Graveyards bathed in moonlight. Foggy forests at midnight. Dark corridors covered in cobwebs. Haunted houses at….well, pretty much any time. Haunted houses are just plain creepy. Full stop. During any other month of the year, these places are described as “terrifying,” disturbing” or “NOPE NOPE NOPE,” (that last one was me). But as soon as the calendar flips to October 1st, suddenly they become places of supernatural wonder and moody magic that we can’t get enough of. The reason? It’s atmospheric! And if there’s one thing that we all love during the Halloween season (besides pumpkin-spice-flavored EVERYTHING), it’s the delightfully spooky and entertainingly eerie atmosphere that seems to permeate the very air. So get ready to sink down into your reading nest of cozy blankets and fuzzy, oversized sweaters, because here are 6 hauntingly atmospheric Halloween books perfect for the Autumn season.
6 Atmospheric Halloween Books
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
REASONS TO READ IT:
👉 MG Horror written by the same author as The Bear and the Nightingale
👉 Sinister scarecrows + haunted farms = the perfect Autumn setting
👉 A school field trip gone horribly wrong
👉 An unlikely friendship between a trio of middle schoolers
👉 Gives off total Stranger Things vibes
👉 Just the right amount of creepiness (perfect for scaredy-cats like me)
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
REASONS TO READ IT:
👉 The Boarding School trope
👉 A kick-butt girl detective obsessed with true crime and impossible riddles
👉 Told in two timelines: 1936 and the present
👉 Unsolved murder mysteries + creepy blackmail letters that rhyme
👉 Amazing anxiety rep
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
REASONS TO READ IT:
👉 Dark retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses
👉 Gothic horror mixed with magical fairy tale elements
👉 Creepy seaside Victorian manor setting
👉 Murder mystery + haunting hallucinations + gruesome ghosts
The Diviners by Libba Bray
REASONS TO READ IT:
👉 Historical Paranormal set in the Roaring Twenties
👉 A flapper girl with supernatural abilities
👉 A brooding boy who works at “The Museum of Creepy Crawlies”
👉 Diverse cast of characters + the Found Family trope
👉 Mind-bogglingly beautiful writing
👉 IT’S. SO. FLIPPING. CREEPY. (Definitely the spookiest book on this list)
The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
REASONS TO READ IT:
👉 Beachy Rom Com meets Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
👉 A cursed coastal town with a deadly past it can’t escape
👉 Three witchy sisters hell-bent on extracting their revenge
👉 Summer days filled with drowning boys and possessed girls
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
REASONS TO READ IT:
👉 Paranormal MG novel written by THE QUEEN herself (AKA: V. E. Schwab)
👉 Set in Edinburgh, Scotland
👉 A girl who sass-talks the souls of the dead
👉 A friendly ghost who’s permanently wearing a Captain America t-shirt
👉 Parents who are inept (but lovable) Ghostbuster wannabes
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Do you love atmospheric books? Why or why not?
What are some other atmospheric books that you’d recommend?
Have you read any of these books? Share your thoughts about them in the comments!
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Such a great list! I enjoyed Small Spaces, City of Ghosts, Truly Devious, and House of Salt and Sorrows! I also just finished the sequel to Small Spaces, Dead Voices, and I can’t wait for book three to come out!
Thank you so so much, Krysta! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed so many of the books on this list! I’ve also read Dead Voices; what did you think of it? I personally think I enjoyed Small Spaces better, but I’m excited for the sequel all the same! It sounds like each book is going to be based on a season, and I’m interested to see how the author turns Spring into something creepy. Whenever I think of spring, I can only ever think of happy flowers and sunshine ahaha. Anyways, thanks again for the lovely comment :)
I think Small Spaces felt a little more original? Now that the protagonists know the “secret” of world hopping, it seems a little easier for them, and it wasn’t so exciting to see them figure things out. But I am excited for the next book! I wonder what spring will bring. Because, yes, spring seems like such a happy time of year!
Wow, such a wonderful list and I fully agree! I LOVED Small Spaces, Truly Devious, Tunnel of Ghosts, and Diviners. Can’t wait for sequels for those first three.
I’m so glad to hear that you liked this list and that you’ve picked up many of the books I’ve recommended! I read the sequels for Small Spaces, Truly Devious, and Divines and enjoyed them :) I hope you do too!
I love this post so much!! Reading atmospheric books during October is one of my favorite things to do as a seasonal reader 🎃 I hadn’t heard of Small Spaces before but it sounds so good, the cover alone has all the spooky books! I also love The Wicked Deep, it’s one of the most atmospheric books I read and gives off such Hocus Pocus vibes <3 City of Ghosts is also so much fun! 👻
I love reading atmospheric books too! And Small Spaces is such a great book – it’s THE perfect book for Halloween and I would 100% recommend it! I’ve not actually seen Hocus Pocus, so I’ll take your word for it when you say that The Wicked Deep is similar :) Anyways, thank you so much for the lovely comment!!
