Happy spooky season! Fall, in my opinion, provides the best reading weather and the best reading inspiration. I will forever be on the hunt for witchy stories and ripper tales when October rolls around. Here are my favorite reads for when the air is chillier and the evening sky is darker.

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
Audrey Wadsworth was born with a scalpel in her hand and a cadaver on her table despite the wealth she was born into. When body after body streams into her uncle’s morgue, she starts to investigate. Everyone is a suspect until she can find out who is Jack the Ripper.

Everything in this novel had me hooked, from the feminism to the crime to the romance, and each aspect played into the others so well. Not to mention, I was absolutely spooked.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Nick’s wife, Amy, is gone and no one knows why. As all the signs point to murder, everyone’s fingers point to Nick. But the answer isn’t so easily found, and Nick is determined to find out why. Amy isn’t entirely innocent either, as Nick finds in his searching.


Chilling air calls for chilling stories and this may be the one to cause the most goosebumps. Gone Girl kept me on edge long after I put it down for the night. And the “cool girl” narrative fires me up every time.

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
Faeries can’t create, but humans can, and Isobel may be the most talented of them all. When her fame in painting gets her a job for the portrait of the autumn prince and she paints human emotions in his eyes, she finds herself hauled across the border separating humans and faeries to await her trial.


For the longest time, Rook had been one of my top 3 book crushes, despite his arrogance that seemed to have no end. While the book doesn’t take place strictly in the autumn court, the world is described in such vivid color that it emanates the magical light of fall.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Sisters Sally and Gillian are cursed–any man to ever love them is doomed to die, as had been the same for any Owens witch. Sally resolved to hide from love, while Gilly relishes in it. But men always cause problems, and Jimmy Angelov is the biggest problem of all, so the sisters must reunite to keep him six feet under.


This is a favorite in my family. Now that I’m finally 21, I plan to have midnight margaritas any time my mom, grandma, and I are together. The subtle witchcraft and the air of magic mixed with the tension of love and death create the perfect fall night read.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Vasilisa has always been too fantastical and far too daring for her own good, as everyone around her would say. Once her mother dies and her stepmother forbids worshipping the spirits around her home, the magic Vasilisa grew up with dwindles. With the kind spirits so weak, evil spirits brave closer and crops die. Vasilisa runs away in search of help, and she realizes a gift she never knew she had.


Creepy, crawling creatures and the cold Russian wilderness make this a great October read. Because of the language and the mythological background, this book is already a classic in my mind. It reads so smoothly, it’s almost like watching a movie.

Happy fall and thank you for reading,

Taylor