The 26 must-read books of fall 2024

Summer is finally coming to an end. There’s a slight chill in the air, back to school shopping is in full swing, and the days are slowly but surely growing shorter. While some of us will mourn the loss of cookouts, beach trips, and stone fruit season until next year (I’ll miss you, fresh peaches and nectarines), others will no doubt thrive as leaves begin to turn shades of red and yellow as autumn makes itself known.

As it happens, fall is also the perfect time to pack your TBR pile with the books that will keep you occupied during these upcoming colder months. There is a plethora of new books hitting shelves between September and November to keep you reading, including a young girl fascinated with how quickly bodies decompose, a return to the world of Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell, and a myriad of haunted houses. Below you’ll find the 27 upcoming books that we’re most excited to get our hands on.

When Mara is hired as a production assistant for her cousin’s ghost hunting/house renovation reality TV show, she quickly realizes that she’s been brought on to the team just to provide the scares. It’s her job to formulate the “hauntings” that keep the new homeowners listening to every bump in the night. But when a strange new coworker joins the crew and a series of unexplainable accidents take place on set, Mara can’t shake the feeling that something supernatural might actually be afoot.

With a title that is a riff on an age-old adage, Sarah Pinsker’s new novella promises to be chintzy and spooky in equal measure, a perfect way to ring in spooky season.

2024 has been a stellar year for vampire novels. Kiersten White’s queer, gothic fantasy, Lucy Undying, is up next, and pays homage to one of Bram Stoker’s most frequently disparaged characters.

In Lucy Undying, Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula’s very first victims, gets a second chance at (after)life when she meets a young woman by the name of Iris in twenty-first century London. Lucy and Iris fall hard and fast for one another, but happiness and a chance at true love continues to elude them both when Dracula appears on the scene once again.

Remember what I said about 2024 being a big year for vampires? When it comes to horror, Rachel Harrison has written about witches, werewolves, demon daddies, and just about everything in between. Now, with her new novel, So Thirsty, she’s adding vampires to that list.

In So Thirsty, Sloane Parker’s dreaded birthday takes a horrifying and blood-soaked turn when she lets her best friend and notorious troublemaker, Naomi, handle the party planning. But what begins as a European retreat quickly becomes another beast entirely (literally and metaphorically) when the two find themselves in the clutches of a mysterious group of strangers in a derelict mansion.

We all know that outer space, though beautiful, is downright terrifying. Billed as Cassandra Khaw meets S.A. Barnes, Kemi Ashing-Giwa’s new novella, This World Is Not Yours, promises to be both of those things and more.

After running away from her violent and manipulative family with her fiancée, Vinh, Amara decides to put even more distance between them by joining a new colonization project with her best friend, Jesse. Soon enough, Amara, Vinh, and Jesse find themselves on a planet that produces a “self-cleaning” mechanism known as the Gray that attacks invasive organisms. When the Gray is woken from its dormant state, Amara and her companions find themselves fighting for survival and questioning who they can really trust.

What better time to read a dark academic fantasy novel about morally questionable vampires and mysterious arcane societies than when the air gets cool and the days grow shorter?

In Tigest Girma’s new novel (the first in a trilogy), orphan and heiress Kidan Adane has been raised in a society where humans gain power through vampire companionship. When her sister, June, vanishes, Kidan becomes convinced a vampire has taken her and that answers can be found at Uxlay University, a school focusing on the nuances between humans and vampires. But in order to find her sister, she must first survive Susenyos, the vampire she is paired with.

For aspiring designer Dez Lane, dating Patrick Ruskin is first and foremost a one-way ticket to meeting his mother, Marie Caulfield Ruskin, editor-in-chief of the renowned Nouveau magazine. It’s only natural that Dez would jump at the opportunity to visit Marie at her lakeside retreat for a holiday weekend. Little does Dez know that the staff the Ruskin family employ are fed up with their employers and determined to exact their revenge for years of abuse as soon as the ferry leaves for the mainland.

Guillotine promises to be a fun, blood-splattered, “eat the rich” tale of revenge that fans of The Menu and Ready Or Not (or folks who thought Miranda Priestly got off a little too easy) are sure to enjoy.

Arthur Parnassus, Linus Baker, and the host of strange and lovely children they’re raising together in their enchanting island orphanage are back once again!

For Arthur and Linus, life has been peaceful and happy since the events of The House in the Cerulean Sea took place. But all of that changes when Arthur is forced to make a public statement about his past, and a magical child who gains power from calling himself a monster wants to make the island of Marsyas his new home.

When Lennon Carter receives a phone call inviting her to attend Drayton College, a magical school tucked away in Savannah, Georgia, it seems like life might finally be changing for the better.

