The closer we get to October, the more we have an excuse to keep talking about the best thriller books we've come across. It's not like we're obsessed or anything though.
Oh, who are we kidding? We can't get enough of creature features and haunted houses that have ominous presences in them! They're the thrills that keep on giving during the witchiest season of the year.
Ready to feel your teeth chatter as you live vicariously through the main characters' demises? Check out the 14 best thriller books you have to read before Halloween!
Haunted Houses Thriller Books
Amazon
Jemma Barker is looking for something new during the early '60s, but she has no idea where to start. Living in Chicago has become too much of a burden so she wants to leave ASAP. Her wish is granted when she discovers the Duchon family is hiring someone to help them at their home in New Orleans. Eager for a fresh start, she drops everything to move there.
Sadly, she walks into a nightmare because the Duchons are colorists who treat her as if her life isn't more important than theirs. But, Jemma beings piecing together clues that indicate something much darker is wrong with the family.
Not only are they cursed, but she may be the key to what's been plaguing them and it could be her undoing.
Amazon
Casey Fletcher has left the world of acting behind for a bit, and she's recouping in Vermont. Her family has a lake house there, so it makes sense to find solace in a place that feels familiar. To help her get through mundane days, Casey spies on a couple known as Tom and Katherine Royce. They live across the lake and seem to have it all — from wealth to the perfect relationship.
After a freak accident, Casey and Katherine become quick friends. They begin divulging secrets to each other and it dawns on Casey that something is wrong with her new friend's marriage. It's precisely why she begins to suspect Tom is at fault when Katherine disappears.
Imagine her surprise when she realizes there's so much more to the story than she knows.
True-Crime Inspired Thriller Books
Amazon
A small town hasn't been the same since Trumanell Branson vanished long ago. No one's bothered to take down her missing person's posters either. It's like everyone's waiting for her to appear again. Not only does the town remember her, but they haven't forgotten their disdain for her brother Wyatt. He may have not been found guilty, but no one trusts him.
The tide changes when Wyatt discovers a discarded young girl and believes she could point to what happened to his sister. It opens the door for Odette Tucker, a rookie cop, to begin piecing together an unsolved mystery that hits closer than home than she's let on.
She hopes to discover what happened to her friend Tru, come hell or high water. But first she'll have to grapple with something dark that lurks beneath their town's exterior.
Amazon
Hollyby Stephen King
Holly Gibney is ready to take a long break from being a private investigator, but Penny Dahl's pleas bore a hole in her mind. For some reason, Penny is convinced something has happened to her daughter, Bonnie Dahl, and only wants Holly to find out where she is.
Ironically, Bonnie lived near two of the town's well-respected professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They've accomplished a lot in their time and are even know for their hospitality. But, this older couple is harboring a nasty secret in their basement and it's where Holly will discover the answer to more than Bonnie's disappearance.
Amazon
Hazel Sharp is the last person everyone expects will inherit her family home after her dad dies, but no one's more shocked than she is. After all, she left home as soon as she could and hasn't returned that often. There's also the fact she and one of her brothers have a tense relationship.
As soon as she arrives in town for her dad's funeral, it seems like missing things start appearing. Things that were once buried serve as breadcrumbs to unsolved mysteries and they'll change the course of the relationship she thought she had with her family.
Amazon
Liz is in a period of serious burnout, but decides a getaway with her best friends is just the reset she needs. Somehow, she makes them believe it's a great idea to go camping in Norway and they spend time hiking. However, something lurks in the valleys they've started frequenting and it's looking for it's next victim.
Though Liz wanted them to have an adventure they'll never forget, she and her three best friends will never be the same after it.
Amazon
Detective Elise King is certain she knows how Karen Simmons was murdered, but she's still searching for who committed the grisly crime. It's no secret Karen spent a large amount of time on dating apps so that makes it easier for Elise to deduce this was possibly a date-related crime. The only person standing in her way is Kiki Nunn.
