It’s cozy season! After wrapping up summer’s activities, it’s time to unwind and ease into the fall. And what better way to get into the spirit than reading a good book?

Modern Muze loves to champion authors and books we love. For example, we’ve recently interviewed self-published Latina author Xiomara Gallego-Bernard on how she uses her communicative skills to connect with children. We’ve also discussed five Latina poets who keep us grounded. 

What’s next on our agenda? An on-theme folklore, fear, and fierce book list for October. From V Castro’s The Haunting of Alejandra to A Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women, edited by Joyce Carol Oates, here are five books that should be on your TBR list this October. 

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

For those readers into gothic and horror, this novel is perfect for you. The Haunting of Alejandra intersects themes like the Mexican folk demon La Llorona, motherhood, legacy, and identity. “Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. To her own adoptive mother, she is a daughter. But they cannot see who Alejandra has become: a woman struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her,” the book’s description reads.

The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas

The Possession of Alba Díaz explores themes such as supernatural happenings. The book’s hook reads: “When a demonic presence awakens deep in a Mexican silver mine, the young woman it seizes must turn to the one man she shouldn’t trust…from bestselling author Isabel Cañas.” Sounds spooky, doesn’t it? 

A Walk in a Darker Wood: An Anthology of Folk Horror by multiple authors

A Walk in a Darker Wood: An Anthology of Folk Horror explores folk horror from different voices. The book is described as: “Come, take a walk in a darker wood with us. Join us in a haunted place where Pan walks free, where the Dark Mother holds her shadow children close, and where the full moon rides high in the night, whispering secrets of a forgotten past into the wind.”

Skin of the Soul: New Horror Stories by Women edited by Lisa Tuttle

Skin of the Soul: New Horror Stories by Women is a book full of varied horror by women writers. The book includes tales by Joan Aiken, Karen Joy Fowler, Anne Goring, Joyce Carol Oates, and Sherry Coldsmith.

A Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women edited by Joyce Carol Oates

If you’re into more intense, visceral — exploring bodies, identity, and fear type — literature. This one is for you. The description reads: “In A Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers, Oates has assembled a spectacular cast to explore this subgenre, focusing on distortions to the human body in the most fascinating of ways.”