Fall is always the busiest time of year in books, and after the riches of September comes an October slate rife with horror—perfect for the weeks leading up to Halloween. Our recommendations this month include a mix of fantasy, horror, space opera, and fabulism.
This month’s featured indie bookstore is Octavia Books in New Orleans. Octavia Books is one of the stores affected by Hurricane Ida earlier this year; they’re now reopened for business and shipping nationwide.
Strange Folk You’ll Never Meet
A.A. Balaskovits, October 1
Fabulism and folklore abound in A.A. Balaskovits’ Strange Folk You’ll Never Meet in stories ranging from a woman finding a beast who can save her village to a daughter forced to dance to reenactments of her father’s murder. Strange Folk You’ll Never Meet contains elements of horror and the fantastic in a collection of short tales.
Clocking in at just 154 pages, Balaskovits’ sophomore short fiction collection joins books like Sharon Blackie’s Foxfire, Wolfskin on shelves of contemporary takes on folklore with a feminist lens.
The Death of Jane Lawrence
Caitlin Starling, October 5
In a dark-mirror version of post-war England, a young woman who’s chosen a marriage of convenience opens her door during a stormy night to find her fiancé a terrified shadow of himself. Though her fiancé has returned to his usual self in the morning, Jane is convinced that something is very wrong at Lindridge Hall—and perhaps her marriage wasn’t so convenient after all.
Fans of Starling’s award-nominated debut novel, The Luminous Dead, won’t want to miss her sophomore novel from St. Martin’s Press. Content warnings for this book are available on the author’s website.
The Quicksilver Court
Melissa Caruso, October 12
The door in the obsidian tower has been opened—which means Ryx has failed in her job as the Warden of Glomingard. In the face of a new threat to her home domain of Morgrain, Ryx may be forced to make a greater sacrifice than she’s ever imagined before to save those she’s bound by duty to protect.
The Quicksilver Court is the second installment in Caruso’s Rooks & Ruin series, which begins with The Obsidian Tower.
Nightwatch on the Hinterlands
K. Eason, October 19
Mechas don’t kill people, yet Lieutenant Iari discovers that one has. And while Iari is convinced it’s impossible, the ambassador-spy Gaer is convinced it is. As the two set out to find the mech responsible, they uncover a plot far larger than something as simple as murder.
Nightwatch on the Hinterlands is the first in a new series by K. Eason, author of How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, set in the same universe as the Thorne Chronicles.
Flowers for the Sea
Zin E. Rocklyn, October 19
This debut horror novella follows Iraxi, a young woman stranded on an ark with survivors of a flooded kingdom, seeking salvation even as resources dwindle around them. But the ostracized Iraxi may hold the darkest secret of all: she’s pregnant with a child who may be more than human.
Described by the publisher as “Rosemary’s Baby by way of Octavia E. Butler,” Flowers for the Sea is our most anticipated October title.
With so many new releases out this month, it’s been tough to pick just a few favorites. What are you most looking forward to this October?
