“First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys.”
Who doesn’t love Halloween? The time of year when the leaves turn brown and the nights begin to creep in, it’s no wonder why this time of year has always inspired the spooky side in all of our imaginations. For many, Halloween is one of the highlights of the year. A chance to don masks and become someone else, revelling in the deliciously dark tales our imaginations can conjure up, safely retreating underneath our blankets in the warm with a bucket of candy when we’ve been suitably scared. To get in the spirit for the spooky season, check out the best Halloween Horror books here at What We Reading!
All Hallows – Christopher Golden
Bestselling author Christopher Golden taps into the ‘80s nostalgia of Stranger Things with a chilling twist in his Halloween Hoor book, All Hallows. Set in Coventry, Massachusetts on Halloween night in 1984, the story is an exploration of childhood innocence and how small-town secrets can reveal everything on October 31st can be wearing a mask.
The Bram Stoker Award-winning author is best known for his spooky tales set in far-flung locales, however, in All Hallows, the terrors are placed firmly in the neighbourhoods we all grew up in. Golden chronicles the events of this one night in All Hallows, following the children of Coventry as they try to evade the evil entity known as ‘The Cunning Man’. But, as the neighbourhood is torn apart by dark secrets coming to light, will anyone be able to save them?
Haunted Nights – Ellen Datlow And Lisa Morton
Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton string together some of the scariest Halloween horror stories from the genre’s most prolific names in Haunted Nights. A collection of 16 tales in all, the tales range from scheming Jack-o-Lanterns, vengeful spirits in haunted houses and murderous urban legends, authors featured in Haunted Nights include Stephen Graham Jones, Jeffrey Ford and Kelley Armstrong.
Haunted Nights offers readers a captivating and chilling look at why Halloween has, and will always, capture our imaginations. The diverse collection of authors and their imaginations also offers a mind-bending and chilling exploration into similar holidays such as All Souls’ Day, Dia de los Muertos, and Devil’s Night.
Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury
No list of the best Halloween Horror books would be complete without mentioning the king of the genre. Ray Bradbury’s books are renowned for their otherworldly and dystopian themes, but Something Wicked This Way Comes is, without a doubt, his most outright chilling read. In it, readers are whisked to a small Illinois town where a travelling carnival rolls in. Innocuous on the surface but holding plenty of sinister secrets inside, readers follow two young boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, as they step inside the world of the circus, revealing the smoke, mirrors and nightmares inside.
Check Out The Best Horror Books Like Something Wicked This Way Comes
Halloween Season – Lucy A. Snyder
Acclaimed storyteller Lucy A. Snyder compiles all of our favourite parts of Halloween in her collection of short Horror stories in Halloween Season. Thrills and chills, hilarity and the horrifying, the delicious and the deadly – all carefully curated and put together in this one homage to the holiday. The five-time Bram Stoker award-winning novelist blends short stories with a collection of poems designed to celebrate all the best feelings associated with the wintry holidays, making this one of the essential must-reads to snuggle up with as the leaves turn brown and the cold creeps in.
Kill Creek – Scott Thomas
What better way of getting in the spirit for spooky season than a back-to-basics haunted house story? Kill Creek, author Scott Thomas’ debut novel, introduces readers to the infamous Finch House, an empty, overgrown and abandoned residence in rural Kansas. Supposedly one of the most haunted places in the country, four Horror authors are invited to spend Halloween night inside its walls.
Sam McGarver knows the publicity will be good for business, however, it doesn’t take long for things to predictably go awry. The four authors have disturbed an evil entity lurking in the shadows of the house, and this one publicity stunt soon descends into a deadly battle for survival.
Dark Harvest – Norman Partridge
One of the classic Halloween Horror short stories, Norman Patridge’s Dark Harvest takes readers back to a small midwestern town in 1963. There, they are introduced to October Boy. Also known as Sawtooth Jack or Ol’ Hacksaw Face, the locals know that every year he rises from the cornfields, butcher knife in hand, where groups of teenage boys eagerly await the challenge of facing him.
Pete McCormick knows killing the October Boy is his way of escaping a dead-end life in this sleepy town. He’s willing to risk everything, including his own life, for a chance at becoming a winner for once. However, before this Halloween night is over, Pete will have looked this sawtooth terror in the eye, discovering the horrifying truth about Sawtooth Jack.
Ghost Road Blue (Pine Deep #1) – Jonathan Maberry
Another Bram Stoker award winner, Jonathan Maberry takes readers into the heart of a small town named Pine Deep in Ghost Road Blue. Pine Deep has nurtured a blossoming tourist industry as the ‘spookiest town in America’. However, thirty years ago, an evil reaped havoc on this quaint Pennsylvanian town.
And now, as the residents merrily prepare for their annual Halloween celebration, this horror is set to return. Spellbinding in its storytelling and relentless in its scares, Ghost Road Blue is an apocalyptic tale, following the residents of Pine Deep as they are forced to face off against the evils of their past once again.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
