Halloween Reading Challenge Ideas for 2023

Halloween Reading Challenge Ideas for 2023: Readathons

Read a Book, Then Watch the Screen Adaptation

Scary movies are a tried-and-true Halloween tradition, so folding them into your Halloween reading challenge just makes sense. Thankfully, we’ve had a lot of really great page-to-screen adaptations come out in 2023.

Here are a few pairings to consider:

• Halowe’en Party by Agatha Christie and A Haunting in Venice
• The Changeling by Victor LaValle and the AppleTV+ series of the same name
• Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge and the film of the same name
• Dracula by Bram Stoker and The Last Voyage of the Demeter or Renfield
• The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay and Knock at the Cabin

Read as Many Books as You Can

A holiday reading challenge is a great time to clear out your TBR clutter. If you’ve got a bunch of short horror books taking up space on your reading list, now’s the perfect time to knock them all out at once.

This approach also works well for anyone who’s behind on their annual reading challenge. If you don’t have any short books in particular in mind to read this Halloween, try these on for size:

• Goddess of Filth by V. Castro
• Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess
• Below by Laurel Hightower
• Linghun by Ai Jiang
• Waif by Samantha Kolesnik

Read — or Listen — Around the Clock

Maybe you want to do a bonafide readathon this Halloween: 24 hours of nonstop reading. (You could also do 13 hours for spooky flavor.) That’s a huge commitment, but listening to some creepy audiobooks could help you reach your goal.

Here are a few horror audiobook pairings — each adding up to at least 13 hours of playtime — that will really set the mood:

• You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron and The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan
• What Kind of Mother by Clay McCleod Chapman and Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
• Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Burn the Negative by Josh Winning
• Her Little Flowers by Shannon Morgan and The September House by Carissa Orlando
• Your Lonely Nights Are Over by Adam Sass and Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Set a Page Goal — With a Theme!

I’m in love with the idea of a Halloween challenge that aims for a holiday-relevant number of pages — think 1,031 or 1,313 — read during the last week of October. You’ll most likely need multiple titles to accomplish this one; aside from our dear Mr. King’s oeuvre, there just aren’t that many doorstopper horror novels out there.

With that in mind, here are some themed book bundles, each adding up to 1,000 pages or more, to inspire your Halloween reading challenge:

• Haunted House Stories: The Spite House by Johnny Compton, Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt, and Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
• Historical Horror: Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas, All Hallows by Christopher Golden, and The Fervor by Alma Katsu
• Lady Killers: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin, Maeve Fly by CJ Leede, and Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder
• Media Horror: Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie, The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan, and Mister Magic by Kiersten White
• Stories About Grief: Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez, Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova, and The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

Halloween Reading Challenge Ideas for 2023: Spooky Short Fiction

Read an Inktober Challenge List

Since 2009, artists have eagerly awaited the release of the annual Inktober challenge list: 31 prompts for daily drawings during the month of October. Build your own Inktober challenge by finding a scary short story that corresponds to each item on the list below — or one from another year of your choosing — and reading through them before November rolls around.

Read One Issue of Your Favorite Horror Mag

Let’s get serious for a moment. Amazon’s decision to end Kindle subscriptions for the majority of speculative fiction magazines in September 2023 dealt a major blow to SFF/H publishing. Some publishers have already had to scale back the size of their endeavors, while others have made the difficult decision to shutter. Short-fiction magazines are the backbone of the SFF/H world, and they need your support.

For this reason, I’m challenging you to read — and hopefully purchase — one issue of your favorite horror publication. Don’t have one? Allow me to recommend any of the following:

• Apex Magazine (Full disclosure: I am a volunteer slush reader for Apex.)
• Cosmic Horror Monthly
• The Dark Magazine
• Ghoulish Tales
• Nightmare Magazine
• Seize the Press

Read One Horror Collection or Anthology

Reading short stories is one of the best ways to get your literary fix when you’re too busy — or tired, or distracted — to commit to a novel. That doesn’t mean you have to give up the cozy feeling of holding a full-sized book in your hands, however. Anthologies and collections offer whole smorgasbords of reading fun in digestible pieces.

If you’re new to short fiction, consider using one of these titles for your spooky reading challenge:

• Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica
• Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology, edited by Nico Bell and Sonora Taylor
• Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow
• The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due
• Nails and Eyes by Kaori Fujino
• Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, edited by Jordan Peele

Halloween Reading Challenge Ideas for 2023: YA and Kid Lit

Read a YA Horror Novel

YA horror novels are having A Moment right now. If you’re not on the bandwagon, you totally should be. Take advantage of the opportunity and pick out a horror book for the teenage set to read this Halloween, or make it a family affair and get your kids or younger siblings in on the fun.

Here are a few YA horror recs to get you started:

• Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone
• What We Harvest by Ann Fraistat
• Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould
• The Triangle by Robert P. Ottone
• She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

Read a Children’s Horror Classic

Children’s media doesn’t get the respect it deserves a lot of the time, but let me tell you: some of the creepiest books I’ve ever read, some of the scariest movies and TV shows I’ve ever watched, have been made for children.

Not convinced? Pick up one of these creepy kid’s classics to read before the month is through:

• The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs
• The Tailypo by Joanna C. Galdone
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
• Say Cheese and Die! by R.L. Stine
• The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

Introduce a Child to Scary Stories

Speaking of kids, why not get the young’uns in your life into horror this Halloween? Pick up an age-appropriate new release to enjoy alongside them this holiday season. Here are a few of the 2020’s most exciting:

• Ghoulia by Barbara Cantini
• Scarewaves by Trevor Henderson
• Nightmare King by Daka Hermon
• The Skull by Jon Klassen
• The Clackity by Lora Senf

Recap: All Reading Suggestions

Here’s a list of all the books mentioned in this piece:

• You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
• Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica
• Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology, edited by Nico Bell and Sonora Taylor
• The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs
• My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
• Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
• Ghoulia by Barbara Cantini
• Goddess of Filth by V. Castro
• What Kind of Mother by Clay McCleod Chapman
• Halowe’en Party by Agatha Christie
• Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone
• The Spite House by Johnny Compton
• The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan
• Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow
• Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie
• The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due
• The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan
• Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
• Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
• What We Harvest by Ann Fraistat
• Nails and Eyes by Kaori Fujino
• The Tailypo by Joanna C. Galdone
• All Hallows by Christopher Golden
• Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould
• Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess
• Scarewaves by Trevor Henderson
• Nightmare King by Daka Hermon
• Below by Laurel Hightower
• The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias
• Linghun by Ai Jiang
• Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
• The Fervor by Alma Katsu
• The Skull by Jon Klassen
• Waif by Samantha Kolesnik
• The Changeling by Victor LaValle
• Maeve Fly by CJ Leede
• Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Her Little Flowers by Shannon Morgan
• The September House by Carissa Orlando
• The Triangle by Robert P. Ottone
• Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge
• Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, edited by Jordan Peele (AOC)
• Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt
• Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
• Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
• Your Lonely Nights Are Over by Adam Sass
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
• The Clackity by Lora Senf
• Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder
• Say Cheese and Die! by R.L. Stine
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
• She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
• The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
• Mister Magic by Kiersten White
• The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
• Burn the Negative by Josh Winning