Top Ten Atmospheric Books To Read in Autumn (2025)

Rainforest – Michelle Paver

No one writes the natural world as vividly as Michelle Paver. Rainforest, her newest gothic adventure, swaps frozen tundras for a rainforest expedition. 

Paver’s gift is turning landscape into character, every dripping leaf and distant cry adds to the tension. It’s a great read for anyone who loved The Haunting of Hill House or Michelle Paver’s other words like Thin Air and Dark Matter. If you want a psychological thriller with teeth (quite literally!) where you’re not sure if the villain is a real person or the rainforest itself, you’ve found it!

My full review of Rainforest by Michelle Paver is here.

The Naked Light – Bridget Collins

Set in the years after the First World War, The Naked Light follows Kit, an artist haunted by the horrors of war; Florence, an unmarried young woman living with her widowed brother-in-law; and Phoebe, her inquisitive niece. When Kit moves to the village of Haltington and into Bone Cottage, beneath the eerie Haltington Face carved into the hillside, a fragile friendship with Florence forms, and strange, supernatural events begin to stir.

Collins captures the tension of a forbidden relationship between two women in a world not ready to accept them, blending beautiful prose and quiet unease with a haunting exploration of women’s place in society after the war. The sense of something ancient watching from the hillside keeps you on edge, even in moments of tenderness.

It’s a gothic, atmospheric novel about art, love, and loss. If you liked Bridget Collins’ The Binding, this is similar vibes with that uncertain supernatural mood running underneath it.

My full review of The Naked Light by Bridget Collins is here.

The Broken Girls – Simone St. James

If your perfect autumn evening involves a haunted house and a murder mystery, this is your book. Set between the 1950s and the present day, The Broken Girls follows a journalist investigating the abandoned Idlewild Hall, once a boarding school for eccentric misfits and now home to something that refuses to rest.

St. James writes like the heir to Daphne du Maurier, sharp, feminine, and shiver-inducing. The dark secrets have you on the edge of your seat, and a dual timeline is always fun, especially with hints of supernatural that can sometimes be explained, and sometime’s can’t. 

It’s been a long while since I read this one, but it’s stuck with me – I feel an atmospheric book always does this to you!

Wakenhyrst – Michelle Paver

Well, what do you know, another Michelle Paver book on this list! I can’t resist her blend of folklore and fear. 

Set in 1906 in the remote Fenlands, Wakenhyrst tells the story of Maud, a young girl living under the oppressive rule of her father in their decaying manor, Wake’s End. When her mother dies and Maud is left alone with him, she discovers his diary and unearths dark secrets and a disturbing medieval painting of hell that begins to haunt his mind.

As the stench of the Fens seeps into the house and strange scratching sounds echo through the halls, the line between the real and the supernatural blurs. It’s a gothic ghost story that explores power, madness, and the monstrous side of faith.

Though different in style to Paver’s usual wild, outdoor adventures, Wakenhyrst still carries her signature creepy, atmospheric touch. The Fens themselves feel alive, shifting and watching.

The Silent Companions – Laura Purcell

Few novels have unnerved me like this one. Newly widowed Elsie moves into her late husband, handsome young heir Rupert Bainbridge’s, old house where she finds a painted wooden figure, known as a handsome young heir rupert bainbridge — bearing a striking resemblance to herself. Soon there are more of them, appearing where she never left them.

Purcell excels at turning domestic spaces and everyday life into nightmares. Think locked-door mystery meets Salem witch trials superstition. If you love gothic autumn vibes with candlelight and paranoia, this is the kind of book you’ll devour in a single sitting.

The writing in this was so creepy, the atmosphere was eerie, and there was a fast-paced storyline to match. And do you believe the narrator? Is she seeing things or is it real? Such a good book!

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls – Grady Hendrix

You might know Hendrix for My Best Friend’s Exorcism or How to Sell a Haunted House. Honestly, I haven’t read any more of his work, but I’m dying to – especially during the fall season!

This book was so addictive, following a group of pregnant wayward girls who have been sent to an oppressive home in the Florida swamps until they give birth. They meet a witch, they try to do witchcraft, and they try to survive in the fetid heat. My full Witchcraft for Wayward Girls review is here, but I advise you to pick up the book rather than just read my review!

It’s fast-paced at times and drags out the suspense at others. I’m not sure what to compare it to, but I’ve seen some say if you like Charlaine Harris you might like this. 

The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield

A modern Jane Eyre-style gothic that feels like sitting beside a fire listening to someone confess their sins. A shy graduate student is summoned by a famous author to write her biography, only to find the line between fiction and truth blurring in the author’s old house.

Setterfield’s language is lush and her sense of place unmatched. It’s a quiet classic and one of my lifelong favourite books for this time of year  (and all year, honestly!). You’ve got crumbling libraries, thick stacks of books, and long-kept lies and dark secrets.

This is again one that I read years and years ago but it still lives rent free in my head, especially during the spooky season.

My full review of the Thirteenth Tale is here.

The Lake of Dead Languages – Carol Goodman

Okay, so this book makes a lot of my lists, but honestly, it’s my favourite book ever soooo. 

Set at an elite New England college, Goodman’s debut defined early-2000s dark academia. A young woman returns to teach at her former school, where the past (and a mysterious suicide pact) refuses to stay buried. The influence of their charismatic classics professor lingers like the fog on the lake.

If The Secret History is your comfort read, this one’s a perfect match, brimming with guilt, poetry, fallen leaves and icy lakes. I can’t recommend it more, set in a school in a small town in upstate New York – what more do you want?!

A Great and Terrible Beauty – Libba Bray

I first read this a long time ago, but it’s lost none of its power. The second in the series is actually where I got the name of this blog from! 

Set in a Victorian boarding school, this is Libba Bray at her best: lace, séances, and a realm where desire and danger intertwine. It captures the high school side of dark academia vibes with a slight fantasy twist.

It’s the kind of book you revisit whenever you need a reminder that being a young girl can be both terrifying and transcendent.

Actually, I think I might reread it in the coming weeks!

The Last Time I Lied – Riley Sager

Finally, a contemporary psychological thriller to give you something sharper! 

Years after her best friend vanished from summer camp, a woman returns as a counsellor to confront what really happened. There’s a locked door, a mysterious circumstance, and a growing sense that the woods themselves are watching.

Sager’s books always pair suspense with major fall vibes. This one’s perfect for readers who like their spooky stories served with nostalgia and campfire smoke. I have more of Sager’s book on my shelves ready to read!