What screams fall more than cozying up with a lovely cup of apple cider and an even better book? Perhaps you could jump into a pile of leaves while wearing a flannel, but that is neither here nor there. There is something special about the time between the end of summer leading up to Halloween, an eerie feeling that builds up to October but is not yet at its peak. There is something strange in the air; everything is not as it seems. Let the curiosities draw you in. If you can find the time, crack open one of these books in the spirit of the season.
“Ninth House” by Leigh Bardugo
Picture this: a college campus in the Northeast during autumn. Red and orange leaves fall to the ground, there’s a chill in the air and strange undergraduates can be found who may or may not be magical. Dark academia, the genre as well as the sub-culture, romanticizes and explores all things odd and collegiate. The “Ninth House” trilogy is dark academia done right.
Galaxy “Alex” Stern can see ghosts and she is not a fan. After an unfortunate young life full of ghosts and homicide, Alex finds herself at Yale University, uncovering the mysteries of their storied secret societies. Through flashbacks and magical investigations, the reader falls deep beneath the surface of one of America’s most prestigious universities. If your undergraduate life is feeling stale, inject a little mystery with “Ninth House.”
“Katabasis” by R.F. Kuang
How far would you go for a recommendation from one of the most notable professors in Cambridge? How does hell sound? Two people who perfectly capture the slight academic insanity combined with the troves of knowledge that characterizes your typical Ph.D. candidate, Alice Law and Peter Murdoch make the journey through hell to rescue their advisor, Professor Jacob Grimes, after a magical experiment gone wrong exiles him there. It’s the perfect combination of dark academia and philosophical paradoxes—a very unique way to portray magic without being too fantastical or difficult to believe in. Grab your chalk and make sure your pentagram circles are closed, because this journey is one filled with twists and turns.
“Carmilla” by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu
While Halloween is not for another month, it is hard not to jump the gun with a horror piece. Classics like “Frankenstein” and “Dracula” will be at the top of every list, but it is nice to get a niche pick every once in a while. “Carmilla” is the original vampire novella, coming out 25 years before “Dracula.” Unlike its counterpart, “Carmilla” is not a horror novel in the sense that it will scare you. It is certainly curious, but it is not all frightening.
“Carmilla” tells the story of Laura, a secluded young woman who has a chance encounter with the mysterious Carmilla. The two form a fast friendship which blossoms into an obsessive love. At the risk of spoiling a centuries old novel, Carmilla is more sinister than she appears. At around 100 pages, “Carmilla” is a quick but worthwhile read that will suck you in.
“The Twilight Saga” by Stephenie Meyer
Though it is a hard departure from previous books on this list, no fall reading list would be complete without a young adult paranormal series. Horrible weather, a desaturated color palette and the beginnings of seasonal sadness: “The Twilight Saga” has all this and more. While the movies from the late 2000s and early 2010s tend to be more popular, there is a reason that the books have a cult following. However dramatic the movies seem, know that the books dial it up to eleven.
Enter the life of Bella, an out-of-place teenager living in Oregon. Over the course of her high school years, she falls in love with a vampire, gets embroiled in a supernatural war, contemplates mortality and, of course, learns about mitosis. With the changing seasons, sometimes you need to feel those heightened emotions through the lens of a teenager. No matter how hectic your fall is shaping up to be, take comfort in the fact your season is not made worse by supernatural drama.
More books lost in the pile of leaves include: “Little House on the Prairie” by Laura Ingalls Wilder; “Little Women” by Lousia May Alcott; “The Hound of the Baskervilles” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; “Anne of Green Gables” by Lucy Maud Montgomery; “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern.