Just know that I have literally been working for months on this. Some books were admittedly read before this year, but I’m including them anyway! I’ll review a new book — some shorter, some longer — every day of October. Happy reading!
October 1: Dracula (Bram Stoker, 1897)
She is an icon. She is the moment. A classic. Done in the epistolary style through different correspondence and diary entries, Dracula is the tale of the vampire. An extraordinarily easy read, Dracula is a classic for a reason. Every scene is a mini movie in your head. 1 million stars!
October 2: The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson, 1959)
I was excited and surprised at just how scary this was, as if the Hill House Netflix series was made into a book… well, the other way around, actually. Shirley Jackson has a real knack for terrifying stories that could happen in real life.
October 3: Ring (Koji Suzuki, 1991)
Watching the movie versions is great, but the book holds way more story that absolutely needs to be read. There’s more to it than a cursed VHS tape. So much background. So much plot. So much gravity to the entire situation that you can’t quite do in a movie. The start of one of my favorite stories and series.
October 4: Carrie (Stephen King, 1974)
Another epistolary-style book, Carrie is brilliant. Like Ring, Carrie holds so much more context in book form. You can get through it in a day or two because it is a page-turner. Loved it!
October 5: Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus (Mary Shelley, 1818)
Admittedly, I thought I would love this but hated it. Could be because we had to read it in high school and the story we all know doesn’t happen until about the third chapter. But giving it a second read on your own terms is definitely better. Maybe not as thrilling and page-turning as Dracula, but it contains more thought-provoking ideas and changes your whole perspective on Frankenstein’s monster. It is a bit sad, when you think of it.
October 6: No Longer Human (Junji Ito/2017, Osamu Dazai/1948)
I am a huge Junji Ito fan, so this was a given. Dazai’s novel was transformed into the Junji Ito manga of our dreams. A tale of a man and his place in society, going from one tragedy to the next. It is a story amplified by Ito’s grotesque-yet-wonderful artwork. It is long, but worth it.
October 7: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Alvin Schwartz)
Oh, my childhood! As a 90s kid, this series was the shit! Mildly scary stories (as an adult) accompanied by the haunting images by Stephen Gammell. This collection of short stories will stick with you, no matter the age, and is – in my opinion – a classic of children’s literature.
October 8: Deadline (John Wayne Comunale, 2022)
If you haven’t seen my interview with Comunale, Deadline is a story about a voice actor who signs a contract for a book he probably shouldn’t have. It is fast-paced and offers deadly situations that just keep getting crazier as time goes on. Fast-paced read that doesn’t let you breathe!
October 9: The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead (max brooks, 2003)
My mom actually picked up this signed copy for me a few years back. I am not generally a zombie person, nor am I a prepper, but this gave some really good advice for any survival situation – including a zombie apocalypse. Filled with actual good advice like where to set up base and tools that can also be weapons, the Zombie Survival Guide was a practical book with horror elements. Better safe than sorry!
October 10: Uzumaki (Junji Ito, 2013)
A small town in Japan is being taken over by a series of spirals. Uzumaki is what happens when you blend Twilight Zone with In the Mouth of Madness. As you follow teen Kirie through her daily life in a town growing more and more fantastical and crazy, you see just how unsettling this shape can be. This is the first Junji Ito novel I read and it has kept me reading for years.
October 11: The Lottery (Shirley Jackson, 1948)
Perhaps you read this as a school assignment, or perhaps you just fell upon it by yourself. Either way The Lottery is a short story that is equally haunting and unforgettable. How could something so benign be the sign of death? It is the worrying tale of following tradition, not unlike The Hunger Games.
October 12: Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton, 1990)
If you ask me, Jurassic Park is absolutely horror. Dinosaurs are clearly monsters (albeit, real), and this book proves it. The novel that started it all, Jurassic Park amps up the terror and outright gaul that humans have as a species trying to raise the dead of another. It is actually a cautionary tale, proven by the many changes that were made to make the movie. It makes you look at dinosaurs and big corporations making theme parks differently.
