It's my favorite time of year. The leaves are already starting to turn in Maine, bright reds and oranges are lining the trees and I can finally drink red wine and not want to die. Fall is the time of the reader, it's when we can finally put on sweat pants, turn on our YouTube campfire, and get cozy for the best reading season of the year!

But if you are looking for something different from your usual pumpkin spice rom-com line-up, then look no further. I have 10 unconventional fall reads listed below. Be not afraid! Spooky season is the perfect time to be brave and try something new!

Hallowpeen - By Holly Wilde

"Everyone in the small town of Hollow Springs knows that Halloween night is when the veil of sentience is at its thinnest. So no one would attempt a ridiculous ritual on the night of a full moon, right?
Wrong.

This sentient object romance follows two friends who tempt fate deliciously and end up having a legendary time with the local urban legends. Curl up with some candy and a pumpkin spice latte while you enjoy the autumnal delights of Hallowpeen."

Corn Daddy: A Steamed Short - By Helena Woodcock

"He’s got the juice. Liz has always had the worst luck with love. She can’t help falling for the bad boys, but they’re never willing to make her a priority. Being stood up at the annual fall corn maze is the last strike against her latest on-again-off-again dudebro. The farm is filled with happy couples, but Liz is ready to head home and concede her losses over a cup of spiked cider. It figures…The mysterious man hiding in the corn maze has an entirely different plan. He has eyes for Liz and isn’t willing to let her go so easily. He’s nothing like the guys Liz is used to dating, and she can’t get him off of her mind. He makes a fast and hot first move, and when he starts talking commitment, it makes Liz’s head spin.Is she ready to give up everything she’s ever known for the sake of true love and desire? Liz can’t help wondering if she has found her produce prince or if this is just another bad apple in her bushel."

Stitches - By Violet Taylor

"The story of the Skeleton King and his stitched-up Queen A dark reimagining of a Halloween favorite…
My life was taken. My body pieced back together. My world forever changed. When I awake in the Mid Hallows with no memory of who I was before, I am thrust into a realm of nightmares and terror. Lost, defenseless. Until I find him. It’s foolish to trust anyone who dwells in the land of monsters. But after Kel crosses my path, my defenses crumble. The mysterious monster hunter keeps me safe, but what secrets lie beneath the bones painted upon his handsome face? Why am I really here?
**Stitches is a dark monster romance reimagining. It contains graphic violence and sexually explicit content. Check the author's website for full list of content warnings**"

Don't Eat Your Human Boyfriend - By Lily Mayne

"I like to describe myself as an ethical ghoul. I’ve been working at Broth with a Bite in the Creepy Court Mall food court for eight years so that I can get my… very specific nutritional needs in a way that doesn’t make me feel like too much of a monster. I work in the ‘special’ kitchen, preparing food for our customers with the same, ahem, dietary issues, and I’m totally fine working alongside the humans who run the other kitchen and have no idea what’s actually served.
Until the new guy starts. The new humanguy with the cutest shy smile and the raddest hair and a body that makes my mouth water. He looks like a very decent mouthful and smells like the best five-course meal rolled into one. Suddenly, Ricky is all I can think about. Sweet, delicious Ricky who has no idea he’s working in a restaurant for ghouls, who has no idea ghouls even exist, and who I just want to take a big bite out of. Not, like, literally. Kind of.
It's totally wrong for a ghoul to lust after a human. They’re food. But I can’t help it. I want Ricky bad. I just have to remember to keep my teeth in check."

Gimme S'more - By C.L. Doll

"Alina had always loved camping, especially the part where she would stuff herself with s'mores. But what happens when the s'mores she loves to eat decide they'd rather eat her?

Gimme S'more is a sentient object romance between a woman and sentient s'mores ingredients."

Scream For Me - By G.M. Fairy

"The harbinger of fear, the predator of the night…
I feast on human terror, drinking in their screams like the sweetest nectar. But when I stumble through the portal into her room and hear her cries of pleasure, a far darker, primal hunger takes hold.
She belongs to me now. I need to hear her scream like that again, and I will, even if I have to break her apart.
The woman stolen from her world and thrust into a realm of nightmares…
I felt it—eyes watching me from the darkness, golden and unblinking from the shadows of my closet. The thought sent a shiver through me, twisting into something illicit as I let my fingers wander. But when he pounced, dragging me into his cold, merciless world, the thrill turned to terror.
Now, he demands my pleasure, my screams—but I refuse to surrender without a fight.
Monsters of Darkness is a shared world full of monsters roaming in the dark of night. Each author brings a new set of monsters and a love interest. While they share the world, there will be no crossovers of characters between each book! Each book is a standalone in it’s own right and the series can be read in any order.

