Classic Horror Novels You Can’t Skip on Halloween Night!

Looking for a big scare on the biggest night for horror and thriller lovers? Check out this list of the best classic horror novels you can’t skip on Halloween Night!

Edgar Allan Poe: Collected Works

This volume illustrates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary history by bringing together the best of Edgar Allan Poe’s tales of terror and haunting lyric poetry. So embrace yourself if you are in for classic spooky, gothic, and mysterious storytelling. You can’t really start the Halloween season without one of the OGs.

The Hacienda 

There’s just something unavoidable about the gothic. A person can barely walk through a bookstore without coming across any number of its variations, innovations, and imitation pieces. The Hacienda is a gothic novel by Isabel Cañas about a woman named Beatriz who marries a wealthy family with a dark secret. The family is trying to protect something evil, and they will do anything to keep it hidden. Beatriz must figure out what the secret is before she becomes another victim. It’s an impeccably executed classic historical, gothic novel. 

No Gods for Drowning 

No Gods for Drowning is a horror novel mixing the conventions of noir, urban fantasy, and murder mystery with a mythology-inspired world. Written by Hailey Piper, a rising star in the genre who recently won the Bram Stoker Award, she takes us to a city abandoned by the gods and beset by chronic flooding and monsters, where a serial killer stalks the streets, ironically, trying to help. When the gods start to return, an even greater mystery unfolds—one of cosmic significance. Fans of unclassifiable works should not skip this modern classic.

Dracula

One of the most influential horror novels in history, Dracula by Irish author Bram Stoker, is a work that every horror fan should read at least once. The book tells the story of Count Dracula’s attempt to escape from Transylvania to England and Professor Abraham Van Helsing’s battle with the vampire. This classic is written in epistolary form, which includes various logs, diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings.

Red Dragon 

The Silence of the Lambs tends to drive all the attention (including its critically-acclaimed film version), but if you want to know how the famous Hannibal Lecter saga started, you must read Red Dragon. A serial killer starts attacking families, and the FBI seeks the help of William Graham, one of their most experienced detectives. The latter retired after the horrors he witnessed during his quest to capture Dr. Hannibal Lecter. However, Graham must lean on Dr. Lecter’s criminal experience to solve the case. The first chapter of this classic cult series fully exposes the fights between good and evil while demonstrating that the “good guy” isn’t always the hero.

Beloved

Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows the tragic story of Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman who escaped to Ohio after the American Civil War. However, she can’t escape her memories of “Sweet Home,” the hideous farm she was enslaved for 18 years, and now her new home is haunted by the ghost of her firstborn. Filled with painful poetry and heart-beating tension, Beloved is a soaring and heartbreaking horror classic inspired by an event that actually happened. 

The Other

An attention-getter during the horror mania of the 60s, The Other has since flown under the radar, maybe because its film adaptation wasn’t nearly as successful as other cult classics. Still, this horrific psychological classic by Thomas Tryon follows two identical 13-year-old twins living on a rural New England farm, where one of them discovers who he really is.

Needful Things

In one of Stephen King’s most underrated horror stories, Leland Gaunt opens “Needful Things,” a shop where he somehow possesses the most suited items for each of his customers. Unfortunately, part of the purchase transaction involves executing pranks with a distinct purpose. The citizens of Castle Rock will do almost anything to get what they want from the store, escalating the town’s internal problems until everything goes out of control. It’s a fun and mysterious classic from the 90s horror era.

The Saturday Night Ghost Club

Jake Baker decides to spend the summer with his uncle Calvin, a kind but strange devotee of mysterious relics and conspiracy theories. When Jake turns twelve, Calvin decides to initiate him and his friends into his “Saturday Night Ghost Club.” It’s all fun and games until the truth starts to uncover, leading to something more significant than the kids had imagined. A coming-of-age story that can draw some similarities to younger readers with Stranger Things, The Saturday Night Ghost Club is the perfect 80s vibe novel that carefully explores the haunting mutability of memory and storytelling. In addition, it establishes the author, Craig Davidson, as a remarkable literary talent.

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