October 13: The Island of Dr. Moreau (H. G. Wells, 1896)
And if you thought Jurassic Park set humans in a bad light, read The Island of Dr. Moreau. A shipwrecked Englishman is taken to an island inhabited by a mad doctor and his menagerie of human-animal hybrid creatures. Ghastly experiments and muddled ethics, it is surprising to see this was written so long ago. It is a quick and bonkers read.
October 14: A Short Stay in Hell (Steven L. Peck, 2012)
A Mormon gets sent to Hell with promises of a way out. I didn’t know what to expect from this, being more of a semi-religious angle. But I did enjoy it thoroughly. It reminded me of this Russian short story, The Bet. The ending in this book was probably the correct one, but it left me unfulfilled – I wanted to finish but knew that was it, the end. I guess I will have to just sit and wonder…
October 15: Misery (Stephen King, 1987)
Believe me when I tell you I have never felt so anxious reading a book. Stephen King, as we know, is the master of tension and scares; Misery was a grand slam. I saw the movie first, but decided to go an read the book too. It is several times more harrowing than the film, and again, I cannot stress how fast my heart was pounding reading some of these scenes. Stressed is the operative word here.
October 16: I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream (Harlan Ellison, 1967)
Wow. I had heard a lot about this story but it is totally different to actually read it. Existential crisis, a vengeful robotic villain. It is frightening to see a path like this possible in our lifetime. Technology is powerful, but I Have No Mouth is a warning that it can go south very quickly… and in only 11 pages too.
October 17: Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon (Cindy Ott, 2013)
This is not a horror book in any sense, but a type of biography about one of Halloween and horror’s most famous icons: the pumpkin. Ott goes through its history, reading like a more-interesting Wikipedia article solely on pumpkins. From its days being planted and harvested by Indigenous Americans to its place on today’s dinner tables or carved out and put on our porch steps, pumpkins are actually really important to American culture. If you’re a spooky foodie, pick this book up!
October 18: Nothing But Blackened Teeth (Cassandra Khaw, 2021)
Five friends travel to Japan to stay in a haunted house and only four return. I was honestly expecting more from the few snippets of reviews I read, plus I love Japan (and ghosts). It turned out to be high school drama with a bunch of extremely unlikeable people. I have to admit I tuned out for parts of it near the end. Khaw tried to make it scary, but too much drama for literally no reason, overpowering any small amount of scare that there actually was. Also, if you aren’t well-versed in Japanese culture, don’t even bother; you’ll need a glossary.
October 19: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America (Erik Larson, 2003)
This book is a tale of two people, murderous H. H. Holmes and 1893 World’s Fair architect Daniel Burnham. It gives a historical non-fictional account of them both living and working (and murdering) during the exhibition. As a serial killer lover (well, maybe “lover” isn’t the right word), this book hit the spot. Jumping back and forth between two men doing pretty much the same thing – only one legal and great and the other not-so-much – it is a fascinating look into different walks of life in the 1890s.
October 20: Hellebore, No. 6: The Summoning Issue (Maria J. Pérez Cuervo, 2021)
Instead of a straight-on story, Hellebore offers a collection of writings and essays about a certain aspect of horror. This issue delves into the history of witchcraft, magic, and Satanism. I have this issue plus one more and I plan on getting the whole series because it’s a wonderful way to learn about folk horror – in little bite-size snippets, as not to overwhelm you like a textbook would. Perfectly collectible with slick images and graphics, the Hellebore series is taking a foothold on my bookshelf. As a bonus, RitualCraft is an awesome shop that sells all sorts of witchy stuff, so peruse online or visit in person if you can (not sponsored, just love the store)!
October 21: SuperGhost (Scott Cole, 2014)
I actually got this book at my first Scares That Care convention, signed by the author himsefl! After Darren loses his arm and Michelle loses her legs in various accidents, a “phantom limb therapist” takes those lost limbs and creates an abomination hellbent on taking over the city. A bit of body horror here, some comedic timing there, this mad scientist and hero story was an absolutely great book to read. Short at about 150 pages, it packs a lot of punch for a weekend read.
