One good scare: horror recs for Spooky Season

The evenings are getting cooler, the leaves are changing color, and that can only mean one thing – spooky season has arrived! It’s my favorite time of year to curl up with a good book, or a scary movie. If you’re looking for that one good scare (or two) to celebrate the season, the library has got you covered.

Stream on Kanopy 

Talk To Me (2023) – A group of friends discover they can conjure the spirits of the dead using an embalmed hand. It’s all fun and games, until they break the number one rule.  

When Evil Lurks (2023 Spain) – In a remote village in Spain, two brothers unwittingly unleash a demonic infestation that spreads like the flu.  

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) – Father and son coroners are forced to work late into the night when a mysterious unidentified body of a young woman is delivered to them for examination. 

Train to Busan (2016 South Korea) – One of the most intense and unforgettable zombie films of the last 20 years. An instant classic.  

Spring (2014) – A love story of the most unusual kind, where a young man meets a woman harboring a terrible secret.  

Ringu (1998 Japan) – A cursed videotape dooms everyone who watches it. The terrifying horror classic from Japan that started a J-Horror frenzy.  

Stream on hoopla 

Host (2020) – A group of friends separated from one another during the COVID lockdown, decide to hold a séance over Zoom and conjure much more than they bargained for.  

The Dark and the Wicked (2020) – A brother and sister must return home to comfort their mother and deal with the death of their father. What’s waiting for them is a waking nightmare.   

It Follows (2015) – Once it starts following you, there is no escape.   

Coherence (2013) – A dinner party of close friends goes horribly wrong when the mysterious effects of a comet passing overhead start to play out.  

Resolution (2013) – Two friends travel to a remote cabin where one imprisons the other to carry out a drug intervention. But there are other sinister forces at play. 

Absentia (2011) - Tricia's husband has been missing for seven years and she needs to declare him 'dead in absentia.' But an ominous tunnel near her house may hold the answers to what really happened to him.  

Books to give you a fright  

We Used to Live Here (2024), Marcus Kliewer – While flipping a house, a young couple lets the previous owners inside to look around. The only problem is, now they won’t leave.  

Incidents Around the House (2024), Josh Malerman – Eight-year-old Bela has a friend who lives in her closet and visits her at night. She calls her “Other Mommy”. But Bela soon realizes Other Mommy isn’t a friend at all.  

William: A Novel (2024), Mason Coile – Meet William, a half-finished AI robot built by agoraphobe Henry. When Henry’s friends drop by to check on him, William decides to take control and entrap the humans in its midst.  

We Kept Her in the Cellar (2024), W.R. Gorman – A twisted and chilling retelling of Cinderella. Eunice lives her life by three simple rules: One, always refer to Cinderella as family. Two, never let Cinderella gain access to rats or mice. Three, never look upon Cinderella between the hours of twelve and three a.m. What happens when Cinderella escapes and attends the ball?  

The Queen (2024), Nick Cutter – Margaret and Charity have been best friends since childhood, and when Charity goes missing, Margaret will do anything to find her. No matter the dark secrets and terrifying forces she will uncover. Nick Cutter is not for the squeamish, read at your own risk! 

Fears: tales of psychological horror (2024), edited by Ellen Datlow – Not sure what scares you? Try this new anthology of short stories from the most creative and biggest names writing horror today.  

Trudi, Collections