October 2024 TBR

Welcome to Spooky Season! But if I’m being honest, I started celebrating in July. Either way, I’m ready to continue with my creepy, atmospheric reads. Let’s get to my October 2024 tbr.

The October Country

Synopsis:

This classic collection features:

The Emissary: The faithful dog was the sick boy’s only connection with the world outside–and beyond . . .
The Small Assassin: A fine, healthy baby boy was the new mother’s dream come true–or her worst nightmare . . .
The Scythe: Just when his luck had run out, Drew Erickson inherited a farm from a stranger; and with the bequest came deadly responsibilities . . .
The Jar: A chilling story that combines love, death . . . and a matter of identity in a bottle of fear.
The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone: A most remarkable case of murder–the deceased was delighted . . .Plus fourteen more unforgettable tales!

I regret not reading this every year, so I’m making sure to squeeze it in. I love Ray Bradbury’s writing so I’m hoping it gives me all of the October feelings.

Purchase

An Academy for Liars

Synopsis:

Lennon Carter’s life is falling apart. Then she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to take the entrance exam for Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah. Lennon has been chosen because–like everyone else at the school–she has the innate gift of persuasion, the ability to wield her will like a weapon, using it to control others and, in rare cases, matter itself.

After passing the test, Lennon begins to learn how to master her devastating and unsettling power. But despite persuasion’s heavy toll on her body and mind, she is wholly captivated by her studies, by Drayton’s lush, moss-draped campus, and by her brilliant classmates. But even more captivating is her charismatic adviser, Dante, who both intimidates and enthralls her.

As Lennon continues in her studies, her control grows, and she starts to uncover more about the secret world she has entered into, including the disquieting history of Drayton College. She is increasingly disturbed by what she learns, for it seems that the ultimate test is to embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption…and it’s a test she’s terrified she’s going to fail.

I don’t think this one is necessarily spooky but I’m just really excited to give it a read. If I’m being honest, it mostly caught my attention because it’s set in Savannah, but the dark academia vibe sounds fun as well.

Purchase

The Return

Synopsis:

Julie is missing, and no one believes she will ever return–except Elise. Elise knows Julie better than anyone and feels it in her bones that her best friend is out there, and that one-day Julie will come back. She’s right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she’s been or what happened to her. Along with Molly and Mae, their two close friends from college, the women decide to reunite at a remote inn. But the second Elise sees Julie, she knows something is wrong–she’s emaciated, with sallow skin and odd appetites. And as the weekend unfurls, it becomes impossible to deny that the Julie who vanished two years ago is not the same Julie who came back. But then who–or what–is she?

The Return is Rachel Harrison’s first book and it’s the only one I haven’t read. I want to give it a read this month because I love the spooky vibes her books create. I also have a fun little post coming up towards the end of the month and I need to finish this one before I do that.

Purchase

The September House

Synopsis:

A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel. When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street–for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price–they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings.

Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee. Margaret is not most people. Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine–who knows nothing about the hauntings–arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep.

I meant to read September House in September, and I didn’t get around to it. But it’s still really high on my want to read list. I’m hoping to get to it this month because a tongue in cheek haunted house story sounds like the perfect way to celebrate Halloween.

Purchase

Fear Street: Halloween Party

Synopsis:

Don’t listen to the stories they tell you about Fear Street. Wouldn’t you rather explore it yourself…and see if its dark terror and unexplained mysteries are true? You’re not afraid, are you?

Invitation to Terror

The invitation arrived in a black-bordered envelope. Inside, the card showed a coffin with the inscription “Reserved For You.” It was perfectly fitting for an all-night Halloween party on Fear Street. But Terry and his girlfriend Niki wondered why they had been invited. They barely knew Justine Cameron, the beautiful and mysterious transfer student who was throwing the party.

The party was well under way when the lights went out. That’s to be expected at a spooky Halloween party. But when the lights come back on, there was that boy on the floor with the knife in his back. Just a Halloween prank? Maybe. Maybe not.

For Terry and Niki, the trick-or-treating has turned to terror. To their horror, they realize that someone at the costume party is dressed to kill!

Lastly, I want to read something nostalgic to celebrate my favorite holiday. And to me there is nothing more nostalgic than the Fear Street series. So, a fear street novel set around a Halloween party is just what I’m looking for.

So that’s my October 2024 tbr. What are you reading this month? I’d especially love to know if you’re reading something set on Halloween.