Students at Drayton have a special gift – the ability to manipulate other people and occasionally matter itself to bend to their will. As Lennon spends more time exploring her powers, Drayton’s halls, and the office of her mysterious but alluring academic advisor, Dante, she begins to uncover the school’s darker past. But at an elite magical school where everyone has an innate gift for bending the truth, who can you really trust?

If you’re in the mood to read some short stories that are bizarre, macabre, surreal, and downright terrifying, look no further than Mariana Enríquez’s fabulously titled new collection, A Sunny Place for Shady People. In these twelve tales, Enríquez pits ordinary people against the strange and unexplainable, ranging from women who used to be birds to melting faces. It is, in typical Enríquez fashion, deeply off-putting and equally spellbinding.

The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry is a story about the power of words and, even more specifically than that, the power of names.

In the world Berry has crafted, there is nothing more troubling or dangerous than an unnamed thing, and it is up to the committees of the named – divided into Maps, Ghosts, Dreams, and Names – to provide protection to those who cannot protect themselves. After a series of increasingly dangerous monster attacks, one unnamed courier of the Names Committee sets out to track down her sister.

The Crazies by way of an academic thriller (with a little bit of sporror thrown in for good measure), Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio is nothing short of an absolute blast.

When a group of friends – a bartender, a hotel receptionist, an editor-in-chief of a college newspaper on the hunt for a new story among them – accidentally stumble upon a newly dug up grave on the way to work, they don’t think much of it. Stranger things have happened, after all. But when the gravedigger returns to the scene and a connection to a series of violent incidents around town is revealed, they find themselves embroiled in a much larger and more dangerous mystery.

If you’re in the mood to read a little folk horror this October, Kay Chronister’s West Virginia-based gothic, The Bog Wife, might be just what you’re looking for.

The Haddesleys are an odd family. For as long as any of them can remember, they have sacrificed the patriarch of their family to the bog on their property and the bog has provided them with a “bog wife” in return who will help to carry on the family name. This is all well and good (and, let’s face it, deeply unsettling) until the bog refuses to honor its end of the bargain and what remains of the Haddesley family is thrown into disarray.

From the author of The Deep and Sorrowland comes Model Home, a haunting new novel that features an unreliable narrator, generational trauma, and a deeply poignant meditation on mental illness and the effect it can have on a family.

Model Home tells the story of the Maxwells, an upper-middle class Black family composed of a trio of siblings, who find themselves returning to their childhood home in Dallas after the death of their parents. Soon Ezri, Eve, and Emmanuel are forced to reckon what happened to their parents while they were gone, unearthing a family haunted by American history along the way.

Coup de Grace by Sofia Ajram is the type of book that’s best read in one go while sitting in a patch of sunlight. It is, to say the least, incredibly grim, but if you’re looking for a story that scratches the House of Leaves itch, then this is the book for you.

Coup de Grace begins with Vicken’s plan to drown himself in the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal. His plans are thwarted, however, when he leaves the subway and discovers himself in a seemingly endless and empty terminal. As he explores the claustrophobic and gory hallways and rooms that stretch out before him, Vicken slowly begins to realize that he might not be alone after all.

Do you ever find yourself wondering what life might be like if the characters in your favorite book were real? Well, be careful what you wish for.

Manager of a hotel in Brooklyn by day, Tess Rosenbloom spends her sleepless nights reading and re-reading Blood Feud, her favorite vampire novel. And, while the internet seems to believe that Blood Feud is real, she knows better than to believe a few conspiracy theorists. At least, that is, until Blood Feud’s irresistible leading man asks Tess for help.

I think it’s fair to say that Freya Marske is the queen of romantic fantasy novels.

Her new book, Swordcrossed, pits Mattinesh Jay, the heir to his failing family business, against Luca Piere, an undeniably charming con artist trying to make a new name for himself. When Mattinesh hires Luca to teach him the art of sword-challenge, a tradition that could destroy any hope of restoring the Jay family name, Luca reluctantly agrees. Why not help out a handsome wool merchant for a little bit of coin? The last thing either man expects is to form an alliance with one another – or the growing attraction between them.

This Cursed House by Del Sandeen begins with Jemma Barker, a young Black woman, leaving her life in 1960s Chicago – and the spirits that she can see – behind in order to work as a tutor for the Duchon family at their antebellum house in New Orleans. Jemma quickly discovers that there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to the Duchons. The family is white passing, and refuses to treat Jemma, who has darker skin, as an equal. They have also been cursed – deeply troubled by unsettling happenings around their home and the grim history of the South itself – and the more time she spends with them, the more Jemma believes that she might be the only one with the power to save them.

