Creepy Books That Aren't Too Scary

The horror genre is one I stay far away from. From a yonug age, I worked out that I have the insides of a soft marshmallow, and that scary things were not for me. But lately, I've realised I kind of like it when books get a little creepy. Not too creepy that I feel ill and can't sleep, but just the right level of unsettling to increase the stakes of a story. So, if you're like me and want some mildly creepy books that aren't too horrifying, here are 10 of my favourites.

1. Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

I read Sawkill Girls last month, and it instantly got me into the Halloween mood. It has eerie forests and haunting villains and a dash of violence, and I couldn't put it down.

2. Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke

I listened to this as an audiobook, and I was more unsettled than I was expecting. It balances on the ledge between contemporary and supernatural so you never quite know what to expect.

3. Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan

These graphic novels are really weird. Even though I'm 4 volumes in, I'm still not entirely sure what is going on, which makes the supernatural feel a lot scarier.

4. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

This whole book feels like a big dark fairy tale. There are creepy stories coming to life at every corner, and I love the whole atmosphere of it.

5. Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Meddling Kids is essentially a Scooby-Doo retelling, but a heck of a lot darker. In this story, the monsters may or may not be real, and a team of mystery solvers, now all grown up, reunite to find out what really happened with their last case.

6. More Than This by Patrick Ness

This isn't conventionally creepy, but it definitely ticked off all of my existential fears. It's best to go into this one knowing nothing, because it makes the not-knowing even more frightening.

7. Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

"Reader, I murdered him." - if that's not enough to entice you I don't know what is. Jane Steele is a Jane Eyre retelling that is a lot more bloody and has a lot more stabbing. These characters show the darker side to the era, and it's impossible not to get hooked.

8. The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Cycle is more of a haunting fantasy than a scary one, but the final book of the series definitely dipped a little bit into horror. There were a couple of scenes that made my skin crawl, but I loved what it brought to the story.

9. Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson

This is another book where it's better to know very little before getting into it. I spent the whole book questioning what exactly was going on with the protagonist, and although not really scary, it is pretty dark and unsettling.

10. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

This is a very strange horror-mystery that jumps around at points, but when it all slowly clicks together as the story progresses it is both brilliant and terrifying.

What are some of your favourite not-quite-horror stories?

This post was inspired by the prompt 'Halloween/Creepy Freebie' on Top 10 Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.