Below you will find a list of 31 MORE Halloween-themed books to sink your fangs into each spooky season. From short story collections to novellas and novels, there’s something for everyone to help get them into the holiday spirit. Adult, middle grade, young adult, classics- this list has it all…but given the season, all (for the most part) are horror!
Be sure to check out my original Halloween list as well as the 31 Anthologies post too! Or if you’re just looking for something spooky to watch, check out my Halloween movie rec list.
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A brilliant Halloween anthology of both new and classic novellas, short stories, essays on the history, literature, and films of Halloween, and real-life memories of October 31st-from today’s best practitioners of fear:
Dean R. Koontz * Stephen Graham Jones * Ray Bradbury * Robert McCammon * Robert Bloch * Whitley Strieber * Stewart O’Nan * Brian James Freeman * Ronald Malfi * Lisa Morton * Kealan Patrick Burke * Glen Hirshberg * James A. Moore * Michael McBride * Gemma Files * Nancy Holder * Tim Waggoner * S.P. Miskowski * Karen Heuler * Ian McDowell * Richard Gavin * M. Rickert * Benjamin Kane Ethridge * Joe R. Lansdale * Matthew Costello * James Newman * Melanie Tem * Roberta Lannes * Harry Shannon * Nate Southard * Nicole Cushing * Ray Garton * Lisa Morton * Al Sarrantonio * Tim Curran * John Skipp * Orrin Grey * Elizabeth Massie * Al Magliochetti * Bev Vincent * Richard Gavin * Ronald Kelly * James Newman * Tina Callaghan * Sèphera Girón * Michael Kelly
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Halloween just got a whole lot darker…
DARK HALLOWS: 10 Halloween Haunts is a wonderfully chilling collection of creepy tales that will have readers up late into the night–but only if they leave a light on!
This new offering from Scarlet Galleon Publications and Editor Mark Parker, includes stories from industry luminaries and new voices alike: Brian James Freeman, Al Sarrantonio, Robert Morrish, Norman Partridge, Ronald Malfi, Aaron Dries, Adam Cesare, Mark Parker, and Lisa Morton. And features a never-before-published tale from Cemetery Dance founder and publisher, Richard Chizmar!
Each story is beautifully accompanied by original artwork from Aaron Dries, making this a must-have for book lovers and collectors everywhere. It’s one frightful ride readers won’t want to miss
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PUMPKIN: 31 TALES OF TERROR 31 Different Horrors… 31 Ways to Die!
One story for each night of October. One collection that will haunt you forever.
This twisted anthology delivers bite-sized nightmares crafted for horror’s darkest season. From psychological terror to supernatural dread, each tale promises to leave you sleeping with the lights on.
A puppet show becomes deadly revenge. A Halloween prank spirals into murder. A mysterious dress transforms its wearer into prey. An intruder discovers secrets worse than death. And three teenagers disturb an ancient ritual that should have stayed buried.
Journey through haunted trick-or-treat sacks, bloodthirsty vampires, fracturing realities, and yes—even a killer baby. These aren’t just stories. They’re warnings.
Perfect for fans of Joe Hill, Shirley Jackson, and early Stephen King.
Dare to read one tale each night this October… if you can survive until Halloween.
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Boldly original and wildly entertaining, A Night in the Lonesome October is a darkly sparkling gem, an amalgam of horror, humor, mystery, and fantasy featuring a Who’s Who from Victorian horror and mystery. Zelazny’s last book prior to his untimely death is considered by many to be the best of the fantasy master’s novels.
“The last great novel by one of the giants of the genre.” —George R.R. Martin
Under cover of the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff—gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon, after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world.
But Snuff and his master are not alone. All manner of participants, both human and not, are about with their ancient tools and their animal familiars in preparation for the dread night. It is brave, devoted Snuff who must calculate the patterns of the Game and keep track of the Players—the witch, the mad monk, the vengeful vicar, the Count who sleeps by day, the Good Doctor and the hulking Experiment Man he fashioned from human body parts, and a wild-card American named Larry Talbot—all the while keeping Things at bay and staying a leap ahead of the Great Detective, who knows quite a bit more than he lets on.
Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut.
As the hour approaches—let the Game begin…
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Return to the streets where fall leaves crunch underfoot and the glow of a harvest moon lights your way.
From the new trick-or-treaters to the big kids who know which houses give out the full-size bars, these tales deliver all the thrills of Halloween night in bite-sized pieces.
