22 Autumnal Fantasy Books To Cozy Up With This Fall

Iris and her two older sisters are strange. Since they disappeared from a suburban Scotland street as children, showing up a month later with no idea what happened, odd occurrences seem to follow wherever they go. Then they start changing; dark hair to white, blue eyes to black, and an insatiable appetite that never results in weight gain.

Ten years later though, Iris is doing everything she can to fit in and graduate high school but when her sister Gret goes missing, Iris and Vivi are left to follow bizarre clues to bring her home. As they search, they realize they aren’t the only ones looking for her and the story they’ve been told about their past begins to unravel.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters, father, and stepmother.  There used to be twelve, but four of the girl’s lives were cut short, each death more tragic than the last, and the surrounding villagers think the family has been cursed by the gods.

Annaleigh is disturbed by a series of ghostly visions making her suspicious that her sister’s deaths weren’t really accidents.  Soon Annaleigh becomes involved with a mysterious stranger with secrets of his own.  It’s a race to uncover the darkness that has fallen over her family before it claims her next.

If I was in the mood for fantasy, this would be so high up on my TBR right now.

Winter didn’t want to be the guardian of the wood but she has no choice when her dad vanishes. She has to protect the travelers who accidentally slip through the portals.

The wood is poisoned though and soon the trees are bubbling inky black. Creatures that live there are becoming bolder and torturing lost travelers. With the help of Henry, a young man from eighteenth-century England who knows a little too much about the wood, Winter must find the truth and hopefully those they’ve lost.

I read this last year and loved it so much! Plus, that cover! This is the perfect fall fantasy book.

 Isobel is the best painter in Whimsy and makes a living painting portraits of a dangerous set of clients: fair folk. These immortal creatures can’t do any craft without crumbling to dust, but they crave human craft and make deals of enchantments in exchange.

When she receives her first royal Patron, the Autumn Prince Rook, she makes a mistake and paints human sorrow in his eyes. He returns, furious, and whisks her away for trial, but along the way they run into attacks on every side.

As they depend on each other so much, they begin to develop feelings for each other, maybe even love, though that is forbidden by the fair folks ruthless laws and could render both of their lives over.

I loved this one so much! It’s so perfect for fall and a must-read.

Two centuries ago in the town of Sparrow, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery and drowned in the deep waters outside of the town.

Every summer, the sisters return for three weak-hearted girls to get their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.

Penny has accepted the fate of the town but on the eve of their return this year, Bo, a newcomer, has no idea what he stumbled into. They suspect each other of hiding secrets as mistrust and lies spread through the town but Penny sees what others can’t and she either has to save Bo or herself.

 On Marin’s island, day lasts for fourteen years, night lasts for fourteen more. The sun is going down and everyone is preparing to leave for the Desert Lands. They prepare the houses with strange rituals that none of the adults will discuss.

Just as the ships are preparing to leave, Line, Marin, and her brother’s best friend, are found to be missing. They ran off to find Line since they were the only ones that knew the truth about where he was. But night is falling, the island is changing, and when they return to the ships, it may be too late.

I read this one last year and this one was sufficiently creepy in the best ways. But also being trapped on an island in perpetual night like my nightmare.

When Rhea reaches out to touch the waking forest, looming dark at the edge of her yard, it vanishes. One day, she finds a peculiar boy who offers to share its secrets if she plays a game.

The forest is the witch’s home where she waits for dreaming children to beg her to grant their wishes. One night a mysterious visitor arrives and asks what she wishes for. She sends him away but he later returns.

When Rhea’s and the witch’s paths collide, treacherous and deadly truths come to light and they need to decide what they’re willing to risk to survive.

The days of witches have long passed and now, in 1893, if a woman wants any power, she must find it at the ballot box. But when the Eastwood sisters join the New Salem suffragists, they begin to pursue forgotten ways that may turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Shadows and sickness stalk them as they are hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote, or even live, and the sisters need to delve into the oldest magics to heal the bond between them if they want to survive.

Tea learns she’s different than the other witches in her family when she accidentally resurrects her brother, Fox, from the dead.

She is a bone witch with a gift for necromancy which makes her feared and ostracized by her community. She finds solace in the guidance of an older bone witch who takes Tea and Fox to another land for training.

She puts all of her energy into becoming an Asha, one who can wield elemental magic, when they get to their new home.

She must overcome her obstacles and make a powerful choice with the dark forces looming. If you’re looking for a book about witches that is a little more fantasy, this is a good option.

Children have always disappeared from Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children under the right conditions but magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once but returned and the things she has experienced changed her. The children understand all too well that each of them is seeking a way back to their fantasy worlds.

Nancy’s arrival, however, changes the home and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new schoolmates to get to the heart of things, no matter the cost.

Yadriel’s family has a hard time accepting his true gender but is determined to prove himself as a true brujo with the help of his cousin Maritza. He sets out to summon and set free the ghost of his murdered cousin.

Instead, he summons Julian Diaz, the school bad boy who isn’t going quietly into death and is determined to tie up loose ends.

Yadriel has no choice but to help Julian but the more time they spend together, the less he wants him to leave.

I read this in October 2020 and loved it so much! I think this is one of my favorite books.

