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It’s time to decide what we’ll add to our TBR (To-Be-Read) book stack for October 2024!
You might have noticed we’ve stacked the deck with spooky stories in honour of October!
You don’t need to ‘sign up’ or have ‘special elite access’ to join the Fishbird Central Book Club. Just read along with our chosen book for the month, and let us know how you like it!
We’ll talk a little more in depth about the Book Club and our thoughts on the monthly book pick in our Fishbird Central Newsletter. We’d love to chat with you in the newsletter comments, or over on Facebook!
Join us as we read some great new titles and tick off some reading prompts!
Happy reading, friends!
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
Back Blurb:
Kate arrives on the wild, remote island of Rathlin in the freezing Irish Channel for a ten-day writers’ retreat. Plagued by memories she can’t unravel and desperate to understand the breakdown of her marriage, Kate is determined to leave the retreat with answers. As the retreat’s director uses techniques that tap into the eerie mythology of the island, Kate becomes increasingly fascinated by him and her surrounds. But when the temperature plummets and the strange therapy intensifies, her memories unspool. Triggered into a series of disturbing flashbacks, Kate realises her past hides a frightening truth, but can she trust her own mind? Faced with dark secrets and duplicity, Kate must unlock the answers she’s so desperate to find – and survive the danger she has unwittingly walked into.
What made me pick it up?:
This book will be our Fishbird Central Book Club pick for October 2024! Woot woot! We look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Gothic thrillers tend to be auto-buys for me these days. The remote locations, sinister rolling fog and weird locals – usually make for an entertaining story. This novel was published in 2024, so also great to take a squiz at a current year read. Let’s pack our overnight bags and retreat to the island. Kate won’t recover her memories on her own, people!
Grab yourself a copy:
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
Back Blurb:
It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unravelling. The Barbosas have opened their annual Haunted Woods attraction in the forest behind their house—the house they’re about to lose. The Sweeneys are fighting about alcoholism and infidelity on their front lawn. Up the street, high-school senior Vanessa Montez is about to have her secrets exposed during the violent end to the neighbourhood’s block party, while down the street, the truth about Ruth and Zack Burgess turns out to be even more horrifying than the rumours ever were. And all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. Children who seem terrified, and who beg the neighbourhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man. There’s a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn’t belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them…and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the community splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?
What made me pick it up?:
A story about creepy kids, set on Halloween in the 80s! Sounds like just the ticket for an October spooky read! I’ve enjoyed a few of Christopher Golden’s books in the past, so hoping this one is a sweet treat. Also, that cover is pretty gnarly!
Grab yourself a copy:
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
Back Blurb:
The first scream came from the snowbound railwayman who felt the werewolf’s fangs ripping at his throat. The next month there was a scream of ecstatic agony from the woman attacked in her cozy bedroom. Now scenes of unbelievable horror unfold each time the full moon shines on the isolated Maine town of Tarker’s Mills. No one knows who will be attacked next. But one thing is sure. When the full moon rises, a paralysing fear sweeps through Tarker’s Mills. For snarls that sound like human words can be heard whining through the wind. And all around are the footprints of a monster whose hunger cannot be sated.
What made me pick it up?:
Well firstly, this is a Stephen King novel – so it’s a no-brainer for October. Secondly, I’m not sure I’ve ever read it! Which in itself is horrifying as I’ve been a King stan since I was a teenager. Werewolves are always hit and miss, but hoping that King can chase his way to a good tale.
Grab yourself a copy:
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
Back Blurb:
Holland and Niles Perry are identical 13-year-old twins. They are close, close enough, almost, to read each other’s thoughts, but they couldn’t be more different. Holland is bold and mischievous, a bad influence, while Niles is kind and eager to please, the sort of boy who makes parents proud. The Perrys live in the bucolic New England town their family settled centuries ago, and as it happens, the extended clan has gathered at its ancestral farm this summer to mourn the death of the twins’ father in a most unfortunate accident. Mrs. Perry still hasn’t recovered from the shock of her husband’s gruesome end and stays sequestered in her room, leaving her sons to roam free. As the summer goes on, though, and Holland’s pranks become increasingly sinister, Niles finds he can no longer make excuses for his brother’s actions.
What made me pick it up?:
Creepy twins and maybe a telepathic grandma? Sign me up! I grabbed a secondhand copy of this paperback from ‘The Book Connection‘ in Dubbo on one of our road trips. These paperback spookies always have the most interesting covers 🙂 Now, let’s see what these twins are up to …
Grab yourself a copy:
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
Back Blurb:
Renowned academic Dr Sparling seeks help with his project on a remote Irish village. Historical researchers Ben and Chloe are thrilled to be chosen – until they arrive. The village is isolated and forgotten. There is no record of its history, its stories. There is no friendliness from the locals, only wary looks and whispers. The villagers lock down their homes at sundown. It seems a nameless fear stalks the streets, but nobody will talk – nobody except one little girl. Her words strike dread into the hearts of the newcomers. Three times you see him. Each night he comes closer. That night, Ben and Chloe see a sinister figure watching them. He is the Creeper. He is the nameless fear in the night. Stories keep him alive. And nothing will keep him away.
