With Halloween just around the corner, I went on the hunt for some spooky books to read this October. From unsettling to stories about hauntings, there’s something for everyone on this list. Each book is perfect to add to your October reading list, too!
Spooky Books to Read This October
Keep reading to see all 5 spooky books to read this October — plus one honorable mention!
The Sun Down Motel
The Sun Down Motel was a page turner – I nearly read it all in one sitting, because I couldn’t get enough.
The plot switches between 1982 and 2017. In 1982, Viv ends up (accidentally) in Fell. She needs a place to stay and ends up on the night shift at a shady motel called The Sun Down Motel. Strange things begin to happen at night, and she vanishes in November. Her body was never found. In 2017, her niece Carly heads to Fell for some answers and closure, after her mother (Viv’s sister) passes away. Carly soon ends up working at the motel, on the same night shift Viv worked.
Carly goes all true-crime and begins solving the puzzle. Meanwhile, in 82, we learn Viv did the same thing. But mysteries are a lot harder to solve when the paranormal gets involved!
All signs lead to this being a dangerous search for Carly — will she end up making the same deadly mistakes as Viv? The Sun Down Motel has everything. Some love-interests, stalking, ghosts, a serial killer, and one major plot twist!
How To Survive Your Murder
How to Survive Your Murder reminded me A LOT of the Good Girls Guide to Murder series — in a good way. Though, the writing seems like it’s more “young adult” than “adult thriller”, the writing seemed a little “young”, but I enjoyed it and it was a very quick read.
How To Survive Your Murder actually takes place on Halloween. It starts as a Halloween party in a corn field and ends in a murder. A year later, Alice gets a chance to relive the night everything changed. But second chances come with strings attached… should Alice have left the past alone?! 🤫
There’s a quote on the book jacket that says, “great nasty fun” and that is EXACTLY how I’d describe this – there was a decent (albeit fairly predictable) twist toward the end, and I found myself anxiously turning pages.
The ending was beautifully done, and the way it left several questions and was open for interpretation was the perfect way to end this story! Add How To Survive Your Murder to your October Reading List now!!
Verity
Verity was recently re-released with a bonus chapter. I read Verity the summer of 2020, and LOVED it. It was un-put-downable, creepy, unsettling, dark, and one of those stories that stays with you long after you’ve finished. It’s no exaggeration when I say it’s one of the best books I’ve read!
Lowen is hired to ghostwrite the remaining books in a series after Verity, the author, is deemed brain dead after a terrible car accident. Lowen moves into the writer’s home (with her dreamy husband Jeremy), to look through notes/the writer’s office. Lowen and Jeremy play with fire, and begin a passionate affair. During her research, Lowen discovers a manuscript — a terrible manuscript that confesses all of Verity’s terrible thoughts and horrible actions.
But is everything what it seems? 😬😬😬😬😬 See? A total page-turner!
That said, I did borrow a friend’s version with the bonus chapter. It was fun to read, but definitely not worth it to go and re-purchase it a second time just for the bonus chapter. If you haven’t read Verity yet, then you absolutely should make sure you purchase the new edition with the bonus chapter (linked here)!!
Daisy Darker
You know when you read a book, and then you finish, and you’re like, “what did I even just read?” That was Daisy Darker. While the story was interesting, the ending was one I did not see coming.
Admittedly, it took me a while to get into Daisy Darker, I thought it started pretty slowly… BUT this was a locked-door/who-done-it murder mystery, had quite the twist at the end. It did bounce back and forth from present time to the 80s, when the siblings are children. It took me a while to read, but the chapters were very short, which I like, and the countdown to low tide really helped to set the atmosphere of this one – and definitely helped earn its spot on this spooky books to read list!
Theme Music
Theme Music was an interesting one from the get-go. The first page will send a chill up your spine. The story starts with Dixie’s father brutally murdering her family, before taking his own life, but sparing 18 month old Dixie. She grows up with this chilling past, lost of questions, and no answers.
When her family’s old home goes on the market, Dixie plans to buy it, and move in, despite her aunt and boyfriend’s protests.
Is this something Dixie needs to do to gain closure and finally move on with her life? Or is there something more sinister going on here? DUN DUN DUN!!!!! 😉
Theme Music took me a while to read, but it was an interesting read. I couldn’t help but love Dixie’s dry, dark sense of humor — though, I should disclaim this book can have some graphic bits (heads sliced off, etc)
Just Like Home
And honorable mention goes to: Just Like Home! I received an ARC via NetGalley for review*
I spent the majority of the time reading Just Like Home wondering “what the actual heck am I reading?!” It was a fast-paced page turner. Vera returns to her childhood home, the home where father built, because her mother called her on her death bed. The mother who turned her back on her.
The story is tore through two different time periods: young Vera and current Vera. Current Vera is clearly struggling with going home and has an extremely complicated relationship with her mother. Also, the house might be haunted. We learn through glimpses of young Vera what exactly happened to Vera’s father, and the root of her mothers complex relationship.
I thought I had the ending called… but then the “creepy” part of the book kicked in. I had to turn back pages and re-read things to fully grasp what was happening – which was a lot. It was interesting… and not entirely predictable. Just Like Home is definitely worth the read if you’re looking for a spooky book to read this October!
Will you be reading any of these Spooky Books to Read this October? Looking for something less spooky to read? Check out these 6 books I read over the summer!
xo -j
