Spooky season is almost over, but there’s never a bad time to hunker down with a good horror book. Luckily, most of the folks at Booked & Screened are true horror aficionados, so if you need a good recommendation, we’re here for you.

Check out some of our favorite horror novels and novellas below, and make sure to drop your own recommendations in the comments.

Jill Keppeler—“Sworn Soldier” by T. Kingfisher

I’ve never been a fan of gory or gruesome for its own sake, but I like some good spooky vibes. Author T. Kingfisher is a great favorite of mine anyway, but she makes me waver on that border because her stuff is just that good.

“Snake-Eater” and “The Twisted Ones” get honorable mentions here. (The latter still gives me that skin-crawling feeling when I think of it.) But my favorites of Kingfisher’s horror writing thus far are the Sworn Soldier novellas: “What Moves the Dead,” “What Feasts at Night” and “What Stalks the Deep.” And, my, how I would love to see these adapted for the screen—if they’re done right, of course.

“What Moves the Dead” grabbed my attention first because of the premise: a sort of retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” I like a good retelling, and Kingfisher’s fairy-tale-inspired novels and novellas are fantastic. Worth a try, right?

The characters got me next. Alex Easton is a great one, and I would dearly love to see kan (that’s the correct pronoun in this context) in more books and on the screen. I’m not sure about Hollywood’s ability to cast or depict a character like kan, but the potential is great.

(In brief: Kingfisher’s alternate version of our world here has the country of Gallacia, which through an interesting bit of history has sworn soldiers: those referred to as “ka” and “kan” and whose previous gender does not matter in light of their military service. Alex is one of these. Cool? Cool.)

In this first book, Alex has traveled to visit kan childhood friend, Madeline Usher, when kan receives word Usher is dying. Things … proceed from there.

Without spoilers, let’s just say Kingfisher can make things we’d consider ordinary (on the surface, anyway) deeply creepy and carry a premise forward to make it absolutely terrifying.

The next two novellas continue to follow Alex into further … situations. (“Adventures” seems a little too lighthearted.) The sort of horror changes, from Gothic in the first to downright Lovecraftian in the third, but Kingfisher manages it all.

Could Hollywood? I’m not sure, but I’d love to see it try.

Ben Hooper—“Something is Killing the Children” by James Tynion IV & Werther Dell’Edera

Surprise, surprise–here comes Ben Hooper telling you to read a comic book. “Something is Killing the Children,” by writer James Tynion IV and artist Werther Dell’Edera, tells you its premise right in the title: something mysterious is indeed killing the children in the small Wisconsin town of Archer’s Peak.

Multiple disappearances, as well as reports from children of monsters lurking in the town’s shadows, catch the attention of veteran monster hunter Erica Slaughter of the mysterious Order of St. George, aka the House of Slaughter.

Complicating her investigation is the fact that most adults are unable to see the monsters feeding on the town’s children, leading to an atmosphere of paranoia, persecution and a whole lot of denial.

The series (which is still ongoing, but is split into arcs with their own beginning, middle and end) combines bloody action with real-world psychological horrors including bullying, social isolation and the unique struggles of growing up LGBTQ+ in a small town.

Dell’Edera’s artwork is every bit as moody and dynamic as Tynion’s scripting. The series has collected multiple Eisner Awards and been nominated for accolades including Harvey Awards and Bram Stoker Awards.

“Something is Killing the Children” was optioned for a Netflix series in 2021, with no less a talent than Mike Flanagan attached. The streamer released its option in 2024, but the rights were snatched up by Blumhouse, which is developing both an animated series, spearheaded by Tynion himself, and a live-action film, with Craig Zobel attached to direct.

If you like action, gruesome monsters, paranormal mysteries, badass women and gorgeous artwork, “Something is Killing the Children” is the perfect spooky season read for you!

Danielle Haynes—“Doctor Sleep” by Stephen King

OK, someone had to go with the king of horror himself, so it might as well be me. I’m not sure “Doctor Sleep,” the book, is my favorite of all Stephen King’s work, but it’s definitely my favorite adaptation.

The 2013 book is the sequel to perhaps one of King’s most famous novels, “The Shining,” originally published in 1977. Now an adult, Danny Torrance finds himself a recovering alcoholic after years of using booze to hide the horrible things he “saw” with his telepathic gift.

Danny works as a hospice orderly and makes a psychic connection to Abra, a young girl who also has the gift. Abra’s Shine, however, is a little too bright and captures the attention of a clan of psychic vampires—called the True Knot—who live off those with psychic abilities.

When the True Knot, which is led by Rose the Hat, tortures and kills people with the Shine, they give off something called “steam,” which the vampires consume, allowing them to live. The starving True Knot members are now on a mission to kidnap and kill Abra, and Danny must fight to protect her.

The 2019 film version of “Doctor Sleep” was filmmaker Mike Flanagan’s second adaptation of a King book, following 2017’s “Gerald’s Game.” (He also adapted “The Life of Chuck” in 2024 and the recently released “Carrie” series, and is working on projects for “The Mist” and “The Dark Tower” series.)

Flanagan somehow managed to make “Doctor Sleep” feel like it fit seamlessly with Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” from 1980, while also stamping it with his personal tone and aesthetic. What’s more amazing is that King apparently liked it well enough to continue working with Flanagan despite notoriously hating Kubrick’s take on the first book.

If you haven’t already, read “The Shining” and “Doctor Sleep,” then follow with the 1980 Kubrick adaptation and 2019 Flanagan adaptation. You’ll see what I mean.