31 Classic Horror Novels To Read Before Halloween

It’s that time of year again.

​You know what I’m talking about.

The crisp air and the long nights can only be leading up one thing: Halloween!

Which means it’s time to curl up with a book that’s guaranteed to give you the shivers.

Or at least finding yourself sleeping with the lights on. 

Every October, I somehow find a way to get myself into the Halloween spirit by sitting down and reading a horror novel. 

Or several horror novels. 

So after dedicating an entire month reading nothing other than mischief, frights and psychological turmoil, it turns out, the most chilling horror stories are the classics. 

​The horror genre has evolved over the centuries, many thanks to the different authors who contributed to the suspense and paranoia in their writing. Each author over the years has managed to craft their own version of horror with a unique style.  

From vampires to mad scientists to even Stephen King novels, nothing gets you into a Halloween mood faster than an good old-fashion scary story. 

#1: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

The antecedent of all mad scientist stories was published in 1818 in epistolary form, documenting Victor Frankenstein's unorthodox scientific experiment. After the death of his mother, Victor buries himself in his work at the University of Ingolstadt to help cope with his grief, soon developing a secret technique to impart life to non-living matter. Armed with his accelerated knowledge of chemistry, Victor dedicates months to feverishly fashioning a creature out of old body parts scavenged from charnel houses and graves. One night, he succeeds to bring the creature to life, but upon seeing the hideous creature, Victor abandons his creation. Alone and forsaken, the creature begins to systematically hunt down Victor’s loved ones, to extract revenge for the misery his creator has caused him. A thrilling page-turner that examines not only science and technology, but also the feared consequences of tampering with human life. 

#2: The Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe (1845)

This list wouldn’t be completed without the mind-melding horror stories by Poe. Poe gets credited for perfecting the American horror story genre, thanks to his eerie poems and nail-biting short stories. With every tale, you feel like you’re walking on a razor’s edge between grim amusement and madness. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” old Montresor gets his rival, Fortunato drunk before luring him to a niche in the wall of his wine cellar, ruthlessly sealing him in. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the narrator murders his elderly roommate and hides his dismembered body beneath the floorboards, until his heightened senses catch the steadily-increasing heartbeat coming from the floor. And finally, in “The Raven,” the narrator descents into madness and despair as a raven sits forever above his chamber door tormenting him with the word ‘Nevermore' repeatedly. Even in the 21st-century, Poe’s writing dwells on the dark corner of our literary consciousness, still making our spine-tingle with his unnerving tales.

#3: Carrie by Stephen King (1974)

Carrie White finds herself trapped between two equally horrible environments. At home, Carrie is smothered by a mother who is a religious fanatic who has cut Carrie off from having a normal social life. The other half of Carrie’s life is even worse. At school, she is a social pariah. Her quiet demeanor has made her a perpetual target of teasing and crude practical jokes. That all changes when Carrie discovers that she possesses telekinetic powers. And then events leading up to her high school prom changes everything. 

#4: Carmilla by Joseph Le Fanu (1872)

Before Dracula, there was Carmilla. Even though Stoker gets credit for inventing the modern vampire, his idea would never have been brought to light had he not expanded upon the ideas of prior authors. Carmilla provided a template for many of Dracula’s best remembered characters and motifs. Published in 1872, Le Fanu details the events that take place in the dense forest of Styria. Laura and her father live a quiet life in a remote castle. With no companions to keep Laura occupied, a mysterious house guest enters by the name of Carmilla. Slowly, Laura falls under Carmilla’s spell, unable to find the energy to resist her. But when the death toll of the peasants in the countryside begins to rise, Laura begins to wonder if she might be Carmilla’s next victim.

#5: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

When Dr. Jekyll’s lawyer Mr. Utterson, learns that Jekyll has written his new friend Mr. Hyde into his will, he finds this newly added clause very unusual. Witnesses in London have spotted Mr. Hyde harassing people in the streets, accusing him of even murdering an old man. It’s only when an unexpected death draws Utterson’s attention that he finally learns the truth about Jekyll’s murderous split-personality. Here, Stevenson imagines a single body containing both the intellectual Dr. Jekyll and the dangerous Mr. Hyde, mirroring the attraction of civility and savagery.  

