Feel the autumn chill with these 5 spine-tingling horror novels [Unscripted column] | Entertainment

When the weather starts to chill, I start seeking out books that leave me with goosebumps down my arms.

Autumn is the perfect time for cozy mysteries, historical fiction and, of course, any novel with a touch of magic or dark academia. However, the books I find myself drawn toward once the leaves start to change are atmospheric, spine-tingling horror novels. Some of the books I find most terrifying are any that describe humans moving in decidedly inhuman ways or in which a group finds themselves trapped or lost, usually because of supernatural trickery in the woods.

Here are five of my top horror reads in the last year, and they have the added bonus of all except one (“Briardark” by S.A. Harian) being available in the Library System of Lancaster County. So brew some tea, break out a cozy scarf and find yourself a comfortable pumpkin patch or apple orchard. These books offer creepy escapism that I highly recommend for fall days — and nights, if you dare to keep reading them after sunset.

“The Long Walk” by Stephen King.

Amazon

1. “The Long Walk” by Stephen King

My number one pick is my most recent read. I had only read short stories by Stephen King, so I knew how unsettling he could be, but I was unprepared for the full Stephen King experience offered in his full-length novels. I recently saw trailers for the 2025 film adaptation of this book and decided the movie would be a little too disturbing for me. So I picked up the book instead.

Big mistake.

The story is a lot to take in. It features a dystopian United States under the rule of a militant group, in which political critics are never heard from again. Each year, 100 teen boys, as well as backups to these chosen 100 in case any decide against it, are selected in a lottery for a televised and spectator-friendly competition called The Long Walk. The 100 boys willingly enter the competition for a grand prize of whatever they want for the remainder of their life.

The challenge? Starting at the border of Canada and Maine, the boys must walk at least 4 mph along a determined route south on highways. They cannot pause for any reason and cannot stop to sleep. If they fall below pace and accrue three warnings from their accompanying military escorts, the results are fatal. The walk ends when only one walker is left.

What I found most disturbing about this novel is that every character enters the competition willingly and seemingly happily. They start off excited to be on TV and bragging about how much better they are than the others. But all, including the main character Ray Garraty, express that they don’t really know why they were so eager to enter. They start to regret it as camaraderie forms between the teens and the reality of the situation and its deadly stakes set in.

I read this book in under two days and was thoroughly immersed in the story but disturbed by King’s imagery and juxtaposition of violence and desire. I highly recommend this book but would never put myself through this story again.

“The Ruins” by Scott Smith

Elizabeth Tropp | Website producer

2. “The Ruins” by Scott Smith

When you set aside a book to go to sleep and wake up in the middle of the night with the desire to finish the book, you know the book is a good one.

This was a one-day read, and for good reason. This book is tense, often gross and eerie. The horror creeps up on you, quite literally.

A group of young adults with horror-genre typical one-note, unlikable personalities partying in Mexico try to find a new acquaintance’s missing brother. This quest takes them to an ancient ruins near a Mayan village in the jungle. They find themselves trapped in the ruins with evidence of other lost groups all around them. They are soon lured and hunted by sentient, flesh-eating vines that can mimic their voices. While fighting for their lives, they are forced to explore their friendship and what they are willing to do to aid each other.

This book made my skin crawl and is one of my favorite horror rereads.

“Cold Eternity” by S.A. Barnes.

Amazon

3. “Cold Eternity” by S.A. Barnes

I read this and another book by the author, “Dead Silence,” back to back, and had a difficult time deciding which would end up on this list. “Cold Eternity,” which includes more supernatural creepiness, won out.

This sci-fi horror book revolves around Halley, a woman linked to a political scandal on a satellite station and on the run. She decides to answer a mysterious job posting where they don’t mind if she uses an alias and finds herself as the newest caretaker on a centuries-old ship, Elysium Fields. Now essentially a floating mausoleum, it started when a rich tech genius cryogenically froze wealthy, famous people who were near death with the promise that he’d discover ways to cure them and unfreeze them. He never managed to fulfill that promise though and the ship became a tourist attraction before being decommissioned and sent to loop space indefinitely.

Halley joins the perpetually busy and absent mechanic Karl aboard Elysium Fields and things immediately get creepy. In the monitors of the ship, Halley is sure she sees a figure crawling along a corridor. Karl dismisses it as static and paranoia. This is soon followed by the discovery of strange markings on the floor of her room, the feeling of being loomed over in her sleep and warnings from a malfunctioning hologram attraction. She’s left to wonder: Are the frozen guests quite as dead as they thought?

The mystery does falter toward the end, but this book is absolutely bizarre and worth the read.

“FantasticLand” by Mike Bockoven

Elizabeth Tropp | Website producer

4. “FantasticLand” by Mike Bockoven

This book, which has an interview format that I adore, centers on the story of a group of mostly teen workers abandoned at a mega amusement park much like Disney along the coast of Florida. To be fair, they signed up to stay behind as part of the park’s plan to prevent looters during a disaster or evacuation. The park’s board claims to have safe bunkers, plenty of resources and a detailed manual to ensure this skeleton crew has nothing to fear amid an unexpectedly destructive hurricane. During the disaster relief efforts after the hurricane, aid groups are told to focus on other communities, since the crew at the park is perfectly safe and can wait it out comfortably for months.

Spoilers: They are not safe.

Things go wrong right away as fear, boredom and conflicting personalities result in chaos in the storm bunker. Groups splinter mostly based on what area of the park the workers were assigned, and they decide to return to these areas instead of staying in the bunker. The teens become loyal to their specific “tribe,” and violence erupts as the teens fight for resources, to protect their area of the park and to ensure their own safety. Workers in the pirate area start to plunder other areas, the circus area turns into a morbid curiosity, shop girls wield crossbows to protect their wares and all groups find themselves fighting to survive.

This book summary describes it as a modern take on “Battle Royale” and “Lord of the Flies,” and it’s a very apt comparison.

“Briardark” by S.A. Harian

Elizabeth Tropp | Website producer

5. “Briardark” by S.A. Harian

This book starts in 2016 with a group of hikers hunted down by a shadowy presence in the remote California wilderness. It then skips ahead seven years, with a research group setting out to explore the same area. They very quickly find themselves turned around despite their map, and they come across the body of one of the 2016 hikers. After leaving the area to try to get cellphone reception to alert the authorities, they circle back and find that the body has vanished.

This is just the beginning of many unsettling and strange occurrences. A research cabin seems to offer a beacon of hope, but it proves to be less than a safe haven. The research team stumbles upon more anomalies, like unexplained changes in flora and fauna, a glacier that suddenly disappears and paths with ever-changing destinations. Meanwhile, an IT tech uncovers some mysterious files on a hard drive from the lost research team and races to uncover what happened and save them.

The idea of being lost in the woods and trapped is terrifying. This is a book that made me wonder if I needed to turn on the lights while reading it at night. Full of ritualistic lore linked to the remote woods, this is a true autumn horror read.

Elizabeth Tropp is an LNP | LancasterOnline website producer. “Unscripted” is a weekly entertainment column produced by a rotating team of writers.

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