Fall has officially arrived, and with it our excitement for Halloween! In honour of the spooktacular holiday, the Tellwell team pulled together our top spine-chilling, hair-raising reads for October! 🎃

From horror books with demons and plagues to psychological thrillers with a thirst for revenge, we think you’ll love these eerie excerpts below. 👻

The Plague by Ryan L. Canning

She turned and ran. There was no end in sight. The bodies, the tents, the smell, they went on for miles. 

– Ryan L. Canning, The Plague

Get your copy of The Plague on Amazon.

Lit by Mark Anthony

The apartment filled with sounds from another world. Screaming, shouting, music with an unearthly twisted tune played out of the walls. A chorus of suffering, a background of nightmares and fears. It was angry, insulted and outraged.

– Mark Anthony, Lit

Get your copy of Lit on Amazon.

Deathless by Evan S Sullivan

“There are enemies approaching the gate,” a voice said through the dark. “Devilish things.”

– Evan S. Sullivan, Deathless

Get your copy of Deathless on Amazon.

Poppy Seeds on a Grave: A Collection of Short Stories by Mirko Markovic

Every ounce of blood in this man’s body drained from his skin and he froze in time, a statue paralyzed by the shock of what he had just seen.

– Mirko Markovic, Poppy Seeds on a Grave: A Collection of Short Stories

Get your copy of Poppy Seeds on a Grave: A Collection of Short Stories on Amazon.

The Book of Nodd: The Dreamwalker by B.S. Thompson

Suddenly he heard a snap and an electric bolt of pain shot down his arm, but the cottage did not stop rocking, and it would not be much longer before it collapsed on him completely.

– B.S. Thompson, The Book of Nodd: The Dreamwalker

Get your copy of The Book of Nodd: The Dreamwalker on Amazon.

Chains by M Todd

Before him, strewn about throughout the cavern from ceiling to floor, placed within the bluish rocks, were hundreds, or thousands, of human bodies. Men and women, their faces contorted in masks of horror and pain, frozen like macabre cadavers in a monster’s freezer.

– M. Todd, Chains

Get your copy of Chains on Amazon.

The Hallowmas Train by Gloria Pearson-Valley

The timeriders hesitated only briefly before entering the darkness. Shrieks and moans echoed eerily from the blackness that stretched before them. 

– Gloria Pearson-Vasey, The Hallowmas Train

Get your copy of The Hallowmas Train on Amazon.

Take Her by Tara White

Without thinking, I knew what I had to do. I tugged my sister out from behind me and moved her around me until we had switched places, me behind her with my hands on her shoulders. “Take her,” I said, and gave her shoulders a little shove forward.

– Tara White, Take Her

Get your copy of Take Her on Amazon.

Vindictive by Ryan Lawrence

Squinting, he focused with laser-like intensity to see what he could of the corpse below. He marvelled at the kaleidoscope of colours and textures the mangled body had created all over the urban canvas. 

Ryan Lawrence, Vindictive

Get your copy of Vindictive on Amazon.

Emergence by Ellie Beals

But Just Watching had become kind of a habit, and habits are hard to break. 

– Ellie Beals, Emergence

Get your copy of Emergence on Amazon.

Unhallowed by James D. Thorn

He choked as blood filled his airway. It spurted from his mouth as he exhaled, trying to get a breath. There was so much blood. 

– James D. Thorn, Unhallowed

Get your copy of Unhallowed on Amazon.

Finding Out by Ava Coughlin

Was my mom a criminal? Did she know something or do something that helped ruin this man’s life? Did Mathis know? Was it even true? There was too much to think about all at once. 

– Ava Coughlin, Finding Out

Get your copy of Finding Out on Amazon.

Have a spooktacular Halloween! 🎃 🕸 👻
From all of us at Tellwell!