15 Books About Salem to Read this Halloween

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Anyone else dream of calling Salem, Massachusetts home?

Cover photo courtesy of thingstodoinsalem.com. This post contains affiliate links. See the end of this post and/or my disclaimer for more.

I have yet to visit Witch City, but it’s definitely on my list. The truth is…I’m afraid if I go, I’ll never want to come home. There’s just something charming about a small town on the water that celebrates Halloween season like no other. It’d be my own personal Stars Hollow with a spooky twist.

But that won’t stop me from reading about it! A few years ago, I read “A Season With the Witch” which chronicles author J.W. Ocker’s stay in Salem during the month of October. This fall, I’m diving into a bit of fiction set in Salem with the Spooky Little Book Club!

Our fall theme is a novel set in Salem, and we had some amazing recommendations in the book club. Our final pick? A collection of short stories from Fun Dead Publications called “One Night in Salem”. Mine just arrived, and I can’t wait to dig into it!

You’re welcome to join us as we read about Salem. If you need a little more fiction about Witch City, here are 15 more books you might love.

 

15 Books About Salem to Read this Halloween

Book descriptions from goodreads.com. Images from amazon.com.

 

1. “Crane Pond: A Novel of Salem” by Richard Francis

In a colony on the edge of survival in a mysterious new world where infant mortality is high and sin is to blame, Samuel Sweall is committed to being a loving family man, a good citizen, and a fair-minded judge. Like any believing Puritan, he agonizes over what others think of him while striving to act morally correct, keep the peace, and (hopefully make time to) enjoy a hefty slice of pie. His one regret is that only months before he didn’t sentence a group of pirates to death. What begins as a touching story of a bumbling man tasked with making judgments in a society where reason is often ephemeral, quickly becomes the chilling narrative we know too well. And when public opinion wavers, Sweall learns that what has been done cannot be undone. GET A COPY

 

2. “Deadly Harvest” by Heather Graham

When a young woman is found dead in a field, dressed up as a scarecrow with a slashed grin and a broken neck, the residents of Salem, Massachusetts, begin to fear that the infamous Harvest Man is more than just a rumor. But out-of-town cop Jeremy Flynn doesn’t have time for ghost stories. He’s in town on another investigation, looking for a friend’s wife, who mysteriously vanished in a cemetery.

Complicating his efforts is local occult expert Rowenna Cavanaugh, who launches her own investigation, convinced that a horror from the past has crept into the present and is seducing women to their deaths. Jeremy uses logic and solid police work. Rowenna depends on intuition. But they both have the same goal: to stop the abductions and locate the missing women before Rowenna herself falls prey to the Harvest Man’s dark seduction. GET A COPY

 

3. “Gallows Hill” by Lois Duncan

Role-playing takes on a terrifying cast when 17-year-old Sarah, who is posing as a fortune-teller for a school fair, begins to see actual visions that can predict the future. Frightened, the other students brand her a witch, setting off a chain of events that mirror the centuries-old Salem witch trials in more ways than one. GET A COPY

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. “Grave Errors” by Carol J. Perry

For residents of Salem, Massachusetts, the day after Halloween brings empty candy wrappers, sagging pumpkins, and a community-wide identity crisis. That is until Lee Barrett’s TV production class suggests extending the spooky season with the traditional Mexican celebration Dia de Los Muertos. But when the students discover not all of Salem’s dead are resting in peace, the post-October blues don t seem so bad after all…

As if a series of haunting graveyard visits isn’t disturbing enough, Lee and her policeman boyfriend connect the crime to an unsolved missing person case. Driven by a series of chilling psychic visions, Lee calls on her cleverest allies including her shrewd cat, O Ryan to go underground and dig up the evidence needed to put a lid on a cold case forever…before the latest headstone in town has her name on it! GET A COPY

 

5. “House of Seven Gables” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The sins of one generation are visited upon another in a haunted New England mansion until the arrival of a young woman from the country breathes new air into moldering lives and rooms. Written shortly after The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables re-addresses the theme of human guilt in a style remarkable in both its descriptive virtuosity and its truly modern mix of fantasy and realism. GET A COPY

 

 

 

6. “How to Hang a Witch” by Adriana Mather

Salem, Massachusetts is the site of the infamous witch trials and the new home of Samantha Mather. Recently transplanted from New York City, Sam and her stepmother are not exactly welcomed with open arms. Sam is the descendant of Cotton Mather, one of the men responsible for those trials and almost immediately, she becomes the enemy of a group of girls who call themselves The Descendants. And guess who their ancestors were?

