"Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see." —Edgar Allan Poe

It doesn’t have to be Halloween to indulge in some hair-raising horror. But as October 31 draws near, spooktacular stories begin to creep out from the shadows. One scary-good source for standout horror novels is TikTok, via the #HorrorTok hash tag.

Below are a few of our favorites that have earned the tag.

Tender Is the Flesh

A chilling dystopian horror novel set in a world where eating human meat is now legal, this is the story of a processing plant worker named Marcos who connects on a personal level with a live specimen set for slaughter.

Haunted

For those who like a little humor with their truly disturbing horror, this collection of 23 horrifying stories represents author Chuck Palahniuk at his most extreme and provocative. "Reading a Palahniuk novel is like getting zipped inside a boxer's heavy bag while the author goes to work on you, pounding you until there is nothing left but a big bag of bones and blood and pain." —The Miami Herald

What Moves the Dead

For fans of classic horror, with its immersive atmosphere and sense of creeping dread, this spellbinding story reimagines the Edgar Allan Poe masterpiece The Fall of the House of Usher. "I was powerless against this novella's pestilential pull and had to finish it in one sitting ... or maybe it finished me. Now it's under my skin and I can't trust the touch of anything anymore." —Clay McLeod Chapman

The Honeys

This tantalizingly twisted novel is set against the backdrop of an idyllic, secluded summer retreat called Aspen—where sweet mountain breezes and folksy charm may be a thin veil draped over something truly sinister. Sometimes the darkest secrets lurk in broad daylight...

House of Hollow

A modern-day fairy tale of the decidedly dark variety, House of Hollow is about three sisters who discover there is more to who they are than they once believed. "This is slow-burn horror with imagery steeped in the senses ... The ending manages to be both horrific and heartbreaking ... [with a] lingering chill." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books