There’s a particular kind of magic that seeps into the air once October arrives. Maybe it’s the whisper of wind through half-bare trees or the early sunsets that seem to ask us to slow down. It’s a season that invites reflection — on what we’ve loved, lost, and still hold close. And as the world outside turns quiet, I always find myself reaching for stories that echo that stillness — tales that remind me how love and grief often intertwine.
It all started when I read The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston. What I thought would be a quirky rom-com about a ghostwriter turned out to be something else entirely — a soft, aching exploration of grief, healing, and connection beyond the boundaries of life and death. It was funny, touching, and unexpectedly cathartic. It reminded me that not all ghost stories are meant to frighten us. Some are here to comfort us, to say: you are not alone in your loss, and love doesn’t end when life does.
So this week, I’m sharing five ghost stories that don’t just raise goosebumps — they warm the heart. Each one offers a different kind of haunting: tender, nostalgic, and deeply human. These are the books that linger long after the last page, like the echo of a voice you swear you can still hear.
1. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
Florence Day has stopped believing in love — and for a romance ghostwriter, that’s a bit of a problem. After losing her father, she returns home to the small Southern town she tried to leave behind. But her heartbreak deepens when the ghost of her recently deceased editor appears at her doorstep, asking her to help him move on. What follows is an emotional and unexpectedly funny journey through love, grief, and the quiet ways we begin to heal.
This book took me by surprise. I expected a lighthearted paranormal romance, but what I found was a tender story about the bond between the living and the dead, and how love can take different forms — sometimes showing up as memory, forgiveness, or unfinished words. Poston’s writing feels like she’s whispering a secret you didn’t realize you needed to hear. It’s not a story about ghosts, really — it’s about what remains when the people we love are gone.
2. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen
Set in a world that feels like an otherworldly version of the Wild West, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy follows Hart, a lonely marshal tasked with patrolling the lands of the dead, and Mercy, an undertaker trying to keep her family business afloat. The two can’t stand each other — until they begin an anonymous letter exchange that slowly turns into something heartbreakingly beautiful.
What I loved most about this book is how it blends genres — fantasy, romance, even a touch of gothic weirdness — and still manages to feel deeply human. Beneath the quirky premise is a story about loneliness and the desperate need to be understood. The world Bannen creates is full of oddities and decay, yet the love story at its core feels alive and vibrant. It’s proof that even when everything around us feels lifeless, love has the power to resurrect.
3. Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
Seventeen-year-old Signa Farrow has lived a cursed life — every guardian she’s had has died mysteriously. When she’s sent to a gothic estate to live with her remaining relatives, she’s drawn into a deadly mystery and into the presence of Death himself — not as a concept, but as a darkly alluring figure who may be her only ally.
This book is drenched in atmosphere. Every scene feels cloaked in candlelight and mystery. I was completely mesmerized by Grace’s prose — lush, lyrical, and filled with quiet intensity. The relationship between Signa and Death is haunting and romantic in equal measure, balancing darkness with an almost spiritual tenderness. It’s a story about claiming your power and choosing life, even while standing hand in hand with death.
4. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
In an alternate Victorian London, Silas Bell is a queer, autistic trans boy born into a society that refuses to see him for who he truly is. His rare ability to see spirits leads to his confinement in a “finishing school” for girls — a grim asylum that hides dark secrets behind its walls. There, he discovers the lingering ghosts of others like him, silenced and forgotten, and realizes that the most terrifying monsters aren’t the dead, but the living who demand conformity.
This novel is gut-wrenching and unforgettable. It’s both a ghost story and an act of rebellion — a raw, furious, and beautiful exploration of identity and survival. Silas’s voice will stay with you; it’s haunting in the truest sense, not because of what lurks in the dark, but because of the strength it takes to live authentically in a world determined to erase you. White’s storytelling is visceral and compassionate, turning horror into empowerment. It’s not an easy read, but it’s one that matters — and one I’ll be thinking about for a long time.
5. The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
Anthony Peardew has spent his life collecting lost objects — a button, a hairpin, a teacup — each with a story behind it. When he dies, his assistant Laura inherits his home and the peculiar mission to reunite these items with their rightful owners. With the help of a neighbor, a dog, and a ghostly nudge or two, Laura begins to find not just the owners of the lost things, but pieces of herself along the way.
This is one of those rare novels that feels like a warm blanket. It’s quiet and gentle, yet filled with meaning. Hogan writes about loss and connection with such tenderness that you can’t help but believe in the invisible threads that bind us all. The “ghosts” here are not frightening; they are the memories, hopes, and lingering affections that stay long after we’re gone. This book made me look at the small things around me — the trinkets, photos, and letters — and realize how much love they carry.
These stories prove that ghosts don’t always come to scare us. Sometimes, they come to remind us — of who we loved, what we’ve lost, and what’s still possible. They whisper that grief is just love with nowhere to go, and that even in the quietest corners of our lives, something unseen is still reaching for us.
So this October, if you’re looking for something to warm your soul as much as it chills your spine, pick up one of these ghost stories with heart. Let them haunt you softly.
💌 I’d love to hear what you’re reading this season — or which authors and themes you’d like me to explore next. You can reach me at ihorton@whatsupmag.com. Let’s build this October reading list together — one hauntingly beautiful story at a time.
