5 Creepy Books to Read This October | Mystery, Thriller, Horror Book Recommendations

The mornings are foggy. The leaves are falling. The vibes are immaculate.

That’s right. It’s October!

Now that it’s almost Halloween, I decided it would be fun to compile a list of mystery/thriller/horror books that evoke an October-ish atmosphere.

Without further ado, let’s get into the list!

1) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

(Classics/adult, mystery-thriller)

From the ones I’ve read, this is the Agatha Christie book that strays furthest from cozy mystery and wanders closest to straight-up slasher horror.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

“First, there were ten—a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a little private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal—and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. A famous nursery rhyme is framed and hung in every room of the mansion…

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.”

Why it’s creepy:

freaky nursery rhymes, trapped on a misty abandoned island with a killer, and the writing just gives off this intense feeling of dread

Read my review!

2) Coraline by Neil Gaiman

(Middle-grade, horror, fantasy)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

“The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring….

In Coraline’s family’s new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.

The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only it’s different.

At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there’s another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.“

Why it’s creepy:

Parallel universes, ghosts, chanting rats… the Other Mother….

(Though I wouldn’t agree with that “one of the most frightening books ever written” blurb. I mean, it was creepy but I wasn’t that scared reading this book.)

Read my Goodreads review!

3) The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

(Adult, mystery-thriller, SFF/dystopia)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

“Aiden Bishop knows the rules. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others. With a locked room mystery that Agatha Christie would envy, Stuart Turton unfurls a breakneck novel of intrigue and suspense.“

Why it’s creepy:

Foggy, secluded manor house, lots of, well, murder…

Read my Goodreads review!

4) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

(Classics, horror, sci-fi)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

“Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. Mary Shelley’s chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley near Byron’s villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world’s most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity.“

Why it’s creepy:

Mad scientist experiment gone wrong… sentient monster made out of body parts… I mean…

I read Frankenstein a few years ago and never posted a review for it, but I enjoyed the book. I loved the “story within a story”, the atmosphere, and the disturbing moral dilemmas.

5) Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

(Classics, mystery/thriller, romance, horror)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady’s maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives–presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.“

Why it’s creepy:

Rebecca is extremely atmospheric and has this general buildup of unease that just makes it so PERFECTLY creepy.

Read my review here!

That’s it for today’s list! Have you read any of these books? What’s your favorite Halloween read? Let me know in the comments!

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