Spine-Tingling Books to Read This October

Settle down with a pumpkin spice latte and one of these spine-tingling books this October! Treasure Hunt or ghostly appiritions–you choose!

I receive free electronic advanced reader copies of these books through an arrangement between the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion on NetGalley’s website. I only review books on my blog that I really love.

Two Spine-Tingling Books You Won’t Want to Miss

Both Abigail Wilson and Jaime Jo Wright have mastered the genre of gothic suspense. Wilson’s tales occur in Regency England, and Wright sets her time-split thrillers in the Midwest. Both authors will keep you on the edge of your seat with creepy settings, ghostly encounters, and danger-beset protagonists. I love reading creepy, spine-tingling books while autumn leaves skitter across the back porch and dark clouds slither across the harvest moon. Having a pumpkin-spice latte in hand makes it even better!

The Premonition at Withers Farm

By Jaime Jo Wright, Bethany House Publishers, October 11, 2022, 384 pages.

The Past

Although it’s 1910, Perliett Van Hilton doesn’t see many advancements in the role of women in her rural Michigan farming community. Her dream of going to medical school dies along with her beloved PaPa. But when she tries to teach herself by studying old books, the local doctor, George Wasziak, calls Perliett a menace to the community. All she wants to do is provide healing for those who can’t afford (or trust) a real doctor.

In addition, George can’t abide Perliett’s mother’s attempts to connect the living to the dead through her practice of spiritualism and seances. Fiercely loyal, Perilett hovers between two worlds—her mother’s beliefs in the presence of the dead and her father’s staunch Christian views of what happens when a person passes on.

Perliett’s uneventful life shatters when someone murders the neighbor girl and leaves her body in a cornfield. Perliett’s mother, George, and newcomer Jasper Bridges all have ideas about the murderer and where he’ll strike next. Will Perliett become his next victim?

The Present

Molly Wasziak lives in the present, but her mind seems trapped in the past. Trapped in the time before multiple miscarriages and misunderstandings hollowed out her healthy relationship with Trent—her true love from high school.

When Trent buys a hundred-year-old farm, Molly reluctantly moves out to the country from town. Her dreams of motherhood seem over, but she can support Trent’s dream of owning his own farm. Even if the ancient house creeps her out with its gravestone rejects holding up the foundation and ghostly apparitions in the chicken coop.

When a dead woman gets dumped in the neighbor’s ditch, Molly and Trent get dragged into a century-old murder mystery. Molly’s sanity and life are both in danger. Can solving a crime from the past set her free?

Why I Loved This Book

Jaime Jo Wright pens the creepiest ghost stories I’ve ever read. Her willingness to look at different viewpoints—this time that of a spiritualist and a Christian—keeps her books fresh and intriguing. Readers will relate to the different tolls trauma and grief take on our souls and mental health. The sparks between the gutsy Perliette and the staid George provide brief notes of comic relief.

The Premonition at Withers Farm provides a spine-tingling read you won’t want to put down until you’ve read the last sentence. I may never walk in a cornfield again.

You HAVE to read #ThePremonitionatWithersFarm by @jamiejowright this October. It's just that good. #amreading @Bethany_House #NetGalley #ghoststory Click To Tweet

Within These Gilded Halls

By Abigail Wilson, Thomas Nelson, October 4, 2022, 320 pages.

Phoebe Radcliff regrets the decisions of her past. So much so, that she hasn’t returned home in two long years. If her family knew all the truth about her misdeeds, Phoebe knows they would never forgive her. Her self-exile at Avonthorpe Hall has helped her in more ways than one.

The owner, a renowned artist named Miss Drake, has taught Phoebe all she knows about painting. In the process, she has become Phoebe’s dear friend. Miss Drake hires Phoebe and her childhood friend, Daniel, to paint over the old artwork in Avonthorpe’s ballroom. Before they complete their task, Miss Drake’s nephew and heir, Lt. Graham Burke, shows up with a friend. The two men seem to unsettle everyone—most especially Miss Drake.

The very evening the men arrive, someone murders Miss Drake. As she dies in Phoebe’s arms, she gives Phoebe a clue to a hidden treasure and urges her to take care and find it first. Perhaps the rumored fortune does exist. And if it does, can Phoebe find it before Miss Drake’s murderer does?

With the help of her companion Miss Chant and Avonthorpe’s able butler, Arnold, Phoebe sets out on a race to solve a decade’s-old treasure hunt and bring a murderer to justice. But who can she trust? The handsome (although somewhat rigid) Lt. Burke? Daniel, her childhood friend? Or any of the other residents at Aventhorpe Hall who would benefit from riches.

The deeper she finds herself in the mystery, the more she questions her initial judgments of who is safe.

Why I Loved this Book

If you love spine-tingling gothic suspense set in the Regency era, you’ll love the latest in Abigail Wilson’s lineup of novels. Phoebe Radcliff, a minor antagonist from A Masquerade at Middlecrest Abbey, redeems herself as she struggles to discern her purpose in life. Along the way, she learns the importance of extending grace—to both herself and those who sin against her. Readers can enjoy Within These Gilded Halls as a standalone novel or first read Masquerade at Middlecrest Abbey.  

Ready for a spine-chilling mystery? Check out #WithinTheseGuildedHalls by @acwilsonbooks. Gothic Regency at its best! @ThomasNelson #amreading Click To Tweet