Fall books come in as many varieties as the changing leaves. You can read a campus novel and relive your glory days at school, or you can find a book with vivid descriptions of foliage and the frost nipping the air. But in October, it’s time for a different kind of chill: Pick up a literary horror classic to put yourself in the Halloween spirit. Campus novels and other education-themed stories are a literary tradition. Perhaps the most famous is The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. More recent campus novels include The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer and The Idiot by Elif Batuman. But education isn’t only in the domain of fiction. Learning often plays an important part in memoirs as well. If you’d prefer to immerse yourself in lush autumnal settings, choose a book set in New England. Many of John Irving’s novels, for example, have a distinctly fall feeling, almost like being dropped into a Robert Frost poem. The works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, such as The Scarlet Letter, have a similar sensibility. But if it’s close to Halloween, partake in a classic of horror literature. Even if you don’t like scary stories, many horror classics are worth a read and are beloved parts of the western canon. Novels like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula are good books in their own right, and they will definitely put you in the fall mood. Fall reads can be spooky, lighthearted, serious, or smart. Choose one of these fall books and wrap yourself in their autumnal worlds. RELATED: The Best Books to Read Right Now RELATED: The Best Books of 2020 (So Far)
