Lean Into Suspense With 5 Books This Fall

Be sure to check out our full 2026 Fall Arts Guide to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more in the Bay Area.

Horror for fall? Groundbreaking. I didn’t set out to put together a list of creepy, suspenseful and, dare I say, spooky books for this seasonal guide — it just naturally happened.

If you’re in need of inspiration to get back into the habit of reading every day this fall, or if you are still striving to reach the overambitious goals you set for yourself in January, you should consider adding these new and upcoming page-turners to your must-read lists. 

By Cynthia Gómez
Out now

Oakland author Cynthia Gómez delivers a beautifully written gothic novel about a queer, Latine, working-class witch in her debut novel. Muñeca is the story of Natalia Fuentes, who decides to help reverse a dark magic spell that left a wealthy woman in town paralyzed. In the process, the two women have to face their feelings for each other and the ghosts of their past.

Taking place in the Oakland of 1968, Muñeca is a heartwarming read that will put you in the mood for a spooky season. 

Gómez gives a talk at the Oakland Public Library (125 14th St.) on Sept. 10 and is part of the VIVA Latinx Celebration at the San Francisco Public Library (100 Larkin St.) on Sept. 26. 

By Sarah Langan
Available Sept. 29, 2026

If you’ve read Yesteryear — a brilliantly crafted satire about a “trad wife” TikTok influencer — and were underwhelmed by the lack of eerie, magical creatures haunting the farm, Sarah Langlan’s Trad Wife is the perfect fall read for you. 

The novel follows New York City journalist Jenny Kaplan who, in an attempt to save her career after a controversial story gets her fired, agrees to write a feature article about swapping roles for a week with trad wife influencer and multi-level marketing leader Mia Wright. Expecting to write a scathing feminist exposé, Jenny finds herself puzzled by everything that’s going on in the farmhouse — the cherry-scented candles and soaps, the locked storage room, the children’s odd behavior, the diseased and dead animals, and nine-months pregnant Mia’s nonchalant alcoholism.

You will not be able to put down Trad Wife until Jenny finally figures out what makes the Black Swan Farm so unique and terrible. 

By Micaiah Johnson
Available Sept. 29, 2026

Micaiah Johnson’s The Unhaunting is a perfectly-timed novel that blends the genres of haunted house horror with historical fiction to examine Black American life in the Deep South, through the history of a 170-year-old manor in Mississippi.

When Shantell and Avery decide to move into the inherited house, they find it in much better shape than they expected. But the place, built by a daughter of the Confederacy at the end of the Civil War who wished for a house where nothing bad could happen, holds a lot of secrets beneath its upkept surface.

Equal parts American history, social commentary and ghost story, The Unhaunting beckons to be devoured in one sitting this fall.

By Samantha Josephs
Available Oct. 6, 2026

The premise of Samantha Josephs’ debut novel is irresistible: Martha is a trans woman who hides her identity from everyone, including her husband, and goes to great lengths to fake morning sickness and miscarriages — until she curiously becomes actually pregnant.

With her body changing and suffering from severe insomnia, Martha stumbles upon an online alternative medicine community and decides to join their late-night meetings. What follows is a completely bonkers web of lies, Martha’s inexplicably gruesome pregnancy cravings, and a husband who takes entirely too long to realize his stay-at-home wife is acting strange.

I got to read Carrying in June, lounging by the pool, in one weekend, but it’s a perfectly unsettling novel to breeze through this fall.

Josephs will have a book launch at Pegasus Books (2349 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley) on Oct. 8.

By Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
Available Oct. 13, 2026

There’s at least one thing about author Amber Blaeser-Wardzala’s debut novel Another Name for Red that will catch you off guard: the protagonist is mainly referred to as “Middle Sister.”

Taking place on an Indigenous reservation, the novel follows an Anishinaabe woman whose older sister has gone missing a year ago and who, after authorities prove to be no help, decides to track down her sister herself. When her investigation leads to clashes with two white men, one living on the reservation and one from a neighboring town, she has to bring her family and friends together to continue her fight.

Based on the realities of missing and murdered Indigenous women in North America, Blaeser-Wardzala succeeds in illustrating the uphill battles facing her community in her tense, suspenseful debut novel.