Top new horror books in October 2023
Last updated:
October 31, 2023
October 2023 featuring new releases by Jennifer McMahon, Christina McDonald, Lisa Unger, Sophie Lark, Rebecca Roanhorse, N.K. Jemisin, Jennifer Sherman Roberts, Benedict Jacka, Lily Mayne, Beatrix Hollow, Megan Shepherd, A.K. Blakemore and many more.
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My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon
A spine-tingling psychological thriller about a woman who, after taking in her dying, alcoholic mother, begins to suspect demonic possession is haunting her family.Alison has never been a fan of Christmas. But with it right around the corner and her husband busily decorating their cozy Vermont home, she has no choice but to face it. Then she gets the call...horror · mystery · fiction · contemporary · supernatural · thriller · season-winter · suspense · paranormal · family -
![These Still Black Waters by Christina McDonald]()
These Still Black Waters by Christina McDonald
Two women struggle toward a dark truth as a killer avenges the sins of the past in a twisting novel of suspense by the USA Today bestselling author of Do No Harm, Behind Every Lie, and The Night Olivia Fell.After a violent home invasion, Neve Maguire returns with her daughter to Black Lake, her childhood summer home, hoping for a fresh start...mystery · fiction · horror · crime · suspense · paranormal · psychological · contemporary · thriller · law-enforcement -
![Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger]()
Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger
Instead of presents this Christmas, a true crime podcaster is opening up a cold case…Madeline Martin has built a life for herself as the young owner of a thriving business, The Next Chapter Bookshop, despite her tragic childhood and now needing to care for her infirm father...mystery · fiction · crime · suspense · horror · thriller · murder · female-mc · serial-killers · psychological -
![Grimstone by Sophie Lark]()
Grimstone by Sophie Lark
Remi Hayes is beginning to think she’s cursed —her fiancé cheated on her, her brother Jude is a major pain in her ass, and the moldering mansion she inherited from her uncle might just be haunted...romance · dark · gothic · contemporary · suspense · age-gap · small-town · enemies-to-lovers · forced-proximity · steamy -
![Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror by Rebecca Roanhorse, N.K. Jemisin, Tochi Onyebuchi, Nnedi Okorafor]()
Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror by Rebecca Roanhorse, N.K. Jemisin, Tochi Onyebuchi, Nnedi Okorafor
The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates this groundbreaking anthology of all-new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation.A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over...horror · fiction · anthologies · paranormal · contemporary · audiobook · poc-mc · spooky · fantasy · supernatural -
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![The Village Healer's Book of Cures by Jennifer Sherman Roberts]()
The Village Healer's Book of Cures by Jennifer Sherman Roberts
In seventeenth-century England, a female healer enflames the fury of a witchfinder in this propulsive novel about murder, revenge, and the dangerous power of knowledge. Mary Fawcett refines the healing recipes she’s inherited from generations of women before her―an uncanny and moral calling to empathize with the sick...historical-fiction · mystery · fiction · fantasy · gothic · historical · witches-wizards · magic · suspense · dark -
![An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka]()
An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka
The super-rich control everything—including magic—in this thrilling and brilliant, contemporary fantasy from the author of the Alex Verus novels.The wealthy seem to exist in a different, glittering world from the rest of us. Almost as if by... magic.Stephen Oakwood is a young man on the edge of this hidden world... -
![Monster Mall: A Monster Romance Anthology by Lily Mayne, Beatrix Hollow, Elle M. Drew, Clio Evans]()
Monster Mall: A Monster Romance Anthology by Lily Mayne, Beatrix Hollow, Elle M. Drew, Clio Evans
Welcome to the ‘80sBright neon lights are humming. Tunes are cranked to the max. And everyone from preppies to punk rockers are chilling out at the Creepy Court Mall—the happening place in town.But behind the glam, things are stranger than they seem. Gnarly monsters hide in plain sight, and they’re on the prowl for their perfect mate... -
![Midnight Showing by Megan Shepherd]()
Midnight Showing by Megan Shepherd
Book 2 in The Malice Compendium series by New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd, featuring dark magic and family secrets with a contemporary horror tone.Immediately following the events of Malice House (Book 1), Haven and her newly found sister are on the road, trying to discover the contours of her family's curse...horror · mystery · fiction · dark · spooky · romantic-love · paranormal · urban-fantasy · ghosts · murder -
