Best Books of October — 5 Frightening Rocktober Reads

Shock rock, bone-chilling books, and Halloween go together like Alice Cooper and candy corn in these best books of October. That’s why we’ve put together this Fab Five list of reads that will get you to rock and roll all night and party every day!

Horror movies usually take center stage during this time of year and there are some great ones available, but they’re more like cotton candy when compared to the everlasting gobstopper of a great book, which will keep you entertained for hours on end.

What sets these authors apart from your usual Edgar Allen Poe or Stephen King (though his son is the writer of #4) is the fact that they are all music mavens who serve up a hefty helping of humor along with the horror.

Aew you ready to rock? And read? Without further ado, here are…

The 5 best books of October to get music lovers in the mood for Halloween

5) Paul Is Undead: The British Zombie Invasion, by Alan Goldsher

For John Lennon, a young, idealistic zombie guitarist with dreams of global domination, Liverpool seems the ideal place to form a band that could take over the world. In an inspired act, Lennon kills and reanimates local rocker Paul McCartney, kicking off an unstoppable partnership. With the addition of newly zombified guitarist George Harrison and drummer/Seventh Level Ninja Lord Ringo Starr, the Beatles soon cut a swath of bloody good music and bloody mayhem across Europe, America, and the entire planet.

4) Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill

An aging death-metal rock god, Judas Coyne, is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals… a used hangman’s noose… a snuff film. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as an item he learns is for sale on the Internet. For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man’s suit, said to be haunted by the deceased’s restless spirit. Judas has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts – of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed—so what’s one more? Bonus: author Joe Hill is Stephen King‘s son and as any diehard King fan knows, he’s in a band called the Rock-Bottom Remainders.

3) The Vampire Lestat, by Anne Rice

The vampire hero of Anne Rice’s enthralling novel is a creature of the darkest and richest imagination. Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now a rock star in the demonic, shimmering 1980s, Lestat rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his eternal, terrifying existence. His is a mesmerizing story—passionate, complex, and thrilling. It’s the perfect book to accompany the new Interview with the Vampire TV series now on AMC.

2) We Sold Our Souls, by Grady Hendrix

Every morning, Kris Pulaski wakes up in hell. In the 1990s she was lead guitarist of Dürt Würk, a heavy-metal band on the brink of breakout success until lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom, leaving his bandmates to rot in obscurity. Now Kris works as night manager of a Best Western; she’s tired, broke, and unhappy. Then one day everything changes—a shocking act of violence turns her life upside down, and she begins to suspect that Terry sabotaged more than just the band. Kris hits the road, hoping to reunite Dürt Würk and confront the man who ruined her life. Her journey will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a celebrity rehab center to a satanic music festival. Grady Hendrix is the author of My Best Friend’s Exorcism, which is now a movie running on Amazon Prime exclusively.

1) Rock & Roll Nightmares: Along Comes Scary, by Staci Layne Wilson, et al

Tune in, turn on, and drop in… to the rock & roll rabbit hole! Along Comes Scary is set in an alternate spooky ’60s where vampires play screaming guitars, hellbound hotrodders start a new trend on AM radio, and there are groupies who will do anything for a piece of their favorite band. The funny and frightening stories include Papa’s Got a Brand-New Body Bag, Hell-A Woman, and She’s Got a Ticket to Die. The 10 tales are by Staci Layne Wilson, Jeff Strand, Darren Gordon Smith, Marco Mannone, Renee Mallett, and Shane Bitterling. This is Book 1 of the Rock & Roll Nightmares book series. It continues with Do You Fear Like We Do (set in the 1970s) and Gory Days (set in the 1980s)

So there you have it! Which books will you be reading? (Or listening to… these are all available as audiobooks, too.)

These 5 best books of October are sure to get music lovers in a minor key mood for a rollicking rock and roll Halloween.