From the author of Edgar Award finalist Grit and The Lies They Tell comes a tense, atmospheric novel for fans of E. Lockhart and Marieke Nijkamp, about friendship, truth, and the creeping fears that can't be outrun. Whenever another kid goes missing in October, the kids in the old factory town of Pender know what is really behind it: a monster out in the marshes that they call the Mumbler.That's what Clara's new crew tells her when she moves to town. Bree and Sage, who take her under their wing. Spirited Trace, who has taken the lead on this year's Halloween prank war. And magnetic Kincaid, whose devil-may-care attitude and air of mystery are impossible for Clara to resist.Clara doesn't actually believe in the Mumbler--not like Kinkaid does. But as Halloween gets closer and tensions build in the town, it's hard to shake the feeling that there really is something dark and dangerous in Pender. Lurking in the shadows. Waiting to bring the stories to life.

Welcome to Amontillado, Ohio, where your last name is worth more than money, and secrets can be kept… for a price.Tress Montor knows that her family used to mean something—until she didn’t have a family anymore. When her parents disappeared seven years ago while driving her best friend home, Tress lost everything. She might still be a Montor, but the entire town shuns her now that she lives with her drunken, one-eyed grandfather at what locals refer to as the “White Trash Zoo,” – a wild animal attraction featuring a zebra, a chimpanzee, and a panther, among other things. Felicity Turnado has it all – looks, money, and a secret that she’s kept hidden. She knows that one misstep could send her tumbling from the top of the social ladder, and she’s worked hard to make everyone forget that she was with the Montors the night they disappeared. Felicity has buried what she knows so deeply that she can’t even remember what it is… only that she can’t look at Tress without having a panic attack.But she’ll have to.Tress has a plan. A Halloween costume party at an abandoned house provides the ideal situation for Tress to pry the truth from Felicity – brick by brick – as she slowly seals her former best friend into a coal chute. With a drunken party above them, and a loose panther on the prowl, Tress will have her answers – or settle for revenge.In the first book of this duology, award-winning author Mindy McGinnis draws inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe and masterfully delivers a dark, propulsive mystery in alternating points of view that unravels a friendship... forevermore.

That’s it, Spooky Season starts NOW because this was surprisingly delightful. The Last Halloween from Abby Howard is a gross, very dark and unsettling graphic novel that also happens to be quite funny, fun and oddly heartwarming. Book 1 of Howard’s webcomic appears here in print and follows the story of 10-year old Mona and her ragtag group of...well, monsters as they try to restore the balance between the human and monster world once they’ve been unleashed into the human world and are quite graphically and violently killing literally everyone. Howard seems to perfectly balance multiple plot threads and gives each the space to breathe and progress which makes for a well-rounded and spooky good time, covering a lot of territory, exposition and general frights. What really drives this story is Howard’s wonderful art. It is simple black and white ink art that is really fluid and detailed in the right places, granting a wide variety of expressions to her characters without needing much but also detailing shocking scenes of decapitations, disembowelment, gross looking monsters and other horror sights. This book isn’t for the weak of stomach I fear, and some parts rather disturbed me. But it is spooky season and that's the fun, and it really works how well she ties the violence into the general dark humor of the book. This book is also wildly inventive with a really clever and fun plotline that also grows into a bit of a mystery (this book ends pretty abruptly but you can keep going in her webcomic: https://www.last-halloween.com/). The friendships develop along with character growth and it was surprising to see how many emotions Howard could build on the ‘found family’ type theme working in a shock-horror genre. It helps that Mona is unbelievably charming, often reminding everyone she is only 10 as if to lampoon the child-hero/chosen one cliche. Mona displays fear often in the book, which offsets her general precociousness and makes you really root for her. And just as endearing as Mona are her sidekicks, particularly Robert the Doll. Overall, this is just a really fun and satisfying read that will shock and spook you. The plot takes many surprising, and rather graphic, twists and the characters are so very addicting. It also features a non-binary adult and pushes towards a romance plot with a vampire dad that I am eager to see play out in Book 2. Kickstart Spooky Season, this book is wild!4.5/5

 A short, irresistible, and bittersweet coming-of-age story in the vein of "Stranger Things" and "Stand by Me" about a group of misfit kids who spend an unforgettable summer investigating local ghost stories and urban legends.Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls--a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place--Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turns twelve, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so Calvin decides to initiate them all into the "Saturday Night Ghost Club." But as the summer goes on, what begins as a seemingly lighthearted project may ultimately uncover more than any of its members had imagined. With the alternating warmth and sadness of the best coming-of-age stories, The Saturday Night Ghost Club examines the haunting mutability of memory and storytelling, as well as the experiences that form the people we become.

Get Out meets Danielle Vega in this YA social thriller where survival is not a guarantee.Jake Livingston is one of the only black kids at St. Clair Prep, one of the others being his infinitely more popular older brother. It’s hard enough fitting in but to make matters worse and definitely more complicated, Jake can see the dead. In fact he sees the dead around him all the time. Most are harmless. Stuck in their death loops as they relive their deaths over and over again, they don’t interact often with people. But then Jake meets Sawyer. A troubled teen who shot and killed sixteen kids at a local high school last year before taking his own life. Now a powerful, vengeful ghost, he has plans for his afterlife–plans that include Jake. Suddenly, everything Jake knows about ghosts and the rules to life itself go out the window as Sawyer begins haunting him and bodies turn up in his neighborhood. High school soon becomes a survival game–one Jake is not sure he’s going to win.

A page-turning new YA thriller for the social media age, perfect for fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and One Of Us Is Lying.Ten years ago, Jess's mother was murdered by the Magpie Man.She was the first of his victims but not the last.Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she's using it to catch the killer once and for all.The whole world is watching her every move.And so is the Magpie Man.

Books with ghoulish and witchy Halloween vibes

Feelin' Spooky 

book

Carla Biscotti

If you like offbeat, quirky characters, misadventures, pop culture, music, and time travel or time loops.
Read-alikes for Douglas Adams in the theme of "Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency"

2012 science fiction novel by Robert Reid

Feelin' Spooky

More lists by Carla Biscotti

Quirky | Science Fiction | Time Travel | Pop culture