15 Books About Salem to Read this Halloween

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I have yet to visit the city of witches, but it’s definitely on my list. The truth is… I’m afraid if I leave, I’ll never want to come home. There’s something charming about a little town on the water that celebrates the Halloween season like no other. it would be my own personal hollow star with a spooky twist.

You are reading: Books about salem massachusetts

but that won’t stop you from reading about it! A few years ago, I read “A Season with the Witch,” which tells the story of author J.W. ocker’s stay in salem for the month of october. This fall, I’m diving into some Salem-set fiction with the spooky little book club!

Our fall theme is a novel set in salem, and we had some amazing book club recommendations. our final choice? a collection of short stories from fun dead publications called “a night in salem”. mine just arrived and I can’t wait to dig into it!

We invite you to join us as we read about salem. If you need a little more witch town fiction, here are 15 more books you’ll love.

15 books about salem to read this halloween

book descriptions from goodreads.com. images from amazon.com.

1. “Crane Pond: A Novel of Salem” by Richard Francis

In a colony on the brink of survival in a mysterious new world where infant mortality is high and sin is to blame, Samuel Sweall vows to be a loving family man, a good citizen, and an impartial judge. Like any Puritan believer, he agonizes over what others think of him as he strives to act morally correct, keep the peace, and (hopefully make time to) enjoy a good slice of the pie. his only regret is that just a few months earlier he didn’t sentence a group of pirates to death. What begins as a moving tale of a clumsy man tasked with passing judgment in a society where reason is often fleeting quickly becomes the chilling narrative we know all too well. And when public opinion wavers, Sweall learns that what has been done cannot be undone. get a copy

2. “Deadly Harvest” by Heather Graham

When a young woman is found dead in a field, dressed as a scarecrow with a severed smile and a broken neck, residents of Salem, Massachusetts begin to fear that the infamous harvest man is more than just a rumor. . But out-of-town cop Jeremy Flynn has no time for ghost stories. he’s in town on another investigation, looking for a friend’s wife, who mysteriously disappeared in a graveyard.

Complicating their efforts, local occult expert Rowenna Cavanaugh launches her own investigation, convinced that a horror from the past has infiltrated the present and is seducing women to death. Jeremy uses logic and solid police work. rowenna relies on intuition. But both have the same goal: to stop the kidnappings and locate the missing women before Rowenna herself falls prey to the dark seduction of the Harvest Man. get a copy

3. “Gallows Hill” by Lois Duncan

Role-playing takes on a terrifying aspect when 17-year-old Sarah, posing as a fortune teller at a school fair, begins having real visions that can predict the future. Frightened, the other students brand her a witch, setting off a chain of events that mirrors the centuries-old Salem Witch Trials in more ways than one. get a copy

4. “Grave Errors” by Carol J. Perry

For residents of Salem, Massachusetts, the day after Halloween brings empty candy wrappers, fallen pumpkins, and a community-wide identity crisis. That is until Lee Barrett’s TV production class suggests extending the spooky season with the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead celebration. But when the students discover that not all of Salem’s dead rest in peace, the post-October blues don’t seem so bad after all…

As if a series of unsettling visits to the graveyard weren’t unsettling enough, Lee and her cop boyfriend link the crime to an unsolved missing person case. Driven by a series of chilling psychic visions, Lee turns to her smartest allies, including her cunning cat, or Ryan, to go underground and unearth the evidence needed to end a cold case for good…before… May the last tombstone in the city bear his name. in that! get a copy

5. “House of Seven Gables” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The sins of one generation are punished by another in a haunted New England mansion until the arrival of a young country girl breathes new life into musty lives and rooms. Written shortly after The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables revisits the theme of human guilt in a style notable for both its descriptive virtuosity and its truly modern blend of fantasy and realism. get a copy

6. “How to Hang a Witch” by Adriana Mather

salem, massachusetts is the site of the infamous witch trials and the new home of samantha mather. Sam and his newly transplanted stepmother from New York City aren’t exactly welcomed with open arms. Sam is a descendant of Cotton Mather, one of the men responsible for those trials, and almost immediately becomes an enemy of a group of girls who call themselves the Descendants. and she guesses who her ancestors were?