October 22: Apt Pupil (Stephen King, 1982)
How does this man do this?! In our days of incels and rising fascism, Apt Pupil and its main character’s obsession with Nazism is a reminder not only of those atrocities, but of how it can easily happen again. King expertly opens the mind of every character to display their deepest feelings of compulsion, delusion, regret, and hatred. It takes place in the 70s, but honestly, it could take place in the present too.
October 23: Halloween Fiend (C. V. Hunt, 2019)
A town is burdened with feeding a dark entity they simply call “Halloween” every night, sacrificing one of their own at the annual autumn festival. It’s actually quite like another story I’ve read, but with enough different twists and turns to make it something its own. Lots of gross-out moments and leaves you wondering if it’s really the end.
October 24: Horror Films FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About Slashers Vampires Zombies Aliens and More (John Kenneth Muir, 2013)
Basically a quick rundown of horror cinema of the last century or so. Broken up into chapters on subgenres (vampires, slashers, horror comedies, etc.), Horror FAQ is one of my favorite books to reference for history and quick fun facts. I also have the Dracula FAQ book, which is another great one as well.
October 25: A Haunted House and Other Short Stories (Virginia Woolf, 1944)
OK, so this one took me a couple tries to get through. This book is a collection of short stories and as Amazon puts it, has “daring experimentations with style and form” which made it incredibly hard for me to listen to from my PDF reader. Even when I could read along with the story, I had to stop and think about what was said. It felt like being stuck inside the mind of someone with ADHD with snippets of ideas bouncing off of the walls. Unfortunately, it was hard for me to grasp any sort of scare.
October 26: Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone: Twenty-Six Unforgettable Explorations into the Realm of the Supernatural (adapted by Walter B. Gibson, 1983)
I could have easily parsed out each story in this book into a separate day, but wanted to include it in its entirety here. Just like the titular show, this book is an anthology of the weird, supernatural, and downright crazy. It does lean a little more towards the supernatural, but I don’t mind. Twenty-six stories is a lot for a book; essentially you’re getting a whole season in 350 pages.
October 27: This is Halloween (James A. Moore, 2016)
This anthology book has many a-story written about the holiday. From murderous scarecrows to a deadly night out trick-or-treating, every story breathes life into Halloween, regardless of the time of year you’re reading it in. Moore writes as if taking the nostalgia and magic of Halloween right from my soul. A great book for a spooky short story when you need a hit of horror.
October 28: An Illustrated History of Ghosts (Adam Allsuch Boardman, 2022)
If you like infographics, this book is for you. This book is as full of beautiful drawings as it is historical snippets about ghosts from premodernity to today. Not only does it talk about ghosts and the spiritual realm from all over the world, we get to read about other supernatural activities, like seances and modern ghost hunting equipment, as well. While it doesn’t go terribly deep into specific ghosts, it’s a great first look that is sure to leave you with a head full of fun facts.
October 29: Zombies for Zombies: Advice and Etiquette for the Living Dead (David Murphy, 2009)
In the same vein as other for Dummies books, this one has the undead in mind. Perfect for the moment you turn into the living dead, this how-to guide is a hilarious tutorial that you may even be able to utilize in your real life. It is clearly for funsies and a nice escape from the horror and sadness of the other books on this list.
October 30: Fear Street: Halloween Party (R. L. Stine, 2006)
Everyone knows R. L. Stine for the kids’ series Goosebumps, but he also has the more teen-centered Fear Street set of books as well. This was exactly that, a book about teens and some life-threatening events at a mysterious Halloween party. It may be for a younger audience, but I had a great time reading it. It felt exactly like reading these books in my youth did: comforting.
October 31: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irving, 1820)
I’m fairly certain everyone at this point knows the story of the Headless Horseman of Tarrytown, NY. This is the original short story. It is older, but it is timeless and lends itself to the season perfectly. Sleepy Hollow is beautifully written and great for imagining the autumnal scenery in your head. I can almost smell the burning pumpkin head!
