My Favorite Supernatural Books: Vampires, Witches, Werewolves & More

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Every October I inevitably find myself reaching for books with a little something supernatural going on. Give me witches, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, demons, or basically anything that goes bump in the night and I am here for it!

I have been reviewing books on this blog for over 15 years now, which means I have read A LOT of supernatural books over the years. Some have been creepy, some romantic, some completely ridiculous, and some have become books and series that I still recommend years later.

Since we are officially in spooky season, I thought it would be fun to go digging through the archives and pull together some of my favorite supernatural books that I have actually read. I tried to include a little bit of everything here—witches, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, angels, demons, and plenty of other supernatural creatures.

So whether you want something genuinely creepy or just want to escape into a world where vampires are sexy, witches are powerful, and ghosts absolutely refuse to stay dead, these are some of my favorites!

Witches & Magic

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

If we are talking about favorite witch books, there is absolutely no way I could make this list without including A Discovery of Witches.

I LOVED this book.

I remember absolutely devouring it when I first read it. This is a big book—almost 600 pages—and I finished it in about three days of aggressive reading. That should tell you pretty much everything you need to know.

Diana Bishop is a witch and historian who has spent much of her life trying to avoid magic, until an enchanted manuscript brings her to the attention of basically the entire supernatural world. Enter Matthew Clairmont, a mysterious and incredibly sexy vampire, and suddenly we have witches, vampires, daemons, forbidden romance, history, alchemy, and all kinds of supernatural politics happening.

There is just so much to love about this series. The world building is fantastic, Diana is an intelligent and mature heroine, and Matthew…well, Matthew is Matthew.

If you want a supernatural series that you can completely lose yourself in, start here.

Read my full review of A Discovery of Witches →

The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston

Paula Brackston is basically the OG of witch books for me.

I have read so many of her books over the years and whenever I think about witchy historical fiction, she is one of the first authors who comes to mind. Her books usually have some combination of history, magic, romance, folklore, and wonderfully atmospheric settings.

The Silver Witch combines a modern story with an ancient Celtic storyline involving a powerful shaman and witch, and I loved the Celtic setting and magical elements in this one.

Brackston’s witch books have always been such fun escape reads for me. They aren’t necessarily scary, so if you want something witchy for fall without venturing into horror territory, she is an author I always recommend checking out.

Read my full review of The Silver Witch →

The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox

This was SUCH a fun Halloween read.

I originally went into The Witch of Willow Hall expecting something a little lighter and more along the lines of A Discovery of Witches, and instead I got this wonderfully atmospheric, gothic, spooky story filled with secrets and a growing sense that something was very wrong.

Which, obviously, was even better for October.

This one has witches, family secrets, romance, a creepy old house, and plenty of gothic atmosphere. Hester Fox did such a great job creating that feeling of foreboding without turning the book into straight-up horror.

If you want a historical witch story that feels especially appropriate for spooky season, this is an easy recommendation.

Read my full review of The Witch of Willow Hall →

Vampires

The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris

Oh Sookie Stackhouse.

I was OBSESSED with the Southern Vampire Mysteries back in the day. I was also a huge True Blood fan, so naturally these books had me completely hooked.

The series follows telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse as she becomes increasingly involved with the supernatural world around Bon Temps, Louisiana—and that world includes vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, fairies, and just about every other supernatural creature imaginable.

Some books in the series were definitely stronger than others, especially as it went on, but as a whole I had so much fun reading these books. The early books especially had that perfect combination of murder mystery, supernatural drama, romance, vampire politics, and absolute chaos.

If you somehow missed the Sookie Stackhouse era, this is such a fun series to go back and discover.

Read one of my Southern Vampire Mysteries reviews →

Dracula by Bram Stoker

One of my all-time favorite classics and still one of the absolute BEST vampire books.

I have read Dracula more than once and I will forever recommend it. It is basically the godfather of vampire literature and helped shape so much of what we now associate with vampires and gothic fiction.

The novel is told through letters, journals, newspaper articles, and other documents, which gives the entire story this wonderfully eerie feeling of piecing together something terrible as it unfolds.

Yes, it’s a classic. Yes, there are places where it can drag a little. But there is a reason we are STILL talking about Count Dracula more than a century later.

If you love vampire books and have somehow never read the book that helped define the genre, put this one on your list.

Read my full review of Dracula →

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Speaking of books that helped define vampire literature, we obviously need Anne Rice on this list.

Interview with the Vampire can be slow at times—I am not going to pretend otherwise—but it is such a canonical vampire novel that I think anyone who loves vampire fiction should experience it at least once.

This is a very different kind of vampire story than something like Sookie Stackhouse. It’s darker, moodier, philosophical, gothic, and much more interested in what immortality actually does to a person.

It might not be the quickest read on this list, but Anne Rice’s influence on modern vampire fiction is impossible to ignore.

Read my full review of Interview with the Vampire →

Werewolves & Shifters

I am going to preface this section by saying werewolves and shifters are not normally my favorite corner of supernatural fiction. I have read some over the years, but compared to witches, vampires, and ghosts, this category is definitely smaller for me.

But there are two that deserve a spot.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Listen.

We are not going to sit here in 2026 and pretend Twilight didn’t happen.

Was I there? Yes.

Did I read the books? Yes.

Did I get invested in vampires and werewolves and the entire Team Edward versus Team Jacob situation along with basically every other person alive at the time? ALSO YES.

Twilight could obviously go in the vampire section, but since that category already has plenty of representation, I am putting it here for the werewolves.

