Halloween is the perfect time to explore eerie locales and sinister small town horror where the boundaries between reality and the supernatural blur.
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Hello, townies and locals! Welcome to my little cozy corner of the web, Booked and Bewitched, where we chat about all things comfy, horror, spicy, Halloween, and mystery related!
This week we are talking about all things small town horror related.
From haunted hamlets to cursed villages. Whether you’re a seasoned horror fan or a newcomer to the genre, these tales will transport you to places where dark secrets and chilling atmospheres reign supreme.
So without further ado, let’s get into these small town horror reads! And if you need more horror-themed entertainment choices. Go check out-
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🔪 Small Town Horror 🔪
1. Gripping Supernatural Thriller
So the remote Scottish island of Eynhallow harbors ancient secrets and vengeful spirits. When a newcomer arrives, the island’s dark past resurfaces, leading to a terrifying confrontation with the supernatural.
McGregor’s atmospheric writing immerses you in the eerie, windswept landscape of Eynhallow, where every shadow hides a malevolent presence.
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Agnes begrudgingly befriends this aristocrat-in-exile; a mercurial scientist who toils night and day on some secret pursuit. Despite herself, she’s drawn to his dark, brooding charm. And who is this Byronic stranger sweeping Agnes off her feet? His name is Frankenstein and he’s come to this remote isle to fulfill a monstrous obligation.
2. Haunting Small Town Horror
Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt travels to the abandoned mining town of Silvertjärn, where an entire population vanished in 1959. As her team investigates, they uncover disturbing secrets and encounter the town’s lingering horrors.
Sten’s novel, The Lost Village, combines psychological suspense with supernatural terror, creating a gripping and claustrophobic tale.
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Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:
They are not alone.
3. Unraveling the Enigma
In a secluded village surrounded by dense, foreboding woods, a young boy and his family grapple with inexplicable events and haunting legends. As the boundary between reality and the supernatural blurs, the village’s dark past begins to resurface.
At The Edge of the Woods weaves an eerie, atmospheric tale that delves into folklore and the human psyche, creating a hauntingly beautiful narrative that lingers long after the last page.
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In an unnamed foreign country, a family of three is settling into a house at the edge of the woods. But something is off. A sound, at first like coughing and then like laughter, emanates from the nearby forest. Fantastical creatures, it is said, live out there in a castle where feudal lords reigned and Resistance fighters fell.
4. Unveiling the Dark Depths
So Jax investigates her sister’s mysterious drowning at their family’s estate in Sparrow Crest. She soon uncovers a history of supernatural events linked to the estate’s cursed pool.
The Drowning Kind is a haunting blend of family secrets and supernatural horror, set in a town where the past refuses to stay buried.
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Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie is researching the history of their family and the property. As she dives deeper into the research herself, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.
5. Echoes from the Grave
So Keira, a woman with no memory of her past, arrives at the isolated Carrow House. As she begins to uncover the town’s ghostly inhabitants and dark history, she must confront the horrors that haunt her.
The Whispering Dead delivers a classic haunted house story with a modern twist, set in a town shrouded in mystery and ghosts.
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Homeless, hunted, and desperate to escape a bitter storm, Keira takes refuge in an abandoned groundskeeper’s cottage. Her new home is tucked away at the edge of a cemetery, surrounded by gravestones: some recent, some hundreds of years old, all suffering from neglect.
And in the darkness, she can hear the unquiet dead whispering.
6. Devil On Your Doorstep
Inspired by the satanic panic of the 1980s, this novel follows a teacher in Danvers accused of a horrific crime. As unsettling events unfold, the town’s dark history of paranoia and witch hunts resurfaces.
Whisper Down the Lane is a chilling exploration of fear, memory, and the supernatural, set in a town with a sinister legacy.
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Richard doesn’t have a past. For him, there is only the present: a new marriage, a first chance at fatherhood, and a quiet life as an art teacher in Virginia. Then the body of a ritualistically murdered rabbit appears on his school’s playground, along with a birthday card for him. But Richard hasn’t celebrated his birthday since he was known as Sean.
7. Into the Abyss Small Town Horror
So a cave diver, Gyre Price descends into the treacherous cave system. As she navigates the underground labyrinth, she encounters ghostly apparitions and unearths the town’s buried secrets.
The Luminous Dead is a tense and claustrophobic horror story set in an underground city where the real dangers lie below the surface. And one of my favorite reads!
