(“Sunflower/Four O’Clocks/Rose of Sharon,” photo by Rawley/use with permission only/please and thank you)

Once upon a time, I loved, oh how I adored, scary books. That time is not now, but still… I do feel drawn to the creepiest, most terrifying new titles. Thus my need to share this list of recommendations with you. Go for it, bon appetit, and Happy, Happy Halloween season.

• “21 Days of Fear: One Day, One Letter,” by Hervé Commére, is a wicked new read about a teenage boy and his sister gone missing for 10 years. Out of nowhere, he is told she may still be alive. And he may be able to save her — but he only has three weeks. It’s an intense, scary, fast and furious novel. Each day is a chapter, and each chapter is made even more interactive by enclosing it in a red envelope. This makes the page edges red, too, and it all works. (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, translated from the French by Jennifer Higgins, 2026, ages 14 and up, pages, $22.99.)

• “The Lure of Wolves and Whispers” is a great debut novel from author Amanda Connolly. (Sarah Barley Books, first in the new Martyred Isle series, 2026, ages 16 and up, 456 pages, $21.99.) The author (a dual citizen of Ireland and Canada) draws on Irish lore in the tale of two sisters, sacrifices, death, magic, rebellions and war. It’s good. “Magic shimmering in the waves beneath the docks, in every blade of swirling green grass beyond the city, every leaf fluttering violently green in a soft, warm breeze.”

• You know “Pretty Little Liars”? Don’t we all, don’t we all. The author, I mean, Sara Shepard. I’m reading her new book, “Tell Me Everything” and it is pretty much everything: Girls; pretty girls; pretty, sneaky, tricky girls; an AI chatbot named Kitty; revenge plots and lots, lots more. It’s not being released until next March (2027) but add it to your list. (Simon & Schuster, grades 7 and up.) (“Tell Me Everything: A Memoir,” is by the one and only, the gifted and gorgeous Minka Kelly, and you should read it now while you’re waiting for Shepard’s book to be released. I loved it. It’s not a Halloween book, btw, just a hell of a read.)

• “Dread Chaser” is an excellent title, I must say. Diesel, an 18-year-old “dust chaser”/bounty hunter lives in the Expanse, in a post-apocalyptic world, with his good dog, Gloom. OK, I’m in. Look for it on the shelves next January. (Written by Lauren Thoman, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, ages 14 and up.)

• “Knight Eternal” is another great title. Get it? Night eternal? Knight eternal? Of course you get it. Author Margaret Rogerson brings us our heroine, Ophelia, who has been locked away for 10 long years. (Again with 10 years and a girl gone missing…) She only has her tower, her dragonlet, her books, experiments and hey, this doesn’t sound too bad? But she’s ready to bust out and break this curse. Look for it next April. (I love previews, don’t you?)

All for now, talk soon.

WM