With fall in full swing, it’s the perfect time to sit down and get cozy with a good book. And since Halloween is right around the corner, there’s plenty of spooky books to enjoy. Check out these five creepy reads. 

“Coraline” by Neil Gaiman 
“Coraline” is a dark fantasy children’s novel published in 2002. When Coraline and her family move into a new house, she discovers an odd door. After Coraline walks through it, she finds another house like hers, along with another mother and father with buttons for eyes. Other Mother and Other Father want Coraline to stay and be their daughter in that world. To leave that world, Coraline will have to fight to save herself and return to her ordinary life.   

“The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman  
Nobody Owens is normal—well, kind of. He’s normal as he can be, considering he lives in a graveyard and is being raised by ghosts. There are many dangers in the graveyard, including a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls and the terrible, mysterious being called a Sleer. If Nobody leaves the graveyard, he will come face to face with the man who killed his family.    

“It” by Stephen King
In this classic Stephen King novel, seven friends return to their haunted hometown of Derry, Maine to confront a nightmare from their teenage years called “It,” a killer clown that preys on children. Now, children are being murdered again and their memories of that terrifying summer return when they go home to fight It again. 

“The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson 
In this unnerving terror, four people arrive at Hill House looking for evidence of a haunting. At first, their stay just seems a bit creepy, but there’s more than meets the eye. Hill House is preparing to take one of its visitors as its own to become more powerful.  

“Mary, Will I Die” by Shawn Sarles
“Mary, Will I Die” is told from the perspective of four friends: Elena, Steph, Grace, and Calvin. Elena comes across the legend of Bloody Mary and urges the friends to play. Five years later, the four are no longer speaking and Elena has since avoided the mirror. One morning, Elena passes the mirror and sees not just herself, but a scary figure looking back at her; so, she breaks the mirror. However, when the pieces are put back together, the figure is gone. When Elena gets to school that day, a new girl named Mary arrives.