In the tradition of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, each author brings their own deliciously twisted take on the season. Some stories will make you squirm, others will send an icy chill down your spine. Whether you crave the nostalgia of flickering jack-o’-lanterns or the shock of something moving in the shadows, this collection invites you to savor Halloween every night of the year because for some of us, October never lets go.Stories:
- DO YOU KNOW THE BUNNY MAN? by Angela Sylvaine
- THE TRAP DOOR by Skylar Crowter
- SCARE OF A LIFETIME by Joseph Buckley
- IT LURKS by Zelda Zito
- THE HAUNTING OF THORNWOOD CEMETERY by Maria Giakoumatos
- WHEN LEAVES BURN by Donna Taylor
- NO STRINGS ATTACHED by V. Castro
- TRICK OR TReatMENT by Haley Newlin
- BACK HOME AGAIN by Alan Dellascio
- NIGHTMARE REALM by Leigh Kenny
- THE MAN WHO WOULD BE DEATH by Greg Patrick
- SPECTER HALLOWEEN by Briana Morgan
- MALLRAT by Rikki Goodwin
- THE THIRTEEN THINGS YOU FOUND IN YOUR TRICK OR TREAT BAG by Gwendolyn Kiste
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A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
A chilling horror anthology of 19 original short stories from a world-class line-up of the masters of horror, delving into the histories and traditions of the spookiest season of the year. Presented by Hugo Award winning editor and horror legend Ellen Datlow, and featuring stories by Josh Malerman, Stephen Graham Jones, Garth Nix as well as many more.
Halloween, Samhain, Día de los Muertos—festivals across the world where we can commune with those we have lost, when spirits can cross over, and when the boundary between the living and the dead is far, far too thin.
A young boy encounters a woman with an ancient and terrifying link to the holiday, a group of college students attend a Halloween party to die for, and a troubled girl exploits a local urban legend to try and turn her life around.
From America to New Zealand via the rural Romanian wilderness, this anthology explores our worldwide obsession with the spookiest season of the year, when the veil is lifted and the spirits come alive. Featuring 19 original stories from bestselling and award-winning masters of the genre, and from Hugo, World Fantasy, Locus, Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson award-winning editor and horror legend Ellen Datlow, this anthology invites you to carve a pumpkin, light the lanterns and welcome in trick or treaters from across the world.
With stories by:
Josh Malerman
Lee Murray
Rich Larson
Clay McLeod Chapman
Livia Llewellyn
Michael Marshall Smith
Stephen Graham Jones
Linda D. Addison
Christopher Golden
Alma Katsu
Brian Evenson
Siobhan Carroll
Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ
Theresa DeLucci
Garth Nix
Jeffrey Ford
Richard Kadrey
Nathan Ballingrud
John Langan
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Boasting a rich, complex history rooted in Celtic and Christian ritual, Halloween has evolved from ethnic celebration to a blend of street festival, fright night, and vast commercial enterprise. In this colorful history, Nicholas Rogers takes a lively, entertaining look at the cultural origins and development of one of the most popular holidays of the year.Drawing on a fascinating array of sources, from classical history to Hollywood films, Rogers traces Halloween as it emerged from the Celtic festival of Samhain (summer’s end), picked up elements of the Christian Hallowtide (All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day), arrived in North America as an Irish and Scottish festival, and evolved into an unofficial but large-scale holiday by the early 20th century. He examines the 1970s and ’80s phenomena of Halloween sadism (razor blades in apples) and inner-city violence (arson in Detroit), as well as the immense influence of the horror film genre on the reinvention of Halloween as a terror-fest. Throughout his vivid account, Rogers shows how Halloween remains, at its core, a night of inversion, when social norms are turned upside down, and a temporary freedom of expression reigns supreme. He examines how this very license has prompted censure by the religious Right, occasional outrage from law enforcement officials, and appropriation by Left-leaning political groups. Engagingly written and based on extensive research, Halloween is the definitive history of the most bewitching day of the year, illuminating the intricate history and shifting cultural forces behind this enduring trick-or-treat holiday.
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Alice Jacobs doesn’t believe in ghosts… until one takes her daughter.
When her husband vanishes while investigating a string of strange happenings in 1780s Salem, Alice brings her young daughter Abigail to the gloomy seaport in hopes of finding answers. But the townspeople live in fear. A century after the witch trials, they whisper that a woman unjustly hanged has returned from the grave. And she’s come for Salem’s children.
