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Halloween has been my favorite holiday quite literally my entire life. I plan my costume months in advance, I exclusively drink my coffee out of my mug with dancing skeletons, and all the media I consume in October is overflowing with magic and murder and mystery. If you, like me, want to read a book to get you into the spirit of the season, I’ve got 4 to recommend to you!
#1: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
This dark adult fantasy is set at Yale, where the infamous secret societies are composed of rich and powerful people who use magic to further their goals. Alex Stern does not fit into this world. She dropped out of school, had a drug problem, and altogether would be someone the people at Yale would glare at when they passed her on the street. But she can see ghosts, which makes her valuable to Lethe, a group that serves to ensure the secret societies don’t go too far. When a girl is murdered, Alex descends deeper and deeper into the world of magic and power, and tries to get out with her life. It’s an absolutely perfect book if you’re looking for a dark mystery with a hefty dose of paranormal activity. Trigger warnings for sexual assault and drug use.
#2: A study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
This adaptation of Sherlock Holmes is a young adult mystery set at a boarding school in New England. Jamie Watson, the great-great-great-grandson of John Watson, is framed for a murder done in the style of one of the stories of the great detective. Who else is implicated in the murder? None other than Charlotte Holmes, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Holmes. She’s brilliant and terrifying and the only person who can clear their names. This is one of my favorite books ever, and Jamie’s narrative voice is one of my favorite’s I’ve ever read. Trigger warnings for sexual assault and drug use.
#3: vicious by v.e. schwab
In this adult scifi novel, two college roommates decide to try to give themselves extraordinary abilities. Things don’t go quite as planned. Ten years later, Victor and Eli are enemies, and Victor breaks out of prison to track Eli down. Eli is trying to eliminate any other people with supernatural abilities. If you are a fan of the way Amazon’s The Boys or Invincible looks at superheroes, this is a great book for you. Schwab’s writing is intensely atmospheric, and the opening paragraph of this book is simply spectacular.
BONUS: THE EX HEX by ERIN STERLING
No murder to be found here, but plenty of witchy and warlocky shenanigans. Vivienne Jones used her magic in a slightly less than appropriate way. She knows she shouldn’t have drunkenly put a curse on Rhys Penhallow, but to be fair, he’d just broken her heart. And it never would have been a problem if he hadn’t showed up in town nine years later, bringing the curse with him. Vivi and Rhys have to work together to fix it, and maybe fix what happened between them nine years ago. This book was absolutely charming. Light hearted magical fun, with talking cats and meddling family members, and, of course, a heart warming romance to tie it all together.