Halloween lands in the middle of spring here, which means our spooky season comes with jasmine in the air and the sun still up at 7pm. Slightly less atmospheric. Absolutely no reason not to spend all of October reading about haunted houses and men who should be in prison.
We have pulled together twenty reads for your spooky season 2026 TBR, and because we are who we are, most of them are dark romance. Gothic universities, demon summonings, serial killers with excellent bone structure, ghosts who cannot let go, and a couple of genuine horror reads for the brave. Almost everything here is on our shelves right now. Grab an iced coffee, close the curtains for the vibe, and pick your poison.
Eldrith Manor by Leigh Rivers & Avina St. Graves
One ghost, one demon, one haunted manor.
Sable accidentally summoned a demon, and it killed her. Now she is trapped in Eldrith Manor with Lynx for eternity, and neither of them can escape the other. Gothic, tragic and unexpectedly very funny.
Perfect for fans of: Demon Romance, Ghost Romance, Forced Proximity, Gothic Haunting
Pink Ink by Avina St. Graves
Gothikana meets Dexter.
A horror-obsessed film student notices the artistic references in a series of murders nobody else has connected, recreates one for her university project, and unknowingly presents it to the man who did it. Her professor.
Perfect for fans of: Dark Academia, Serial Killer Romance, Professor Student, Horror
Midnight Message by Avina St. Graves
Some messages should stay unanswered.
Avina St. Graves writes obsession better than almost anyone, and this one is pure creeping dread with a hero whose devotion arrives long before anyone asked for it.
Perfect for fans of: Stalker Romance, Obsessed MMC, Dark Contemporary, Slow Dread
Nocticadia by Keri Lake
A university built on the bones of the dead.
A brilliant student arrives at Dracadia and finds herself drawn to her dangerously magnetic professor, the man they call Doctor Death. Forbidden, toxic and completely consuming.
Perfect for fans of: Dark Academia, Professor Student, Gothic Romance, Paranormal Mystery
Nightshade Series by Keri Lake
A love forbidden enough to shake the heavens.
Jericho Van Croix is an angel cloaked in sin, and the woman determined to uncover his secrets will not stop digging. Continues in Infernium.
Perfect for fans of: Angel and Demon, Gothic Fantasy, Forbidden Love, Supernatural
Eldritch by Keri Lake
The woods are hungry.
The second in The Eating Woods, and the closest thing on this list to genuine folk horror. Keri Lake does not write cosy paranormal. Go in prepared.
Perfect for fans of: Folk Horror, Monster Romance, Isolation, Body Horror
Gothikana by RuNyx
Secrets, death and a forbidden romance behind gothic walls.
Corvina arrives at the eerie University of Verenmore and becomes entangled with her enigmatic professor, Vad. Atmospheric, slow-burning and still the dark academia benchmark.
Perfect for fans of: Dark Academia, Age Gap, Gothic Suspense, Mystery
Phantasma by Kaylie Smith
Nine trials in a haunted house, and only one winner.
Ophelia enters a deadly competition inside a house that does not want her there, with a devilishly charming ghost for company. The best haunted house romance going.
Perfect for fans of: Haunted House, Fantasy Romance, Deadly Games, Dark Fairytale
Satan's Affair by H.D Carlton
Every Halloween, Satan's Affair comes to town.
Behind the facade of a travelling carnival is a killer with a divine mission to cleanse the wicked. Bloody, twisted and the most on-theme book on this entire list.
Perfect for fans of: Halloween Carnival, Serial Killer, Vigilante, Horror Romance
Phantom by H.D Carlton
A love story steeped in shadows and sin.
Set in 1944, a lonely woman trapped in a cold marriage finds herself haunted by a stranger outside her window. Terrifying, and exactly what she craves.
Perfect for fans of: Historical Gothic, Stalker Romance, Forbidden Love, Manor Horror
Haunting Adeline by H.D Carlton
Run, little mouse.
Adeline inherits a manor with a very dark history and a man in the shadows who has decided she is his. The book that built modern dark romance. Read the content warnings, genuinely.
Perfect for fans of: Stalker Romance, Haunted Manor, Obsessed MMC, Mystery
Where's Molly by H.D Carlton
A missing girl and an asylum that knows why.
The most horror-leaning thing Carlton has written, and the one our customers come back in to talk about. Deeply unsettling in the best way.
Perfect for fans of: Horror Romance, Asylum Setting, Mystery, Psychological
Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
Two serial killers walk into a competition.
Sloane and Rowan hunt other killers for sport and fall in love doing it. Gleefully gory, genuinely hilarious, and the gateway drug for anyone nervous about dark romance.
Perfect for fans of: Serial Killer Romance, Dark Rom-Com, Friends to Lovers, Gore
Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux
A witch and a demon, and a deal sealed in blood.
When Rae accidentally summons a demon called Leon, she unleashes a bond that could cost her soul. Dark, filthy and completely unforgettable.
Perfect for fans of: Demon Romance, Occult, Enemies to Lovers, Possession
Satanic Shadows by Leigh Rivers
The first step into the Broken Realms.
Leigh Rivers goes full occult here, with the kind of morally black love interest she has built a following on. Dark, atmospheric and very much not safe.
Perfect for fans of: Occult Romance, Dark Fantasy, Morally Grey Hero, Series Starter
The Heartstring Duet by Liv Zander
Wed me. Bed me. Slit my throat.
A gravedigger's daughter, a rotting king, and the shadow who engineered her death. Body horror, genuine rot and a love story underneath all the blood. Crown Me Dead then Crown Me Yours.
Perfect for fans of: Dark Romantasy, Body Horror, Villain Love Interest, Cursed Kingdom
Feathers So Vicious by Liv Zander
The Court of Ravens is not a kind place.
Gothic romantasy with teeth, feathers and a hero who has no interest in being redeemed. Perfect if you want your spooky season with wings.
Perfect for fans of: Dark Romantasy, Gothic Fantasy, Enemies to Lovers, Monster Hero
King of Flesh and Bone by Liv Zander
The Pale Court begins.
Exactly as grim as the title promises. Liv Zander builds worlds that are rotting from the inside and then makes you fall in love inside them anyway.
Perfect for fans of: Dark Fantasy Romance, Death Gods, Grim Worldbuilding, Slow Burn
The Dracula Duet by Karina Halle
A forbidden love that outlives death.
A witch trained to kill vampires meets the immortal she was always going to love, in a Venice-set reimagining of Dracula. Lush, sensual and properly gothic.
Perfect for fans of: Vampire Romance, Gothic Fantasy, Reincarnation, Dark Academia
Even if spooky season here comes with sunshine and hay fever instead of fog, these books will do the work for you. Haunted universities, cursed kingdoms, carnival killers and men who genuinely should not be let near anybody, all in one October TBR.
Check the content warnings on the darker ones, especially anything by H.D Carlton, Keri Lake or Liv Zander. Then close the curtains, ignore the weather, and let these drag you somewhere much colder.
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Happy haunting, romance lovers!