Alice dismisses the legend… until Abigail is taken from her bed by a woman made of smoke and mist.
With only a single night to save her daughter, Alice races against time on a spine-chilling adventure through forgotten dungeons, haunted cemeteries, and cursed forests. Joined by a desperate sailor searching for his own missing child, she battles deadly supernatural forces and uncovers a dark secret powerful enough to save Abigail’s soul… or lose her forever.
But darkness has deep roots in Salem, and Alice may have to sacrifice more than her life to bring her daughter home.
Atmospheric, emotional, and terrifying, All Hallows Eve delivers a haunting story of a mother who will walk through hell to save her child. Perfect for fans of witchcraft, historical horror, and stories drenched in supernatural dread, get your copy and experience a night in Salem you’ll never forget.
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THE SCARECROW IS HUNGRY.
For ten years it has slept beneath the fields of Walpurgis, waiting for the blood to call it back. Now the curse has been spoken, and something in the corn is walking again.
Sheriff Garrett Parker came to town to make a new life for himself and his son. But in Walpurgis, the mayor’s family holds an ancient power—and anyone who crosses them becomes prey. The townspeople know the
truth. They’ve seen the bodies. They’ve heard the screams after dark.
And they know that once the Mawkin marks you…
THERE IS NOWHERE TO HIDE.
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“Had me hooked from page one.” – Allysa (Goodreads)
Halloween is the busiest night of the year for Corpse Corp Limited.
They offer a unique service to society’s desperate, bitter, and broken: supplying psychos, homicidal maniacs, supernatural entities, and other deadly forces to those seeking some violent karma.
As our protagonist browses Corpse Corp’s catalogue in search of the perfect killer, the twisted backstories behind the company’s unstable collection of misfits begin to unfold. Their chaotic lives soon collide in unexpected ways, each playing a part in what promises to be one utterly unhinged Halloween night.
Packed with mayhem, carnage, shocking twists, and razor-sharp dark comedy, Get 20% Off Your First Demon This Halloween is as hilarious as it is deranged. Perfect for fans of horror comedy, slasher chaos, and outrageous Halloween madness.
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Get ready for more grisly pulp than you could scoop out of a jack-o’-lantern. No bones about it.
Actually, there’re plenty of bones in here.
These 13 stories for the 31st—featuring ghosts (“Spook Inc.”), goblins (“The Culda Sack”), and even the literal fall itself (“Evergreens in an Endless Autumn”)—will make you say “trick or treat” before I can smell your feet.
Which I can. And it’s making me hungry.
With twists from author Mak Ralston comes this collection, which essentially serves as October bound in paper. From noir, crime-solving werewolves (“Kane Nine”), 1940s mummy unwrapping parties (“Mummy Brown”), and vampires at the dentist (“Vampire Teef”), there’s a little something spooky–and scary–for everyone.
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A brand new cozy mystery to escape with this Halloween. Perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Rev Richard Coles.
It’s (almost) Halloween in Penstowan, and strange things are afoot…
When a developer buys the abandoned convent and cottage hospital of St Ann’s on the edge of town, locals are aghast at his plans to turn the site into apartments. And when menacing voodoo-like dolls are found hidden inside the walls, it looks like the building’s past inhabitants are against it, too.
As the town prepares for the annual Bonfire Parade taking place on Halloween night, ex-police officer Jodie Parker finds herself in a world of witches and Wiccans, whispering voices and ghostly babies crying, as she tries to find out who’s behind the campaign to stop the development. Then one of the builders is found dead at the bottom of a staircase. Has a spectre from the convent’s past come back to take revenge on the living, or are Jodie and her husband, DCI Nathan Withers, looking for a killer of flesh and blood?
See what readers are saying about The Cornish Halloween Murder
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A collection of suspenseful Halloween murders includes the works of such authors as Ed McBain, Ellery Queen, Peter Lovesy, Marcia Muller, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Bloch, Bram Stoker, and Peter Straub. Reprint.
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Hocus Pocus is beloved by Halloween enthusiasts all over the world. Diving once more into the world of witches, this New York Times bestselling two-part young adult novel, marks a new era of Hocus Pocus.
Fans will be spellbound by a fresh retelling of the original film, followed by the all-new sequel that continues the story with the next generation of Salem teens.