What made me pick it up?:
Small town village with a weird creeper that creeps at you? Sounds creepy – and perfect for October! Thinking this might be an urban legend kind of story, and hopefully atmospheric with the small Irish village. Let’s get creepin’!
Grab yourself a copy:
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
Back Blurb:
Music City Salvage is owned and operated by Chuck Dutton: master stripper of doomed historic properties and expert seller of all things old and crusty. Business is lean and times are tight, so he’s thrilled when the aged and esteemed Augusta Withrow appears in his office. She has a massive family estate to unload—lock, stock, and barrel. For a check and a handshake, it’s all his. It’s a big check. It’s a firm handshake. And it’s enough of a gold mine that he assigns his daughter Dahlia to personally oversee the project. Dahlia and a small crew caravan down to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the ancient Withrow house is waiting—and so is a barn, a carriage house, and a small, overgrown cemetery that Augusta Withrow left out of the paperwork. Augusta Withrow left out a lot of things. The property is in unusually great shape for a condemned building. It’s empty, but Dahlia and the crew quickly learn it is far from abandoned. There is still something in the Withrow mansion, something angry and lost, and this is its last chance to raise hell before the house is gone forever.
What made me pick it up?:
Get a load of that cover – eerie! This sounds like a great haunted house story, and has been on my ‘want to read list’ on Goodreads for ages! Estate sales usually make for spooky energy, and it might even tick some gothic vibe boxes. Let’s dive in before the property goes off the market!
Grab yourself a copy:
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
Back Blurb:
The Caleighs have had a terrible year. They need time and space, while they await the news they dread. Gabe has brought his wife, Eve, and daughters, Loren and Cally, down to Devon, to the peaceful seaside village of Hollow Bay. He can work and Eve and the kids can have some peace and quiet and perhaps they can try, as a family, to come to terms with what’s happened to them. Crickley Hall is an unusually large house on the outskirts of the village at the bottom of Devil’s Cleave, a massive tree-lined gorge – the stuff of local legend. A river flows past the front garden. It’s perfect for them… if a bit gloomy. And Chester, their dog, seems really spooked at being away from home. And old houses do make sounds. And it’s constantly cold. And even though they shut the cellar door every night, it’s always open again in morning.
What made me pick it up?:
I haven’t read any James Herbert for many many moons, but he’s a classic horror author that I thought I’d retry. I looooove a haunted house story, so fingers crossed this one is a hoot! Looks like there’s a TV mini series available too, which might be cool to check out – staring Suranne Jones and Tom Ellis.
Grab yourself a copy:
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
Back Blurb:
It was Vera’s idea to buy the Itza. The “world’s most advanced smart speaker!” didn’t interest Thiago, but Vera thought it would be a bit of fun for them amidst all the strange occurrences happening in the condo. It made things worse. The cold spots and scratching in the walls were weird enough, but peculiar packages started showing up at the house—who ordered industrial lye? Then there was the eerie music at odd hours, Thiago waking up to Itza projecting light shows in an empty room. It was funny and strange right up until Vera was killed, and Thiago’s world became unbearable. Pundits and politicians all looking to turn his wife’s death into a symbol for their own agendas. A barrage of texts from her well-meaning friends about letting go and moving on. Waking to the sound of Itza talking softly to someone in the living room. The only thing left to do was get far away from Chicago. Away from everything and everyone. A secluded cabin in Colorado seemed like the perfect place to hole up with his crushing grief. But soon Thiago realises there is no escape—not from his guilt, not from his simmering rage, and not from the evil hunting him, feeding on his grief, determined to make its way into this world.
What made me pick it up?:
This sounded like a spooky futuristic tale, and who doesn’t like it when houses start to take matters into their own hands? Or … windows? Anyway, there’s also a dog on the cover and it’s peaked my interest. I might hold off buying any more tech until I discover what went wrong with this one though …
Grab yourself a copy:
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
Back Blurb:
London, 1893. Judith lives a solitary life, save for the maid who haunts the family home in which she resides. Mourning the death of her brother-in-law, Sam, who drowned in an accident a year earlier, she distracts herself with art classes, books and strange rituals, whilst the rest of her family travel the world. One icy evening, conducting a ritual in her garden she discovers Sam, alive. He has no memory of the past year, and remembers little of the accident that appeared to take his life. Desperate to keep his reappearance a secret until she can discover the truth about what happened to him, Judith journeys outside of the West London Jewish community she calls home, to the scene of Sam’s accident. But there are secrets waiting there for Judith, things that have been dormant for so long, and if she is to uncover all of them, she may have to admit to truths that she has been keeping from herself.
What made me pick it up?:
Another gothic atmospheric thriller that promises to keep us on the edge of our seats with secrets uncovered and ghosts wandering the halls. With rituals happening in the garden, this story might stir up some trouble in ye olde London. Let’s take a peek!
Grab yourself a copy:
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