Love this list! 🍁🦉 Truly Devious is great, really. Haven’t read the third book in the series yet, though so I still need to catch up. 🙈 I can also recommend the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco, perfect fall reads or as the characters say so themselves : “a little danger dashed with some romance” 🖤
Truly Devious is a fun read!! I didn’t love the second book as much as the first, but the last installment was really great! It had such a perfect ending. Oh, and Stalking Jack the Ripper is a great atmospheric Halloween book too! I read it and didn’t love it enough to continue on with the series, but I enjoyed Audrey Rose’s and Thomas Cresswell’s dynamic :)
I love Small Spaces! I admit I expected more, but it fits MG really well and it’s very atmospheric. I have The Wicked Deep on my TBR precisely because how atmospheric it seems ✨🎃
I understand what you mean about Small Spaces – after the PERFECTION that was The Bear and the Nightengale, I had such high hopes for the author’s new series. But it is perfect for MG readers, so I guess I can’t be too mad. Also, I hope you enjoy The Wicked Deep if you end up reading it! Thanks for the lovely comment, Tasya! It means so much :)
KAT!! YOUR HALLOWEEN AESTHETIC IS GOREGOUS AND PERFECT! I love these recommendations so so much :) I’ve read almost all of them and can’t agree more!
OH MY GOSH THANK YOU!!!!!! That means so much to me! And I’m glad that you agree with my recommendations! Which books did you like the best from this list, would you say? If I had to pick, I think I loved the Diviners the most, but Small Spaces was also a pretty fun MG novel.
Yeah I’d say that I would pick the Diviners as well. It’s completely the Halloween, scary factor :)
You’re so welcome! You deserver it Kat :)
You are too good to me; thank youuuuu! *sobs from happiness*
I love this list Kat! I’m terrified of basically anything that could be described as dark or creepy, but I’m definitely thinking about checking out some of the books on your list — Truly Devious sounds amazing, as does City of Ghosts! Amazing post as always 💗😊
Oh my gosh, Abby, I totally understand being terrified of anything creepy/horror! I’m EXACTLY the same way! I cannot watch horror movies because then I will freak out for approximately the rest of the week, haha. The best thing about these books is that they are all just the right amount of creepy – not too intense, but just enough to give you that perfect Halloween vibe. Except maybe the Diviners. The Diviners gets pretty spooky near the end. But yes, Truly Devious and City of Ghosts are both fun Autumn reads and I hope you enjoy them if you pick either one up! Thanks for such a lovely comment :)
I’ve been wanting some more spooky recommendations for Halloween so this post was perfect! Small Spaces sounds so good, I’m totally here for anything with Stranger Things vibes. Love the spooky logo! 🎃
Thank you so much, Abi! I definitely had a lot of fun writing this post and creating a spooky, Halloween-y (is that even a word??) version of my blog header! Small Spaces is a fun Middle Grade novel, and I would definitely recommend it if you like that genre! Anyways, thanks for the lovely comment :)
Ahh, I adore this list! As a certified baby, I’m terrified of literally everything — including, ahem, Disney villains — which makes getting into the ~spooky~ spirit a little hard, haha. I do appreciate a wonderfully eerie & atmospheric read though, so this list is perfect! I’m particularly excited to read City of Ghosts.
Also, I’m in love with the featured image for this post! All you graphics are simply ~the~ best! ❤️
HEY SOME DISNEY VILLAINS ARE COMPLETELY TERRIFYING, SO YOU ARE 100% JUSTIFIED. I mean, Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog???? He is the stuff of nightmares, my friend. As somebody who is also a certified baby, horror movies/books are a hard nope from me. Thus, this recommendation list was born! I’m glad you enjoyed this post and that it was helpful to you! Also, I hope that you enjoy City of Ghosts if you end up reading it :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LIKING MY FEATURED IMAGE! The fact that you like my graphics means THE WORLD to me!!!
I need to get my hands on Small Spaces! My family binged Stranger Things this month, and I’m in the mood for something more like it! :D
Small Spaces is really such a fun book; I hope you enjoy it if you end up reading it! Also, Stranger Things is such a bingeable show! My husband and I always stay up late watching the new seasons when they are released! Season Three got a bit too graphic/creepy for my scaredy-cat self tbh but that won’t stop me from watching season for whenever they release it! haha
Haha same here, I’m very squeamish but I love it! I end up closing my eyes a lot because of the strobe lights, though 😂😂
I am currently reading truly devious, i love it so far.
I’m so glad to hear that you are enjoying it so far! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it when you finish!!
So glad to see you back to blogging <3 I missed you Kat! The Diviners is 100% on my list to buy/read soon cause I've heard so many good things about it! <3
TRACY YOU ARE SO SWEET!! I missed you too! I would absolutely recommend The Diviners – it is an amazing book and the series is just so well written/deeply researched. It boggles my mind!
These books sound so interesting! I loved reading The Crucible so I’ll definitely be adding The Wicked Deep to my reading list! I’ve heard such good things about City of Ghosts and it has been sitting on my to read list on Scribd for ages, it’s the perfect time to finally read it this month!
Abi // https://www.abichristina.co.uk
I’m glad that these books peaked your interest! The Wicked Deep has also been compared to Hocus Pocus, so if you like that movie, then you might enjoy that book as well! City of Ghosts is a truly delightful MG novel and I hope you enjoy reading it if you pick it up this month. Anyways, thank you for such a lovely comment :)
[…] 6 Hauntingly Atmospheric Books to Add to your TBR This Halloween (Kat @ novelswaffles) […]
All of Arden and Schwab’s books are in my TBR.
They are really so good! I hope you enjoy them!