Shortly after moving from California to Salem, Massachusetts, Max Dennison finds himself in hot water when he accidentally releases a coven of witches, the Sanderson sisters, from the afterlife. Max, his sister, and his new friends (human and otherwise) must find a way to stop the witches from carrying out their evil plan and remaining on earth to torment Salem for all eternity.
Twenty-five years later, Max and Allison’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Poppy, finds herself face-to-face with the Sanderson sisters in all their sinister glory. When Halloween celebrations don’t quite go as planned, it’s a race against time as Poppy and her friends fight to save her family and all of Salem from the witches’ latest vile scheme.
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The vines are spreading. The town is unraveling. And the entity won’t stop until every last descendant…
PAYS THE PRICE!
When sixteen-year-old Maddox moves to a remote town with his father, he learns the locals fear a pumpkin patch on the edge of town that is rumored to be cursed. Determined to prove it’s just superstition, Maddox smashes a pumpkin and ends up triggering something ancient and vengeful.
With the help of his new friends, Maddox uncovers the horrifying truth of the town’s gruesome history…
And the residents who refuse to admit to their ancestors’ sins.
V.S. Lawrence, author of 80s Ghosts, brings pumpkin-filled Halloween spooks to the Totally Freaked! series in this dark, unpredictable supernatural romp!
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What if the door to your childhood opened again… but you could never leave?
Lucy has spent thirty-eight years trying to outrun her past.
A failed rockstar, former drug addict, former alcoholic, and perpetual screw-up, she now works the late shift at Cowboy Benny’s Pizza, keeping her head down and simply trying to get through life.
Until one night after closing, Lucy discovers a mysterious orange door.
On the other side is 1999.
Her childhood.
At first, it feels like a miracle. Familiar places. Forgotten memories. The sights, sounds, and strange comfort of a Halloween from long ago.
But something is wrong.
The farther Lucy goes, the more she realizes she isn’t simply visiting the past. She’s trapped in a nightmare of endless spaces, impossible places, terrifying obstacles, and deadly rules.
And Halloween has rules.
Break them, and you die.
As Lucy searches for a way home, the past begins bleeding into the nightmare—and she is forced to confront something she has spent her entire life trying to forget.
Some doors should never be opened.
The Door to 1999: Endless Halloween is a nostalgic descent into 1990s horror, where childhood memories become nightmares, Halloween never ends, and the way home may be the most terrifying place of all.
Nostalgia is a trap.
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From New York Times bestselling adult author Joseph Fink comes a wickedly fun middle grade novel about a Halloween-obsessed girl named Esther Gold, who goes out trick-or-treating for one last year, only to find her town under the thrall of a mysterious presence.
Esther Gold loves Halloween more than anything in the world. So she is determined to go trick-or-treating again this year despite the fact that her parents think she is officially too old. Esther has it all planned out, from her costume to her candy-collecting strategy. But when the night rolls around, something feels . . . off.
No one is answering their door. The moon is an unnatural shade of orange. Strange children wander the streets, wearing creepy costumes that might not be costumes at all. And it seems like the only people besides Esther who are awake to see it all are her best friend, her school bully, and her grown-up next-door neighbor.
Together, this unlikely crew must find a way to lift the curse that has been placed upon their small town before it’s too late. Because someone is out to make sure Halloween never comes to an end. And even Esther doesn’t want to be trapped in this night forever.
- Perfect for Halloween reading
- A charming cozy seasonal pick
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Haunted-house parties and ghostly galas . . . grinning pumpkins, mayhem and murder. It’s going to be one heck of a Halloween for Lucy Stone and Tinker’s Cove . . .
It’s October in Maine, and everyone in Tinker’s Cove is preparing for the annual Halloween festival. While Lucy Stone is whipping up orange-frosted cupcakes, recycling tutus for her daughters’ Halloween costumes, helping her son with his pre-teen rebellion, and breastfeeding her brand-new baby, an arsonist is loose in Tinker’s Cove. When the latest fire claims the life of the owner of the town’s oldest house, arson turns into murder . . .
While the townsfolk work to transform a dilapidated mansion into a haunted house for the All-Ghouls festival, the hunt for the culprit heats up. Trick-or-treat turns deadly as a little digging in all the wrong places puts Lucy too close to a shocking discovery that could send all her best-laid plans up in smoke . . .
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Unsettled by Dina’s return to town and further upset by her boyfriend’s escapades with another girl, Brenda hopes for a safer Halloween, unaware that someone has evil plans in store. Original.