If dealing with that wasn’t enough, Sam also comes face to face with a real living (well, technically dead) ghost. a handsome, angry ghost who wants sam to stop touching his stuff. But soon Sam discovers that he is at the center of a centuries-old curse that affects anyone with ties to the evidence. Sam must come to terms with the ghost and find a way to work with the descendants to stop a cycle of death that has been going on since the first accused witch was hanged. If any town should have learned its lesson, it is Salem. but history may be about to repeat itself. get a copy

7. “I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem” by Maryse Conde

At the age of seven, Tituba saw her mother hanged for daring to hurt a plantation owner who tried to rape her. She was raised ever since by Mama Yaya, a gifted woman who shared with her the secrets of healing and magic. But it was Titaba’s love for the slave John Indian that brought her from safety to slavery, and the bitter and vindictive religion practiced by the good citizens of Salem, Massachusetts. Although protected by the spirits, she was unable to escape the lies and accusations of that hysterical age. get a copy

8. “The Fifth Petal” by Brunonia Barry

When a teenage boy dies suspiciously on Halloween night, Salem Police Chief John Rafferty wonders if there is a connection between his death and Salem’s most notorious cold case, a triple homicide dubbed “The Killings.” of the Goddess,” in which three young women, all descendants of accused Salem witches, were stabbed to death on Halloween night 1989. He finds unexpected help in Callie Cahill, the daughter of one of the victims who has just returned. to the city. Neither believes that the main suspect, Rose Whelan, a respected local historian, is guilty of murder or witchcraft.

but exonerating rose could mean crossing paths with a dangerous force. Were the women the victims of all too human revenge, or was the devil resurrected in Salem that night? And if they can’t figure out what really happened, will evil resurface? get a copy

9. “The Hexed” by Heather Graham

devin lyle has recently returned to the salem area, but his timing couldn’t be worse. Shortly after moving into the 18th-century cottage he inherited from his great-aunt Mina, the “crazy” great-aunt who talked to the dead, a woman was murdered near him. Craig Rockwell, known as Rocky, is a new member of the Hunters Group, the FBI’s team of paranormal investigators. he never got over finding a dead friend in the woods. Now another body has been found in those same woods, not far from Devin Lyle’s house. and devin has been led to a third body, by… a ghost?

Their discovery leads them deeper into the case and Salem’s rich and disturbing history. Even as the danger mounts, Devin and Rocky begin to fall in love, something that the ghosts of mine and the witches of the past seem to approve of. but they both need every skill they have to learn the truth, or devin’s could be the next body in the woods… get a copy

10. “The Lords of Salem” by Rob Zombie

heidi hawthorne is a thirty-seven year old fm radio dj and recovering drug addict. Struggling with her newfound sobriety and her growing depression, Heidi suddenly receives an anonymous gift at the station: a mysteriously shaped wooden box marked with a strange symbol. Inside the box is a promo disc for a band identifying themselves only as The Lords. no more information.

he decides to put it on the radio show as a joke, and the moment he does, horrible things start happening. the strange music awakens something evil in the town. Very soon, terrifying murders begin to occur around Heidi. who are the gentlemen? what they want? As the old bloodlines are awakened and the bodies begin to pile up, only one thing seems certain: Hell is about to break.get a copy

11. “The Timeless Ones” by Susan Catalano

merry chalmers, accused witch, has a secret so hidden she almost forgets what it really is. all she wants is for her to end the witch hunt and marry her secret love, william darling. But hysteria has gripped the town of Salem, and the tall man, spawned by the stories of his existence, is born to fulfill his dark purpose.

Soon, Merry and William find that their lives are taking unthinkable paths. Because when Merry jumps from the 17th century to modern Salem, she must accept that unlike other people who were accused and hanged for being witches, she really is.get a copy

12. “The White Raven” by Carrie D. Miller

In her thirteenth life, Aven has settled in the now friendly Salem of witchcraft, where she has found true happiness and friendship, maybe even love. Despite her satisfaction, the truth about Aven’s existence haunts her. when she dies, her spirit is forced out of the veil to live again in the body of a stranger.

