Looking for a Halloween Book?

If you’re looking for a good Halloween read, here a few options to consider.

I actually discussed a couple of recent releases in my latest Ranking Recent Reads post, The Call by Peader O’Guilin and How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather.  I enjoyed both of these and very much recommend them to anyone looking for a good story.  The Call tells of a world where Irish teenagers are summoned, seemingly at random, to a world inhabited by The Sidhe, a fae race who had been driven out of Ireland years before.  The summoned teens must survive twenty-four hours in the world of the Sidhe, while being hunted relentlessly.  How to Hang a Witch tells the story of a descendent of Cotton Mather, infamous figure from the Salem witch trials, who is forced to move to Salem, where she quickly runs afoul of The Descendants, a group of friends descended from the supposed witches executed during the Salem Witch Trials.  Sam Mather has always thought she was cursed, and things only get worse once she arrives in Salem.  She must determine if The Descendants are behind her misfortune, or possibly the allies she needs to reclaim control of her life.  You might want to check out this How to Hang a Witch book trailer from Random House Kids, or this The Call liveshow featuring well-known booktubers Jessethereader, Katytastic, and polandbannnaanasBOOKS.

A couple of other very good Halloween options are The Lynburn Legacy series by Sarah Rees Brennan and The Year of Shadows by Claire Legrand.  The Lynburn Legacy story follows Kami, a girl who has always been able to telepathically communicate with a mysterious boy named Jared.  Whether this is a hallucination or some bizarre ability she possesses, Kami has learned to live with it and is currently more interested in the return of the Lynburn family to her small town.  Kami has noticed that the people of her town seem to have an odd fear and reverence for the mysterious family, and young school paper reporter Kami is determined to uncover the secrets of the Lynburns.  The Year of the Shadows follows Olivia Stellatella, who is forced to move into the city’s concert hall with her father and grandmother, and soon becomes convinced that the building is haunted.

I have also recently read Possess by Gretchen McNeil and a Bloody Mary duology by Hilary Monahan.  Possess follows a girl who seems to have the talent for banishing demons.  In Mary:  The Summoning and Mary:  The Unleashed, four girls summon Bloody Mary, but things go horribly wrong and one of them is soon being stalked by the vengeful spirit. And is one of the girls secretly manipulating the situation?  I don’t think these books are quite on the same level as the others mentioned in this post, but they are still solid, if not spectacular, options to check out.

Finally, I recently read the Bad Girls Don’t Die trilogy by Katie Alender.  The first book follows Alexis as she becomes increasingly troubled by the strange behaviour of her younger sister Kasey.  Is Kasey losing her mind, or is someone or something else controlling Kasey’s actions?  Honestly, I think the only thing I really need to say here is that the first thing I did after finishing the trilogy was head to Goodreads and change add all of Alender’s other books to my want-to-read list.

So, there we have it.  If you are looking for some good options to read as we approach Halloween, I highly recommend that you check out some of the books from this article.