I always say this but thrillers aren’t a genre I pick up normally but when I do, I absolutely love them. After reading an excellent thriller recently I’ve been thinking about which ones would be great to read this Halloween. I’ve become quite the seasonal reader in the last couple of years.
So without further ado here are some of the best thrillers to read for Halloween.
All These Bodies by Kendare Blake
This was actually one of my favourite reads of 2021 and recently my review of it (read here) has gained some traction. Clearly, people want to know more about All These Bodies and it makes sense as we are in spooky season now.
I’ve never been the type of person to pick up a thriller, as they’ve never really appealed to me, but after reading All These Bodies, I’ve come to love the genre.
The way in which this is written is both beautiful and clever. There’s tons of foreshadowing and the tension really does build.
Synopsis: Sixteen bloodless bodies. Two teenagers. One impossible explanation.
Summer 1958—a string of murders plagues the Midwest. The victims are found in their cars and in their homes—even in their beds—their bodies drained, but with no blood anywhere.
September 19- the Carlson family is slaughtered in their Minnesota farmhouse, and the case gets its first lead: 15-year-old Marie Catherine Hale is found at the scene. She is covered in blood from head to toe, and at first she’s mistaken for a survivor. But not a drop of the blood is hers.
Michael Jensen, son of the local sheriff, yearns to become a journalist and escape his small-town. He never imagined that the biggest story in the country would fall into his lap, or that he would be pulled into the investigation, when Marie decides that he is the only one she will confess to.
As Marie recounts her version of the story, it falls to Michael to find the truth: What really happened the night that the Carlsons were killed? And how did one girl wind up in the middle of all these bodies?
Burn our Bodies Down by Rory Power
Although I found the characters hard to connect with at first, Burn our Bodies Down is a chillingly beautiful story. Well, the storyline is actually quite brutal, but the way in which it is written is beautiful. It was also a bit confusing at first, but that feeling passes very quickly.
From the get-go, I was well and truly creeped out and the further I got into the story the more that feeling built. I’ve never read anything like Burn Our Bodies Down. I did a review of it way back in 2020 so check it out here if you want.
Synopsis: Ever since Margot was born, it’s been just her and her mother. No answers to Margot’s questions about what came before. No history to hold on to. No relative to speak of. Just the two of them, stuck in their run-down apartment, struggling to get along.
But that’s not enough for Margot. She wants family. She wants a past. And she just found the key she needs to get it: A photograph, pointing her to a town called Phalene. Pointing her home. Only, when Margot gets there, it’s not what she bargained for.
Margot’s mother left for a reason. But was it to hide her past? Or was it to protect Margot from what’s still there?
The only thing Margot knows for sure is there’s poison in their family tree, and their roots are dug so deeply into Phalene that now that she’s there, she might never escape.
Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe
This was a recent read for me and I’m still thinking about it now. I’ve never read anything so immersive in my life. Often when people say they couldn’t put the book down they are exaggerating, but I literally could not put this down.
From the get-go, I was on edge reading this and the tension just kept building, and just when you thought it had died down that’s when it gets you. Honestly I really, really enjoyed this and I gave it five stars, which I don’t do very often. Read my review here.
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Sayers Wayte has everything—until he’s kidnapped by a man who tells him the privileged life he’s been living is based on a lie.
Trapped in a windowless room, without knowing why he’s been taken or how long the man plans to keep him shut away, Sayers faces a terrifying new reality. To survive, he must forget the world he once knew, and play the part his abductor has created for him.
But as time passes, the line between fact and fiction starts to blur, and Sayers begins to wonder if he can escape . . . before he loses himself.
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: The Best Of: Comfort Films I Could Watch Again and Again #4
I’ve been craving a good thriller. I’m going to have to check these out.
[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: The Best Of: Thrillers To Read For Halloween […]