Kiki could care less that Elise doesn't want her to get in the way of the investigation because she has a young daughter to take care of and a career to salvage. She'll do whatever it takes to discover vital clues even if it means putting herself in the line of fire.
Amazon
Professor Eustacia Rose spends her time immersed in the world of Botanical Toxicology which leaves no room for a social life. The only proof that she kind of cares about other people is her weird habit of spying on her neighbors. One night her spying takes a turn for the worse when she hears a bloodcurdling scream and sees the neighbor she's become obsessed with, Simone. Eustacia knows she shouldn't get involved, but she can't but wonder what kind of life Simone leads.
Just as soon as this happens, Eustacia discovers someone's damaged her curated garden and poisoned someone Simone knows. Against her better judgement, she decides to start piecing together clues to solve the mystery of what happened.
Her world will never be the same after this.
Amazon
During the summer of 1975, Barbara Van Laar is discovered to have vanished from the same camp her family owns. Everyone's frantic with worry because something similar happened years before, except it was Barbara's brother who disappeared. Tragically, he was never found and it's haunted camp counselors ever since.
The more people search for Barbara, the more they uncover weird secrets about the Van Laars and the community around them.
Amazon
Vesper Wright is truly the black sheep of her family because she chose to leave her strict community knowing she'd never be able to come back to it. But, one day she receives an envelope that removes that boundary in the form of a wedding invitation.
Though used to being the exception to certain rules, Vesper is suspicious about why she's being allowed to return home after being away for so long. She doesn't know why, but she feels the urge to show her face even if means dealing with her frigid mom Constance.
It doesn't take long for Vesper's presence to unearth a terrible family secret that'll shake the foundation of how she was raised and who she wants to be in life.
Vampire Thriller Books
Amazon
This dark academia book hit bookshelves today, and its one of the spookiest vampire books I've read in a long time. If you're a fan of AMC+'s Interview With a Vampire series, you'll love meeting Kidan and Susenyos, the house vampire she's bound to.
When her sister June goes missing, Kidan commits a horrific act to gain information about who may have kidnapped her. As she sets out to uncover the vampire's location, she comes face to face with the one place she'd been searching for without great success.
Once she crosses Uxlay University's threshold, she finds herself wrestling with the light and dark within her. She also realizes her true enemy may not be the person she thought it was and he might be the key to her learning how to embrace the darkness within.
Amazon
So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison (September 10)
Sloane Parker should be celebrating her birthday, but all she can think about is trying to forget that her husband continues to cheat on her. It doesn't help that he's planned a mini getaway for her with her best friend Naomi. Nevertheless, Sloane feels like she's just going to skate by the weekend without any excitement.
But Naomi's thrill-seeking ways find them and they end up hanging out with an unknown group of people one night. Things start off okay, but terror quickly surfaces and the best friends realize they've opened one of Pandora's boxes.
Omnious Thriller Books
Amazon
Mallory Quinn is turning her life around when she takes on the role of a nanny for Ted and Caroline Maxwell's young son, Teddy. They begin to develop a beautiful bond and she finds herself truly developing a special place in her heart for the five year-old. She even admires his creativity.
However, that creativity slowly turns sinister as Mallory realizes Teddy's drawings are becoming horrifically realistic. The more she pays attention, the more she wonders if there's something strange that occurred and something wants the truth to be found.
Amazon
Abby Lamb has fallen in love and found the perfect man to be her husband. Ralph has everything she's ever looked for and things finally seem like they'll work out in Abby's favor — but the one person standing in her way of true happiness is Ralph's mother, Laura. Laura's deemed too depressed to live alone, but seems more narcissistic than anything. She's awful to everyone, especially Laura, and doesn't seem to care.
When Laura commits suicide, Abby and Ralph begin to experience things that can be best described as supernatural. Ralph beings dealing with dark depression while Abby is terrorized by a malevolent force she's sure is Laura's evil spirit.
She'll have to find a way to break this generational curse once and for all if she truly loves Ralph.
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