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As Gyre descends, little inconsistencies—missing supplies, unexpected changes in the route, and, worst of all, shifts in Em’s motivations—drive her out of her depths. Lost and disoriented, Gyre finds her sense of control giving way to paranoia and anger. On her own in this mysterious, deadly place, surrounded by darkness and the unknown,
Gyre must overcome more than just the dangerous terrain and the Tunneler which calls underground its home if she wants to make it out alive—she must confront the ghosts in her head.
But how come she can’t shake the feeling she’s being followed?
8. Unearthing Nightmares and Phobias
So Kara discovers a portal to a parallel dimension in her uncle’s museum in Hog Chapel. The otherworldly landscape is filled with monstrous creatures that threaten to spill into the town.
The Hollow Places blends cosmic horror with small-town charm, creating a unique and unsettling narrative.
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Kara finds the words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring this peculiar area—only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more one fears them, the stronger they become.
9. Delving into Darkness
When Mouse clears out her grandmother’s house in Foggy Creek, she discovers a journal detailing encounters with strange creatures. She soon realizes the horrors described in the journal are real.
The Twisted Ones is a delightful mix of humor and horror, inspired by folklore and the supernatural.
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Grandma was a hoarder, and her house was stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but there’s more—Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather’s journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants…until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself.
Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors—because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and they’re looking for you. And if she doesn’t face them head-on, she might not survive to tell the tale.
10. Confronting Haunting Legacies
So Four Native American men are haunted by a vengeful entity after a hunting incident on the Blackfeet Reservation. They must confront their past to survive the present threat.
The Only Good Indians weaves cultural horror with a compelling narrative, exploring themes of guilt, tradition, and survival.
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This story follows the lives of four American Indian men and their families, all haunted by a disturbing, deadly event that took place in their youth. Years later, they find themselves tracked by an entity bent on revenge, totally helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.
11. Supernatural Small Town Horror
When two grieving men set out on a fishing trip to Dutchman’s Creek in the Catskills, they stumble upon a dark and ancient evil lurking beneath the waters. The novel weaves together past and present, blending supernatural horror with human sorrow.
The Fisherman is a masterful blend of cosmic horror and personal tragedy, echoing the eerie atmosphere and unsettling themes found in Campbell’s work. The rich, immersive narrative and hauntingly vivid descriptions will keep you enthralled and deeply unnerved.
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When Abe and Dan, two widowers who have found solace in each other’s company and a shared passion for fishing, hear rumors of the Creek, and what might be found there, the remedy to both their losses, they dismiss it as just another fish story. Soon, though, the men find themselves drawn into a tale as deep and old as the Reservoir. It’s a tale of dark pacts, of long-buried secrets, and of a mysterious figure known as Der Fisher: the Fisherman. It will bring Abe and Dan face to face with all that they have lost, and with the price they must pay to regain it.
12. Chilling Secrets Of The Past
Survivors of a cult massacre are drawn back to the town of Red Peak, where they must confront the supernatural forces that destroyed their community.
The Children of Red Peak is a chilling exploration of trauma, faith, and the horrors of fanaticism.
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David Young, Deacon Price, and Beth Harris live with a dark secret. They grew up in an isolated religious community in the shadow of the mountain Red Peak, and they are among the few who survived its horrific last days.
Years later, the trauma of what they experienced never feels far behind. And when a fellow survivor commits suicide, they reunite to confront their past and share their memories of that final night.
But discovering the terrifying truth might put them on a path back to Red Peak, and escaping a second time could be almost impossible…
13. Unraveling Dark Mysteries
So Noemí Taboada travels to the remote town of El Triunfo to save her cousin from a mysterious doom. She discovers dark secrets within the town and its inhabitants.
Mexican Gothic blends gothic horror with Mexican folklore, creating a richly atmospheric and suspenseful tale.
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An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . .
14. Homecoming Horrors
Returning to her childhood home in The Hollow, Vera must confront the eerie legacy of her father’s gruesome crimes while grappling with unsettling memories and a sinister presence lurking within the house.
Just Like Home masterfully intertwines psychological horror and a deeply unsettling atmosphere, creating a haunting narrative that will keep you on edge. Also my number one read of 2023.
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“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. Despite their long estrangement, despite the memories — she’s come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there, beneath the house he’d built for his family.
Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?