Whatever your feelings about the series now, there is no denying that Twilight was a complete cultural phenomenon and introduced an entire generation of readers to paranormal romance. Sometimes you don’t need to overthink it. Sometimes you just need sparkly vampires and impossibly attractive werewolves.

There. I said it.

The San Andreas Shifters Series by Gail Carriger

Gail Carriger is one of my exceptions to the whole “werewolves aren’t really my thing” rule.

I have always enjoyed her books because her worlds are so rich, her characters are memorable, and there is usually plenty of sass and humor mixed in with the supernatural elements.

The San Andreas Shifters books focus on werewolves and shifters with plenty of romance, steam, humor, and supernatural chaos thrown in. I particularly enjoyed The Enforcer Enigma, even though I actually liked some of the earlier books in the series a little more.

If you like paranormal romance and want your werewolves with plenty of personality, this is a fun series to check out.

Read my review of The Enforcer Enigma →

Ghosts & Spirits

Now THIS is more my speed.

Give me an old house, a historical setting, some unexplained noises, and a ghost who may or may not want to kill everyone and suddenly I have cleared my schedule. And if creepy houses are more your thing, I also rounded up some of my favorite haunted house books for spooky season.

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James

Simone St. James is one of my favorite authors for spooky historical stories and The Haunting of Maddy Clare remains one of my favorites from her.

And unlike some gothic books where you spend half the story wondering if the ghost is real…

THE GHOST IS REAL.

And she is angry.

This book has a wonderfully creepy ghost story, a historical setting, mystery, and a romance that I absolutely loved. I almost read the entire thing in one sitting when I first picked it up because I was completely engrossed.

It is creepy without becoming full-on horror, which is basically my sweet spot when it comes to ghost stories.

If you like gothic fiction, historical mysteries, romance, and ghosts, read this one.

Read my full review of The Haunting of Maddy Clare →

The Ghost of Hollow House by Linda Stratmann

An isolated Victorian mansion with reports of a ghost?

Obviously I was going to read this.

The Ghost of Hollow House ended up being a little more cozy historical mystery than terrifying ghost story, but I really enjoyed it. I especially loved the way the occult, conjuring, and supernatural beliefs were incorporated into the Victorian setting.

This is also the fourth book in the Mina Scarletti series, but I jumped into the series here and didn’t have any trouble following the story.

If you like your ghost stories mixed with historical mystery rather than outright horror, this is a fun one.

Read my full review of The Ghost of Hollow House →

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

I was immediately intrigued by this book because it draws on the legend of La Llorona, which is such a wonderfully creepy piece of Mexican folklore.

The Haunting of Alejandra follows a woman who begins seeing a terrifying apparition while also exploring her family history and the generations of women who came before her.

This ended up being a little lighter on the horror than I expected, but I still really enjoyed it. The story is creepy and haunting, but what really made it memorable for me was the way V. Castro blended Mexican culture and folklore with themes surrounding motherhood, identity, and generational trauma.

If you aren’t normally a hardcore horror reader but enjoy ghost stories and supernatural folklore, this is a good one to try.

Read my full review of The Haunting of Alejandra →

Angels, Demons & Other Supernatural Creatures

And finally, let’s give some love to the supernatural creatures that don’t fit neatly into the other categories.

Because apparently vampires, witches, werewolves, and ghosts weren’t enough.

The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

The Mortal Instruments books were such a HUGE part of my reading life for a while.

The series begins with City of Bones and introduces Clary Fray to the world of Shadowhunters—warriors tasked with protecting the human world from demons.

But Cassandra Clare definitely doesn’t stop at angels and demons.

These books have vampires, werewolves, warlocks, faeries, demons, Shadowhunters, and basically every supernatural creature you could possibly want thrown together into one enormous world.

There is romance, friendship, family drama, supernatural politics, and plenty of action. If you want a series where you can completely disappear into a supernatural world for multiple books, this is an obvious choice.

Read my review of City of Bones →

The Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare

And if I have to choose between Cassandra Clare’s series…

The Infernal Devices owns my heart.

Hands down.

Maybe it’s because these books are set in Victorian London and we all know I am a sucker for basically anything Victorian. Maybe it’s the Shadowhunter world. Maybe it’s the romance.

Or maybe it’s Will Herondale.

Okay, it’s definitely at least partially Will Herondale.

This trilogy has Shadowhunters, demons, warlocks, automatons, mystery, romance, and one of the most memorable love triangles I have ever read. I was completely invested in Tessa, Will, and Jem, and Clockwork Princess basically required an entire box—or ten—of tissues.

If you enjoy supernatural books but also love historical settings and big emotional romances, I will forever recommend this trilogy.

Read my Infernal Devices reviews →

What Are Your Favorite Supernatural Books?

Apparently after more than 15 years of reviewing books, I have read my fair share of witches, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, angels, demons, and other assorted creatures!

Looking back through my archives for this list was also such a fun reminder of how many supernatural books and series I have loved over the years. Some of these I read more than a decade ago and I would STILL recommend them today.

If I had to pick favorites from this entire list, A Discovery of Witches, Dracula, The Haunting of Maddy Clare, and The Infernal Devices would be especially hard for me to give up—but every book or series here has something fun to offer depending on what kind of supernatural story you are in the mood for.

What about you? Are you a vampire reader? Witch books? Ghost stories? Werewolves? Or do you want ALL the supernatural creatures?

Tell me your favorites because spooky season is always a good excuse to add another book to my TBR!

Looking for more spooky reading? You can browse more of my favorite spooky, gothic, and supernatural books on my Amazon list.