October is the perfect time to experience the thrill of horror with your book club. Our Book Buzz collection has something spooky for everyone, whether you’re looking for something blood-curdling scary, or something a little more mild.
These book club picks come straight from Utah State Library’s Book Buzz Coordinator Rae Schumann and Amanda Rock, the social media manager. We’re the biggest advocates of all things spooky at the Utah State Library, but don’t let that scare you. We rated each book on a scale of one to five skulls, with five being the scariest so your book club won’t be up all night unless, of course, that’s what they want.
Amanda’s Book Buzz picks:
“My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had.” If the first paragraph of “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson, doesn’t grab your attention, check your pulse. While not very scary, this novel is weird and wonderful, with a wicked twist – perfect for spooky season.
The supernatural doesn’t scare me; people scare me. If your book club loves books about writers, “Misery” by Stephen King would make a great October read. Find out why mild-mannered, book-loving Anne Wilkes is one of Stephen King’s scariest characters. I’d argue she’s even scarier than Pennywise the Clown because she’s human. You may even have an Anne Wilkes in your book club.
If a gothic tale is more to your liking, “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield is a fantastic book club pick for October. This haunting novel has all the best gothic tropes. There’s a ghost, a big, creepy house, a mystery, a weird family, and unexpected twists and turns. Even those who do not love horror as much as I do will appreciate the storytelling in this novel.
Rae’s Book Buzz picks:
“The Sun Down Motel” starts in 1982 the night that Viv Delaney disappears. With each chapter, it switches between Viv’s life leading up to that night and her niece Carly’s experience trying to find out what happened to her aunt who never came home. Carly starts seeing the (literal) ghosts her aunt saw and quickly realizes that humans are a lot scarier than the supernatural.
“A Monster Calls” by Patrick Ness starts off strong with the spooky vibes, with 13-year-old Connor waking from a nightmare to hear a monster calling his name. I assumed that this book was going to get spookier the further you read, but instead I found myself feeling emotions one would not expect from a book where the monster’s first real line is “I have come to get you, Connor O’Malley”. By the end, I was crying at this beautiful creepy creation. It is a perfect book for those who want to dabble in the darkness but still want to sleep at night.
“The Graveyard Book” opens with murder and promises a chilling tale, but Neil Gaiman’s magic lies in transforming darkness into light. While the murderer is distracted doing his job, the toddler of the family escapes his house and finds himself surrounded by ghosts in an old forgotten cemetery. The story then follows “Nobody Owens”, or “Bod” for short, through his adventures after he is adopted by a graveyard full of ancient ghosts. They always say it takes a village to raise a child, and for Bod, his village ranges from those who died a few hundred years back, a witch, and even an old Roman. Through the story, they teach him all that they can, all while trying to keep him safe from the murderer who is still after him.
Utah State Library’s Book Buzz collection boasts over 700 titles for your book club. There is something for every book club, whether they’re into historical romance, non-fiction, or graphic novels. Learn more about this free program on our website.