If dealing with that weren’t enough, Sam also comes face to face with a real live (well technically dead) ghost. A handsome, angry ghost who wants Sam to stop touching his stuff. But soon Sam discovers she is at the center of a centuries-old curse affecting anyone with ties to the trials. Sam must come to terms with the ghost and find a way to work with The Descendants to stop a deadly cycle that has been going on since the first accused witch was hanged. If any town should have learned its lesson, it’s Salem. But history may be about to repeat itself. GET A COPY

 

7. “I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem” by Maryse Conde

At the age of seven, Tituba watched as her mother was hanged for daring to wound a plantation owner who tried to rape her. She was raised from then on by Mama Yaya, a gifted woman who shared with her the secrets of healing and magic. But it was Tituba’s love of the slave John Indian that led her from safety into slavery, and the bitter, vengeful religion practiced by the good citizens of Salem, Massachusetts. Though protected by the spirits, Tituba could not escape the lies and accusations of that hysterical time. GET A COPY

 

 

8. “The Fifth Petal” by Brunonia Barry

When a teenage boy dies suspiciously on Halloween night, Salem’s chief of police, John Rafferty, wonders if there is a connection between his death and Salem’s most notorious cold case, a triple homicide dubbed “The Goddess Murders,” in which three young women, all descended from accused Salem witches, were slashed on Halloween night in 1989. He finds unexpected help in Callie Cahill, the daughter of one of the victims newly returned to town. Neither believes that the main suspect, Rose Whelan, respected local historian, is guilty of murder or witchcraft.

But exonerating Rose might mean crossing paths with a dangerous force. Were the women victims of an all-too-human vengeance, or was the devil raised in Salem that night? And if they cannot discover what truly happened, will evil rise again? GET A COPY

 

9. “The Hexed” by Heather Graham

Devin Lyle has recently returned to the Salem area, but her timing couldn’t be worse. Soon after she moved into the eighteenth-century cabin she inherited from her great-aunt Mina—her “crazy” great-aunt, who spoke to the dead—a woman was murdered nearby. Craig Rockwell—known as Rocky—is a new member of the Krewe of Hunters, the FBI’s team of paranormal investigators. He never got over finding a friend dead in the woods. Now another body’s been found in those same woods, not far from the home of Devin Lyle. And Devin’s been led to a third body—by…a ghost?

Her discovery draws them both deeper into the case and Salem’s rich and disturbing history. Even as the danger mounts, Devin and Rocky begin to fall for each other, something the ghosts of Mina and past witches seem to approve of. But the two of them need every skill they possess to learn the truth—or Devin’s might be the next body in the woods… GET A COPY

 

10. “The Lords of Salem” by Rob Zombie

Heidi Hawthorne is a thirty-seven-year-old FM radio DJ and a recovering drug addict. Struggling with her newfound sobriety and creeping depression, Heidi suddenly receives an anonymous gift at the station-a mysteriously shaped wooden box branded with a strange symbol. Inside the box is a promotional record for a band that identifies themselves only as The Lords. There is no other information.

She decides to play it on the radio show as a joke, and the moment she does, horrible things begin to happen. The strange music awakens something evil in the town. Soon enough, terrifying murders begin to happen all around Heidi. Who are The Lords? What do they want? As old bloodlines are awakened and the bodies start to pile up, only one thing seems certain: all hell is about to break loose. GET A COPY

 

11. “The Timeless Ones” by Susan Catalano

Merry Chalmers, accused witch, has a secret so hidden that she’s nearly forgotten what she really is. All she desires is for the witch-hunts to end and to marry her secret love, William Darling. But hysteria has taken hold in Salem Village, and the Tall Man, spawned by tales of his existence, is born to fulfill his dark purpose.

Soon Merry and William find their lives taking unthinkable paths. For when Merry leaps from the 17th century into modern-day Salem, she must accept that unlike others who were accused and hanged for being a witch, she truly is one. GET A COPY

 

12. “The White Raven” by Carrie D. Miller

In her thirteenth life, Aven has settled into the now witchcraft-friendly Salem where she has found true happiness and friendship, maybe even love. Despite her contentment, the truth of Aven’s existence haunts her. When she dies, her Spirit is forced from the Veil to live again in the body of a stranger.

To make matters worse, an unrelenting, twisted evil from Aven’s past lurks closely behind her. Sustained by his hatred of the witch, he won’t give up until she’s paid for what she did to him. When the truth of Aven’s connection to the white raven is revealed, it is more horrifying than she could ever have imagined. GET A COPY

 

13. “The Witches: Salem, 1692” by Stacy Schiff

The panic began early in 1692, over an exceptionally raw Massachusetts winter, when a minister’s niece began to writhe and roar. It spread quickly, confounding the most educated men and prominent politicians in the colony. Neighbors accused neighbors, husbands accused wives, parents and children one another. It ended less than a year later, but not before nineteen men and women had been hanged and an elderly man crushed to death.

