It's Spooky Book Season! (Patreon)

This is a topic I'm well-versed in. As you might imagine, I often get asked about books on the spookier side of things. I love a good scary story, though to be honest, I prefer mine with a dash of humor to them. In case some of you are looking for good spooky book, I've put together a little (and hardly exhaustive) list!

The Twisted Ones by Kingfisher (Adult). I will read *anything* Kingfisher writes. I'm never quite sure where her books are going, but I definitely want to go there, you know? I read the Twisted Ones in one sitting. It's not graphic, it's full of humor, but is an excellent example of slow building tension. It's creepy. It's classified as Folk Horror, so a tough read if you live out in the sticks.

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Hendrix (Adult). Grady Hendrix is sort of the master of funny, off beat horror. This book first caught my attention because of the title, then because of the paperback cover (look it up, it's awesome) and finally because it was pitched as "Beaches meets the Exorcist." Uh, yes please. They recently made it into a movie that's streaming on Prime, but I haven't watched it yet. 

All These Bodies by Kendare Blake (Young Adult). This book set in the 50's and seamlessly blends true crime and the vampire hysteria of the 18th and 19th century. All of Kendare's horror is great (Still love Anna Dressed in Blood) but this one is a delightful slow boil that is sort of in a class of its own.

#Murdertrending by McNeil (Young Adult)--I know I've talked about this book on here before, but if you're looking for zany, over-the-top muder scenes and love the teen slasher genre, oh is this book for you.

Undead Girl Gang by Anderson (Young Adult)--if you're into witches, this one might be for you. Milk Flore's best friend dies and she's convinced it's murder. No one will listen to her, so she tries a spell...and accidentally raises three girls from the dead. Hilarious and snarky fun book that also discusses grief.

The Awesome by Darrows (Young Adult). If you like my books, odds are high you'll like The Awesome. Maggie Cunningham is a teen age monster fighter...apprentice. Her mom is the real monster fighter, but Maggie can't go out on her own while she's still a virgin, because that's like monster catnip. There's a lot of hilarious awkwardness as Maggie tries to get rid of her V-card, and I absolutely love her relationship with her mom. Plus, you know, monsters.

Squad--by Hall & Sterle. (Young Adult Graphic Novel). Pitched as Pretty Little Liars meets Teen wolf, Becca just wants to join the popular and super selective group in her posh new school...only to find out they're werewolves.

Bloodsucking Fiends, A Love Story by Moore. (Adult) Okay, so this book isn't really horror, but it is a funny book about vampires. 

Monster She Wrote, The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Kroger and Anderson. (Adult, nonfiction) Okay, again, not horror, but if you've ever wanted a good run down on the women who founded this genre, this book is excellent. First off, it's a pretty book. The design is just solid. Second, it gives a nice little run down on the authors and their work, so you can learn a lot, and maybe decide which books you want to track down and read. A nice good for the horror nerds in your life.

The Night Shift by Stephen King (Adult). Look, I haven't actually read a Stephen King book in years, not since I realized that he liked to kill off characters in the order of how much I liked them. But when everyone else was reading the Babysitter's Club, I was reading King. (Okay, and also the Babysitter's Club.) In my humble opinion, King's short stories are his best work. The more contained he is, the better. (His books got real long there for a minute, and I have definite feelings about that.) I still remember reading the short story, "The Boogeyman" from this collection in my teen years and sleeping with the lights on for three days after.

Spooky books for littles: I am a big fan of the Bunnicula books and heeeyyyy there's a Bunnicula graphic novel coming out! Coraline is a good one, as is the Graveyard Book. Smalls loved Zombie in Love, which is probably the cutest picture book about zombies that I've ever seen. (He also loved Goodnight, Goon and Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich.) He's currently a fan of the classic Goosebump books as well. I also have Arden's Small Spaces and Dark Waters on my TBR pile because they looked really creepy form the covers and I liked her adult stuff that I've read. (She wrote the Bear and the Nightingale.)

Speaking of TBR, here are some fun horror books that are currently languishing on my TBR, some of them for an embarrassingly long time:

The Only Good Indians by Graham Jones

How to Sell a Haunted House by Hendrix

The Hollow Ones by Kingfisher

Hide by White

Eat Your Heart Out by Devos

Cemetery Boys by Thomas

The Fell of the Dark by Roehrig

What Big Teeth by Szabo

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Douglass

The House of Hollow by Sutherland

Okay, I'm stopping now, even though I know the second I hit publish I'll think of a really obvious one!

Have a favorite spooky story I didn't mention? Let me know in the comments!

-Lish