There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes
15. Secrets in the Shadows
So in the small town of Smiths Hollow, plagued by mysterious deaths, Lauren and Miranda uncover the dark secrets hidden within the ghostly woods surrounding their home.
The Ghost Tree is a captivating blend of supernatural horror and small-town mystery.
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So when Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging the remains of the girls through the woods, she knows she can’t just do nothing. Not like the rest of her town. But as she draws closer to answers, she realizes that the foundation of her seemingly normal town might be rotten at the center. And that if nobody else stands for the missing, she will.
16. Camping Gone Wrong
So a group of friends on a camping trip near the town of Breckenridge encounter an ancient evil lurking in the forest. As they struggle to survive, they must confront the darkness within themselves.
The Night Will Find Us is a terrifying journey into the unknown, filled with suspense and psychological horror.
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School’s out for summer and that means one thing to Parker, Chloe, and their four friends: a well-deserved camping trip in the Pine Barrens, a million-acre forest deep in the heart of New Jersey. But when old grudges erupt, an argument escalates into the unthinkable, leaving one of them dead and the killer missing. As darkness descends and those left alive try to determine a course of action, the forest around them begins to change…
In the morning, more of the group has vanished and the path that led them into the woods is gone—as if consumed by the forest itself. Lost and hungry, the remaining friends set out to find help, only to realize that the forest seems to have other plans—a darker, ancient horror lies dead and dreaming in a lake in the center of the woods. And it’s calling to them.
17. Friendship and Fear
When Julie mysteriously reappears after being missing for two years, her friends gather for a reunion at a remote inn in the small town of Blackwood. As the eerie atmosphere and Julie’s strange behavior unravel, they realize something sinister has returned with her.
The Return delivers a gripping blend of psychological and supernatural horror, with a suspenseful narrative that explores the bonds of friendship and the chilling unknown.
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Julie is missing, and no one believes she will ever return—except Elise. Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and feels it in her bones that her best friend is out there and that one day Julie will come back. She’s right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she’s been or what happened to her.
Along with Molly and Mae, their two close friends from college, the women decide to reunite at a remote inn. But the second Elise sees Julie, she knows something is wrong—she’s emaciated, with sallow skin and odd appetites. And as the weekend unfurls, it becomes impossible to deny that the Julie who vanished two years ago is not the same Julie who came back. But then who—or what—is she?
18. Love Letter To Slasher Fans
So Jade Daniels, an outcast obsessed with slasher films, discovers that a real-life horror is unfolding in her small town of Proofrock. She must use her knowledge of the genre to survive.
My Heart Is A Chainsaw is a love letter to horror fans, blending meta-horror with a gripping, emotional story.
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Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies…especially the ones where a masked killer seeks revenge on a world that wronged them. And Jade narrates the quirky history of Proofrock as if it is one of those movies. But when blood starts to spill into the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls us into her dizzying, encyclopedic mind of blood and masked murderers, and predicts exactly how the plot will unfold.
19. Creepy Gothic Must Read
So Jane Lawrence marries a reclusive doctor and moves into his haunted mansion in Lindridge Hall. As she uncovers the house’s dark secrets, she must confront her fears and sanity.
The Death of Jane Lawrence is a gothic horror novel that is a richly atmospheric and suspenseful tale that keeps you on edge.
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Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England, Caitlin Starling crafts a new kind of gothic horror from the bones of the beloved canon. This Crimson Peak-inspired story assembles, then upends, every expectation set in place by Shirley Jackson and Rebecca, and will leave readers shaken, desperate to begin again as soon as they are finished.
20. Serial Killer Cat and Mouse
In 1991, college student Charlie accepts a ride from a stranger. As they travel through the night, she begins to suspect her companion might be a serial killer.
Survive The Night is a tense and thrilling ride, blending psychological horror with a gripping mystery.
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The longer she sits in the passenger seat, the more Charlie notices there’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t want her to see inside the trunk. As they travel an empty, twisty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly anxious Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s jittery mistrust merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination?
21. Locked In Terror
So Four contestants enter a full-contact escape room in the town of Lincoln with a cash prize. As the night progresses, they realize the real horrors lie within themselves.
Reprieve is a thought-provoking and chilling exploration of human nature and societal fears.
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A chilling and blisteringly relevant literary novel of social horror centered around a brutal killing that takes place in a full-contact haunted escape room—a provocative exploration of capitalism, hate politics, racial fetishism, and our obsession with fear as entertainment
22. Unholy Secrets
A vicar and her daughter move to the village of Chapel Croft, which has a dark history of witch hunts and disappearances. They soon realize the village’s past horrors are far from over.
