From time to time, I like to give my classroom library a little refresh. Spooky season is the perfect time to spotlight horror, mystery, suspense, and all things creepy and crawly.
While I’ve previously shared short stories and poems for Halloween, today I wanted to focus on books that you can add to your classroom library!
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Spooky Season Favorites
Graveyard Shift by M.L.Rio is the novella that inspired this post. As I was reading the book, I kept thinking how lucky it was that I picked it up just in time for spooky season! Rio’s first book If We Were Villains is also spooky and comes with a hefty dose of Shakespeare.
Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall is a spooky road trip novel. Is the road a metaphor? Of course. But is the road also haunted by the creepy, eerie, and downright disturbing? Also, yes, and that’s what makes it perfect for spooky season. (There’s also a prequel called Our Last Echoes!)
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson is a witchy, spectacular delight! The first in a series, Dawson does a little bit of magic, a little bit of gender politics, and a little bit of Third (or Fourth) Wave feminism. While these books aren’t marketed as YA, they definitely fit that bill. Plus, this book has the coolest cover art!
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee is the most classically Gothic title on this list. The novel takes place at a boarding school, so it also fits the Dark Academia category in the most delicious way! Somehow Lee makes the main character sympathetic, unreliable, charming, and disarming all at once.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins is probably the most disturbing book on this list. While it is not the most overtly creepy or spooky, it plays with the horrors gods and titans inflict on their children. The narrator’s matter-of-fact attitude makes the book all the more haunting and memorable.
How to be Eaten by Maria Adelmann puts all your favorite fairytale characters in group therapy. Although each chapter is its own kind horrifying, the first one is chilling and unexpected. Plus, this novel packs a clever and timely twist that adds another level to the entire book. If you’re looking for black comedy, this is the spooky season title for you!
The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz was not the book I expected. Foolishly, I thought it was a book about a writing retreat. To be fair, there is a “retreat,” but it’s not about art. This book is maybe the spiritual cousin of the Netflix take on The Fall of the House of Usher.
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian is haunting rather than a slasher fic. There aren’t ghosts, but there are sociopaths and a serial killer. Kurian’s second novel A Step Past Darkness is more traditionally creepy with more overt supernatural elements, a disappearance, a ghost town, and a cult! As an added bonus, both books have dynamite character ensembles. A Step Past Darkness features one of my favorite twists on the traditional “jock” stereotype.
Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher is the most unexpectedly charming title on this list. You wouldn’t expect a book about bone magic to be quaint, but the main character has a pet bone dog! That’s not to say the book doesn’t have its creepy elements. I tore through this book so quickly. If you’re short on time, this book is a quick read that will still give you all the spooky season vibes.
Grimoire Girl by Hilarie Burton-Morgan celebrates the witch inside every woman, especially mothers. Burton-Morgn’s second book follows up The Rural Diaries with her spiritual reflections, traditions, and insights. While this is a memoir (and maybe more targeted at teachers than students), it definitely fits the Halloween vibes!
