Creepy Book Recommendations — kelsey holtaway

Oct 14

Oct 14 Creepy Book Recs

It’s spooky szn and if y’all wanna get spooky I have the recs!

Y’all, I love horror. My first scary movie was The Shining when I was around 7ish (probably not advised but this was the 90s and my parents knew what I liked). That said! It’s pretty tough for me to get spooked from reading a book but hat doesn’t stop me from my constant pursuit of finding the One True Terrifying Book. There still aren’t a TON (that scare me, personally), but there are some, and lucky for y’all I’m sharing them today.

THE EXORCIST by William Peter Blatty

This is such an iconic horror movie, and I was skeptical of reading the book but I could not put this down. It’s as propulsive as the movie and even more creepy. You will feel chilled the entire time reading this book.

It feels part detective mystery part horror and it’s much more tender than anyone would ever expect. I recommend this book all the time and here I am recommending it yet again. Read this!

THE FAMILY PLOT by Megan Collins

If you love a tense atmosphere this one is for you. In THE FAMILY PLOT we follow Dahlia Lightwood as she returns home to her family’s estate on a secluded coastal island following the death of her father. She’s left her true-crime obsessed family as soon as she could when she was younger, and pursued her own obsession of tracking down her missing twin, Andy.

I don’t want to say much more because I want you to be able to sink into this twisted atmosphere as much as I did! There’s lots of discovery and fact finding, buried secrets, and even a buried body or two.

This book is deeply unsettling and is such a perfect spooky season read.

THE BROKEN GIRLS by Simone St. James

This is possibly my most recommended creepy book of all time. This is the one book that truly scared me and if ghosts are your thing, then this is your book.

In THE BROKEN GIRLS, we’re following a duel timeline centered around Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for troubled girls. In 1950, the school is shrouded in rumors of hauntings that are fairly innocent until one girl goes missing. In 2014, journalist Fiona Sheridan is trying to solve her sister’s murder, whose body was found on the property of the then closed Idlewild Hall. Her sister’s boyfriend at the time was charged with the murder, but Fiona has always been suspicious. We follow four girls attending Idlewild in the 1950s and Fiona in 2014 to solve both mysteries.

When I tell you this book freaked me out, it is no joke. I was legit scared reading this. St. James’s other book SUN DOWN MOTEL also delivers on the creeps.