Top sci-fi horror reads to haunt your Halloween

A dirty hand sits on the sandy surface with a bright full moon in the background. Three sci-fi book covers are placed over the top with a faint blue glow.

(Image credit: Pixabay (aescdtle_art), Vintage, Picador, & Harper Voyager)

Science fiction has a bit of something for everyone, from cutting-edge futuristic technology to doomed romances and strange aliens. The genre also crosses over very nicely into horror, because once humans start poking the unknown, it's only a matter of time before the unknown pokes back.

This Halloween, step into stories where science meets terror, where contagions kill, landscapes devour explorers, and technology crushes the human soul. All of these books fit nicely into the sci-fi horror mold, and while some of them never make it into the depths of space, they're all well worth your time.

Author: Michael Crichton
Publication date: January 24, 2017
Publisher: Vintage

Relying on his expertise from Harvard Medical School, Crichton's thriller '<a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=72128&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Fdp%2F1101974494%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" target="_blank">The Andromeda Strain' remains a masterclass in scientific dread. When a U.S. satellite returns to Earth carrying a lethal microorganism from space, a small team of scientists must isolate and neutralize it before it wipes out humanity. <a href="https://www.space.com/the-andromeda-evolution-book-daniel-wilson-interview.html">Crichton's fast-paced and suspenseful writing is sure to keep any reader on the edge of their seat.

Author: Jeff VanderMeer
Publication date: July 30, 2024
Publisher: Picador

<a href="https://www.space.com/41063-jeff-vandermeer-talks-imaginative-fiction-writing.html">Jeff VanderMeer is known for his strange and scary environmental creations, and <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=72128&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Fdp%2F1250824044%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" target="_blank">'Annihilation' is no exception. A scientific expedition enters the uncharted 'Area X,' where the natural world has become sentient...and deadly. What follows is an unraveling of memory, identity, and biology itself. This book even has a <a href="https://www.space.com/39789-annihilation-movie-otherworldy-thriller.html">movie adaptation, so if the monsters you imagine aren't scary enough, you can watch them on your TV.

Author: Caitlin Starling
Publication date: April 2, 2019
Publisher: Harper Voyager

If you're looking for more science fiction and less dystopian society, <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=72128&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Fdp%2F0062846906%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" target="_blank">'The Luminous Dead' is a perfect choice. Deep beneath an alien planet, a solitary caver relies on a disembodied voice to survive. But is her handler helping her...or manipulating her? Readers have mentioned that this book has given them claustrophobia, among other nightmares.

Author: M.R. Carey
Publication date: April 28, 2015
Publisher: Orbit

<a href="https://www.space.com/entertainment/space-games/mycopunk-is-what-happens-when-borderlands-gets-a-nasty-fungal-infection-interview">Fungal infections are all the rage (thanks 'The Last of Us'), and in this world where humans are turned to flesh-eating husks, one young girl holds the key to survival, and possibly the extinction of the human race. <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=72128&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Fdp%2F0316334758%3Fref%3Dcm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_T70KS1SMY34JTRFZZXWZ%26ref_%3Dcm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_T70KS1SMY34JTRFZZXWZ%26social_share%3Dcm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_T70KS1SMY34JTRFZZXWZ%26bestFormat%3Dtrue%26tag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" target="_blank">"The Girl with All the Gifts" combines visceral zombie horror (perfect for Halloween) with philosophical questions.

Author: George Orwell
Publication date: January 1, 1961
Publisher: Signet Classic

Some of the best horror doesn't rely on monsters or aliens, but our own fear of losing control. In Orwell's <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=72128&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Fdp%2F0451524934%3Fref%3Dcm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_C32B1PKG71R15PR69H3M%26ref_%3Dcm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_C32B1PKG71R15PR69H3M%26social_share%3Dcm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_C32B1PKG71R15PR69H3M%26bestFormat%3Dtrue%26tag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" target="_blank">'1984', the terror comes from the systematic dismantling of truth, memory, and self. <a href="https://www.space.com/amp/38409-why-dystopian-sci-fi-is-popular.html">Big Brother's omniscient gaze and the Party's power to rewrite reality make this <a href="https://www.space.com/orwellian-artifical-intelligence-future">dystopian classic as terrifying as any haunted spaceship, especially when looking at the parallels of society today.

Bonus Entry!

Author: Ray Bradbury
Publication date: October 24, 2017
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

While <a href="https://www.space.com/16029-ray-bradbury-science-fiction-icon-obit.html">Bradbury's spookiest novel, '<a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=72128&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Fdp%2F1501167715%2F%3FbestFormat%3Dtrue%26k%3Dsomething%2Bwicked%2Bthis%2Bway%2Bcomes%26ref_%3Dnb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_k0_1_16_de%26crid%3D2POXGJGE08ZLY%26sprefix%3Dsomething%2Bwicked%26tag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" target="_blank">Something Wicked This Way Comes,' isn't science fiction per se, it brings classic Halloween vibes that are perfect for anyone wanting to get into the spooky spirit. When a sinister carnival drifts into a small Midwestern town, two boys find themselves pitted against temptation and mortality. It's less science fiction and more dark fantasy, but its dread of human frailty and loss of control earns it a place here.

Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is the Content Manager at Space.com. Formerly, she was the Science Communicator at JILA, a physics research institute. Kenna is also a freelance science journalist. Her beats include quantum technology, AI, animal intelligence, corvids, and cephalopods.

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