Spooky Halloween Books for Adults

By Caitlin Starling

Gothic fiction with a side of romance and a very haunted house. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's a perfect spooky read for the Autumn season.

Jane Shoringfield thinks she has entered into a marriage of convenience that will allow her to remain independent and continue working. Her new husband's only condition is that she never visit Lindridge Hall, his family's crumbling manor house. But when an accident occurs on their stormy wedding night, Jane is stranded at the manor and the haunting begins.

By Laura Purcell

This is a deeply unsettling Victorian ghost story. Set in a crumbling country mansion in Victorian England it's a perfect Gothic novel for Halloween!

Elsie was expecting a life of wealth and privilege, but instead finds herself a widow just weeks after the wedding. Lonely in a menacing house with resentful servants, Elsie finds a room with wooden figures to keep her company. But when the wooden figures start showing up in odd places around the manor, things get pretty creepy.

By Ruth Ware

I loved this book! It's so perfectly suspenseful and the old British mansion in it gave me all the spooky autumn vibes.

When Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance, she realizes right away that it's probably a case of mistaken identity. However, she's in a pretty tricky financial bind, so she decides to go to the funeral of the deceased and see if there's a way for her to claim any money. But it doesn't take long before she realizes that there's something mysterious happening and she's all tied up in a very strange situation.

By Isabel Canas

This is an excellent twist on Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. After her father is killed in the Mexican War of Independence, Beatriz is desperate to get away from her mother's cruel family. So, when handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz is willing to overlook rumors surrounding his first wife's sudden death, and she joins him at his country estate.

But the Hacienda San Isidro is no the sanctuary she had hoped it would be and it doesn't take long before a malevolent presence at the hacienda makes itself known.

By Simone St. James

This is a genuinely spooky murder mystery!

In 1977, two men were murdered and although the deaths seemed random, taunting notes were left behind at both murder scenes. Beth Greer, an eccentric and rich young woman was seen fleeing one of the crimes. Although she was the main murder suspect, she was acquitted and subsequently isolated herself in her mansion.

Now, it's 2017 and Shea, who runs a popular true crime website, has secured an interview with Beth Greer, who has been a recluse for many years. But this interview is about to stir up a lot of old ghosts. It's a spooky, twisty book and you'll love it!

By Frances Hardinge

Set in Victorian England, this gothic tale is completely captivating. Faith Sunderly is convinced that her father's death was no accident, but when she goes searching for answers she discovers a strange and perhaps malevolent tree that only bears fruit when you whisper a lie to it.

I couldn't put this one down!

By Anita Frank

Set in 1917, Stella is grieving the death of her fiancé in WWI and goes to stay with her pregnant sister Madeleine at Greyswick, her country estate.

When Stella arrives she finds her sister afraid and isolated. She's been hearing a child crying at night, but no one else in the house hears it or believes her. But when Stella and her maid Annie also start hearing the crying child, Madeleine's husband brings in a paranormal expert to investigate. It seems as if the old house has a tragic past.

By David Mitchell

This one is a lot of fun to read . . . well, creepy fun. Down the road from a British pub, along a brick wall of a narrow alley, but only if the conditions are just so, you might find the entrance to Slade House. Every hapless guest first feels as though they never want to leave . . . and then they realize that they can't escape. It's a weird and wonderful book.

By Mary Stewart

This one is perfect for fans of Rebecca and Jane Eyre. After years in an English orphanage, Linda Martin accepts a governess job for a nine-year-old orphan and heir to the Chateau Valmy in the French Alps. It seems like a dream job, but Linda soon realizes that there is something amiss and her young charge's life may be in great danger.

The suspense and pacing in this novel are so good! Plus, it's a Halloween romance, which is always fun.

By Diane Setterfield

I read this one when it first came out and then again last year for book club and I loved it both times. It's an excellent October read, eerie and enchanting.

Vida Winters is a famous but reclusive author. In her old age and nearing death, she calls a young biographer to come and listen to the secrets of her haunted past that she's held onto for decades.

By Wilkie Collins

I love this book! It's one of only a handful of books that I've read more than twice. This classic from 1859 is considered one of the first mystery books. It opens with a spooky encounter on a moonlit road in London and immediately sucks the reader into a tale of madness and intrigue, with all the best elements of a Gothic horror story and psychological realism. It may be an old Victorian novel, but it's a real page turner.

By Dorothy Macardle

I read this 1941 Irish ghost story last year and really enjoyed it. A brother and sister buy a house together on a cliff that overlooks the sea. She plans to relax and improve her health, he plans to write a book. But the perfect house turns out to be haunted and they're determined to figure out what happened there. (There's an old b&w movie version of this that I plan to watch too).

By Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I really enjoyed this book, It's a new book, but it reads like a spooky old gothic classic. When she receives a mysterious letter from her cousin pleading for help, Noemi Taboada heads to High Place in the remote Mexican countryside to see what she can do.

When she arrives, her cousin seems confused and unwell, her cousin's husband is menacing, and her cousin's father-in-law is downright creepy. In fact, the whole house and its staff are off-putting, but Noemi can't just leave her cousin without figuring out what is going on at High Place.

By Shirley Jackson

This book is very creepy and will give you all the shivers. Nothing outright scary happens, but every page leaves you with the sinister feeling that something just isn't right.

Eighteen-year-old Merricat is the disturbed (and disturbing) narrator. She was twelve when her family was poisoned with arsenic in the sugar bowl. Only she and her sister, who doesn't eat sugar, and her Uncle, who only had a small teaspoon, survived. Now, Merricat has a series of elaborate routines that she must complete everyday to keep the darkness from getting back in.

P.S. The movie version of this on Netflix is superb.

By Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson really is the master of building tension. The tension mounts on every page of this 1950's classic making it a fast and creepy read, even if it is more nuanced than directly scary. It follows a small group of people invited by the occult scholar Dr. Montague to stay the summer at Hill House so he can document its haunting.

While the book is only spooky not scary, the Netflix mini-series of this is downright terrifying and if you watch it you probably won't sleep for weeks. Be warned.

By Henry James

I haven't read this book since college, but I can still remember all the details that spooked me. This is one of the most famous ghost stories of all time, so if you haven't read it already, now's a great time! There's a governess, two odd children, and a very creepy manor house.

By Daphne Du Maurier

This famous classic just begs to be read in October. And when you've finished with the Manderley house and it's unfortunate inhabitants, you can watch the old Alfred Hitchcock adaptation and the new Netflix adaptation!

By Elizabeth Kostova

This one is equal parts romance + historical fiction + spookiness. It's a compelling modern take on the Dracula story. This one is also a delightful audiobook.

By Agatha Christie

You can't go wrong with an Agatha Christie book and this is one of my favorites (Halloween Party is also a good October pick). I especially enjoyed this one as a full cast audio production.

By Leigh Bardugo

This collection of re-imagined fairy tales with a feminist slant is perfect October reading. They are dark, but also illuminating and the writing is spectacular. Rumor has it the Grishaverse is coming to Netflix soon too!

By Edgar Allen Poe

You can't write a list of Halloween books for adults without Poe. No one does spooky better than Edgar Allen Poe. It's been years since I read it, but sometimes at night I still recall lines from The Tell Tale Heart and I have to turn on the light and make sure all is well before I can go back to sleep.

By Emily Bronte

If you really don't like anything scary at all, this is a great pick. It's dark and definitely a bit chilling, which makes it a good seasonal pick, but it's not scary at all. A gothic romance set on the isolated Yorkshire moors is best read on a dark Autumn day.