My Spooky October TBR, and Other Favorite Creepy Reads

There's nothing my family loves more than a great theme... which might be one of the reasons why all of our Halloween decor made their way out, all the way back in September. We've been preparing for this since August, when our suitcases returned from Disneyland bursting with Haunted Mansion paintings and picture books, and now that the spooky season has finally arrived, we've wasted no time in getting the celebration underway.

We've got a stack of our favorite horror DVDs lined up for viewing by the television. We've got a stockpile of pumpkin- and apple-flavored goodies in the kitchen. And you can bet that I've got a long list of creepy reads, stacked a mile high. 

Here's what I'll be reading in the month of October, as well as some of my favorite unexpected Halloween recommendations, for you, too!

my personal spooky October TBR

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, edited by April Genevieve Tucholke
Okay, full disclosure - at the time of this being posted, I've already pretty much finished this one! A spooky story collection written by some of your favorite YA authors - including Marie Lu, Leigh Bardugo, A. G. Howard, and more - each tale features a signature point of inspiration or two, taken from famous, movies books, and music, and it's up to the reader to tease out the source material. Can't figure it out? Don't worry! All secrets are revealed at the end of each story.

Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge, Paul Krueger
This urban fantasy follows a band of magical mixologists, whose signature cocktails whip up more than just a buzz, as they tackle a band of miscreant monsters terrorizing downtown Chicago. The book itself is also peppered with drinks to try at home, and promises plenty of riffs on the "Young Woman Called to Defeat Scary Baddies" trope that I love so much.

Vicious, V.E. Scwhab
You ever been so excited to read a book, that you let it sit in your TBR pile for a long time instead of picking it up, because you want to make sure the moment is absolutely perfect? V. E. Schwab is one of my favorite authors of all time, and this novel - about two ex-best-friends with supernatural powers and a rivalry that could destroy the world - has been languishing on my shelves for far too long.

Our Dark Duet, Victoria Schwab
Yet another V. E. Schwab title, but thankfully, this one hasn't had so much of a waiting period: the sequel to This Savage Song, in the Monsters of Verity duology, this novel just came out earlier this summer. In a world where terrifying monsters are born from intense occasions of violence, it's up to Kate and August to face their demons, inside and out, if they want any chance of making the lives of the citizens of Verity worth living again.

The Beauty, Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley
They say beauty's only skin deep, but the truth is so much more than that: physical perfection has become attainable, when deliberately contracting a sexually-transmitted disease can effectively alter its host to the aesthetic ideal. Unfortunately, this status comes with a deep price. While the idea of an STD-altering the biology of those that contract it is hardly new in the comics world - it was most famously done with the iconic Black Hole series, from Charles Burns - I've been looking forward to this one, because, let's face it: I'm more than happy to judge a book with that kind of cover.

Final Girls, Riley Sager
There was Lisa, the sole survivor of a sorority massacre that claimed nine of her sisters, and there was Sam, a late-night Nightlight Inn employee standing off against the gruesome Sack Man. Now, there's Quinn, who left for a vacation with five friends, only to be the only one to return home alive, after a gory altercation with the mysterious figure only known as Him. Of course, this exclusive club of Final Girls starts to get even more dangerous, when one of them turns up dead.

One of my most anticipated reads of the year, I purchased this novel at the same time as Meddling Kids, for my Seventh Bloggoversary, which turned out to be a 2017 fave, so I'm hoping that the super-meta, culturally-commentative creepy vibes rubbed off on this one, as well!

Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud, Elizabeth Greenwood
This non-fiction, in-depth exploration of the motivations and planning of people who committed complete pseudocide asks the age old question, "Am I better off dead?" without any of the messy follow-through.

Of course, all of those reads make for a pretty intense and lengthy TBR. Because I've been making my way with five or six books a month for the past few months, I don't want to make this list any longer than it really needs to be... but that being said, if I can, I'd absolutely love to make it through Martha Brackenbrough's A Game of Love and Death, Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and Stephanie Meyer's New Moon, as well!

some of my favorite unexpected creepy October reads

I've talked about my Halloween favorites on this blog before, on many a "Top Ten Tuesday," no less.

2015 saw me discussing some of the best children's Halloween favorites in our giant stack of holiday books (one that's only grown through some pretty fantastic new purchases in the past two years), while 2016 got me gabbing about best books for YA, Adult, and Non-fiction readers for the spooky season, too!

That being said, there are still plenty of great books to read this October that encapsulate that Great Pumpkin feeling that haven't made it onto my lists yet, so while I still adore talking about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves, and Mary Roach's Spook to my heart's content, here are a few other books you might not necessarily think to read this October, that are absolutely worth the scare:

And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie
A chilling mystery favorite, with eerie ambiance and a creepy supporting cast, this classic whodunit-turned-murder-spree has been widely lauded since it was originally published 1939. As houseguests to a mysterious and missing owner, ten people with troubling pasts they'd like to keep secret are forced to determine who among them has been killing off their fellow residents. (For a more YA-friendly take on this classic story, check out Ten by Gretchen McNeil!)

The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare
Okay, so the titular witch of this series might not actually be a witch, and this read doesn't benefit from any of your typical thrills and chills, but it does feature a stifling and suspicious Puritan colony, a feisty and unconventional heroine, a well-written romance, and is a pretty classic Fall read for those looking to up the witch content in their 2017 TBR.

Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
Austen is known for her Regency-era romances; however, she also played a fair hand with this parody, aimed at the trendy world of Gothics, featuring decrepit castles, locked rooms, cryptic messages, and unwelcoming relatives. While the book is still at its heart a love story, it's one whose shadowy atmospherics and eternally-suspicious leading lady make for a fun and funny take on the literature movement that made many of Jane's contemporaries famous.

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
The circus arrives without warning. Boasting an array of dazzling sights, sounds, magical and mysterious acts, and more, Le Cirque de Reves has served as a stage for many things, but a battle between the proteges of two expert magicians will watch it soar to its highest heights... whether these star-crossed lovers want to play the game or not. A longtime fave with plenty of atmosphere, and plot to back it up, you might not get scared, but you certainly won't be able to look away.

A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray
While I've lauded her Diviners series for its masterfully macabre and perfectly paranormal stories and characters before, I haven't given as much attention to the Great and Terrible Beauty series, which is what turned Bray into an auto-buy author for me all the way back in the seventh grade. Featuring a Victorian-era boarding school, a mysterious band of girls, special powers and the supernatural forces that try to take them away, this would be a great YA read for anyone looking for less spooks, and more of a general creepiness.

And while I haven't read them myself, I've heard only good things about Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodrigeuz's Locke and Key comic book series. In terms of horror comics, I've enjoyed the American Vampire series from Scott Snyder and Raphael Albuquerque in the past, and even the first in the Mike Carey and Peter Gross Unwritten series is pretty gosh-darned creepy!

So there you have them: some of my favorite and no doubt soon-to-be favorite reads for the Halloween season in October. "When hinges creak in doorless chambers, and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls, whenever candlelight flickers where the air is deathly still"... it might just be the perfect time for a great spooky read or two.

And make sure to keep the lights on, when you do!

So, what are you planning on reading this upcoming spooky season? Do you have any Halloween traditions, especially bookish ones? Let me know, in the comments below!