Lists

100 Must-Read Books Featuring Ghosts and Vampires

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Liberty Hardy

Senior Contributing Editor

Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading. Twitter: @MissLiberty

If you’re like me, you like books that scare you all year long, not just at Halloween. Luckily, there are thousands and thousands to choose from. And what is scarier than the supernatural? Things you can’t see haunting you house! Fanged creatures draining your blood! There are so many fun books featuring ghosts and vampires. Some aren’t even scary, but funny or serious instead. But they’re all great! So while this is a seasonally appropriate list, if you love ghosts and/or vampires, you should find new reads on this list to keep you eyeballs deep in books for the next several months.

Within These Walls by Ania Ahlborn

Shutter by Courtney Alameda

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender

One Blood by Qwantu Amaru

Ghosts by César Aira

The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp

Naomi’s Room by Jonathan Aycliffe

The Jumbies by Tracy Baptiste

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker

Long Lankin by by Lindsey Barraclough

Tamsin by Peter Beagle

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite

Fledgling by Octavia Butler

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Passage by Justin Cronin

Queen of Kings by Maria Dahvana Headley

Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

The Good House by Tananarive Due

My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Vlad by Carlos Fuentes

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Little Sister Death by William Gay

Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

Memoirs of the Damned by Yasir Hayat

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Dawn of the Vampire by William Hill

Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe

Already Dead by Charlie Huston

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Moonshine by Alaya Johnson

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon

The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan

Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi and Yoshitaka Amano

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

The Shining by Stephen King

The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

The Summer of the Ubume by Natsuhiko Kyogoku

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

The House by Bentley Little

Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Necroscope by Brian Lumley

The Disappearance of Tejas Sharma by Manish Mahajan

Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco

Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin

In the Dark by Brandon Massey

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

They Thirst by Robert McCammon

The Elementals by Michael McDowell

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden

Apparitions: Ghosts of Old Edo by Miyuki Miyabe

Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman

HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow by Fuyumi Ono and Akihiro Yamada

The Quick by Lauren Owen

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Candlenight by Phil Rickman

Enter Night by Michael Rowe

The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

Nathaniel by John Saul

I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir

Children of the Night by Dan Simmons

Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh

The Light at the End by John Skipp and Craig Spector

Vampire$ by John Steakley

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Ghost Story by Peter Straub

The Hunger by Whitley Strieber

Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon

The Delicate Dependency by Michael Talbot

The Dust of Wonderland by Lee Thomas

Haunted by Tamara Thorne

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi

Dark Lover by J. R. Ward

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters