I look out my window and watch as the October leaves change color to red, gold or bronze.  They do their usual dance as they drift to the ground.  Driving through town I see signs of pumpkins, scarecrows and ghosts.  I thought maybe it's time for spooky novels.  Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King always come to mind but how about where we are in the 21st century.  Let's start with 2021.

“The Last House on Needless St.” by Catriona Ward:  In a boarded up house at the edge of the woods live a family of three. A teenage girl not allowed outside, a man who drinks alone and a cat who reads the bible.  As a new neighbor moves in next door what is buried out among the birch trees may come to haunt them all.

“Final Girl's Support Group” by Grady Hendrix:  Lynnette a real life final girl who survived a massacre 22 years ago meets regularly with five other final girls in their support group until one of them goes missing. What threat knows about the group?

“Near the Bone”  by Christina Henry: What's wrong with Mattie's husband William? Who is looking in the woods behind their house for the creature with sharp claws and teeth? Who is more angry, William or the creature?

“Book of Accidents”  by Chuck Wending: Now married Nathan and Maddie Grave witness haunting memories of their childhood, something hungry, something sinister that walked the mountains and coal mines of their town reappear and now is affecting their son Oliver.

“Mary Shelley Club” by Grady Moldavsky: A (YA) thriller about a mysterious club with an obsession for horror. A bit twisty.

“The Taking of Jake Livingston” by Ryan Douglas: When a murderous ghost begins to haunt sixteen year old Jake, high school becomes a different kind of survival game. (YA)

“Doctor Sleep” Stephen King's sequel to “The Shining” features boy protagonist Dan Torrance. (2013)

“Fever Dreams” by Samanta Schweblin: A woman lies dying a boy by her side and neither one knows the other. What horrors do they share. (2017)

“Woman in Black”  by Susan Hill: A lawyer, a deceased client's house and a vengeful ghost. (2011)

“The Terror”  by Dan Simmons: A shipwreck, a sea monster, and horror. (2007)

“Heart Shaped Box” by Joe Hill: Ghost stories/suspense. (2007)

“House of Leaves”  by Mark Danielewski: A family relocates to a small house on Ash Tree Lane and discovers that the inside their new home seems to be without boundaries. (2000)

Happy reading mystery lovers!