#6: Salem’s Lot by Stephen King (1975)

Ben Mears is unable to conquer his grief after his wife was killed in a motorcycle crash. After a twenty-five year absence, he finally returns to the town of Jerusalem’s Lot – known by most of its inhabitants as “Salem’s Lot.” As a child, Ben remembers fondly of the idyllic images of the town, but not until he’s startled by the sight of the Marsten House. The Marsten House is filled with evil and Ben feels almost as if the house has been waiting for his return.  

#7: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890)

Wilde delivers a novel that is both a mishmash of fantasy and horror, following the life of the wealthy, vain and incredibly handsome Dorian Gray. The novel begins when the famous painter, Basil Hallward reveals his portrait of Dorian. Upon seeing his portrait, Dorian murmurs a prayer that he may always look as the painting does. However, Dorian soon discovers that whatever sins or evil acts he does, gets reflect in his portrait. Wilde creates an air of palpable surrealism, making his readers waiting in such mounting eeriness for Dorian’s next evil act.

#8: The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen (1890)

The story opens with an experiment conducted by Dr. Raymond, a specialist in “transcendental medicine.” He firmly believes that there are ways to bridge the gap between the world of man and the world of the ancient gods. After years of research he has reached the conclusion that a simple operation upon a group of nerve cells in the brain will enable the patient to come into direct contact with the god, Pan. Determined to put this theory into practice, the doctor calls in a witness and a seventeen-year-old girl, who is his guinea-pig. Like Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Moreau, Dr. Raymond tampers with forces that are beyond his control, leading to devastating results.

#9: The Shining by Stephen King (1977)

A young boy’s special perception and a possessed hotel interact with deadly results. When five year-old Danny Torrence and his parents Jack and Wendy get hired to be the new caretakers for the Overlook Hotel for the winter, terror is on the brink. It’s Jack’s last chance to concentrate on his writing and get his career back on track. However, things take a turn for the worst when Jack becomes distracted by the history of the hotel which includes several suicides and a vicious murder. Jack becomes more and more obsessed with the hotel, until he becomes possessed.

#10: The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells (1896)

H.G. Wells’s science fiction classic asks the reader to consider the limits of natural science and the distinction between man and beast. When Prendick finds himself shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean, he gets rescued by a passing boat bound for an unnamed island. When they arrived on the island, Prendick meets the cold and precise, Doctor Moreau who conducts his research on the island. Prendick is exceedingly curious about Moreau’s research on the island and one day discovers a that Moreau is vivisecting animals to resemble humans. The humanoids live in the jungle and recite a strange list of rules prohibiting against bestial behavior like walking on all four legs. Moreau meanwhile becomes obsessed to have his experiments make a complete transformation from animal to human.

#11: Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

This 1897 classic horror story is the root of almost all vampire books. When young English lawyer, Jonathon Harker travels to Transylvania to help a rich nobleman purchase an estate in England, he quickly learns that his client is actually a vampire. The story shifts over to England, where Harker’s finacée, Mina Murray witnesses the deteriorating health of her friend, Lucy Westenra after discovering two tiny red marks on Lucy’s neck. Stoker’s writing is a sultry end of a century tale, steeped in suspense and jeopardy. More so, Stroker’s characterization of Dracula is deeply original, drawing his inspiration from early vampire literature. Sure, you’ve might’ve gotten your vampire kick after reading the Twilight or Vampire Academy series, but the original blood sucking fiend still has the potential to keep you up at night.    

#12: Pet Sematary by Stephen King (1983)

The story centers on Louis Creed, a family man and a doctor who moves his family into a beautiful new home. The day they move in, Louis meets their neighbor, Judson Crandall who quickly becomes a friend. Jud shows Louis around the neighborhood as well as the vast boundaries of their property. A path on the edge of the Creed property leads up to a pet cemetery (misspelled “sematary” on the sign) where the children of the town bury their deceased animals. But Louis is warned never to cross the boundary between the Pet Sematary and the woods beyond it. For evil is lurking there.  

#13: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898)

When a nameless Governess is hired to care for two young children, Miles and Flora on their uncle’s remote English estate, she is determined to adore and care for them. Initially charmed by her charges, the Governess becomes wary of the two children when she suspects that Miles and Flora are in communication with two ghosts – Peter Quint and Miss Jessel – who previously worked on the estate before their deaths. This classic ghost story questions the Governess’s reliability as a narrator. Are the ghosts actually real? Do they seek to possess the children? The terror of the tales resides in its utter ambiguity.

