Top Ten Books to Read During Halloween

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. There is a new subject each week and this week's topic is "Top Ten Books to Read During Halloween".

1. Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie


I read this as a young teen and at the time felt so creeped out that I hid the book high on a shelf in my closet as if its very presence were evil...Now I laugh at that memory but this is a good mystery for this time of year since a murder takes place at a Halloween party.

2. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie


Besides being my favorite Agatha Christie novel this is also one of her more chilling works (no Belgian detective or Miss Marple to keep things lighter). People are stuck in a house on an island and they keep dying one by one...


3. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley


No Halloween reading list should be without this classic :) I don't really consider this to be a frightening story. It is more reflective on the nature of man and asks the question "Who is really the monster"?

4. Nevermore by Kelly Creagh


This book isn't entirely creepy but it definitely becomes that way as the story goes along. A good atmospheric read for Halloween especially with the Edgar Allan Poe references. Poe's The Raven is a good poem for this time of year too.


5. The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe


I read a lot of Poe's works for my high school English class and this is the one that stuck out to me as a "spooky" story. Really many of his works should be on this list like The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell Tale Heart, and The Fall of the House of Usher but as a teen, this one had the strongest effect on me when I read it. I think it was my fascination with the Black Death.

6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling


With giant spiders trying to eat you, a basilisk, and the evil and creepy teenage Voldemort, this is a good Halloween read. Who could forget Nearly Headless Nick's death day party on Halloween night?

7. The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan


I just found this whole book to be creepy with the black magic, demons, etc. I am not a huge fan of the series but I do think it is a good pick for those who want something edgy for Halloween.

8. Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda 


While Devil's Kiss has some similarities with #7, I didn't find it to be quite as creepy to read. It does have plenty of monsters and a teenage heroine who has to slay them. There is also one nasty character in particular whose heart is black as night, if he even has one...

9. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin


The romance isn't that great but The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer definitely has spook potential with all the hallucinations Mara keeps having (or are they real?). This book reminded me of Lois Duncan and Christopher Pike.

10. The Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink


Evil twin sister-check. Scary demonic creature-check. Dark magic-check. 


The Prophecy of the Sisters may be set in a historical time and there is some romance but it definitely has some creepy moments especially with all the astral traveling and the Jorgamund. If Alice's head started spinning around, I would not have been surprised...