The Burning Girls is a gripping blend of thriller and supernatural horror, filled with twists and suspense.
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Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent with a fourteen-year-old daughter and a heavy conscience, arrives in the village hoping for a fresh start. Instead, Jack finds a town rife with conspiracies and secrets, and is greeted with a strange welcome package: an exorcism kit and a note that warns, “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.”
23. Whispers of the Past
A man inherits a house with a sinister history in the town of Carcosa and becomes ensnared in a supernatural mystery involving ghosts and ancient curses.
The House Of Dust is a richly atmospheric and eerie tale that keeps you enthralled from start to finish.
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Failing crime writer Bradley Ellison and former prostitute Missy Holiday are drawn to this place, fleeing a world turned against them. For Brad, it is work—he must find a compelling story before the true-crime magazine he writes for judges him expendable. For Missy, it is recuperation—four years at “the club” have left her drained.
But the price of peace is high, and soon Brad and Missy discover that something hides behind the quiet. Something moves in the night. It manifests itself in bizarre symbols and disturbing funeral rites. A thing that twists back through time and clings to the dust of the ancient house. A presence they must uncover before their past catches up with them.
24. Haunting Realities
So Hilton, a man who narrowly escaped death as a child, begins experiencing strange occurrences in Miami and must confront a malevolent force that has haunted him for years.
The Between is a powerful and haunting exploration of trauma, race, and the supernatural.
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When Hilton’s wife, the only elected African American judge in Dade County, Florida, begins to receive racist hate mail from a man she once prosecuted, Hilton becomes obsessed with protecting his family. The demons lurking outside are matched by his internal terrors—macabre nightmares, more intense and disturbing than any he has ever experienced. Are these bizarre dreams the dark imaginings of a man losing his hold on sanity—or are they harbingers of terrible events to come?
As Hilton battles both the sociopath threatening to destroy his family and the even more terrifying enemy stalking his sleep, the line between reality and fantasy dissolves . . .
25. Unraveling Darkness
So Adrienne inherits Ashburn House from her estranged aunt. She soon realizes the house holds dark secrets, and a malevolent presence is watching her every move.
The Haunting Of Ashburn House delivers a classic haunted house story with modern twists, perfect for fans of traditional ghost stories.
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Everyone knows about Ashburn House. They whisper its old owner went mad, and restless ghosts still walk the halls. They say it’s the dwelling place of something cruel and sinister. But when Adrienne―desperate and in need of a place to stay―inherits the crumbling old mansion, she only sees it as a lifeline… until darkness falls.
Strange messages are etched into the walls. The furniture moves when she leaves the room. There’s something here―something powerful, angry, and hell-bent on shaking things up. Worse, a grave hidden in the depths of the forest hints at a terrible, unforgivable secret. Eventually, Adrienne can’t ignore that a twisted thing lives in the house, its hungry eyes ever-watchful. Chasing the threads of a decades-old mystery, it isn’t long before she realizes she’s become prey to something deeply unnatural and intensely resentful.
She has no idea how to escape. She has no idea how to survive. Only one thing is certain: Ashburn’s dead are not at rest.
26. Unmasking Madness
So Ted lives in a secluded house in Edgewood with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia. Their lives are disrupted when a new neighbor moves in, unraveling the dark secrets they hide.
The Last House On Needless Street is a mind-bending psychological horror with unexpected twists that keep you captivated.
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In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three.
A teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside, not after last time.
A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory.
And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible.
An unspeakable secret binds them together, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all.
27. Ivy League Liars and Killers
So in the seemingly quiet town of New Haven, Alex Stern, a high school dropout with a troubled past, is given a second chance when she is offered a full scholarship to Yale. However, she quickly discovers the dark underbelly of the university’s secret societies, where the occult and forbidden magic reign, uncovering a world of supernatural horrors and deadly secrets.
The Ninth House intricately weaves together dark academia, supernatural mystery, and bone-chilling horror, offering a captivating and thrilling read that explores themes of power, privilege, and the paranormal. WE SHALL NOT SPEAK about Hell Bent.
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Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street’s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.
From haunted houses to cursed villages, each small town horror immerses you in a unique setting where supernatural horrors lurk around every corner. Dive into these eerie locales and let the spine-tingling adventures begin. Happy Halloween reading!
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