Hello fellow readers and welcome to one of my favorite posts I do every year on this blog. Yes, it is the Fall 2026 TBR. I absolutely love this time of year so I really carefully curate my books for the season. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison – Last fall I read a haunted house book (September House, my second of that year actually) and adored it so this year I decided to try another one. Clio is a stylist and influencer whose carefully curated appearance hides her troubling childhood. When she was a child she lived in a home that was possessed and even when the courts removed custody of Clio and her siblings from their mother, Clio’s mother remained adamant a demon controlled the home. Now, Clio’s mother is dead and has left the house to Clio and her sisters. Sensing an opportunity to flip the house and make content from it Clio returns to the home but as she renovates it she begins to think that her mother might not have been lying about the demon after all.

A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson – Fellow reader, you are probably tired of seeing this book on my Fall TBRs and books I intend to read throughout this year. Well, this will be the last time. I am bound and determined to read this Dracula retelling, all told from the perspective of one of his brides.

Samantha: The New Chapter by Fiona Davis – While I have spoken about it once or twice on this blog, I have never talked deeply about my love for the historical American Girl dolls that I had as a child. I was OBSESSED with the dolls and while I only had one of them I did read all the books, which probably had something to do with my love for history today. Fiona Davis takes one of those historical dolls, Samantha, and creates what her life looks like as a young adult. I’m super excited to read this story and take a trip down nostalgia lane.

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman – I have had this horror novel on my TBR for a while and up until a few weeks ago I wasn’t sure if it would make this year’s list. However, when I heard this was being made into a movie I knew I had to get to it this year. It focuses on a young child who is being haunted by an entity the little girl refers to as Other Mommy. As Other Mommy makes it its mission to take over the family will need to work together to stop it. I’m getting Poltergeist vibes and think it will be perfect for this time of year.

Confessions by Kanae Minato – This translated suspense tale focuses on how far a mother will go to get revenge for her child. Yuko is a middle school teacher who assembles all her students one day to inform them she is retiring after the sudden death of her daughter. The police concluded it was an accidental death but Yuko believes something much more sinister is afoot. She believes one of her students was involved and she is not letting any of them leave until the murderer is revealed. I have heard nothing but good things about this debut novel and really want to add it to my “Read” list.

The Unknown by Riley Sager – I’ve started to become a fan of Riley Sager, having read four books of his in the past two years, and I was so excited to pick up his latest release. I’m going into this story fairly blind but I do know it centers on some women going missing on an island, which seems eerily familiar to a crime that happened over a hundred years ago.

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo – As much as I love reading scary books in the fall I also love returning to dark academia during this time of the year. This one by Layne Fargo has been on my TBR for a long time and I have to pick it up this year. It follows a female professor who kills one male student every year that she deems a threat to female students on campus. But her crimes are starting to catch up with her and she will need to be quick in covering up her crimes before she is caught.

Night Film by Marisha Pessl – My current read at the moment, Night Film combines crime thriller with horror (and maybe the paranormal?). Following a journalist who believes a reclusive horror director is hiding something the reader is thrown into the seedy part of New York City and fame. When the director’s daughter turns up dead Stephen, the reporter, decides he must uncover the truth and begins to unravel a web of deceit, lies, and horror. The mixed media in the physical book adds to my interest in the story and though I am half way through I am still trying to unravel this complicated puzzle.

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong – My final book for my Fall TBR is this paranormal thriller. When her grandfather dies, Samantha reluctantly attends the reading of the will.  She didn’t have a relationship with her grandfather in the last decade or so in his life as Samantha’s grandfather firmly believed that Samantha’s father never killed a child, a crime he was not only charged with but found guilty of. However, when the will is read Samantha is shocked to discover that she has inherited the lakeside home in Paynes Hollow. As she travels back there to settle the estate her ugly past rears its head into the present – both literally and figuratively. This seems like a Sleepy Hollow retelling and will be just perfect for October.