and violence of No Exit also translates well on screen in Hulu’s film adaptation of the book, which is also worth a watch if you want a new scary film for the spooky season!
- Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo
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Halloween calls for paranormal creatures and old haunted buildings, and Ninth House delivers on so many levels! I’m personally not a fan of fantasy, but I loved this one from the incredible author Leigh Bardugo. The novel follows Alex Stern, a survivor of an unsolved multiple homicide, as she is thrown into the sinister and mysterious world of Yale’s secret societies. If you’re looking for dark academia (set in nearby New Haven) and want some scary ghosts thrown into the story, get wrapped up into Ninth House, and get excited for its highly anticipated sequel, Hell Bent, coming this January.
- The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell
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Lisa Jewell is a great mystery and thriller author and one of my personal favorites of her’s is The Family Upstairs. Told through different perspectives and in different time lines, the true story will eventually be uncovered, but the reader won’t be expecting any of its twists and turns! This tale of a family’s dark secrets, cult murders, missing children, and an abandoned mansion will make you want to finish the book late at night instead of facing any nightmares!
I would also recommend Jewell’s Then She Was Gone, The Night She Disappeared, and Watching You.
- Vicious, V.E. Schwab
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For science fiction fans in the dark Halloween mood, Vicious is a great choice for a reader to jump into a world where people have unnatural abilities used for good and evil. V.E. Schwab creates a scary supernatural setting for a very fast paced and thrilling story following two college friends turned rivals who purposefully faced near death experiences in order to develop “super powers.” Vicious and its equally exciting sequel Vengeful will make you love all the characters, and root for their found family, even if they may not be all that innocent.
- Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
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If you like the classics, or want to try one out, Frankenstein is a great read for the spooky season and is considered the first science fiction novel ever written. Delve into the original story of Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his monster, and enjoy Mary Shelley’s incredible gothic fiction tale from 1818! You’ll be surprised by the alternating narratives between these two characters, and may rethink our idea of the “monster” in the story. Other spooky classics worth reading are Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
- The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
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One of our Her Campus members’ favorite thrillers is The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. See if you can figure out the mysterious twist, or be shocked by the reveal! We also recommend that you listen to the audiobook version to really be encapsulated and suspended by the novel! But myself and others do NOT recommend Michaelides’ other thriller, The Maidens.
Happy reading, and don’t let yourself be scared of the dark after these spooky stories!