![The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore]()
The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore
A subversive historical novel set during the French Revolution, inspired by a young peasant boy turned showman, said to have been tormented and driven to murder by an all-consuming appetite.1798, France. Nuns move along the dark corridors of a Versailles hospital where the young Sister Perpetué has been tasked with sitting with the patient who must always be watched...historical-fiction · fiction · horror · historical · 21st-century · literary-fiction · humor · human-condition · dark · gothic -
![Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons]()
Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons
AT DAWN HE’LL BE GONE AND YOU’LL BE HERE FOREVER.Kristen Simmons's masterful breakout horror novel that's "Jumanji but Japanese-inspired" (Kendare Blake) about estranged friends playing a deadly game in a nightmarish folkloric underworld.“A nightmare I didn’t want to end.” —Terry J. Benton-Walker • “Absorbing.” —C. L. Herman • “Bone-chilling.” —Lauren Shippen • “Unforgettable...horror · young-adult · fantasy · myths · paranormal · fiction · lgbtq · sci-fi · mystery · multi-pov -
![Touched by Walter Mosley]()
Touched by Walter Mosley
Intergalactic visions, deadly threats, and explosive standoffs between mostly good and nearly completely evil converge in an alternative fiction novel that could only be conceived by the inimitable Walter Mosley, one of the country’s most beloved and acclaimed writers... -
![Christmas and Other Horrors: An Anthology of Solstice Horror by Garth Nix, Josh Malerman]()
Christmas and Other Horrors: An Anthology of Solstice Horror by Garth Nix, Josh Malerman
Hugo Award winning editor, and horror legend, Ellen Datlow presents a terrifying and chilling horror anthology of original short stories exploring the endless terrors of winter solstice traditions across the globe, featuring chillers by Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu and many more...horror · anthologies · fiction · fantasy · season-winter · murder · supernatural · myths · classics · retellings -
![Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead]()
Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead
From the critically acclaimed author of In My Dreams I Hold A Knife and The Last Housewife comes a gothic Southern thriller about a killer haunting a small Louisiana town, where two outcasts—the preacher's daughter and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks—hold the key to uncovering the truth...romance · mystery · horror · fiction · contemporary · dark · psychological · season-autumn · female-mc · literary-fiction -
![Sinful Curses by Brenda K. Davies]()
Sinful Curses by Brenda K. Davies
As Sahira and Orin move deeper into the Barren Lands, their journey takes them through treacherous places that hide endless surprises and formidable enemies.Faced with continued challenges, they will do whatever it takes to find answers… and freedom .Along the way, new friends emerge, lives are lost, and the secrets unveiled will either bring Orin and Sahira closer or tear them apart forever... -
![People to Follow by Olivia Worley]()
People to Follow by Olivia Worley
Ten teen influencers come to a remote island to star in a reality show, but when one of them winds up dead, they realize that this time, the price of being “cancelled” could be their lives.A reality show on a remote Caribbean island. Ten teen influencers. One dead body...young-adult · mystery · fiction · contemporary · suspense · crime · action-adventure · thriller · romantic-love · horror -
![Silent City by Sarah Davis-Goff]()
Silent City by Sarah Davis-Goff
The story of young female warrior who must start a revolution if she and those she loves are to survive.Orpen has always been an outlier in Phoenix City - the only outsider ever admitted to the ranks of the banshees, the female warriors who enforce order, and protect it from the skrake - the ravening creatures that have laid waste to the rest of the country, and gather at the city walls...sci-fi · dystopia · fiction · horror · zombies · mystery · apocalyptic · post-apocalyptic · coming-of-age · book -
![Carving for Cara by Dana LeeAnn, Melissa McSherry]()
Carving for Cara by Dana LeeAnn, Melissa McSherry
He is my predator, and I am his prey. Tonight, he is starving for a taste of what’s his.It was Halloween, my favorite time of the year. I had my dream job as a tattoo artist, a loyal best friend, and an ex who happily tended to my needs without complicating our arrangement with feelings... -
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![Run Baby Run: Halloween Novella by D Sabia, Dani Sabia]()
Run Baby Run: Halloween Novella by D Sabia, Dani Sabia
