Top 5 Books with the Scariest Covers I Want to Read

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This Top 5 series started back in October and I kind of lost motivation for making it every week. But it’s back! This is a series of books that I want to read that all have a common theme. Previously on the blog I have focused on witches, werewolves, thrillers, faeries, fairy tale re-tellings, high fantasy and many more. I am going to try and bring this series back for every Saturday.

The Upcoming Schedule Is:

10/5/19 — Books with the Scariest Covers

10/12/19 — Books that Cast a Spell on You

10/19/19 — Gothic Books Creepy Books

10/26/19 — Trick or Treat (Pick your own topic!)

I know that I’m late on getting the schedule out, but I’ve been really busy this month. Hopefully for future months I can get the next month’s schedule out mid-month instead of the last week of the month.

Rules!

Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
Tag the original post (This one!)
Tag 5 people

Scariest Book Covers

This week we’re judging books by their covers! A cover can be the first thing that grabs my attention, and if it’s creepy that can definitely draw me to the book. I had a hard time making this list because I typically only do books that I want to read and this week there were so many books that I had already read that I wanted to include. I have a ton of books with scary covers on my TBR, but I tried to keep this list to books that I actually want to read soon.

Survive the Night by Danielle Vega

We’re all gonna die down here. . . .

Julie lies dead and disemboweled in a dank, black subway tunnel, red-eyed rats nibbling at her fingers. Her friends think she’s just off with some guy—no one could hear her getting torn apart over the sound of pulsing music.

In a tunnel nearby, Casey regrets coming to Survive the Night, the all-night underground rave in the New York City subway. Her best friend Shana talked her into it, even though Casey just got out of rehab. Alone and lost in the dark, creepy tunnels, Casey doesn’t think Survive the Night could get any worse . . .

. . . until she comes across Julie’s body, and the party turns deadly.

Desperate for help, Casey and her friends find themselves running through the putrid subway system, searching for a way out. But every manhole is sealed shut, and every noise echoes eerily in the dark, reminding them they’re not alone.

They’re being hunted.

Trapped underground with someone—or something—out to get them, Casey can’t help but listen to her friend’s terrified refrain: “We’re all gonna die down here. . . .” in this bone-chilling sophmore novel by the acclaimed author of The Merciless.

I picked up a copy of this book at a public library used book sale in April of 2018 and I still haven’t read it yet. I really love the cover and the synopsis had me intrigued. This is one of those backlist books that I want to get to, but I just haven’t had time for lately.

Ink in the Blood by Kim Smejkal

Publication Date: February 11th, 2020

A lush, dark YA fantasy debut that weaves together tattoo magic, faith, and eccentric theater in a world where lies are currency and ink is a weapon, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Kendare Blake.

Celia Sand and her best friend, Anya Burtoni, are inklings for the esteemed religion of Profeta. Using magic, they tattoo followers with beautiful images that represent the Divine’s will and guide the actions of the recipients. It’s considered a noble calling, but ten years into their servitude Celia and Anya know the truth: Profeta is built on lies, the tattooed orders strip away freedom, and the revered temple is actually a brutal, torturous prison.

Their opportunity to escape arrives with the Rabble Mob, a traveling theater troupe. Using their inkling abilities for performance instead of propaganda, Celia and Anya are content for the first time . . . until they realize who followed them. The Divine they never believed in is very real, very angry, and determined to use Celia, Anya, and the Rabble Mob’s now-infamous stage to spread her deceitful influence even further.

To protect their new family from the wrath of a malicious deity and the zealots who work in her name, Celia and Anya must unmask the biggest lie of all—Profeta itself.

I had asked for a physical ARC of this book, and I really didn’t expect to get it, especially since I hadn’t heard back from the publisher. When a copy showed up on my doorstep a few days ago I was ecstatic! I might wind up reading this one early because I feel like it has a perfect fall vibe to it and I don’t want to wait to read it until winter.

Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire

Publication Date: October 31st, 2019

From fairy tale forest to gloomy gothic moor, from gleaming epidemiologist’s lab to the sandy shores of Neverland, Seanan McGuire’s short fiction has been surprising, delighting, confusing, and transporting her readers since 2009. Now, for the first time, that fiction has been gathered together in one place, ready to be enjoyed one twisting, tangled tale at a time. Her work crosses genres and subverts expectations.

