Written by Tiffany, Millbrae Library
Get ready for the spooky season with some chilling thrillers and horror media from San Mateo County Libraries! Whether you're in the mood to cozy up with a thriller novel, watch a horror movie with friends or play some scary games with your family, we have what you need for frightening fun.
Thriller and Horror Books
Ready for a fast-paced, suspenseful thriller? In Liann Zhang’s debut novel Julie Chan Is Dead, main character Julie Chan takes over the life of her dead identical twin. As Julie assumes her influencer twin’s life, she uncovers the secrets of how her sister died and realizes that she may be next.
More murder and intrigue can be found in The Decagon House Murders, a Japanese translated mystery-horror novel. This twist on classic Agatha Christie-esque mysteries follows K-University Mystery club as they explore the haunted Tsunojima island, only for one of their members be found dead. This group of amateur sleuths fight off desperation and paranoia as club members are picked off one by one.
For fans of folk stories and fairytales, The Lamb revolves around a cannibalistic mother and daughter duo who wine and dine lost travelers before feasting on them.
Graphic Novels
If you loved the childhood classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, horror anthology Bad Dreams in the Night may be the book for you. The tales contained within this graphic novel collection include urban legends, terrifying twists and haunting stories.
Fractured fairytale fans may appreciate Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees in which children’s fairytale book aesthetics cover the darker topic of a small-town serial killer (and cute brown bear) named Samantha.
Eisner award winner and renowned horror mangaka Junji Ito, covers classic body horror tropes in this collection of short stories, Alley. The sentiments of unease within Alley stem from the lack of privacy and sense of violation each story provokes.
Movies
Fans of body horror may enjoy The Substance. Watch in fear as former A-lister, Elisabeth Sparkle, injects herself with a miracle drug to become reborn as a beautiful young woman while suffering abominable side effects through her original body.
Looking for some science fiction elements? Videodrome is a mind-bending thriller about a cable channel programmer who discovers a project which uses the television to control people. The movie warns about the power and influence of media on the human mind through its haunting story and interesting special effects.
For the fans of more classic horror, The Shining, originally published as a novel by Stephen King, follows the psychologically twisted adventures of a writer and his family who are snowbound in a haunted hotel and trapped with the writer’s deteriorating mental state.
Check out what horror movies your library has on DVD or watch through streaming with Hoopla and Kanopy.
Video Games
Those looking for jump scares and survival horror, see if you can survive the night in the horrific Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex by hunting reimagined Five Nights at Freddy's characters and new threats in this newest installment of the Five Nights at Freddy's series.
Want some fast paced fun? In this roguelike action game Hades, play as Zagreus, the son of Hades, as he repeatedly attempts to escape from the Underworld. With each escape attempt, fight through different levels to gain new weapons, upgrades and boons from the Olympian gods.
For a more tame experience, follow the adventures of Cuphead and Mugman in this run and gun action game as the two brothers collect souls to pay back their casino debts.
Stop by your nearest library to see what games they have in stock. San Mateo County Libraries now has video games for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PlayStation 5.
Board Games
For fans of Dixit and Clue, play as a group of psychic mediums to organize a séance and receive visions from a ghost to solve the mystery of a murder in SMCL MYSTERIUM GAME.
A more realistic thriller, SMCL PANDEMIC GAME has you work with other players through strategy and cooperation to cure diseases before an outbreak overwhelms the world.
Board games are holdable, so search our catalog to see what games spark your fancy.
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