AlecForgive me, father, for I am about to sin.She’s my addiction. My drug of choice. Mine.But she doesn’t know that. Yet…But come Halloween night, she will be mine.Even if I need to hunt her down, Hayden Macey will be mine.Run baby run.HaydenEverywhere I turn, I feel like someone’s there, watching me.Watching every move I make...romance · dark · horror · stalking · steamy · contemporary · religious · sexual-assault · dangerous-mc · religion -
![Burn by Natalia Jaster]()
Burn by Natalia Jaster
"The fire between us only blazed hotter."Poet and Briar's spicy story ignites in this next installment. Full blurb to come.WARNING: This is the third book in a scorching hot NA/New Adult fantasy romance series with explicit sexual content and language. For readers 18+ who want heavy steam and enemies to lovers... -
![Dead Devil's Night by Maree Rose]()
Dead Devil's Night by Maree Rose
ONE NIGHT.That was all it took for Rylan's world to disappear.A year has passed, filled with plotting.Because this year, on that one night, she will make them pay.THIS DEAD DEVIL’S NIGHT, SHE WILL GIVE THEM THEIR OWN INTRODUCTION TO HELL.Maree's Note: Warning, this book is a whychoose MFM dark contemporary romance. It contains very explicit 18+ dark, sexual content, and straight-up smut...romance · dark · horror · crime · contemporary · reverse-harem · steamy · spooky · revenge · age-gap -
![The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson]()
The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson
A Lesson in Vengeance meets The Taking of Jake Livingston in this page-turning YA horror/fantasy set in dark academia about a queer Black teen who discovers the sinister history of his boarding school and the corrupt powers behind it all.Regent Academy has a long and storied history in Winslow, Vermont, as does the forest that surrounds it...horror · young-adult · lgbtq · fantasy · mystery · fiction · magic · dark-academia · poc-mc · contemporary -
![Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone]()
Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone
A bloodstained tale of a girl torn between her vows and her heart, where falling in love may be the deepest sin of all…Everline Blackthorn has devoted her life to the wardens—a sect of holy warriors who guard against monsters known as the vespertine...romance · fantasy · young-adult · paranormal · horror · high-fantasy · dark · dark-fantasy · fiction · gothic -
![Jacked by Layla Fae]()
Jacked by Layla Fae
It's Halloween. Exactly two years ago, my life shattered, and now I'm back where it happened to finish the job. This house should be empty and abandoned.It isn't. I meet three masked men who tie me up and do filthy, thrilling things to my body and soul. Trick or treat?As it turns out, it's both.This is a Why Choose Halloween novella with 18+ content and dark themes. Read responsibly...romance · reverse-harem · dark · paranormal · steamy · mlm · monsters · age-gap · ghosts · multi-pov -
![Gutted by Layla Fae]()
Gutted by Layla Fae
It’s time to pay, and I am the price.The night’s coming to an end. We all know what it means. The only thing worth living for will be ripped out of my hands.They agreed on what would happen. It’s me against the three, and it seems I will get my goal, after all.We come together for one last time before our fates untangle forever... -
![Carved by Layla Fae]()
Carved by Layla Fae
I run from them, but they are faster and stronger than me. They only care about one making me theirs.Until it's time for me to stand trial. My three jailors accuse me and hand me my a cruel, obscene punishment. There is no escape from the haunted house. No running from my captors.And so I suffer, I bleed, I open and scream under their skillful hands, but I don't wish for mercy...romance · reverse-harem · dark · paranormal · steamy · mlm · age-gap · ghosts · spooky · supernatural -
![Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson]()
Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson
A sweet sapphic romance takes a deadly dark turn in this sharp-as-a-knife novella from the New York Times bestselling author.Rosemary meets Ash at the farmers’ market. Ash—precise, pretty, and practically perfect—sells bars of soap in delicate pastel colors, sprinkle-spackled cupcakes stacked on scalloped stands, beeswax candles, jelly jars of honey, and glossy green plants...horror · lgbtq · wlw · female-author · fantasy · fiction · supernatural · romantic-love · book · adult -
![Becoming the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar]()
Becoming the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar
A riveting, haunting sequel to the New York Times bestselling thriller Chasing the Boogeyman—a tale of obsession and the adulation of evil, exploring modern society’s true-crime obsession with unflinching honesty, sparing no one from the glare of the spotlight...horror · mystery · crime · fiction · suspense · true-crime · thriller · audiobook · serial-killers · murder -
![When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya de Becerra]()
When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya de Becerra
