16 Atmospheric Books to Read This Fall

Fall is my favorite season and reading is my favorite hobby (well, it’s a close call with traveling), so of course I love finding a book with strong autumnal vibes. Whether you’re looking for something cozy or creepy, slightly unsettling or downright horrifying, or even pleasantly magical, I hope one of these books will catch your eye.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

My absolute number one pick for an atmospheric autumn read is this fantastic Gothic ghost story featuring a young biographer and a reclusive author. There’s an old house, an unsettling pair of twins, a mysterious library, and long-buried familial secrets. Cozy, right?

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

This remains one of the best short story collections I’ve read even five years later, and its subject matter screams to be read in October. Part urban myth, part retold fairytale, part science fiction, this collection of stories with not-so-subtle feminist underpinnings will terrify you with both its imaginative settings and unfortunate realisms.

The Likeness by Tana French

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

This Irish mystery about a murdered college student who has a doppelganger on the police force is full of old houses, chunky knit sweaters, hot drinks, and intrigue. The Likeness is the second book in the Dublin Murder Squad series, and though it’s not absolutely necessary to read In the Woods first, I highly recommend both.

The Good House by Tananarive Due

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

I listened to this audiobook several years ago when I was just dipping my toe into the horror genre. Set in a crumbling mansion in the Pacific Northwest (I’m detecting a theme for strong fall settings here …), it features a family struggling to survive a violent generations-long curse. The audiobook was narrated by one of my faves (Robin Miles), and it definitely kept me engaged!

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

If a thriller sounds like your ideal fall read, this intricate mystery is a perennial favorite. When the daughter of a legendary cult film director is found dead one October evening, an investigative journalist with a personal vendetta is determined to prove the death was not a suicide, as determined by official reports. (Warning: This book was downright disturbing at times.)

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

In this young adult novel, Alice is the granddaughter of a reclusive author of a cult-classic book of fairytales set in the Hinterland. After her grandmother passes away, Alice has reason to believe the Hinterland exists outside her grandmother’s imagination. (If you love this book and want more, Albert later published a collection of Tales from the Hinterland.)

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

I have a “dark AF” shelf on my Goodreads account, and this was one of the first three books I added to it. So, yeah, it’s not for everyone. But if the idea of orphaned (possibly stolen) children raised by a domineering “Father” in a library that transcends time and space appeals to you, this horrifying story should find a place on your fall nightstand.

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

For a less-terrifying Halloween-appropriate read, this story by fantasy favorite Schwab (who also writes adult novels under the name V. E. Schwab) about a young girl who can pull back the “Veil” between the worlds of the living and the dead has just the right amount of spook for a middle-grade novel, but parts are chilling even for adults. (Bonus: This book serves as great armchair travel to Edinburgh!) If you enjoy this adventure, there are now two more books in the series that travel to Paris and New Orleans.

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

Part Salem Witch Trials, part Book of Revelations, part patriarchal cult community and part intersectional feminism, you should pick up this horror/fantasy debut by Alexis Henderson if you like your fall reading dark and witchy. Escape into the story of Immanuelle, an outcast whose lifelong attempts to conform end when she meets powerful witches in the forbidden forest surrounding her insular community.

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

For fans of magical realism and circus stories, this beautiful novel features a young librarian in New England who receives a peculiar old book that could reveal the key to breaking a family curse. Beautiful mermaids, traveling carnivals, a string of tragic suicides and—again—a crumbling old house create a magical and mysterious reading atmosphere.

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

This is a super-short middle grade book featuring a boy navigating his relationship with his dad who is experiencing symptoms of CTE after a pro football career (hence the vivid autumn setting as football season rolls around). I found this story especially memorable because I haven’t really seen CTE addressed in fiction for any audience. I especially recommend the audiobook version, which runs only 2 hours and 14 minutes long.

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

This Pulitzer-winning historical fiction novel featuring a Native American tribe fighting their proposed termination doesn’t completely take place in the fall, but it begins in September 1953 as the aspens are starting to yellow in rural North Dakota. The slower pace of this novel (engaging but not necessarily a page-turner, IMHO) means this book will keep you company for many a cozy fall evening.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

This young adult novel features a family preparing for their annual Día de Muertos celebration in an East Los Angeles Latinx community, specifically a trans boy who is determined to have his family accept him as a brujo and who accidentally summons the ghost of a former classmate. This was a fun yet emotional adventure story incorporating folklore and ancient legends, and I especially enjoyed the frequent descriptions of the (plentiful) Día de Muertos snacks. Yum!

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Like many horror books, this eerie novel features a haunted house, but in this case, the house is one of the characters, even narrating some of the story. The family that lives in the house, which may also be home to several generations of ghosts, includes a young woman with a strange eating disorder, her twin brother and their widower father.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

I have not seen the Netflix adaptation so I can’t compare it to the book, but The Haunting of Hill House is a classic by one of the United States’ most famous horror authors. Another Jackson classic, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, has also been adapted to film in recent years if you want to do a few book-to-movie comparisons this fall.

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

Audiobook available on Libro.fm

This list was going to be “15 Atmospheric Books to Read This Fall,” but I just couldn’t leave this one off. This beautiful multigenerational saga of a Black family in United States is a little over 800 pages, but I promise it’s worth it, and I figured what better season to curl up with this tome and a warm drink than autumn?! It’s also a debut novel by a poet, which you know I love.

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Featured image: Time Tested Books in Sacramento, CA (June 2022)