Halloween is coming up, and we’ve got a collection of spooktacular stories to make your skin crawl! From horror, to dark fantasy, psychological suspense, and more, these 15 harrowing Halloween books might be best read in plenty of light. During the day. Maybe with all the doors locked just in case…
Check out the collection and treat yourself to a new favorite today!
Six Scary Stories by Stephen King
Number 1 bestselling horror author Stephen King introduces and presents six gripping and chilling stories in this captivating anthology! Stephen King discovered these stories when he judged a competition run by Hodder & Stoughton and the Guardian to celebrate publication of his own collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. He was so impressed with the entries that he recommended they be published together in one book, which Cemetery Dance Publications and Hodder & Stoughton are pleased to report has become a reality.
Venom in the Veins by Jennifer Estep
For Gin Blanco, the Spider, notorious assassin and current queen of the Ashland underworld, nothing is ever simple. This time around, someone seems to be targeting the prominent president of the First Trust bank. As Gin investigates, she finds that the more she digs, the more this case seems connected to the Circle, the evil, shadowy group that is secretly responsible for much of the crime and corruption in Ashland. But when another blast from her dark and deadly past as the Spider comes to light, Gin wonders if she’ll be able to survive this dangerous new enemy. And this enemy has a burning thirst for revenge that will only be satisfied with one thing: Gin’s death.
The Serial Killer’s Wife by Robert Swartwood
Five years ago Elizabeth Piccioni’s husband was arrested for a series of murders. Her life suddenly turned upside down, she took her son and ran away to start a new life. Now, living in a quiet part of the Midwest with a new identity, Elizabeth is ready to start over. Until she receives a phone call from a man calling about her past. He wants her husband’s trophies – the pieces of the victims her husband killed. And to get them, he’s taken Elizabeth’s son. With a deadline of one hundred hours, Elizabeth has no choice but to return to the life she once fled. Coming back, she soon realizes that everything was never as it seemed, and what’s more shocking than the identity of the kidnapper is the truth about her husband…
Final Girls by Mira Grant
Dr. Jennifer Webb has invented proprietary virtual reality technology that purports to heal psychological wounds. In a carefully controlled environment, Dr. Webb hopes to heal her clients by running them through scenarios straight out of horror movies and nightmares. Esther Hoffman is a skeptic and has spent her entire journalism career debunking such pseudoscience. She’s determined to unearth the truth about Dr. Webb’s methods. But Esther’s not the only one curious about how this technology works. Enter real-world threats just as frightening as those created in the lab. Dr. Webb and Esther are at odds, but they may also be each other’s only hope of survival.
Cloaks by F.A. Fisher
To the neighborhood kids, Old Mr. Heldrick and his Old House are best kept far away from. But when Bess finds herself caught in Mr. Hendrick’s basement, she finds out there’s more to his old house than just creaky floors and dark halls. Hidden inside Old Hendrick’s house is a portal to another world. And when Bess is forced to flee through the doorway, she’s transported to a nightmare on the other side. Now, running for her life in a strange and scary land, Bess must figure out how to get back before it’s too late. Before the black-cloaks find her…
Deadline by Jennifer Blackstream
As a witch with a dark past, Shade Renard knows the Otherworld isn’t always successful at policing itself. Humans don’t believe in magic anymore, and their ignorance renders them easy prey. So when an FBI contact hires her to consult on a possible haunting in a missing person case, Shade seizes the opportunity to see justice done. But the investigation takes an unexpected turn when an undead crime lord shows up on her doorstep. A bold thief stole the vampire’s little black book of secrets–and he’ll pay a lot more than an FBI consulting fee to get it back. Success means bringing a killer to justice and taking the first step to redemption. Failure means a war between humans and the Otherworld.
The Green and the Black by William Meikle
A small group of industrial archaeologists head into the center of Newfoundland to investigate the rumor of a long lost prospecting team. There, they find the remains of a mining operation. They also discover a journal and papers detailing the extent of the miners’ activities. But there is something else on the site, something older than the miners, as old as the rock itself. Soon a strange infection begins to spread like wildfire through mind and body. An infection that doctors seem powerless to define let alone control. Out of options, the survivor’s must return to the mine. They must face what waits for them, down in the deep dark places, where the green meets the black.
