To help you celebrate the spooky season, we’ve rounded up a list of the best Halloween books.
Do you want a truly chilling read? Something with witches? A Halloween classic? Or maybe a romance read that’s a little spooky? Well, this Halloween books list has covered all of those and more!
Halloween books: The classics
01
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
The ambitious Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards to assemble a creature from parts, which he then brings it to life. But he rejects his creature, who sets out to get vengeance against his maker.
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02
Dracula
Bram Stoker
When Jonathan Harker goes to Transylvania to assist Count Dracula, he makes a series of horrific discoveries. An unmanned ship is wrecked; a young woman finds puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of an asylum claims the ‘Master’ is coming. Has Jonathan endangered everything that he loves?
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03
Hallowe’en Party
Agatha Christie
During a Halloween party, Joyce Reynolds boasts that she once witnessed a murder. No one believes her, but then she is found drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. Now Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver must race to uncover the person who committed this ghastly murder.
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Halloween books with a witchy vibe
01
Practical Magic
Alice Hoffman
As children, sisters Gillian and Sally were shunned for the magic that surrounds them. All they wanted was to get away. One marries, the other runs far from home. But years later, tragedy reunites the pair.
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02
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Sangu Mandanna
Mika Moon has three rules: hide your magic, keep your head down, and stay away from other witches. But then an invitation arrives to teach young witches at the mysterious Nowhere House. Finally, belonging somewhere feels like a possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world. Is it worth risking everything to protect her new family?
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03
Bright I Burn
Molly Aitken
Inspired by the first recorded person in Ireland to have been condemned as a witch.
The young Alice Kyteler sees her mother wither under familial responsibilities and decides she doesn’t want to suffer the same fate. When Alice discovers a flair for making money, she builds a flourishing business. As her wealth grows, so too do rumours about her. Eventually, blistering local gossip culminates in an accusation that could prove fatal…
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04
A Discovery of Witches
Deborah Harkness
Witch Diana knows that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. But when she unwittingly exposes her powers, creatures gather in Oxford, including the mysterious Matthew Clairmont, a vampire geneticist. As they work together to unlock the secrets of a manuscript, their feelings deepen, and the fragile balance of peace unravels.
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Halloween books with vampires
01
A Dowry of Blood
S.T. Gibson
Saved from the brink of death by a stranger, Constanta is transformed into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web, Constanta begins to unravel her husband’s dark secrets. With lives on the line, Constanta will have to choose between freedom and love.
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02
Interview With the Vampire
Anne Rice
A young man sits in a darked room, telling the eerie story of his life. It is the story of a vampire, gifted with eternal life, cursed with a craving for human blood.
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03
Angel’s Blood
Nalini Singh
Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux is the best, but even she doubts she’s good enough for the task the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael has hired her for. Because this time, it’s not a wayward vampire she’s tracking, but an archangel gone bad, and it’s going to put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other.
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Halloween books for people who want a scare
01
The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson
Four people arrive at the rambling old pile known as Hill House: Dr Montague is an occult scholar; Theodora, his light-hearted assistant; Luke is due to inherit the estate; and Eleanor is young and friendless. While there, they are faced with horrifying occurrences beyond their control or understanding. Hill House is gathering power … and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
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02
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Ray Bradbury
It’s All Hallow’s Eve, and two boys on the cusp on manhood head for the visiting show, ready to shrug off life’s worries and enter a place where wishes can be real. But among the smoke, mazes and mirrors, they discover that not all dreams are worth the cost …
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03
Pet Sematary
Stephen King
The house in Maine felt right to Dr Louis Creed. A rambling place where the children could grow and play and explore. But behind the house and into the woods there was a place the local children took their deceased pets to be buried. A place that seeps into dreams and wakes you, sweating with fear.
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Halloween books with a gothic vibe
01
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Socialite Noemi Taboada travels to High Place, a house in the Mexican countryside, after her newlywed cousin sends a frantic letter. She’s not sure what she’ll find, but she is not afraid, even as the house invades her dreams with dark visions. Noemi unearths secrets, and stories of violence and madness, but mesmerized by the seductive world, will she be able to escape High Place?
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02
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier
The shy heroine falls in love with handsome widower Maxim de Winter, moving into her husband’s home, Manderley. But while there, a change comes over Maxim. She’s now stuck in the isolated mansion without friends, and in every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca.
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03
Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë
The new tenant of Thrushcross Grange seeks shelter at Wuthering Heights. There, he learns of the tempestuous events that took place years ago, of the intense passion between Heathcliff and Catherine, and of the legacy of bitterness and vengeance visited upon the next generation.
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Halloween books for romance readers
01
Ghosted
Amy Hutton
Ghost-whisperer Holly Daniels broke up with Callum Jefferies two years ago, but now he wants help investigating an infamous haunted house. As their investigation unfolds, old feelings are stirred up, and when they unearth a string of mysterious deaths, Holly realises she’ll have to put her life – and psychic powers – on the line if they’re going to get out alive.
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02
The Dead Romantics
Ashley Poston
Florence Day is meant to be ghost-writing for a famous romance author but she no longer believes in love, and her strict new editor, Benji Andor, won’t give her an extension. When tragedy strikes, forcing Florence home, the last thing she expects is for the ghost of Benji to show up at her front door. Can Benji help Florence realise love isn’t dead, after all?
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03
Bride
Ali Hazelwood
Misery Lark must uphold a peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their enemies, the Weres, by marrying the Were Alpha, Lowe Moreland. Lowe doesn’t trust Mercy, and he’s right not to, for she has her own reasons for agreeing to the marriage. Alone in Were territory, she’s going to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers.
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Halloween books for older teens
01
Immortal Dark
Tigest Girma
When orphaned heiress Kidan Adane’s sister disappears, she is convinced the culprit is the vampire bound to their family, Susenyos Sagad. To find her sister, Kidan must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University and survive living with Susenyos, even as he fights to push her away. But her thirst for revenge and Susenyos’ lust for blood tangle them up in a game of want and secrets.
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02
The Folk of the Air series
Holly Black
One terrible morning, Jude and her sisters are abducted into the world of Faerie, where Jude is installed in the royal court and tormented for being mortal, especially by the arrogant Prince Cardan. As she grows older, Jude realises she will need to take part in the dangerous games of the fey to truly belong.
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03
Cemetery Boys
Aiden Thomas
Yadriel is determined to prove himself to his family, and sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. He accidentally summons Julian Diaz, the school bad boy, who is determined to tie off loose ends. Yadriel reluctantly agrees to help, but the longer they spend together, the less Yadriel wants Julian to leave.
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Halloween books for young kids
01
Hooray, It’s Halloween! colouring book
Bluey
A 32-page colouring book packed with Bluey and all her friends. Colour in Bluey and Bingo going trick-or-treating, to a Halloween party, and more.
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02
Peppa’s Pumpkin Party
Peppa Pig
In this board storybook, Peppa Pig’s family is having a Pumpkin Party, and everyone comes to play in their spookiest costumes.
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03
The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Peekaboo Halloween
Eric Carle
The classic children’s character, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, celebrates all things Halloween in this charming board book. Spot jack-o’-lanterns, candy baskets, bats, and more.
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