Spooky season is arguably one of the best seasons for reading because it’s the perfect excuse to read dark, gothic, and atmospheric books of any genre. But, my preferred genres are romantasy and romantic fantasy, so you know I’m inhaling these all month. This list contains some of my absolute favorite fantasy, romantasy, and maybe even horror or sci-fi books to read during spooky season!
Find your next spooky season romantasy, fantasy, or beyond read:
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Complete Series
Shepherd King Duology
📚 Dark gothic romantasy duology including “One Dark Window” and “Two Twisted Crowns”
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🎧 Solo narrated audiobook
🔥 Low spice
Plot: There is a mysterious deadly mist encroaching on her village, meanwhile everyone is fighting for magical cards and she has monster called The Nightmare living. inher head.
This duology has: tarot card-based magic, poetic writing,
Where to Read Book 1:
The Crimson Moth Duology
📚 Romantic fantasy duology including “Heartless Hunter” and “Rebel Witch”
🎧 Solo narrated audiobook
🔥 Low spice
Plot: She’s a vapid socialite moonlighting as a witch vigilante rescuing banished witches and he is the lead witch hunter tasked with finding her.
This duology has: witch and witch hunter, cat and mouse, secret identities
Where to Read Book 1:
This Ravenous Fate Duology
📚 YA sapphic romantic paranormal fantasy duology
🎧 Solo narrated audiobook
Plot: Former best friends who now hate each other – a mob daughter and a vampire – get stuck working together to solve a mystery.
This duology has: vampires, best friends to enemies to lovers?, jazz era New York setting, organized crime
Where to Read Book 1:
The Filthy Duet
📚 Dark paranormal/romantic fantasy
🎧 Duet audiobook
Plot: She is a succubus hellbent on enacting revenge on the 5 men who kidnapped, tortured, & buried her 10 years ago. It’s been her entire life’s mission ever since, until *he* shows up & catches her on her revenge path.
This duology has: succubi, vampires, shifters, revenge, female rage, spice that is spicing, obsessed MMC
Where to Read Book 1:
Incomplete Series
The Eating Woods Trilogy
📚 Incomplete dark gothic romantasy trilogy; 2 of 3 books out including “Anathema” and “Eldritch”
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🎧 Duet audiobook
🔥 Spicy
Plot: She lives in an extremely religious village that has treated her as an outcast her entire life. The village is situated next to this forest where no one ever returns from. One day something happens and she ends up entering the woods, only to discover something she never could have predicted.
This trilogy has: dark backstories, dragon-ish creatures, magic users, religious weaponization
Where to Read Book 1:
Omnis Trilogy
📚 Incomplete dark romantic fantasy trilogy; 1 book out so far “The Knowing Witch” with the sequel “The Unknown Daemon” coming out in January 2026
🔥 Spicy
Plot: Ena is a witch who has been living with the coven matriarch and her sister since they were babies and her parents died. She is about to experience her official summoning, which means she’ll be gifted by their goddess with her specific witch gift. But when she gets a gift that doesn’t seem right, things start to go awry. Including the boy who was just passing through 10 years ago she happened to fall for showing back up, but not in the way she wanted at all.
This trilogy has: gothic vibes, witches and demons, smart/thoughtful FMC, ultimate longing and yearning from romantic leads
Where to Read Book 1:
Immortal Dark Trilogy
📚 Incomplete dark gothic romantic fantasy trilogy; 1 book out so far “Immortal Dark” with the sequel “Eternal Ruin” coming out in November 2025
🔥 No spice… yet
Plot: Her sister disappeared and she’s positive she’s been taken to the vampire/human community she and her sister fled as children. So she has to figure her way back, where she learns the legacy of her family as well as the vampires she hates so much.
This trilogy has: gothic vibes, Ethiopian lore and unique vampires, female rage, enemies to lovers?, dark academia, magical house
Where to Read Book 1:
Merciless Realms Series
📖 Incomplete romantasy series with 1 book out so far – “Vesselless”
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🎧 Dual audiobook
🔥 Lower spice
Plot: She’s a princess entering deadly trials to earn a wish, which she’ll use to get out of an arranged marriage. While he is a ghost who is sent to reap her soul.
This book has: ghost MMC, flirty banter, urban-ish fantasy vibes, unique magic system based on spirit bonds
Where to Read:
Kingdom of Dark Magic Series
📖 Incomplete romantasy series with 1 book out so far – “A Bargain So Bloody”
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🔥 No spice… yet
Plot: She’s been in this prison for half her life and we don’t know why. One day a mysterious vampire shows up and gives her a hope for escape she hadn’t had before.
This book has: vampires, witches, an obsessive MMC, “you came”
Where to Read:
Standalones
Fairydale
📚 VERY dark gothic romantasy standalone
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🎧 Duet audiobook
🔥 Spicy
Plot: One day she gets a call that her biological father who she never met has passed and left her money in the mysterious town of Fairydale. But when she gets there, it is super weird and so are its residents.
This book has: trigger warnings galore, monsters, total mystery, multiple timelines, a bit of a mindfuck
Where to Read:
Don’t Let the Forest In
📚 Standalone YA queer romantic fantasy/horror-ish?
Plot: He is going into his senior year of boarding school when things are weird. Neither of his best friends – his twin sister and his friend he’s in love with – are talking to him much or each other. The school has blocked off the woods around campus, which was his happy place. And then the best friend he’s in love with shows up to school with blood on his clothes and parents who disappeared.
This book has: an ending that will make you stare at a wall, stunning writing, monsters, mystery, academia
Where to Read:
Vampires of El Norte
📚 Standalone romantic paranormal fantasy
Plot: She was the daughter of the lead ranchero his family worked for, and they fell in young love. Then, they were separated as teens after he thought she died from a mysterious monster attack. Years later, multiple types of monsters are back and he learns not only is she alive but also that she despises him for leaving her.
This book has: unique vampires, Mexican setting and lore, ultimate yearning, looming war
Where to Read:
Grave Matter
📚 Standalone romantic sci-fi/horror-ish?
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🔥 Very spicy
Plot: She was just accepted into her dream post-grad program for the summer and arrives to the campus where she’ll be staying for the summer. But when she arrives things are off, people are weird, and the island seems to be not as it seems.
This book has: sci-fi vibes, Pacific Northwest setting, professor/student relationship, a mystery afoot
Where to Read:
Salt & Broom
Salt & Broom
📚 Standalone witchy Jane Eyre romantic fantasy retelling
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🎧 Dual audiobook
🔥 No spice
Plot: She’s a practicing witch who gets sent to care for a wealthy man and help remedy the mysterious presence on his estate.
This book has: witchy Jane Eyre vibes, spooky vibes, grumpy MMC
Where to Read:
Phantasma
Phantasma
📚 Standalone romantasy (book 1 in a series of interconnected standalones)
☑️ On Kindle Unlimited
🎧 Solo audiobook
🔥 Spicy
Plot: When her sister disappears, she finds herself entering the deadly trials of Phantasma in order to earn a wish. There, she meets a mysterious stranger who wants to help her. Buy why?
This book has: New Orleans setting, unique deadly games, phantom MMC, necromancy, haunted house
Where to Read:
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