Speaking loudly and emphatically, adolescent girls stood at the center of the crisis. Along with suffrage and Prohibition, the Salem witch trials represent one of the few moments when women played the central role in American history. Drawing masterfully on the archives, Stacy Schiff introduces us to the strains on a Puritan adolescent’s life and to the authorities whose delicate agendas were at risk. She illuminates the demands of a rigorous faith, the vulnerability of settlements adrift from the mother country, perched–at a politically tumultuous time–on the edge of what a visitor termed a “remote, rocky, barren, bushy, wild-woody wilderness.” With devastating clarity, the textures and tension of colonial life emerge; hidden patterns subtly, startlingly detach themselves from the darkness. Schiff brings early American anxieties to the fore to align them brilliantly with our own. In an era of religious provocations, crowdsourcing, and invisible enemies, this enthralling story makes more sense than ever. GET A COPY

 

14. “These Witches Don’t Burn” by Isabel Sterling

Hannah’s a witch, but not the kind you’re thinking of. She’s the real deal, an Elemental with the power to control fire, earth, water, and air. But even though she lives in Salem, Massachusetts, her magic is a secret she has to keep to herself. If she’s ever caught using it in front of a Reg (read: non-witch), she could lose it. For good. So, Hannah spends most of her time avoiding her ex-girlfriend (and fellow Elemental Witch) Veronica, hanging out with her best friend, and working at the Fly by Night Cauldron selling candles and crystals to tourists, goths, and local Wiccans.

But dealing with her ex is the least of Hannah’s concerns when a terrifying blood ritual interrupts the end-of-school-year bonfire. Evidence of dark magic begins to appear all over Salem, and Hannah’s sure it’s the work of a deadly Blood Witch. The issue is, her coven is less than convinced, forcing Hannah to team up with the last person she wants to see: Veronica.

While the pair attempt to smoke out the Blood Witch at a house party, Hannah meets Morgan, a cute new ballerina in town. But trying to date amid a supernatural crisis is easier said than done, and Hannah will have to test the limits of her power if she’s going to save her coven and get the girl, especially when the attacks on Salem’s witches become deadlier by the day. GET A COPY

 

15. “Wicked Appetite” by Janet Evanovich

For centuries, treasure hunters have been eager to possess the stones, undeterred by their corrupting nature. The list is long — Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, to name a few. Now the Stones have found their way to Salem, Massachusetts, and so has Gerwulf Grimoire, adding himself to this rogues’ gallery of power seekers. He’s an uncommonly dangerous man, with a hunger for the forbidden, and a set of abilities that are way beyond ordinary. Abilities that he feels entitle him to possess anything he might desire.

That would include Elizabeth Tucker, the woman he needs to find the Stones. She’s freshly transplanted from New York City to Boston’s North Shore. With a new job as pastry chef at Dazzle’s bakery and an old house inherited from her Aunt Ophelia, her life is pretty much on track …until it’s suddenly derailed by a guy named Diesel, a rude monkey, and a ninja cat.

Lizzy can handle the monkey and the cat. She’s not sure about Diesel. He’s offering up his own set of unusual talents, promising to protect her from Grimoire. The kind of protection that Lizzy suspects might involve guarding her body day and night.

The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, greed, lust, envy wrath, sloth and gluttony. That pretty much covers everything that is wicked. Diesel thinks it also pretty much covers everything that’s fun. And Lizzy thinks Diesel and the Seven Deadly Sins cover everything her mother warned her about. GET A COPY

 

 

WHICH BOOK ABOUT SALEM WILL YOU READ?

Share your pick in the comments, and if you want to enjoy spooky reads with us all year long, join the Spooky Little Book Club!

Not on Facebook? No problem – keep an eye on my social media channels throughout the year where I’ll always announce the newest read and share a blog post where you can weigh in. Read this post for complete details.

 

Happy haunting,

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Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween

Miranda is the Houston-based writer, blogger, and Halloween lover behind Spooky Little Halloween, the blog celebrating October 31st all year long. Her favorite Halloween things include pumpkin guts, chocolate bars in her trick-or-treat pail, real haunted houses (including the one she lives in!), and historic cemeteries.

5 Comments

  1. Reply

    Alison

    September 11, 2019

    The House of Seven Gables is one I’ve been meaning to read for a long time. I like Hawthorne, having read The Scarlet Letter and Wakefield. He was a prolific writer and I hope to be able to read more of his work.

    Happy Halloween!

  2. Reply

    Caitlin

    September 11, 2019

    I lived in Salem for a year a few years ago and absolutely loved it. I make it a point to go back and visit a few times a year and it’s always just a charming little town. It’s a very easy walk able little town and always so much fun. I highly recommend doing a long weekend – or longer! You’re right – you won’t want to leave. The good news is that if you fly into Logan, there’s a bus from the airport that drops you right off at the transit station that’s 30 seconds from downtown Salem. I was actually just there last weekend and they are starting to gear up for Halloween. Best Halloween of my life is the year I lived there – they finish off the weekend with fire works that rival the 4th of July!

  3. Reply

    Amy

    September 8, 2020

    I have already read The Witches but now I am going to have to read I, Tituba. As well as the house of 7 Gables. Anything Salem is on my list!

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