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From acclaimed cultural critic David J. Skal, an in-depth look at one of the most popular-and perplexing-holidays in America.
Using a mix of personal anecdotes and brilliant social analysis, Skal examines the amazing phenomenon of Halloween, exploring its dark Celtic history and illuminating why it has evolved-in the course of a few short generations-from a quaint, small-scale celebration into the largest seasonal marketing event outside of Christmas.
Traveling the country, Skal profiles a wide cross-section of America-hard-nosed business men who see Halloween in terms of money; fundamentalists who think it is blasphemous; practicing witches who view it as sacred; and more ordinary men and women who go to extraordinary lengths, on this one night only, to transform themselves and their surroundings into elaborate fantasies. Firmly rooted in a deeper cultural and historical analysis, these interviews seek to understand what the various rituals and traditions associated with the holiday have to say about our national psyche.
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“This is horror on a grand scale, reminiscent of Stephen King.” —Publishers Weekly
The book that launched the Pine Deep trilogy
Thirty years ago, a blues musician called the Bone Man killed the devil at the crossroads, only to be beaten and hung like a scarecrow in a cornfield–or so the story goes. Today, the people of Pine Deep celebrate their town’s grisly past by luring tourists to the famous haunted hayride, full of chills and scares. But this year, “The Spookiest Town in America” will learn the true meaning of fear. Its residents will see the real face of evil lurking behind the masks of ordinary people. They will feel it–in their hearts, in their bones, in their nightmares. Because evil never dies. It only grows stronger…
“Jonathan Maberry’s horror is rich and visceral. It’s close to the heart…and close to the jugular.” –Kevin J. Anderson
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A ghost story that begins in everyday tragedy, from a distinctly American master of both forms: a “scary, sad, funny . . . mesmerizing read” (Stephen King)
At Midnight on Halloween in a cloistered New England suburb, a car carrying five teenagers leaves a winding road and slams into a tree, killing three of them. One escapes unharmed, another suffers severe brain damage. A year later, summoned by the memories of those closest to them, the three that died come back on a last chilling mission among the living.
A strange and unsettling ghost story, The Night Country creeps through the leaf-strewn streets and quiet cul-de-sacs of one bedroom community, reaching into the desperately connected yet isolated lives of three people changed forever by the accident: Tim, who survived yet lost everything; Brooks, the cop whose guilty secret has destroyed his life; and Kyle’s mom, trying to love the new son the doctors returned to her. As the day wanes and darkness falls, one of them puts a terrible plan into effect, and they find themselves caught in a collision of need and desire, watched over by the knowing ghosts.
Macabre and moving, The Night Country elevates every small town’s bad high school crash into myth, finding the deeper human truth beneath a shared and very American tragedy. As in his highly-prized Snow Angels and A Prayer for the Dying, once again Stewart O’Nan gives us an intimate look at people trying to hold on to hope, and the consequences when they fail.
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The world’s oldest celebration comes to life in The End of Summer: Thirteen Tales of Halloween, an anthology that honors the darkest and strangest night of the year. Each story is designed to be intrinsically and intimately about Halloween—its traditions, its myths, and its effects—and they run the gamut from horrifying to heartbreaking. Halloween night is the tapestry through which a haunted house, a monstrous child, a late-night drive to a mysterious destination, and other tales are weaved. Demons are faced, death is defied, and love is tested. And not everyone makes it out alive.
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Trick or treat.
Say your prayers
Tonight, all hell breaks loose.
It’s Halloween night. The old Witherspoon house stands all alone in the dark, the last house on a dead-end street. Its only neighbors are thick woods and a moonlit graveyard. Not long ago, a grisly murder/suicide took place in the house. Now, it is said to be haunted.
Haunted but no longer abandoned. Three years ago, Laura and Shannon moved in. They’re young, pretty, friendly . . . and, best of all, generous with candy on Halloween. Tonight, they’re getting ready for a costume party. Shannon is upstairs getting dressed and Laura is downstairs handing out candy to trick-or-treaters.
It’s a perfect Halloween night until Laura opens the door and finds herself facing a lone teenaged boy . . . a terrified boy who says: “Let me in! They’re gonna get me!”
And, for Laura and Shannon, the party begins.