The Dead List by Jennifer L. Armentrout
When Ella is mysteriously attacked on her way home from a party, she finds herself at the center of an attempted murder investigation. As the weeks pass, it turns out that Ella isn’t the only one being tormented. With the help of an old flame and her friends and family, Ella tries to attain some sense of normalcy. But she can’t seem to shake the feeling that there’s a dark pattern hidden in this killer’s every move. Suddenly, even those in her innermost circle seem suspicious. In her seemingly safe West Virginia town, Ella starts to wonder…who can she trust?
Shadow’s Keep by Meghan O’Flynn
Deputy Sheriff William Shannahan doesn’t feel like a detective. His small Mississippi is town is a peaceful, quiet place, but that silence is about to be broken. When a child is found dead in the woods, signs point to an animal attack. Except William can’t shake the feeling something darker lurks in the shadows. For concealed beneath small-town politics is a knowledge that will shatter everything William knows to be true about his town–and the people in it.
The Dark Game by Douglas Clegg
Can you escape the nightmare? Men imprisoned, one in war and one in an asylum, these two novelettes are packed with twisted psychological suspense and spine-tingling horror at its darkest. One man, a prisoner of war; and the other, a disturbed young man who wants out of a hospital for the criminally insane – at any cost! New York Timesbestselling author Douglas Clegg brings us two of his dark classics in this gathering of two short novellas, The Dark Game and I Am Infinite, I Contain Multitudes.
Gingerbread Man by Maggie Shayne
Since the day her baby sister was taken, Holly’s mind hasn’t been the same. PTSD, panic attacks, nightmares and blocked memories have plagued her ever since. And now they’ve returned. Hard-edged Detective Vince O’Malley’s most recent case penetrated even his protective shell. Ordered to take time off to recover, he can’t let go. And on his own, he follows the clues to Holly’s small upstate NY town. His presence stirs ghosts from the past, shadows of a little girl lost, the suspicions of some tight-lipped locals with secrets to hide, and more than that inside Holly’s fragile mind and untouched heart.
Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales by Orrin Grey
Sardonic Tales like the fourteen collected here, ready to wrench the reader’s emotions, tantalize, and terrify. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Roger Corman, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, the Theatre de Grand Guignol, Universal’s monster movies, Hammer horror, kaiju flicks, and more, all while creating something unique, intoxicating, and, yes, cruel.
Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales has something for everyone… even the most jaded readers.
Blaze by Monique Martin
London, 1904. All Artemis wants for her 16th birthday is a fancy new dress and maybe a few stolen sips of champagne. What she gets is a fiery sword and an inescapable destiny. She’s the Blaze–fated to protect the city from Darkness. With all of two days training, she must strike back against a rising evil. But her new powers come at a cost, and the truth behind them is more terrifying than any monster. Cinch your corset and strap in for a wild ride through turn-of-the-century London. And don’t miss the next book in the Blaze Series – MIRROR – out 10/26!
Fractured Magic by Emily Bybee
As the world’s worst witch, Maddie is mistreated by her own kind. She was born a Defect. And when she fails her magic final, the council orders her magic stripped. Maddie’s only chance is to find the long-lost power of the earth, hoping that it can fix her. But other witches are searching for that power too. And Maddie must use her instincts to stay ahead as she follows the two-hundred-year-old trail to the power of the earth and the truth behind her defect.
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch
There have been ghosts on the London Underground, sad, harmless spectres whose presence does little more than give a frisson to travelling and boost tourism. But now there’s a rash of sightings on the Metropolitan Line and these ghosts are frightening, aggressive and seem to be looking for something. Enter PC Peter Grant, junior member of the Metropolitan Police’s Special Assessment unit a.k.a. The Folly a.k.a. the only police officers whose official duties include ghost hunting. Together with Jaget Kumar, his counterpart at the British Transport Police, he must brave the terrifying crush of London’s rush hour to find the source of the ghosts. Joined by Peter’s wannabe wizard cousin, a preschool river god and Toby the ghost hunting dog, their investigation takes a darker tone as they realise that a real person’s life might just be on the line. And time is running out to save them.
For more scary stories to keep you up at night, check out the full sale here!
