Top 10 books to read under the covers this Halloween
Ever since I was a small tot dog-earing my copies of R.L. Stine’s ‘Goosebumps’ books, I’ve loved all things that go bump in the night…And there’s nothing so deliciously exhilarating as burrowing under the covers with a heart-thumping page turner.
These mystery-thrillers are all scary for slightly different reasons; some have a spooky element of the paranormal, some are set in especially creepy places, and some are simply scary because the events could happen to any one of us in real life. But what every single novel on this list has in common is this: I couldn’t put down, I couldn’t guess the ending, and I couldn’t slow my heart rate the entire time my nose was buried in its deep, dark pages.
My mom and I are both sticklers for reviews, so we never recommend anything that isn’t rated 4.5 stars and above. However I always recommend looking over more reader reviews to see which of these books you want to sink your teeth into this Halloween season (or any time you feel like a good scare)! If you want to read more about any of these books, simply click on their covers and you’ll be taken to their Amazon listing (contains affiliate links).
Heads Up: Parts of the plot descriptions below are taken directly from the book dust jackets, Amazon, and Good Reads.
Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil
By John Berendt
Shots rang out in the grandest mansion in Savannah, Georgia in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares.
This non-fiction book (that reads like a Southern Gothic novel) paints an eerie portrait of life in the Old South, woven with the unpredictable twists and turns of one of the city’s most terrifying landmark murder cases.
From voodoo, to Southern Debutantes, to drag queens, to politicians, to ghosts…’Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’ will have you shivering, even under the warmest of covers.
Bonus: Clint Eastwood directed a wonderful film based on the book starring John Cusack in 1997.
2. I Let You Go
By Clare Mackintosh
‘I Let You Go’ follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past.
At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them.
This is one of the (very) few books I ever cried while reading. It will break your heart and have it racing from terror.
Trigger warning: domestic abuse.
3. The Death of Mrs. Westaway
…and honestly anything by Ruth Ware.
Perhaps there’s no more perfect ‘Halloween’ book on this list than Ruth Ware’s ‘The Death of Mrs. Westaway’. I listened to this on audible and highly recommend you do the same! The narrator is excellent and had me running late to more than a few appointments as I found myself staying in my car to finish the suspenseful chapters.
A young girl, Hal, receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the people-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.
Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it.
4. Wuthering Heights
By Emily Bronte
If you’re looking for a classic to read this Halloween, you can’t do better than ‘Wuthering Heights’ with its ghostly romance and haunting setting.
This Gothic novel stands the test of time for good reason. The timeless novel set on the solemn moors of northern England, ‘Wuthering Heights’ is the unforgettable story of Heathcliff and Catherine, whose doomed love torments them in a tempest of madness, vengeance, and redemption.
‘Wuthering Heights’ is a masterpiece that remains as compelling today as it was when it was first published in 1847.
And dang is it a good book to read at Halloween!
5. The Girl on the Train
By Paula Hawkins
If you have yet to read this mega-hit from Paula Hawkins, Halloween is the perfect time to do so. This is another novel I listened to rather than read (I love listening to books via my local library’s audio book lending app!) and the narrator had me hooked the entire time!
In ‘The Girl on the Train’, Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning in her English town. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar. Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train..
Trigger warning: Substance abuse, domestic abuse
6. Magpie Murders
By Anthony Horowitz
Without giving too much away, this is by far one of the cleverest twists on the classic British ‘whodunit’ I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading!
After working with bestselling crime writer Alan Conway for years, editor Susan Ryeland is intimately familiar with detective Atticus Pünd, the main character in her client’s novels who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.
Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder.
PS- Another audiobook WINNER if ever there was one!
7. The Silent Patient
By Alex Michaelades
I didn’t see the end of this one coming, and as someone who reads 15+ murder mysteries a year, that’s saying something.
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand photographer, she lives in a grand house in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband returns home, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face…and then never speaks another word.
Alicia’s refusal to talk turns a domestic tragedy into a mystery that captures the public’s imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.
Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations…
8. The Inspector Gamache Series
(…but especially ‘The Cruelest Month’)
By Louise Penny
OK, so take this recommendation with a BIG asterisk next to it because Louise Penny is a top 5 favorite author of both my mom and myself. We’re going to be doing much more in depth reviews or her work, and curating some incredible book club experiences with Penny’s books, but I would be remiss not to include the Inspector Gamache series in my list of the top books to read under the covers.
If you’ve never read the Inspector Gamache series, you may want to start at the beginning- though you don’t have to. Each of Penny’s books stand alone as excellent reads. If you want to get into one of her creepier novels, this one that takes place in a “haunted” house is your best bet.
9. An Anonymous Girl
By Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
One of the books I recommend you listen to rather than read because holy moly the actresses who split the narration in this uber creepy psychological thriller are chillingly perfect.
Looking to earn some easy cash, Jessica Farris agrees to be a test subject in a psychological study about ethics and morality. But as the study moves from the exam room to the real world, the line between what is real and what is one of Dr. Shields’s experiments blurs.
Dr. Shields seems to know what Jess is thinking… and what she’s hiding.
Jessica’s behavior will not only be monitored, but manipulated.
Caught in a web of attraction, deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.
10. The ‘Aunt Dimity’ Series
…especially #6, “Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil”
By Nancy Atherton
If you’re in the mood for a cosy mystery, there’s no one better than Nancy Atherton’s ‘Aunt Dimity’!
In her 6th book “Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil”, rare-book expert Lori Shepherd is invited to evaluate an old collection of volumes in grim, neo-gothic Wyrdhurst Hall, she jumps at the chance. But as she drives across the steep embankment of the Northumberland moors while the rain crashes down, she wonders what she has let herself in for.
A host of surprises await, including a handsome stranger who knows more about the Hall's secrets than he's letting on, and a cache of letters telling of a doomed love affair from the First World War. It will take all the skills of Lori's otherworldly Aunt Dimity to solve the puzzle and restore peace to a family haunted by its own tragic past.
Honorable Mention:
The Harry Potter Series
By JK Rowling
I recently re-read the entire Harry Potter series as an adult and lemme tell ya, it was downright magical. Not just because there’s, well, lots of magic- but because it took me back to my young adult self who was first discovering the magic that books have to transport us to other worlds for awhile.
As Harry matures over the course of the series, the books get scarier and scarier. Books 4-7 feel particularly relevant right now with our heroes trying to make it through a world turned upside down, finding hope in the darkness when all seems lost.