[This sponsored article is brought to you by Anna Claire Shuman]
It’s that time of year again, when the veil lifts, and everything spooky infiltrates the mainstream. We’ve rounded up twelve of the best new cozy horror, thriller, cosmic horror, and spooky novels for you to devour this Halloween. We have New York Times bestselling authors, science fiction legends, and classic retellings ahead–both for teens and adults!–a little something for everyone this season.
1) ADAM, MINE by K. Ancrum
Harper; Available Now
https://bookshop.org/p/books/
YA HORROR/Monster Fiction
From acclaimed author K. Ancrum, National Book Award finalist for The Corruption of Hollis Brown, and Lambda Literary Award winner for Icarus, comes a queer horror thriller and love letter to Frankenstein about the consequences of our decisions, what it means to be human and the depths we'll go to for revenge and absolution. A harrowing, original take on a beloved classic, Adam Mine packs a punch with short chapters and an eerie atmosphere, fallible characters and writing that will stay with you long after you finish the book.
2) WOLVES OF NO WORLD: LOBIZONA AND CAZADORA by Romina Garber
Wednesday Books; Available Now
YA FANTASY
For a Halloween read with teeth, this YA contemporary fantasy delivers werewolves, witches, curses, and a heroine caught between worlds. Bestselling author Romina Garber’s Wolves Of No World duology blends Argentine folklore with a powerful exploration of identity and belonging, now collected in one 2-in-1 paperback edition. In Lobizona , undocumented immigrant Manuela Azul hides in Miami until family tragedy and ICE detention force her into a hidden world of brujas and lobizones, where her unusual eyes may finally mean she belongs. In Cazadora, Manu escapes to the cursed realm of Kerana, joins a rebel resistance, and must decide whether to keep running or claim her place in the fight.
3) THE THORNS WE WEAR INSIDE by Amy Avery
DAW; November 10, 2026
https://bookshop.org/p/books/
DARK FANTASY
A darkly atmospheric tale of a monster, a witch and the two parasitic demons who will stop at nothing to keep them apart. Set in a haunted gothic castle frozen in time, this fairy-tale-esque novel is both monstrous and brutal. If you like your fantasy with morally grey characters, yearning, "will kill anyone but you," and forbidden love you need to pick this one up for Halloween.
4) THE VELVET KNIFE by Maureen Johnson
HarperCollins; Available Now
https://bookshop.org/p/books/
YA MYSTERY
If your Halloween vibe leans more teen murder mystery than monster mash, Maureen Johnson’s new Stevie Bell mystery brings plenty of dark intrigue and dead-body thrills. In the sixth book in the series,Stevie is reeling from a rough breakup with her boyfriend David—who sent cryptic texts and kissed another girl in a British pub—and desperately needs a distraction. She heads to New York City over winter break with her friend Nate, hoping for a quiet reset, but gets exactly what she wanted when a dead body turns up in a Manhattan apartment complex. Tangled up in messy emotions about human connection, Stevie finds herself asking bigger questions: Is attraction just a form of manipulation? Can anyone really be trusted? And is someone around her being slowly drawn into a cult without realizing it? The book blends Stevie's signature sharp detective instincts with a more personal emotional reckoning, delivering another dual-layered mystery in Johnson's beloved series.
5) GHOSTS OF THE VOID by Jonathan Maberry
Blackstone, October 13, 2026
https://bookshop.org/p/books/
COSMIC HORROR/EPIC SCIENCE FICTION
If you love space horror with a gritty scienc fiction edge, the NecroTek series by Jonathan Maberry is a perfect addition to your Halloween TBR. Ghosts of The Void is the highly anticipated finale of the NecroTek trilogy, and it’s as thrilling, dramatic, and full of fright as the first two novels. When Ghosts of the Void picks up where Cold War ends, the Asphodel crew need to recreate the God Machine without any mistakes or any interference from their rapidly approaching enemies. For a peaceful future and a safe return to Earth, they will need sacrifice, determination, and help from an unlikely, unwanted, ally. United by their dwindling hope, the crew must wage one final battle to determine the fate of humanity… before it’s too late.