Samantha Mather and her stepmother recently moved to Salem, Massachusetts where they aren’t exactly welcomed with open arms thanks to their last name and its unfortunate connection to the witch trials. She becomes the target of a group of girls called The Descendants, yes of the other side of the witch trials.

As if that weren’t enough, she also encounters a ghost. A cute but angry ghost. Soon they discover that Sam is at the center of a centuries-old curse and now she has to find a way to get along with the ghost and The Descendants to help break that curse before it’s too late.

I almost don’t even want to call this one fantasy since it feels like real life but if you want a light-fantasy book to read this fall, this is a good one.

The Prophet’s word is law in Bethel which makes existing a blasphemy for Immanuelle Moore. Her family was cast into disgrace after her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity like all the other community women.

Soon, she is lured into the forbidden Darkwood, which happens to be where the first prophet chased and killed four powerful witches, surrounding Bethel after a mishap.

The spirits lurking there gave Immanuelle a gift that she never expected: her dead mother’s journal that reveals she once sought sanctuary herself in the wood. She is fascinated by the secrets in the journal and wants to know more about why her mother was consorting with witches. In the process she finds out dark truths about the Church and it’s history.

Ollie only finds solace in books after a tragic loss. When she sees a crazed woman about to throw a book into the river, she steals the book and runs away. As she reads it, she finds a story about Beth and her two brothers who made a deal with the Smiling Man who grants your most tightly held wish. For a price. She is captivated.

The next day, on a school field trip to Smoke Hollow, a farm with a haunting history, where she finds the graves of the very characters she read about.

On the way home, the bus breaks down and the teacher must return to the farm for help. While she’s gone, the bus driver gives the kids some strange advice: “Best get moving. At nightfall, they’ll come for the rest of you.” Her previously broken watch starts a startling countdown with a terrifying message: RUN.

She and two classmates heed the warning and head into the woods with one last piece of advice: “Avoid large places. Keep to small.”

This sounds like such a good creepy middle-grade fantasy book and one I will definitely be reading this fall.

The next few books are all middle-grade but sounds really good and perfect for autumn reading.

Claire has no interest in the paranormal and helping her dad with his ghost-themed Chicago bus tour sounds awful. She sees a boy, sad with dark eyes, on the back of the bus with a strange presence.

When she checks at the end of the tour, he’s gone. She tries to brush it off but then the scratching starts. The voices begin whispering. 396 appears everywhere and the boy starts following her. She is being haunted and needs to find out why before it’s too late.

Harper is the new seventh grader in town who needs to face down the ghosts haunting her little brother. She doesn’t trust her new home at all and the rumors are that it’s haunted. She doesn’t believe it until her little brother starts acting strange.

It all feels familiar but she can’t figure out why. The memories she’s blocked will help her get to the bottom of his behavior and the strange sensations she feels in the house, but can she put the pieces together in time?

Zee may love ghost stories, but she never expected to live in one. It starts on a dark and stormy night and when the skies clear, everything is different. People are missing, the creepy new principal knows everyone’s dreams, and Zee is seeing frightening things.

Mean girl Nellie starts calling her Ghost Girl and only her best friend Elijah believes her. Whatever the storm washed up isn’t going away and everyone’s most selfish wish starts coming true in creepy ways.

The three of them must work together if they want their ghost story to have a happy ending.

Lily is a drama queen which is both a blessing and a curse. her parents warn her that Florida is a fresh start and must b. different. No theatrics this time, but their new home is a nightmare with a slime-filled pool, a rotten dock, and a swamp that creeps closer every day.

It’s not only packed full of trash and memories but also the ghost of the girl who lived there before her.

Side note, how good are all of these middle-grade covers!?

To stay alive, a boy must tell a witch a new scary story each night. They’re the only thing keeping her happy and soon he will run out of pages and be trapped forever.

He knows most scary stories don’t have happy endings, but now that he’s trapped in his own, he’s desperate for a different ending. And a way out.

Louisa escapes a harsh school and is thrilled to become. a maid at a boarding house. Not long after her arrival, she learns Mr. Morningside, the owner of Coldthistle House, provides much more than lodging for his guests. He and his staff are meant to execute justice on those past being saved.

She begins to worry about Lee, a guest unlike the others. It may be up to her to save him from judgment, but in a house full of lies, how will she know who to trust?

Xander is beyond disappointed when they move from LA to a secluded small town. But the Victorian house they’ve moved into and all its rooms have him, David, and Toria captivated.

Soon they discover something is off about the house. Sounds come from opposite directions, footprints appear in the dust, and when David hides in the linen closet, he ends up in locker 119 in his new school. Then the really weird stuff happens and they find themselves in far-off lands. But is it a dream-come-true or a living nightmare?

Titus and Melanie are on their (apparent) second honeymoon in the Okefenokee Swamp. On their way to the cabin, they cross six bridges before pulling up to another with rickety stone pilings and room for one car.

Way later a tow truck arrives to find Titus laying in the middle of the road and Melanie is nowhere to be found.

I read this one and I did not like it. I actually only read like, 70% of it but it wasn’t for me. I know there’s someone out there that will like it though so if you want a creepy fantasy horror book for fall, check this one out.