Basted - By Abby Hunter

"A spicy time in the kitchen can include more than just seasoning Thanksgiving is meant to be a joyous time of year. But, when I catch my boyfriend cheating, it’s anything but. After watching that scumbag leave the restaurant with his sidepiece, I find comfort where I always with a hot, meaty meal.
And then I meet Master Baster and his two brothers, Pip and Jet. Three turkey basters completely devoted to me. What more could a heartbroken girl ask for on Thanksgiving?
Content Basted is a paranormal romance with a curvy FMC who finds love wherever she wants, and sentient turkey basters who won't quit until their new woman is theirs.

Heartless Heathens - By Santana Knox

"Hey,
Over here.
No, look up.
Yeah, I’m the one they talk about. The headmaster’s prized possession, locked away in the bell tower of NotreDame Parochial College. To most of the students I was just a myth.
An urban legend.
The girl who rings the bells up in the tower, the one who talks to gargoyles.
Frollo’s secret
Then they showed up, those heartless heathens. Outcasts, just like me. But these men aren’t just dangerous, they’re heartless. They won’t abide or bend to the rules of this deranged school and the secrets it keeps from the world.
But now that they’ve found me, they may never let me go.
And maybe I wouldn’t want them to…
Heartless Heathens : Sanctuary
Is a Why Choose Gothic Romance in an academy setting loosely inspired from major points of Victor Hugo’s Notredame De Paris. This is NOT a retelling, it is NOT a fractured fairy tale or a reimagining. All characters are adults."

Honeysuckles - By January Rayne

"I’m a monster DNA experiment and she’s everything my beasts want.
I escape the hell that tortured me for months.
I’m turned into something so dangerous and brutal; I don’t recognize myself.
And when I feel a pull in my chest, I follow it not understanding why.
I see her and possession takes over.
Her beauty is addiction.
And her smell?
God…her scent….mmm…
It drives me insane. A thing like me doesn’t stand a chance with a woman like her. I am obsessed. I can’t stay away

You Shall Not Pass, Without Sucking Me Off - By Missy Love

"Cherry could not quench her desire to explore. Setting off on her journey up the perilous Monster Mountain, searching for great treasure, she encounters a Wizard.
However, this Wizard is much more horny than most.
Cherry must weigh up his offer, should she give in or continue on?"

Bonus!

Knotty Broomstick - By Sabrina Cross

"Let the universe guide you, they said. It’ll be fine, they said.
Sure, until you accidentally summon a three-hundred-year-old witch into your broomstick instead of enchanting it to fly. Cordelia may be the worst witch Circe Academy has ever seen and she’s definitely going to be the laughingstock of the entire class when they realize how badly her spell has gone wrong. Except, the ancient witch is more than happy to help Cordelia with all of her needs.
Maybe this mistake won’t be so bad after all.
Knotty Broomsticks is a Sentient Object Romance about a girl and her broom. It is a deeply unserious story with high spice. Suited for audiences 18+"

I pulled all the synopses from Goodreads. Leave a comment and let me know if you read any

Welcome to the Holloway Hotel, a hotel out of time set deep in the Appalachians. You may check in anytime you like, but you can never leave...

PLOT

Three night shift workers of The Holloway Hotel are trapped inside the building, stuck at 3am. At first, panic sets in and the group tries to figure out how to escape. But as the hotel provides them luxuries and temptations, they fall into a sense of complacency. Think Percy Jackson in The Lotus Hotel. They are plagued by visions of the past. Of horrific events that happened on the very property that the Hollaway sits on. And at the center of this is The Grey Man---the man responsible for the atrocities that took place on the grounds decades ago.

CHARACTERS

Ethan Ray--A college kid working the late shift at the hotel.

Kal--Working the hotel until he starts his own with his parents.

Teresa--A mysterious girl who catches the eye of Ethan.

THEMES/TROPES

--Hotel Horror

--Liminal Horror

--Time Warp

--Appalachian gothic/folk

--Romance

--Sporror

WHAT I LIKED

I loved the atmosphere. The first few chapters truly sucked me in, with the mysterious owl and the looming hotel. Once time stopped and Ethan entered the hotel's bar, I got massive Shining vibes. Who doesn't love a hotel with some dark history? I loved the way the hotel provided them with temptations and luxuries to lure them into complacency. I mean who wouldn't want to forget about all their troubles and enjoy some quality down time in a place where time stand still? I mean imagine all the books you can read.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME

I understand that the characters get lulled by the hotel to forget that they need to escape, but I did feel that at times they didn't have a sense of urgency to escape. Also, be forewarned if you have trypophobia, there are a LOT of descriptions of holes. And while by itself I didn't mind being digested by the descriptions--it is a horror novel after all and I'm game for being grossed out--it was the acts that the holes were described in that made me question things. Especially when Ethan willingly accepts and performs certain acts upon the holes. These scenes pulled me out of the story. About the 75-80% mark was my biggest complaint. The amounts of times the characters decide to make love while their friend is missing left me flabbergasted. Several chapters were centered on this and this alone. I was glad once the plot began moving again and the story finished out.

I will never look at fireflies the same...

OVERALL RATING

3/5 stars

This had the potential to be a fantastic read for me if only the plot kept moving forward.

COMPS

The Shining by Stephen King