It’s Halloween night and there are ghosts and goblins in the streets. And something much worse in the graveyard…
**This one is OOP but so so cool if you can find! Amazon
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◆The last Halloween of childhood is the most terrifying one of all! A scare-packed coming-of-age supernatural thriller.◆
One last Halloween…
The year is 1980. Jeff Schaeffer, Leah Carter, and Bobby Nagel decide to go out for “one last Halloween” before adolescence takes away their childhood forever.
But this Halloween is different, they soon discover. An outing that was supposed to be light-hearted and fun becomes a battle for sanity—and perhaps even survival.
A Halloween curse
A sinister teenager known as “the ghost boy” declares that Jeff Schaeffer and his friends will endure “twelve hours of trial” on Halloween. The three young people subsequently find their once familiar surroundings transformed into a bizarre and terrifying landscape.
They discover that just beneath the surface of their suburban neighborhood lies a secret realm of haunted houses, demonically possessed trees, and spirits with unfinished business.
One entity, called the “head collector”, stalks through the darkened streets in search of grisly trophies.
Coming-of-age conflict…
Jeff is also forced to confront new feelings for both of his old friends.
He believes that he is in love with Leah; but does Leah feel the same way?
Meanwhile, his friend Bobby, who had always protected him from local bullies, now seems to harbor a dark agenda that threatens to divide and possibly destroy them all.
◆’12 Hours of Halloween’ will awaken your childhood fears. Be prepared for sleepless nights!◆
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The same trick-or-treater keeps coming to my house. He’s starting to scare me.
There’s a scarecrow standing in the vineyard–but we stopped using them years ago.
And there’s something moving in the pumpkin patch…
HALLOWEEN HORRORS is a wildly terrifying anthology of Halloween stories. Ghoulish trick-or-treaters, gruesome jack o’lanterns, and faceless specters haunt the pages of this book, ready to leap to life in the deepest corners of your mind. Sit down in front of the fire, as the chilly autumn wind howls outside, and read… if you dare.
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“Lesley Bannatyne’s fascinating book . . . will be widely appealing to anyone who ever wondered where witches, trick-or-treating, and jack-o-lanterns really came from. It is by far the best book on the history of Halloween available today.”–Alison Guss, senior producer,”The Haunted History of Halloween,” The History Channel
“An excellent resource for research into the history of holidays . . . in the United States . . . Highly Recommended.”–The Book Report
“Deserves attention as a recommended library acquisition with years of ‘life’ to its information.”–The Midwest Book Review
“Overflows with rich and provocative details of ritual, feasts, superstition, and devilment.”–North Carolina Historical Review
Halloween has evolved from the Celtic celebrations of 2,000 years ago to become today the fastest-growing holiday in the country. This, the only book to completely cover All Hallow’s Eve, from its beginnings to the present, examines the ancient origins as well as its traditions and celebrations, from costuming to bobbing for apples. Jack-o-lanterns, black cats, and witches are explained. Ghosts, ghouls, and goblins lurk behind every page.
The book traces the contributions of America’s immigrants to the holiday, documenting the beliefs each ethnic group has added to the mix. Related recipes, poems, songs, and photos perfectly complement the meticulously documented text. The result is the most educational and entertaining examination of Halloween, its myths, and its truths.
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Based on the screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill.
Tricked by his cunning … Treated to his savagery … Annie, Linda and Laurie … fresh, pretty, ready to be taken … stalked by a sadistic power who has returned to claim new victims, on this … the most frightening night of the year.
**This one is OOP but so so cool if you can find! Amazon
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Halloween: The word itself instantly conjures up images of costumed trick-or-treaters, ghosts and ghouls rising from their graves. After the death of her beloved Grandmother Hudson, Rain found herself caught in a In the grand tradition of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Anne Rice, The Ultimate Halloween gathers together a collection of new and old, unique and terrifying fantasy and horror stories centering around the holiday known as All Hallows Eve. Here you’ll find Al Sarrantonio’s “Pumpkin Head,” William F. Nolan’s “The Halloween Man,” and a bevy of other spine-tingling works.
So lock the doors, dim the lights, and allow your host for the evening — editor Marvin Kaye — to usher you through the darkened streets and haunted forests of the imagination. But be sure to keep your mask on tight — the creatures of the night are less likely to attack if they think you’re one of them….