6) SLEEPERS IN THE SNOW by Joanne Harris
Pegasus Crime; Available Now
https://bookshop.org/p/books/
LITERARY SUSPENSE
For readers craving a more haunting Halloween atmosphere, this eerie literary novel offers isolation, lore, and a house that seems to remember too much. Out on the North York Moors, a house called Kirkhill stands beneath a singing pylon, waiting. A man shattered by divorce moves in seeking solitude and a fresh start—and finds both, until the seasons turn. As winter closes in, the isolation grows sinister: animals behave strangely, someone may be watching, and the diaries of the previous owners begin to unspool a tragedy that Kirkhill seems determined to repeat. A haunting, genre-defying novel of grief, memory, and the ghosts we carry within ourselves—woven through with the ancient folklore of the Lyke Wake Dirge— Sleepers In The Snow confirms Joanne Harris as one of Britain’s most fearless and surprising literary voices.
7) NETHER VORTEX by Kevin J. Anderson
Blackstone; October 27, 2026
https://bookshop.org/p/books/
COSMIC HORROR/EPIC SCIENCE FICTION
Looking for a high-stakes cosmic nightmare this Halloween? Nether Vortex, the second book in the Nether Station series from legendary author Kevin J. Anderson ( Dune with Brian Herbert, Star Wars, Saga of Seven Suns), tells the story of the all-powerful ancient enemy, the Agoc, who are determined to destroy Earth. Will humanity be able to stand against the Agoc? And can Cammie save her friends—and her entire species—from an even older, darker threat? Nether Vortex delivers an exhilarating blend of epic sci-fi and cosmic dread. This Halloween, the only thing scarier than the infinite void of space is whatever is waiting inside it.
8) THE MACABRE by Kosoko Jackson
Harper Voyager; Available now
https://bookshop.org/p/books/
FANTASY
A dark fantasy for art-lovers, Kosoko Jackson’s The Macabre is horrific and magical. Struggling artist Lewis Dixon has a unique ability to enter certain paintings. When the British Museum calls on him to harness the power of nine deadly paintings by his great-grandfather, he must crisscross the globe to access their magic and save those trapped by its power.
9) AN IMPOSSIBILITY OF CROWS by Kirsten Kaschock
University of Massachusetts Press; Available Now
HORROR
The New York Public Library just named An Impossibility of Crows one of the best horror books of 2026 and with good reason. Set in rural Pennsylvania, Agnes, a chemist, returns to the home she grew up in to breed a crow large enough to carry her daughter, who cannot walk. Interspersed with diary entries from her own deceased mother, this book calls to mind Frankenstein and is an eerie tale of obsession, motherhood and trauma.
10) THE GRACEVIEW PATIENT by Caitlin Starling
Macmillan; Available now
HORROR/THRILLER
A genre-bending feast of both horror and psychological thriller, Caitlin Starling introduces us to Margaret as she enters a medical trial for her autoimmune disease at Graceview Memorial. Trapped within Graceview while she undergoes treatment, Margaret discovers a greater threat than what her body is facing. For fans of body horror and classics like Misery and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this chilling novel will stay with you long after your Halloween reading ends.
11) HOW TO FAKE A HAUNTING by Crista Carmen
Thomas & Mercer; Available Now
HORROR
When Lainey's erratic alcoholic husband threatens to take their daughter away if she leaves him, her best friend offers a daring solution: fake a haunting so genuine that he's frightened out of her life. Nominated for a Shirley Jackson award, this twisting and thrilling read is as compelling as it is unforgettable. Interspersed with moments of dark humor, readers looking for a book this fall that features a creative take on a haunted house tale, are in for a treat with this must-read novel.
12) LIGHTS, CAMERO, FRENDO! CLOWNS IN THE CORNFIELD by Adam Cesare
Harper; Available now
https://bookshop.org/p/books/
YA HORROR/THRILLER
Lights, Camera, Frendo is a creepy and gory new installment in the award-winning series that gave life to a blockbuster film. Fans of the series will even recognize some returning characters they might have missed. Unknown actress Sabrina Alvarez gets a role in the big budget film based on the Kettle Springs Massacre. When she arrives in town to film, she finds that her role as the Final Girl might be a little more real than she bargained for when she took on the role.
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