THRILLER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE SPOOKY SEASON

If there is any month to dedicated reading thrillers, October is obviously that month! In my latest post, I talk about doing exactly that by participating in Booksandlala’s Spookathon – a readathon where the goal is to read thrillers for a week!

In writing my own TBR for October, I thought that I should definitely share a few of my own favourite thrillers that I think would be great for October. So regardless if you’re planning to participate in Spookathon, here are my recommendations that I think would make great October reads!

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.

Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price. Goodreads →

This book is basically Jurassic Park meets Mermaids and it’s one of my favourite books of all time. If you’re looking for a read that’s incredibly tense and atmospheric for October, this book is perfect. I’m a massive scaredy-cat and so from page one, I was in constant terror because you JUST KNOW something horrifying is going to happen. I mean, the Mira Grant byline is ‘biomedical horror/thrillers’ so yeah, I knew the author was not messing around here. It’s also diverse, sapphic, and has themes of environmentalism and sensationalism. Mira Grant really put their heart and soul into this book and you can tell because it’s amazing. If you want to be on the edge of your seat whilst reading a book, then I can’t recommend this Into the Drowning Deep enough.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price. Until something goes wrong. . . . Goodreads →

My feelings about Jurassic Park are really in the same vain as Into the Drowning Deep. It’s just smart science fiction, that makes the impossible seem so plausible and terrifying. I read this book via audiobook and I highly recommend it. The audiobook narrator did an amazing job at creating a tense and horrifying atmosphere. See my review here for more of my thoughts!

 

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail – for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he’s released, he’s greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.

As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless. Goodreads →

Of all my recommendations here, If We Were Villains is not ‘scary’ in the slightest but it’s positively tense and beautifully dark. It follows a group of pretentious theatre students who love to quote Shakespeare constantly, and when they decide to kill a man, they have to find a way to deal with the fallout. Initially they feel justified in their decision, but slowly some of them descent into a kind of hysteria, no longer able to live with their decisions and their tightly knit theatre group begins to fall apart. I’m not a thespian, nor do I care for Shakespeare, so some of the meaning of this book is really lost on me, yet I still adored it. If you can get over the pretentiousness (which I actually kind of loved) you’ll be rewarded with a found family-esque situation, homoerotic goodness and beautifully written dark academia.

Those are my top 3 recommendations for October! Also because I can’t help myself, here are some additional recommendations that are old favourites of mine:

You by Caroline Kepnes

Joe Goldberg quickly becomes obsessed with Guinevere Beck after she strides into the East Village bookstore where he works. As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder. Goodreads →

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Driven by revenge, investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects the recent death of Ashley Cordova – daughter of the legendary, reclusive cult-horror film director Stanislaus Cordova – wasn’t by suicide. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, he comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father and is drawn deeper into Cordova’s eerie, hypnotic world. The last time he got close to exposing the director, McGrath lost his marriage and his career. This time he might lose even more. Goodreads →

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Goodreads →

 

Vox by Christina Dalcher

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed to speak more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial—this can’t happen here. Not in America. Not to her. Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard. For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice. Goodreads →

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I’d love to hear if any of you have read some of these books and what your thoughts are! Do you plan to read any spooky books in October?