October 2025 TBR

It is time for all the spookiness, and I couldn’t be any happier. I’m so ready to dive into these books. Here’s my October 2025 tbr.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

Synopsis:

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. But none of that seems so terrible when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister, Delilah, being pushed in front of a train.

Before fleeing the scene, the murderer shouted two words: bat eater.

So the bloody messes don’t really bother Cora–she’s more bothered by the germs on the subway railing, the bare hands of a stranger, the hidden viruses in every corner, and the bite marks on her coffee table. Of course, ever since Delilah was killed in front of her, Cora can’t be sure what’s real.

She pushes away all feelings and ignores the advice of her aunt to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open. But she can’t ignore the dread in her stomach as she keeps finding bat carcasses at crime scenes, or the scary fact that all her recent cleanups have been the bodies of East Asian women.

As Cora will soon learn, you can’t just ignore hungry ghosts.

I really don’t know what to expect from Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. I’ve heard it’s really good so I’m ready to jump in and see what it’s about. I’m hoping it’s really creepy.

The Butcher’s Daughter

Synopsis:

London, 1887: At the abandoned apartment of a missing young woman, a dossier of evidence is collected, ordered chronologically, and sent to the Chief Inspector of the London Metropolitan Police. It contains a frightening correspondence between an inquisitive journalist, Miss Emily Gibson, and the woman Gibson thinks may be the infamous Mrs. Lovett—Sweeney Todd’s accomplice, “a wicked woman” who baked men into pies and sold them in her pie shop on Fleet Street. The talk of London Town—even decades after her horrendous misdeeds.

As the woman relays the harrowing account of her life in the unruly and perilous streets of Victorian London, her missives unlock an intricate mystery that brings Miss Gibson closer to the truth, even as that truth may cost her everything. A hair-raising and breathtaking novel for fans of Sarah Waters and Gregory Maguire, The Butcher’s Daughter is an irresistible literary thriller that draws richly from historical sources and shines new light on the woman behind the counter of the most disreputable pie shop ever known.

One of my favorite movies is Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street so the fact that this centers around Mrs. Lovett I knew I needed The Butcher’s Daughter. I didn’t realize that the movie was based around a series of penny dreadfuls called The String of Pearls, so I’m reading it right now. I’m going to pick this one up next.

The Mist in the Mirror

Synopsis:

For the last twenty years Sir James Monmouth has journeyed all over the globe in the footsteps of his hero. In an effort to learn more about Vane’s early life Sir James sets off for the remote Kittiscar Hall. But he soon begins to feel as though something is warning him away at every turn. And as he learns more about his hero’s past for Kittiscar Hall is hiding terrible secret.

I loved The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. I’m hoping I love The Mist in the Mirror just as much. It sounds like it’s going to be a spooky, atmospheric read and that’s what I want this month.

Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton

Synopsis:

One might not expect a woman of Edith Wharton’s literary stature to be a believer of ghost stories, much less be frightened by them, but as she admits in her postscript to this spine-tingling collection, “…till I was twenty-seven or -eight, I could not sleep in the room with a book containing a ghost story.” Once her fear was overcome, however, she took to writing tales of the supernatural for publication in the magazines of the day.

I’ve never read anything by Edith Wharton so I might as well start with ghost stories. I love ghost stories, and I think that would be a good introduction to any author’s work. I’m going to read one short story a day in celebration of spooky season.

Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens

Synopsis:

The stories include: “The Queer Chair – The Bagman’s Story”, “A Madman’s Manuscript”, “The Goblins who Stole a Sexton”, “The Ghosts of the Mail – The Story of The Bagman’s uncle”, “The Baron of Grogzwig”, “To be Read at Dusk”, “Ghost in the Bride’s Chamber”, and more.

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic famous for having created some of the world’s most well-known fictional characters.

His works became unprecedentedly popular during his life, and today he is commonly regarded as the greatest Victorian-era novelist.

I already know I love Dicken’s ghost stories, so after I finish the Edith Wharton collection, I’ll finish the season off with this one.

That’s my spooky October 2025 TBR. If you did a tbr post for spooky season link it in the comments. I want to read all the festive things.