Olivia Blacke's Favorite Halloween-Themed Reads (Plus a Haunted Bookstore Tour)

Picture this. It’s October. You’re wrapped in a cozy handmade blanket, feet swaddled in fuzzy socks and a pumpkin spice latte in one hand. Then, you hear something. A scraping, creaking noise. It’s faint at first, then grows louder as it creeps closer. Slowly, you turn to face it and stifle a scream as you realize Halloween’s sneaking up on you and you don’t have any spooky (but not too spooky!) mysteries to read.

Not to worry, my friends, because I’ve got you covered. Throw on a costume (or your favorite sweats) and follow me into the haunted bookstore where there are great Halloween-themed mysteries lurking around every corner, just waiting to jump out at their next unsuspecting victim reader.

As we approach the haunted bookstore, there’s a stone statue guarding the edge of the roof. It is your imagination, or did its eyes just move? Then it beckons us to come in if we dare, because what’s better to start out a spooky tour than a gargoyle standing watch over the door?

Once inside, a book catches your eye. It’s The Alchemist of All Hallows Eve by Gigi Pandian. The Accidental Alchemist Mysteries feature Zoe, a mystery-solving alchemist, and her living gargoyle companion.

Set in Portland, Oregon, these paranormal cozies are my go-to on a rainy autumn day. Zoe is always surrounded by delicious cooking, good friends, and the occasional dead body. In The Alchemist of All Hallows Eve (Book #10 in the series), two unsolved Halloween murders are all that stand between Zoe and her perfect home.

Wandering around the winding shelves of the haunted bookstore, we come face to face with a buffet of treats: tiny candy bars, caramel apples, candy corn (shudder), chocolate pumpkins, and … is that beer? A devil in lederhosen grins at us. You’re pretty sure that it’s a costume, but those shiny red horns look awful convincing even from close up. The devil pours a beverage into a beer stein and offers it to you.

As you take a tentative sip, another book jumps out at you. Enchanting doesn’t even begin to describe Esme Addison’s mysteries. A Brew for Chaos, the latest installment in the Enchanted Bay Mystery Series, features magic, mermaids, and—what else?—pumpkins! Between the Oktoberfest beer contest, the apothecary she helps run, and a spooky cold case, Aleksandra has her hands full of magical trouble.

It feels like someone’s watching us. Is it the black cat perched on the cash register, or the three women wearing tall, pointy hats? The trio cackles as they point their bony fingers at you, which reminds you that Halloween isn’t complete without some magical chaos. You cast around, looking for a spellbook, but instead, you notice a variety of witchy mysteries.

Nothing spells trouble like a coven of witches, a hellhound, and grandma’s bad-news ex recently returned from the dead. Treat yourself for a magical cozy with Lynn Cahoon’s Eight Enchanting Elixirs, because nothing is more lethal than a witch gone bad.

Is there anything more appropriate for a Halloween-loving reader than a librarian witch? You’ll want to check out Angela M. Sanders’ Witch and Tell (#7 in the mystery series) where bad energy, murder, and a missing body are just the beginning.

Wondering what the future might bring, we wander deeper into the haunted bookstore, toward the psychic dressed as a giant bunny rabbit, with their tarot cards and crystal ball. Will you find true love? Should you watch Practical Magic or Hocus Pocus tonight? Will you be able to fit all these not-so-spooky books in your shopping bag? Only the fortune-tellers know for certain.

In another absolutely divine series by Misty Simon, a bibliomancer opens up a B&B (try saying that three times fast, or, maybe don’t because you don’t want to accidentally conjure something) in the Charmed Inn Mysteries. Pressed to the Nines, the latest installment, follows Roxy as a murder interrupts what should be her magically perfect wedding day.

Then a chill runs down your spine and the lights flicker overhead. As the temperature plummets, you can see your own exhaled breath. And then, out of thin air, a book appears, held aloft by a nearly transparent disembodied hand. The book glows with ghostly energy. Do you dare take it?

In The Key to a Killer, Cordelia is a ghost. She and Ruby, her living roommate, have forged an unconventional friendship while working together to solve murders in their Boston neighborhood. But Cordelia’s killer is still on the loose and it’s time to investigate their most personal case yet. If you’ve ever wanted to befriend a ghost (and then team up to solve crimes, because of course you do!), then the darkly funny—and a little spooky—Ruby and Cordelia Mysteries are the perfect BOOks for you!

You snag a miniature Tootsie Roll on your way to the check-out where a bookseller is wearing a long black cape. There’s a trickle of realistic blood coming out of the corner of her mouth. She smiles, flashing bright white fangs. As you finish your transaction, she disappears in a puff of smoke and in her place is a little black bat. It flutters in circles over the shelves of books as we hurry out of the haunted bookstore.

You barely noticing the brilliant explosion of autumn colors in the trees overhead in the haste to get home and start reading your new Halloween-themed mysteries.

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