I have read Mexican Gothic, absolutely loved it! Love stories about witches/wizards like Harry Potter or the show charmed. Would never say no to a romantic aspect as well! I’d be down for something different but I don’t like zombies or vampires is all.
by romanticbynature98
19 Comments
Alice Hoffman wrote Practical Magic(and a few other books with those characters). Definitely witches and some romance, but not really spooky. I enjoyed the books, though.
October country by Ray Bradbury. a collection of short stories, all the stories set in autumm
Cackle, by Rachel Harrison was great! I loved the Scholomance series by Naomi Novik. I’m reading a really weird book right now called Bunny, by Mona Awad that I’m liking. It’s a little witchy so far, sort of horror adjacent. A bit of a black comedy too… like Heathers and The Craft rolled into one. I also plan to read Slewfoot by Brom this October. I can’t really speak to it, but people seem to love it!
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry, kind of a slow burn but I loved it
Rebecca
The Thirteenth Tale
The Witching Hour (this may jump the shark a little for your tastes)
The Ex Hex
Betwixt
Bunny by Mona Awad (Rouge by her is also excellent & a bit creepy/eerie)
Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda is sosososo good and in the same vein as Mona Awad’s books
Marie: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke (obviously has witches, but it is more mysterious than scary imo)
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu is a CLASSIC and one of my all time favourite books (I know you said you hated vampires, so it might not be the beat choice for you)
What moves the dead by T. Kingfisher
The Little Stranger
The Turn of the Key
Home Before Dark
Joyland
Truly Devious series
Hotel Paradise
The Pallbearers Club
We have always lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson- it’s a classic
A Mormon Exorcism by Jackson Cole. It’s about Mormon Missionaries in Argentina. A bunch of paranormal stuff occurs with the main focus being on a female missionary who gets possessed. It’s pretty creepy and dark perfect for Halloween!
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? By Agatha Christie
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is one of my favorites to read in October
(Edited to include full title)
Not outright horror, but I think it fits the bill.
Piranesi by Susanna Clark
Weyward by Emilia Hart (not super spooky but a great read and is about witches)
The Witches of East End by Melissa De La Cruz
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (not witches but spooky and a love story!)
Dark Tides by Chris Ewan (takes place over Halloween, or Hop-Tu-Naa in Manx, on the isle of Mann- although no witches or wizards from what I recall, but an atmospheric thriller for this time of year)
The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe
If you liked Mexican Gothic, perhaps try The Hacienda by Isabel Canas
Anything by Paul Tremblay is going to fit your description. A couple I loved are Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World (the movie Knock at the Cabin Door is based on it, but not the same)
How to Sell a Haunted House, Horrorstör, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and The Final Girls Support Group by Grady Hendrix
The Book of M by Peng Shepherd
Ninth House and its sequel Hellbound by Leigh Bardugo
The Book of Night by Holly Black
An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard
The Sun Down Motel or The Broken Girls by Simone St James
Edited to add Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
a discovery of witches by deborah harkness
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow still holds up for me.
Try Witching Souls: Fire and Air by Maeve Lindley!
It’s an e-book that’s completed recently.
All witches and magical realism!