#14: The Classic Horror Stories by H.P. Lovecraft (1928)

This collection of stories offers a balanced assessment both Gothic tradition and American fiction in the 1920s and 1930s. What makes H.P. Lovecraft’s stories so hauntingly creepy, are how his creatures are kept in the proverbial shadows, making their presence much more chilling. The majority of Lovecraft’s tales are effectively one man’ experiences of wonder, horror and madness. The characters see such bizarre sights which terrify them beyond reasoning. The descriptions are cleverly kept to a bare minimum so that the audience’s imagination builds up the terror to an appropriate level. 

#15: Cujo by Stephen King (1981)

Donna Trenton finds herself trapped in her car with her son Tad by a rapid Saint Bernard who is intent on seeing them dead. As the interior of the car get increasingly hot, Donna and Tad might not have enough time to plan their escape.

#16: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959)

When Dr. Montague decides that it’s time science proved the existence of ghosts, he sets up his experiment at Hill House, a mansion known in the community to have a haunted history. There he invites the socially repressed Eleanor Vance, the emotional live-wire Theodora and the heir to Hill House, Luke to be his assistants as he performs his experiment. But during their first night in Hill House, Eleanor begins to feel that she and the house are one and hears someone banging on her bedroom door. Is it the house, or Eleanor’s deranged imagination?

#17: Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin (1967)

When Rosemary and her husband move into their New York City apartment, they are quickly befriended by their new eccentric elderly neighbors. Rosemary finds the neighbors absurd, except for her husband who suddenly begins paying the couple frequent visits. Soon, Rosemary becomes pregnant, just when things around the apartment start to get weird. Especially when she discovers that her neighbors are actually leaders of a Satanic coven.

#18: It by Stephen King (1986)

In the spring of 1985, It has returned! Every twenty-seven years since the dawn of time, It – an unearthly creatures who lives in the sewers beneath the town of Derry – comes back to murder small children. Only seven people have faced It and have lived to tell the tale. And what they remembered those twenty-seven years ago was battling an emerging evil in the form of a murderous, bloodthirsty clown known as Pennywise.

#19: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (1962)

Most of the book is set in the dead of night, as Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway investigate the arrival of the mysterious carnival and the effect it has on the midwestern town. Lured by its bright lights, the two boys witness an ominous assemble of sinister activities and rides at the carnival, led by the mustache-twirling Mr. Dark. The mysterious Mr. Dark comes bearing promises for the town elders: restored youth, second chances and fulfilled dreams. These all, of course, come at a heavy price.

#20: Hell House by Richard Matheson (1971) 

Some have called it a retelling of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, but with a more gruesome twist. When old, cranky (but incredibly wealthy) Rolf Deutsch hires four people to determine if there’s life after death, he offers a large sum of money to whomever dares to spend one week up at Hell House. Dr. Barrett, a skeptic physicist/paranormal investigator and his wife agree to the proposal as well as a Christian medium who can contact the spirit world, and a child prodigy. But upon settling inside Hell House, the foursome fall prey to dark influences. The supernatural horror escalades causing all four characters to question their own sanity until the conclusion.

#21: Misery by Stephen King (1987)

An author by the name of Paul Sheldon doesn’t remember much after his car accident. He wakes up in a bed that is not his own, nor at a hospital. Instead, an ex-nurse named Annie Wilkes is standing over him, telling Paul that she is his number one fan. Annie lives in a rural farmhouse in Sidewinder, Colorado, isolated from civilization. What’s worse, even though Annie rescues Paul, she holds the author hostage.

#22: The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson (1977)

This controversial novel follows George and Kathy Lutz’s family who buy a six-bedroom home at a bargain price. However, there’s a catch: As it turns out, the house was the scene of a horrific murder. Soon, the family begins to list all of the strange things that they have encountered while living at the house. These unexplainable occurrences as well as the history of the house manifests and continues to build throughout the story. After only 28 days of living in that house, the Lutz family fled in sheer terror, refusing to ever go back to the house. Since then, there has been no reported hauntings or incidents, so really, it’s up to you to be the judge.

#23: The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty (1971)

When recently divorced actress Chris MacNeil rents a home across the street from Georgetown University, she hears a strange rapping sound coming from somewhere in the house. Soon, other strange events occur, the most serious being her daughter Regan’s changed personality. Having found a Ouija board in the basement of the house, Regan has contacted a “playmate” called Captain Howdy who physically abuses her. Medical tests prove futile in explaining Regan’s emerging violent behavior, and the her mother becomes convinced that she is possessed.