Contents:
“Auntie Elspeth’s Halloween Story, or The Gourd, The Bad, and the Ugly,” Esther Freisner
“The Witch Who Hated Halloween,” Terry Kaye
“Tom O’Bedlam’s Night Out,” Darrell Schweitzer
“Miasma,” Terry McGarry
“Evening Spirit,” Marc Bilgray
“Pumpkin Head,” Al Sarrantonio
“Trick or Treat with Jesus,” Marilyn Mattie Brahen
“Into the Abyss,” R.J. Lewis
“The Theft of the Halloween Pumpkin,” Edward D. Hoch
“The Devil’s Own,” John Gregory Betancourt
“All Souls,” Edith Wharton
“Uncle Evil Eye,” Carole Buggé
“The Phantom Highwayman,” Ron Goulart
“The Unnameable,” H.P. Lovecraft
“The Halloween Man,” William F. Nolan
“A Matter of Taste,” Parke Godwin
“The Banshee’s Comb,” Herminie T. Kavanagh
*This one is OOP but so so cool if you can find! Amazon
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Don’t go near the pumpkin patch on Halloween night…
Jack Calloway is the pumpkin-headed boogeyman of Hallow Hill. As the legend goes, he was a man of wicked tastes, devilish allure, and had a knack for dark magic. He and his lover—my ancestor—were tried as witches and burned at the stake at the edge of Hallow Hill’s pumpkin patch.
Some say he made a deal with the devil to spare his lover’s soul and haunts the pumpkin patch to this day, waiting for her return.
“Don’t go near the pumpkin patch on Halloween,” they’ve always warned the women in my family. “Jack might get you.”
Too bad I don’t listen because I have to find out the hard way that ghost stories exist for a reason. And in Jack’s flames, I just might become one.
Burn for Jack is a plot-light Halloween-themed PNR novella featuring a pumpkin-headed monster with a wicked thirst for our heroine. This story includes dark themes such as bondage, violence, gore, dubious consent, bullying, and murder.
Amazon IDK, the monster smut girlies get recs here too.
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A spooky yet heartwarming adventure about one girl’s journey into the land of the undead, and the unexpected family she finds along the way. Perfect for fans of Nevermoor and the hit series Wednesday.
On Halloween, it is always wise to expect the unexpected, but no amount of planning could have prepared Eve for that particular night. Fleeing an unpleasant orphanage, she’s saved by someone who she never believed was real…the fabled Pumpkin King himself.
Throwing caution aside, Eve accepts the offer to become his daughter and is whisked away to the misty Hallowell Valley—home to witches and vampires, ghosts and goblins, and all that go bump in the night. But just when she believes she’s found her place among the undead, a sinister scheme unearths itself, threatening to take everything from Eve unless she can stop it.
From debut author Steven Banbury comes a cozy, magical adventure sure to delight anyone who loves the tricks of Halloween as much as the treats of autumn.
Whether it’s pumpkins or blood, ghosts or ghouls, slashers or massacres, this list is sure to have something for everyone. Yet again, this was harder than I was expecting! Let me know which ones you plan to check out…
And if I may be so bold for another year, while my novel, Welcome to Cemetery, is not entirely on Halloween (it runs from Sept-Oct 31st), the climactic showdown is on Halloween and does have a seasonal tie-in!
Stephen King has Castle Rock. Josh Malerman has Goblin. E. Reyes has Devil’s Hill. Now C. J. Daley welcomes you to Cemetery.
A strange town with a strange name, Cemetery, NY is filled with crime and secrets.
When a car accident one fateful night leads to a search for two missing bodies, detectives Abby Williams – an almost-thirty year old with something to prove – and Ed Reyes – a jaded, senior officer with a career as long as his partner is old – set out to solve the latest mystery.
Before long, a string of missing persons becomes a collection of bloodless bodies that has even the police pathologist stumped.
As the bloodshed continues, it becomes clear that the gruesome killings plaguing the town of Cemetery may not be the handiwork of some shadowy figure but of something even more sinister.
As detectives Williams and Reyes start to question the world around them, can they learn to put their differences aside? Or will the investigation of a lifetime be the end of their lives?
In this fast-paced small town crime thriller, nothing is as it seems.
“Beneath a web of lies and secrets, exists a small town plagued by masked figures and a growing body count. Daley shoves the reader headfirst into a nightmarish investigation where the deeper you dig, the more you realize some stories should stay buried. Welcome to Cemetery.”
—Nick Roberts, best-selling author of MEAN SPIRITED and THE EXORCIST’S HOUSE
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