With Halloween just around the corner, we could all use some great horror reads to get us in the spooky spirit. Here are a selection of novels I’ve read that are the perfect combination of eerie and suspenseful.
Extremities: Stories of Death, Murder, and Revenge by David Lubar: This collection of short stories is a hidden gem in the horror department. This page-turner includes 13 thrilling tales: there’s the story of a tragic train ride, one about a group of students who get revenge on their cruel gym teacher, and one about a group of kids who stay in a haunted house overnight for a cash prize (we all know nothing good can come out of this).
The beauty of this collection is that each story begins seemingly normal, but soon takes a dark twist. It’s such a quick, chilling read that you can breeze through all 197 pages in one day. The most frightening part of this book is the quote, “The pain you can feel in your flesh is nothing compared to the pain that rises from a horror you can’t escape.”
There’s The Dead Boyfriend, about a girl whose boyfriend keeps dying and then coming back to life; there’s Give Me a K-I-L-L, about cheerleading tryouts that end in murder; and there’s Can You Keep a Secret, about a couple who goes on a camping trip that ends in—you’ve guessed it—murder. Stine has been publishing these novels since 1989, so you’ll never run out of Fear Street novels to enjoy this October.R.L Stine’s Fear Street Series: The author of the popular Goosebumps series we all loved as children also publishes a series of young adult horror novels for older audiences. Each book centers around the same eerie setting, Fear Street, the hub for paranormal activity in the fictionalized town of Shadyside.
Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar: King is a classic in the horror genre, with famous publications like It, The Shining, and Carrie adapted into theatrical films. This time, he teams up with fellow horror writer Richard Chizmar to bring fans a 171-paged novella that follows twelve-year-old protagonist Gwendy Peterson.
Gwendy encounters an ominous man in a black coat and a black hat who offers her an odd gift—a “button box”—and soon discovers the mystery of the box and what each lever inside of it does. Similar to R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series, many of King’s books center around a specific town called Castle Rock and the odd misfortunes that occur in it.
Sneaking Out by Chuck Vance: This novel’s more on the mystery and suspense side rather than the horror side, but it’s still one that will keep you up at night. The plot follows protagonist Luke Chase, a boarding school student who gets entangled in a murder mystery after a teacher is spotted dead in the woods, where he and his friends snuck out to one night.
When his roommate is accused of the murder, Luke grapples with this strange death, which becomes a dark intruder into his prep school life. He brings readers on a journey to solve the mystery and find the true killer—and it’s not who you’d expect.
Reserve Oct. 31 for a night of chilling reads with some candy and some apple cider, and, if you dare—dim the lights.
IMAGES TAKEN from Amazon