Meet the mad scientists of “Laughter at the Academy” and “The Tolling of Pavlov’s Bells.” Glory in the potential of a Halloween that never ends. Follow two very different alphabets in “Frontier ABCs” and “From A to Z in the Book of Changes.” Get “Lost,” dress yourself “In Skeleton Leaves,” and remember how to fly. All this and more is waiting for you within the pages of this decade-spanning collection, including several pieces that have never before been reprinted. Stories about mermaids, robots, dolls, and Deep Ones are all here, ready for you to dive in.

This is a box of strange surprises dredged up from the depths of the sea, each one polished and prepared for your enjoyment. So take a chance, and allow yourself to be surprised.

Enjoy.

I saw this on Netgalley and basically just saw that it was written by Seanan McGuire and requested a copy without even reading the synopsis. I didn’t realize that this was a collection of short stories, but honestly I’m glad I requested a copy anyway. I don’t read many short story collections, but since I’m always looking for something short to read in between long fantasies I think that some of these short stories will be great to fit in when I need a break between stories. I’m also glad that it comes out in October so I will get to read it this month.

The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey

From the bestselling author of the Sandman Slim series, a lush, dark, stand-alone fantasy built off the insurgent tradition of China Mieville and M. John Harrison—a subversive tale that immerses us in a world where the extremes of bleakness and beauty exist together in dangerous harmony in a city on the edge of civility and chaos.

The Great War is over. The city of Lower Proszawa celebrates the peace with a decadence and carefree spirit as intense as the war’s horrifying despair. But this newfound hedonism—drugs and sex and endless parties—distracts from strange realities of everyday life: Intelligent automata taking jobs. Genetically engineered creatures that serve as pets and beasts of war. A theater where gruesome murders happen twice a day. And a new plague that even the ceaseless euphoria can’t mask.

Unlike others who live strictly for fun, Largo is an addict with ambitions. A bike messenger who grew up in the slums, he knows the city’s streets and its secrets intimately. His life seems set. He has a beautiful girlfriend, drugs, a chance at a promotion—and maybe, an opportunity for complete transformation: a contact among the elite who will set him on the course to lift himself up out of the streets.

But dreams can be a dangerous thing in a city whose mood is turning dark and inward. Others have a vision of life very different from Largo’s, and they will use any methods to secure control. And in behind it all, beyond the frivolity and chaos, the threat of new war always looms.

This book was a review copy that I didn’t wind up getting to before publication. The cover is what grabbed my attention, but the synopsis also really sounded interesting. I have seen a lot of mixed reviews for this book, but I honestly think that I might really love this book when I give it a chance.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.

Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the centre of it.

This is another review copy that I didn’t read before it’s publication date. All of my friends who love thrillers and mysteries highly recommend Ruth Ware, and I’ve never read one of her books before. This has been on my TBR for over a year now and I still haven’t read it. Hopefully once I make it through my mountain of fall ARCs I will have time to get to some of these old review copies and some of the backlist titles that I’ve been dying to read forever.

Check out other book blogger’s top 5!

Nen & Jen @ Nen & Jen — Top 5 Sat: Books with SCARY Covers

Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog – Book Covers That Give Me the Creeps! Top 5 Saturday

Dini @ Dinipandareads —Top 5 Saturday: Books with the Scariest Covers!

Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads — Top 5 Saturday: Scariest Covers

Susan @ Novel Lives — Scariest Book Covers That HELL NO I Won’t Ever Read Plus Harry Potter Does Horror- Top 5 Saturday

Rachel @ Rachel Read It – #Spooktober Scariest Book Covers that Hell No I Won’t Ever Read – Top 5 Saturday

Tagged

Brigid @ Brigid L Downey

Mads @ Mads Media

Toya @ The Reading Chemist

Jocelyn @ A Little Nerd Told Me

Sam @ Some Books & Ramblings

Mina @ My Fangirl Chronicles

Let’s Chat!

Do you love books with maps? What is your favorite book that has a map in it? Have you read any of these books? Should I move any of these up my TBR? What do you love about books that have maps? Do you have any recommendations for November topics? Make sure to comment below so we can chat about books with maps!