#24: The Collector by John Fowles (1963)

Frederick Clegg grows obsessed with Miranda Grey, a beautiful teenager whom he watches from afar. So much so, that he takes the necessary steps to kidnap her. He buys a secluded house in the country and readies a small basement as an inescapable cell; he also buys a van with which to follow and snatch Miranda. Eventually, after determining her habits and discovering where she lives, Frederick kidnaps her one night as she is walking home. The first half of the story is told from Clegg’s perspective, first as he prepares to abduct Miranda and the second half is told from Miranda’s point of view formatted as a journal she keeps during her captivity.

#25: The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (1988)

Clarice Starling is an FBI trainee who gets summoned one day to interview Hannibal Lecter – a psychiatrist who kills and eats people in his spare time. Clarice agrees to the meeting in order to see if he has any clues to help the FBI identify a new serial killer named Buffalo Bill, whose been skinning women and leaving their corpses behind. Surprisingly, Hannibal takes an interest in Clarice, finding her ambitions an interesting character trait but also tapping into her weaknesses to manipulate her.

#26: Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons (1989)

A cross between horror and science fiction, the book opens with three strange elderly beings meeting in a house to discuss a game they have been playing for decades. Each of them has the ability to control humans. Their game is to use humans to kill other humans. More so, they use the human mind to feed, and prolonging their own lives at the expense of others. But soon, the three strangers start to fight, fracturing their relationships with one another and eventually split up. This separation results in the introduction of a handful of other characters in various decades. All of them are connected to one another in some shape or form. Are they being possessed, used as pawns to navigate their drive for revenge against the others, or are all of their actions really under their control?

#27: The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (1983)

Arthur Kipps is a young lawyer, sent to Crythin Gifford to settle the affairs of the recently deceased Alice Drablow who lived at Eel Marsh House. But upon arriving to his client’s funeral, he sees a woman dressed in black. At Eel Marsh House, Arthur is haunted by noises and sights of the woman in black. He later learns that a child dies each time the woman in black is seen

#28: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)

This twisted satire of of a novel focuses on the hyper-wealthy Patrick Bateman, a Wall Street investment banker who spends his mornings at the gym and his nights clubbing with his friends. Everyone believes that Bateman is a nice guy, except that he’s actually a psychopathic killer who has confessed to his crimes repeatedly. Yet, no one wants to believe that Bateman could hurt someone, so everyone chooses to ignore Bateman’s confession. He tortures a homeless man. Breaks a dog’s legs and even gets his hands on a chainsaw. But throughout the novel, the readers start to question if Bateman may actually be unstable. Did the murders really happen, or is Bateman just an unreliable narrator?

#29: Needful Things by Stephen King (1991)

Leland Gaunt opens shop in Castle Rock and he somehow knows what item each of his customers wants and knows that they will do almost anything to get it. So when Eleven-year-old Brian Rusk, Gaunt’s first customer, buys a Sandy Koufax baseball card, Gaunt asks the boy to play a trick on a local woman as a price. Each of Gaunt’s customers are asked to do something over and above the cash price, which eventually spirals out of control for the citizens of Castle Rock.

#30: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (2000)

A certain house has a certain sinister personality of its own. It can create inner spaces that defy the laws of physics. Intrigued, Will Navidson brings in some specialists to try and figure out how the house manages to expand. But then he discovers in a closet, a freezing pit-dark corridor that leads to a maze of empty rooms and larger corridors and eventually a gigantic spiral staircase that seems to drop down to the center of the earth. None of this interior should exist, and when Will and the other men explore it, the walls to the house begin to shift mysteriously leading the men into a tomblike expanse that proves dangerous.

#31: Coraline by Neil Gaiman (2002)

This classic insidious YA novel begins when young Coraline Jones and her parents move into an apartment in an old house. While exploring her new home, Coraline discovers a secret door, behind which lies an alternate world that closely mirrors her own, but in many ways better. This surreal world is ruled by the Other Mother, who concocts the superficial world where Coraline’s every wish is indulged. However, when the Other Mother tries to convince Coraline to stay, the parallel world suddenly seems less whimsical and much more treacherous.  

Good luck sleeping for the rest of the month.