Haunting of Hill House meets found-footage horror in this edge-of-your-seat thriller that explores the power of family ties and the trauma that lurks there...horror · young-adult · fantasy · fiction · gothic · paranormal · mystery · haunted-places · spooky · supernatural -
![All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters]()
All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters
Ninth House meets The Dead and the Dark in this gothic dark academia novel that delves into the human capacity for great love, great art, and great evil. Magni animi numquam moriuntur. Great minds never die. The students in Corbin College’s elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all—free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate...horror · fantasy · young-adult · gothic · lgbtq · paranormal · mystery · wlw · dark-academia · season-autumn -
![The Reformatory by Tananarive Due]()
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.Gracetown, FloridaJune 1950Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr...horror · historical-fiction · fiction · historical · mystery · poc-author · poc-mc · dark-academia · black-mc · book -
![The Cruel Dark by Bea Northwick]()
The Cruel Dark by Bea Northwick
Millicent Foxboro is haunted.Not by ghosts but by the anguish of her past and the uncertainty of her future. After all, even in the progressive year of 1928, most people would balk at hiring a woman who’d spent two months in a mental ward for traumatic amnesia...romance · historical-fiction · gothic · horror · historical · mystery · fantasy · dark · dark-academia · myths -
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![Corrupt Shadows by Rebecca L. Garcia, C.M. Hutton]()
Corrupt Shadows by Rebecca L. Garcia, C.M. Hutton
The Witch…Nine years ago, I killed my brother, and I’ve been running from my past ever since.I find a home in Darkwood, finally safe from those who hunt me. But no matter what I do, the darkness keeps pulling me in.I allow my shadow magic to edge closer to the surface to feel something, anything. But no matter how much I want to embrace the power, I can’t...romance · fantasy · dark · paranormal · witches-wizards · gothic · demons · magic · fiction · steamy -
![The Aspect of Essence by Samantha Amstutz]()
The Aspect of Essence by Samantha Amstutz
For over a millennium, the elves have concealed their powers.Until now.Since arriving on the mortals’ shores, the elves have systematically colonized the primitive human race. As subjugated peasants, the mortals toil to supply the elven realm with riches.The elves’ magic has degraded their race to a point where they have been rendered infertile...romance · fantasy · dark · dark-fantasy · magic · young-adult · fae · multi-pov · enemies-to-lovers · fiction -
![And Don't Look Back by Rebecca Barrow]()
And Don't Look Back by Rebecca Barrow
After her mother’s death, a teen pieces together the truth of her family’s past and what her mom was hiding from in this thriller that’s perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Tiffany D. Jackson.Harlow Ford has spent her entire life running, caught in her mother’s wake as they flit from town to town, hiding from a presence that Harlow isn’t even sure is real... -
![Heart of Wrath by Effie Campbell]()
Heart of Wrath by Effie Campbell
Emily's whole life has brought her to the brink. No-one believes that a black-eyed demon killed her father, incarcerating her for her delusions instead. When he pins her to a wall and steals a kiss five years later, she falls down a dark rabbit-hole that leaves her killing the people who hurt her just to see her demonic paramour.It's a dangerous game, and she can't resist play..romance · paranormal · dark · steamy · demons · graphic-violence · revenge · horror · new-adult · monsters -
![Devil by Kat Blackthorne]()
Devil by Kat Blackthorne
The Halloween Boys Book FourCover and blurb coming...romance · paranormal · reverse-harem · dark · steamy · shapeshifters · spooky · multi-pov · fantasy · myths -
![The Boy Who Lurks in Shadows by Rachel Rener]()
The Boy Who Lurks in Shadows by Rachel Rener
The thrilling sequel and prequel to The Girl Who Talks to Ashes ...It’s been three years since Lilah Quinn stumbled upon the bones of her biological mother, thereby solving the mystery of Willow’s long-forgotten disappearance...spooky · paranormal · mystery · supernatural · horror · amateur-sleuth · coming-of-age · fantasy · time-travel · sci-fi -
![Hollowed: A Sleepy Hollow Reimagining by Jessica S. Taylor]()
Hollowed: A Sleepy Hollow Reimagining by Jessica S. Taylor
Nothing is ever as it seems in Sleepy Hollow…Sleepy Hollow is crumbling. To protect the supernatural town from the mundane world, each year a resident is sacrificed to The Dullahan, the Headless Horseman that protects the veil around the Hollow.Nineteen-year-old Katrina van Tassel knows she’s a disappointment to her parents, for more reasons than one...romance · fantasy · retellings · horror · gothic · dark · paranormal · dark-fantasy · season-autumn · supernatural
