While it is still incredibly hot most everywhere, it is almost the end of August – which means that we are that much closer to fall! Fall is clearly my favorite season, so I just had to share three horror novels with you that will get you in the mood for that crisp, yet creepy, ambiance that fall brings. These are horror staples, and to some, they are kind of a given when it comes for preparing for fall and Halloween. However, I chose to feature them because they will always bring you that creeping sense of fall and dread that is oh so delightful. Read through these tomes, and if you haven’t already, make sure you have them in your horror library!

Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge

Halloween, 1963. They call him the October Boy, or Ol’ Hacksaw Face, or Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. How he rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death.

Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He’s willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror – and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy…

The Ritual by Adam Nevill

Four old university friends reunite for a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle. No longer young men, they have little left in common, and tensions rise as they struggle to connect. Frustrated and tired, they take a shortcut that turns their hike into a nightmare that could cost them their lives.

Lost, hungry and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, they stumble across an isolated old house. Inside, they find the macabre remains of old rites and pagan sacrifices; ancient artefacts and unidentifiable bones. This place of dark ritual is home to a bestial predator that is still alive in the ancient forest. And now they’re the prey.

As the four friends struggle for salvation, they discover that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees…

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

Thousands of miles away from the small township of ‘Salem’s Lot, two terrified people, a man and a boy, still share the secrets of those clapboard houses and tree-lined streets. They must return to ‘Salem’s Lot for a final confrontation with the unspeakable evil that lives on in the town.

Do you have any horror recommendations to help readers get ready for fall? Drop them in the comments!