October is the one month of the year where we like to take a collective walk on the Gothic side of life. Some of us prefer the view here and stay for the other (non important) eleven months as well, but others just like to dip their toes into the creepy lake after midnight, have a little fright and step back into the warmth of daylight!

Whether you are a denizen of Horror Land or a good citizen of rosier pastures, October is a time to celebrate all that is dark and creepy. The following titles are some of our newest additions to the Horror collection.

The Haunting of Alma Fielding A True Ghost Story Kate Summerscale

London, 1938. Alma Fielding, an ordinary young woman, begins to experience supernatural events in her suburban home.

Nandor Fodor – a Jewish-Hungarian refugee and chief ghost hunter for the International Institute for Psychical research – begins to investigate. In doing so he discovers a different and darker type of haunting: trauma, alienation, loss – and the foreshadowing of a nation’s worst fears. As the spectre of Fascism lengthens over Europe, and as Fodor’s obsession with the case deepens, Alma becomes ever more disturbed.

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker – Lauren James

What if death is only the beginning?

When Harriet Stoker dies after falling from a balcony in a long-abandoned building, she discovers a world of ghosts with magical powers – shape-shifting, hypnosis, even the ability to possess the living. Felix, Kasper, Rima and Leah welcome her into their world, eager to make friends with the new arrival. Yet Harriet is more interested in unleashing her own power, even if it means destroying everyone around her. But when all of eternity is at stake, the afterlife can be a dangerous place to make an enemy.

You Let Me In – Camilla Bruce

Everyone knew bestselling novelist Cassandra Tipp had twice got away with murder.

Even her family were convinced of her guilt. So when she disappears, leaving only a long letter behind, they can but suspect that her conscience finally killed her.

But the letter is not what anyone expected. It tells two chilling, darkly disturbing stories. One is a story of children lost to the woods, of husbands made from twigs and leaves and feathers and bones . . .

The other is the story of a little girl trying to make sense of a damaged life lived in the shadows . . .

But which story is true?

Pine – Francine Toon

They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men.

Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she’s gone.

In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren’s mother a decade ago.

Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father’s turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it’s no longer clear who she can trust.

In the shadow of the Highland forest, Francine Toon captures the wildness of rural childhood and the intensity of small-town claustrophobia. In a place that can feel like the edge of the word, she unites the chill of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times.

All of the titles above are available in eBook format over on BorrowBox and there are many many more titles available from both our online catalogue and BorrowBox.

Have you been tempted by any of these titles or will you be sticking to the Classics this Halloween?

Seasons Greetings, Stephanie.