In an exciting and romantic blend of horror and romance, Colby Wilkens tells the story of two authors who can’t stand one another who find themselves on a retreat together at a haunted castle in Scotland.

Penelope Skinner can’t stand Neil Storm and his best selling horror novels, which is why she threw a book at him. In hindsight, this probably wasn’t the best move, and Penelope has been grappling with writer’s block ever since. When a writer’s retreat at a remote (and definitely haunted) castle promises a fresh start, the last person she expects to see there is Neil.

Like many horror fans, I worship at the altar of C.J. Leede and her upcoming horror novel, American Rapture, further proves that she’s a force to be reckoned with.

16-year-old Sophie has been sheltered her entire life, raised in the midwest by a strictly catholic family, but all of that is about to change. A virus that results in violent tendencies and causes people to become feral with lust is rapidly sweeping across the country. Determined to find her twin brother before it’s too late, Sophie sets out across the midwest with a ragtag band of survivors and one very good dog, grappling with what her parents taught her and clinging to hope and love along the way.

From the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement comes a new tale of ghosts, supernatural horror, and family secrets set in Nigeria.

11-year-old Bata’s journey begins with her death. After a vivid dream in which she takes on a ghostly form and has to protect her cousin from the blood-thirsty spirit of a bride, Bata has no memory of the battle that took place when she wakes, and when a medicine man tries to exercise any ghostly presence from her, she tragically dies in the process. From there, Bata is shepherded to Ibaja-La, the land of ghost-brides, and quickly learns that it is up to her to protect the living from any malevolent spirits who linger there.

For many creative people (myself included), a secluded artists colony with no cell phone signal or internet access sounds kind of dreamy, but it’s safe to say that that’s very much not the case in Delilah S. Dawson’s horror novel, It Will Only Hurt For A Moment.

On paper, Tranquil Falls is a perfect place for Sarah Carpenter to start over. It’s gorgeous, secluded, and far away from her alcoholic mother and domineering boyfriend. But when Sarah finds the body of a young woman while digging a hole for her kiln, and the other artists present begin to act strangely, it becomes quickly clear that not all is as it seems at Tranquil Falls.

Fans of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, rejoice! We – thankfully – won’t have to wait another fourteen years until Susanna Clarke’s next book comes out.

Set in the world of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, The Wood at Midwinter tells the story of nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott, a young woman with the ability to talk to animals and trees. One afternoon while out on a walk with some of her favorite four-legged companions, Merowdis encounters a stranger who changes the course of her life forever.

If you’re in the mood for a cozy fantasy novel that isn’t as heavy on blood, guts, and sword fights and is more akin to Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers or the work of Travis Baldree, then you might want to check out The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong.

Tao is a fortune teller and spends her time traveling from one village to another telling “small”, somewhat inconsequential fortunes that will come to pass in a few days. When one of Tao’s fortunes proves itself to be a little bigger than she anticipated, she finds herself traveling with a former thief, an ex-mercenary, a baker, and a magical cat to track down a missing child and see if her prediction comes true.

Emily Porter is a (recently divorced) art conservator at the Art Institute of Chicago. Sir Griffin de Beuford is a medieval knight cursed to spend an eternity as a statue, aware of the passage of time and his surroundings but unable to speak or move.

When Emily is assigned the restoration of a statue of a medieval knight the last thing she expects is to break the curse that has Griffin in its hold. Soon enough Emily finds herself teaching the man of her dreams about modern day Chicago – no easy task – and is the prime suspect in the theft of a famous statue in this charming and steamy romance novel.

It’s clear from the very first pages of Marie Tierney’s novel, Deadly Animals, that Ava Bonney is not a normal 14-year-old. Ava is obsessed with the rate at which dead animals decompose, and spends her nights patrolling the motorway in search of bodies she can take home and observe. Things take a turn for Ava when, on one of her nightly jaunts, she discovers the body of Mickey Grant, a classmate who has been missing for two weeks. Ava becomes determined to catch the person who killed Mickey and is threatening the sleepy town she lives in, and decides to lend her expertise to the detective on the case, whether he likes it or not.

Gail Simone (known for her work on Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Clean Room, and Wonder Woman, among other comics) is no stranger to Red Sonja, which makes her the best choice to take pen to paper for Red Sonja: Consumed, a new novel about the beloved, red-haired barbarian from Hyrkania.

In Consumed, Red Sonja’s life is disrupted when she hears stories from her homeland of horrifying creatures attacking helpless villagers. Soon after news of the attacks, she begins to hear whispered voices as she drifts off to sleep each night. It soon becomes clear that the only thing for Red Sonja to do is return the past she left behind and face her greatest fear: the people who once abandoned her.