To make matters worse, a relentless and twisted evil from aven’s past lurks close behind her. Sustained by her hatred of the witch, he will not give up until she pays for what he did to her. When the truth of Aven’s connection to the White Raven is revealed, he is more hideous than he could ever have imagined. get a copy

13. “The Witches: Salem, 1692” by Stacy Schiff

The panic began in early 1692, during an unusually harsh winter in Massachusetts, when a minister’s niece began to writhe and roar. she spread rapidly, confusing the more educated men and prominent politicians of the colony. neighbors accused neighbors, husbands accused wives, parents and children accused each other. it ended less than a year later, but not before nineteen men and women were hanged and one old man crushed to death.

Speaking loudly and emphatically, teenage girls were at the center of the crisis. Along with suffrage and Prohibition, the Salem Witch Trials represent one of the few times when women played a central role in American history. Drawing masterfully from the archives, Stacy Schiff introduces us to the tensions in the life of a straight-laced teenager and the authorities whose delicate agendas were in jeopardy. she illuminates the demands of a rigorous faith, the vulnerability of settlements adrift from the mother country, perched, at a politically tumultuous time, on the edge of what one visitor called a “remote, rocky, barren, bushy desert, wild and wooded. ” with devastating clarity the textures and tensions of colonial life emerge; hidden patterns subtly, surprisingly emerge from the darkness. schiff brings early American anxieties to the fore to bring them into brilliant alignment with our own. In an age of religious provocations, crowdsourcing, and unseen enemies, this gripping story makes more sense than ever.get a copy

14. “These Witches Don’t Burn” by Isabel Sterling

hannah is a witch, but not the kind you’re thinking of. she is authentic, an elemental with the power to control fire, earth, water and air. But even though she lives in Salem, Massachusetts, her magic is a secret she must keep to herself. if she’s ever caught using it in front of a log (read: not witch), she might lose it. For good therefore, Hannah spends most of her time avoiding her ex-girlfriend (and fellow elemental witch) Veronica, hanging out with her best friend, and working at the nightly cauldron selling candles and crystals to tourists, Goths, and Wiccans. local.

but dealing with her ex is the least of hannah’s worries when a terrifying blood ritual interrupts the end of the school year bonfire. Evidence of dark magic begins to appear throughout Salem, and Hannah is certain it is the work of a witch of mortal blood. Problem is, her coven isn’t so convinced, forcing Hannah to team up with the last person she wants to see: Veronica.

while the pair try to take down the blood witch at a house party, hannah meets morgan, a cute new dancer in town. But trying to date in the midst of a supernatural crisis is easier said than done, and Hannah will have to test the limits of her power if she is to save her coven and get the girl, especially when the Salem witches attack. they become more lethal every day. get a copy

15. “Wicked Appetite” by Janet Evanovich

For centuries, treasure hunters have been eager to possess the stones, undeterred by their corrupting nature. the list is long: genghis khan, alexander the great, napoleon, to name a few. Now the stones have found their way to Salem, Massachusetts, and so has the Gerwulf Grimoire, adding to this rogues gallery of power seekers. he is an extraordinarily dangerous man, with a hunger for the forbidden and a skill set that goes beyond the ordinary. abilities that he feels entitle him to possess anything he desires.

that would include elizabeth tucker, the woman he needs to find the stones. She just transplanted from New York City to Boston’s North Shore. With a new job as a pastry chef at Dazzle’s Bakery and an old house inherited from her aunt Ophelia, her life is on the right track…until a guy named Diesel, a rude monkey, and a ninja cat suddenly derail her.

lizzy can with the monkey and the cat. she is not sure about the diesel. he is offering her her own set of unusual talents, promising to protect her from her grimoire. The kind of protection Lizzy suspects might involve protecting her body day and night.

The seven deadly sins are pride, greed, lust, envy, anger, sloth and gluttony. that practically covers everything that is evil. diesel thinks it also covers pretty much everything that’s fun. and lizzy thinks diesel and the seven deadly sins cover everything his mom warned her about. get a copy

what book about salem will you read?

Share your pick in the comments, and if you want to enjoy spooky reads with us all year long, join the little spooky book club!

Aren’t you on facebook? no problem. keep an eye on my social media channels throughout the year where I’ll always be announcing the latest reading and sharing a blog post where you can weigh in. read this post for full details.

happy haunting,

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15 Books About Salem to Read this Halloween – Spooky Little Halloween