Happy Halloween!
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is a Halloween freebie! For my Halloween post, I’m going to focus on horror novels on my to-read list. (I’ve done this topic a few times in the past several years, and given the state of my TBR list, it’s time to do it again.)
About half of these are holdovers from last year’s Halloween TBR… giving you some idea of how behind I am when I comes to keeping up with my reading plans! Of the books on my list, most have been around a while, and a couple are upcoming new releases:
- Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
- Needful Things by Stephen King
- Dread Nation by Justine Ireland
- Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong
- A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
- Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
- A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson
- Dead Weight by Hildur Knutsdottir
- The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry
- Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon
Have you read any of these (or for the upcoming new releases, do you plan to read them)? Which ones look best to you?
What’s on your Halloween TTT this week? Share your link, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I just finished The Place Where They Buried Your Heart, and it was amazing! My favorite Christina Henry book to date😁
Oh wow, that’s saying a lot! Her books are always so great. I’m trying to cut back on ARCs so hadn’t requested this one, but I’ll be eager to grab a library copy once it’s available!
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow and Dread Nation by Justine Ireland are both on my reading list! I’ve read Rust in the Root by Ireland, but I want to read more. Here’s my my TTT Halloween Freebie list – It’s a list of witchy MG books. Hope you have a happy Halloween!
Rust in the Root looks good too, and I’ve had Dread Nation on my TBR for far too long at this point — I really need to read it! Happy Halloween!
Some of these look really interesting but I just can’t read horror or spooky books, my mind simply can’t take it haha 🙂
Here’s my TTT post – https://justreadjessie.blog/2025/10/28/top-ten-tuesday-halloween-freebie-pumpkins/
I understand!! 🙂 I like horror… but I have limits, and can’t usually take too much gore, and definitely not body horror. Happy Halloween!
I’m curious about Dread Nation.
I’ve heard really good things about it!
Hemlock Island looks very chilling!
Here’s a link to my TTT post
I’ve been meaning to read Hemlock Island for over a year now! I know I love the author, so it really shouldn’t have taken me this long to get around to it. Thanks for sharing your link!
Nice picks! Here is my TTT.click here
Thank you!
Dread Nation was fantastic!
So glad you think so!! I’ve heard really good things.
Deathless Divide (the sequel) is great, as well. I was seriously bummed when I realized it was the end of the story–I’d have happily read four or five more books set in that world.
I should look for A Head Full of Ghosts because of its similarity with my blog title: My Head is Full of Books! Ha!
I listed books I’ve read that involve Halloweenish creatures. Find it <a href=”https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/ttt-books-with-halloweenish-creatures.html“>Here</a>
Sounds like a perfect match 🙂
Fab list! I loved Starling House!
I’m excited to read it! Especially since I just finished The Everlasting, which reminded me of how much I love the author’s writing
Starling House is fantastic!
That seems to be the consensus! 🙂 Can’t believe it’s taken me until now to get to it…
Needful Things is great! And Hemlock Island is on my tbr too.
Needful Things is one of MANY Stephen King books I still to read — so glad to hear that you enjoyed it!
Starling House and Dread Nation are great! My list of recommendations is here: https://thebookstop.wordpress.com/2025/10/28/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-halloween-horror-fantasy-novels-you-may-not-have-read/
I’m excited to read both of them!
I loved Starling House and Dread Nation!! I remember, reading A Dowry of Blood and liking it, but it doesn’t seem like it stuck with me. lol
Everyone has been mentioning how much they loved Starling House and Dread Nation! I’m way behind, I guess… but hope to read them both soon!
I read Dread Nation and A Head Full of Ghosts this year. They were amazing!
Here’s my TTT for today: https://speedyreadercom.wordpress.com/2025/10/28/halloween-theme-books-with-a-moon/
That’s great to hear! Thank you!
I read Dreadnation, but it was too much for me ha.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2025/10/28/top-ten-tuesday-creatures-of-the-night-2-0/
Oh no!!! Horror tastes vary so much… I consider myself a horror fan, but I know there are lots of subgenres that I just can’t take at all.
Great list! I want to read both Starling House and The Place Where They Buried Your Heart. 😀
Looking forward to them both!
Hemlock Island and Witchcraft For Wayward Girls are both great books! I didn’t care much for Dread Nation.
I hope you have a spooky week and a Happy Halloween! 🎃💀👻
My TTT: https://essentiallyash.blogspot.com/2025/10/top-ten-tuesday-halloweeeeeeen.html
Ash @ Essentially Ash
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Too bad about Dread Nation! I’m starting Witchcraft for Wayward Girls this week, and I’m excited for it. Happy Halloween!
I love Armstrong’s mysteries, so I was eager to read HEMLOCK ISLAND. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work very well for me. I hope you like it better than I did!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Thanks! I’ve loved the two other Armstrong horror novels that I’ve read, so I’m hoping Hemlock Island works for me too!
Starling House and Witchcraft for Wayward Girls were excellent. Enjoy!
Thanks so much! I just started Witchcraft for Wayward Girls today, and I’m already liking it!
Needful Things is on my list, which I’m hoping to get to soon, but King’s collection of work in the 90s is full of larger books. I just read a few weeks ago, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. I enjoyed it, I thought Hendrix’s writing was very gruesome, even if it was more mundane things vs the witchy aspect. I look forward to diving into another of his books!
I hope you get to these soon!
I’ve read most of Hendrix’s books so far (I think I’m just missing one), so I have high hopes for Witchcraft!!
I have a lot of these on my TBR as well! And Witchcraft For Wayward Girls was great. Not as witchy as I would have thought and it starts out more as a historical drama, but it is worth sticking with.
Thank you! I started Witchcraft for Wayward Girls today, and I”m really liking it so far!
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