Halloween is the season for scary stories, but what actually makes a book frightening? And where should you start if you’re not already a horror reader? This week on “The Book Review” podcast, Gilbert Cruz talks with two writers who know their way around the genre. Leigh Bardugo is the best-selling author behind the Grishaverse series and the Ninth House (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/books/review/ninth-house-leigh-bardugo.html) trilogy, which just concluded with the release of “Dead Beat.” Paul Tremblay is the author of “A Head Full of Ghosts” and this year’s “Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/books/review/dead-but-dreaming-of-electric-sheep-paul-tremblay.html) .” Bardugo looks back at the books and stories that scared her as a child and talks about why she kept returning to them even after they left her “struggling to sleep for the better part of a month.” She also talks about her love of Anne Rice and recommends horror for readers who might not think the genre is for them. Tremblay, who describes himself as a lifelong “scaredy-cat,” came to horror fiction later. He talks about the Joyce Carol Oates story that changed the way he thought about reading and writing, and shares some of the books he finds genuinely frightening. Together, these two authors offer a Halloween reading list that ranges from Shirley Jackson and Stephen King to contemporary writers like Mariana Enriquez, Tananarive Due and Sara Gran. Books discussed on this episode: • “The Boogeyman,” from “Night Shift,” by Stephen King • “Down a Dark Hall,” by Lois Duncan • “Bunnicula,” by Deborah Howe and James Howe • “’Salem’s Lot,” by Stephen King • “Nightjars,” by Michael Wehunt • “Affinity,” by Sarah Waters • “Black Arts,” by Megan Giddings • “The Reformatory,” by Tananarive Due • “Mazywood,” by Tananarive Due • “The Haunting of Hill House,” by Shirley Jackson • “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” by Shirley Jackson • “Carrie,” by Stephen King • “The Turn of the Screw,” by Henry James • “Afterward,” from “Ghosts,” by Edith Wharton • “Interview With the Vampire,” by Anne Rice • “The Vampire Lestat,” by Anne Rice • “The Witch of Blackbird Pond,” by Elizabeth George Speare • “The Invisible Parade,” by Leigh Bardugo and John Picacio • “Our Share of Night,” by Mariana Enriquez • “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?,” by Joyce Carol Oates • “The Skull,” by Jon Klassen • “The Nest,” by Kenneth Oppel • “Come Closer,” by Sara Gran • “Off the Reservation,” by Stephen Graham Jones • “She Said Destroy,” by Nadia Bulkin • “Issues With Authority,” by Nadia Bulkin • “North American Lake Monsters,” by Nathan Ballingrud • “Wounds,” by Nathan Ballingrud • “Books of Blood,” by Clive Barker • “To Bewitch a Hunter,” by Luciano Lamberti • “Trad Wife,” by Sarah Langan • “Desert Radio,” by Pamela M. Durgin • “The Flayed Man,” by Chloe Lauter Listen to and Follow ‘The Book Review’ Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-book-review/id120315179?mt=2) | Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1q3tsOS9XhqgSslnyZyKV6) | Amazon Music (https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d9314635-147c-409a-ae6a-fdf8358caee5/the-book-review) | YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdMrbgYfVl-vT4J7V1XT3MD5GCSebQJay) | iHeartRadio (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/326-the-book-review-28076603/) Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts (http://nytimes.com/podcasts) or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We Want to Hear From You We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to thebookreview@nytimes.com. Credits “The Book Review” podcast is hosted by Gilbert Cruz and produced by Amy Pearl, Sarah Diamond and Patricia Sulbarán. The show is mixed by Pedro Rosado. Special thanks to Dahlia Haddad. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts (http://nytimes.com/podcasts) or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.