7 Witchy Books to Help You Celebrate Halloween

October 21, 2022 11:31 am By Nadia Vella

October is in full swing, and with it comes all the spooky reads. If you’re searching for more seasonal stories, look no further! We have seven books about witches of all kinds to help you finish out the Halloween season in style.

The Scapegracers and The Scratch Daughters by H.A. Clarke

As a witch and a lesbian, Sideways Pike never really fit in. But the perpetual outsider is swept into a new clique when the popular girls pay her to cast a spell at their Halloween party. After the spell goes well, the four decide to form a coven. Their goals? Throw the best parties, find Sideways a girlfriend and curse any boy that messes with them. But when fundamentalist witch hunters bent on destroying magic arrive in town, will their coven be strong enough?

The Scapegracers is a fierce and unapologetically queer debut full of sapphic teen witches wielding magic with a vengeance, and The Scratch Daughters is a fantastic follow-up. This is teen-girl magic, angst and power at its finest.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

“One witch you can laugh at. Three you can burn. But what do you do with a hundred?”

The Eastwood sisters have been estranged for years. But when Beatrice Belladonna Eastwood accidentally performs a spell revealing a magical tower in the sky at a suffragist rally, she brings her younger sisters Agnes Amaranth and James Juniper back together. The three loved each other once, and now these wayward women must unite in New Salem. Against them rage far-right religious groups bent on blaming witches for disease, poverty and anything else they can think of. But these women are “the ones who want, who pine, who long; the ones who chafe against the stories they were given and dream of better ones,” and they will not go quietly.

The Once and Future Witches is my favorite of Alix E. Harrow’s books. This book is fiercely feminist; it’s pro-women and pro-choice and truly magical. As Harrow says, “behind every witch is a woman wronged,” and you will root for these women with all your might.

Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne

Everyone claims the Early women are witches. Laurel Early thought she’d escaped the rumors, but when she returns home after her mother’s suicide, eerie occurrences change her mind. Something sinister haunts the farm, and it isn’t just her mother’s ghost. Massacred animals and walking bones appear, and the devil that courted her mother has returned for Laurel herself. Wake the Bones examines life, death and grief through grisly magic. It’s a dark debut perfect for anyone seeking those Southern Gothic vibes, especially this close to Halloween.

Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis

Katrell uses her ability to talk with the dead to make money, but it isn’t enough. When she accidentally brings her dog back to life, she realizes this new power may be worth a lot more. But as each resurrection makes her sicker than the last, Katrell must decide how much the money is truly worth. Bad Witch Burning is a story about desperate people trying to get out of bad situations, only to find themselves in an even worse one. It’s a dark and emotional book that is not for the faint of heart.

Witches by Brenda Lozano

Zoe, a young journalist, travels to Oaxaca to interview a curandera named Francisca. Francisca’s friend Paloma has just been murdered, but before her death, she taught Francisca veladas Mazatec healing rituals. As Zoe and Francisca talk, their shared experiences blend together into a story of sisterhood, violence and healing. Originally published in Spanish, Witches deftly weaves together parallel narratives, and translator Heather Cleary’s translation keeps the beauty of the language alive.

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay

“Respectable Lady Seeks Dependable Shop Girl. Those averse to magic need not apply.”

Two hundred years after the Salem witch trials, Adelaide Thom and Eleanor St. Clair opened a tea shop. Together, they serve potions and cures to Manhattan’s high-society ladies. When they hire a young woman named Beatrice Dunn, the girl soon becomes an irreplaceable apprentice. Beatrice demonstrates a talent for seeing and hearing things no one else can, and Adelaide senses a business opportunity. But when Beatrice disappears after meeting a talented alienist, Adelaide and Eleanor must begin a desperate search.

Witchmark by C.L. Polk

Miles Singer went to war to escape his destiny, but he returned a changed man. Even after faking his death and reinventing himself as a doctor, he can’t outrun his past – or his family. But when a mortally injured patient exposes Miles’ healing gift, he puts his freedom at risk to investigate the murder. To find the truth, he must team up with a stranger and maybe even his family or risk the collapse of his entire country.

Witchmark is a witchy tale perfect for fans of Freya Marske’s novel A Marvellous Light. C.L. Polk’s debut novel is romantic and fantastical, and it expertly combines magic, intrigue and betrayal.

There are so many great books about fantastic witches and so little time! What spooky books are you reading before Halloween?