Here’s a reading list for after your Netflix marathon-watch.
The Midnight Club just dropped on Netflix Oct. 7, but you may have already marathon-watched all 10 episodes. The horror series based on Christopher Pike’s 1994 novel of the same name is the perfect thrilling story to immerse yourself in this Halloween season, and there are books like The Midnight Club to further your journey. These books and stories are scary good just like The Midnight Club, so you may want to sleep with your reading light on.
Since you enjoyed The Midnight Club on Netflix, the only logical next step is to read the book that inspired the series. Of course, you can always re-watch the show for a second or third time as well, but why not read a few more ghost stories to get your spook on this time of year? A few other scary stories from Pike are great followups to The Midnight Club.
On the flip side, the actual Midnight Club of terminally ill kids who all meet together is really at the heart of the story. If you’re looking for another series that has themes of teenagers dealing with death or forming a bond over a shared experience, you may enjoy a few of these other YA stories as well. It all really depends on what you gravitated towards the most while reading or watching The Midnight Club, and these books like The Midnight Club are sure to keep you entertained.
For fans of Pike’s storytelling, you may enjoy The Wicked Heart, which is also written by him. This story about a high schooler, who also happens to be a serial killer, is similar to the tale Kevin tells in The Midnight Club. If that episode was your fave, you may just want to dive deeper into its inspo.
Another Pike novel that inspired an episode of The Midnight Club is Road to Nowhere. In the episode “Road to Nowhere,” Natsuki tells the story of a girl who picks up two hitchhikers who are more than what they seem. The story is suspenseful and dark, which may be what you’re looking for as well.
Perhaps you read as fast as you marathon-watch shows on Netflix. In that case, you may want to read a trilogy also from Christopher Pike. The Remember Me series deals with death as the main character, Shari, wakes up one day and realizes she’s been murdered. Similar to how the Midnight Club is dealing with their own fate, Shari must come to terms with hers as she also tries to solve the mystery of who killed her.
Along with telling ghost stories, the promise you must make in order to join the Midnight Club is to communicate beyond the grave if you are the first one to go. As morbid as that may be, it really goes with one of the themes of story, which is grappling with the unknown and what comes after death. This theme is also present in John Green’s YA novel, The Fault in Our Stars.
TFIOS is more of a YA romance, so if you found The Midnight Club to be a bit too spooky for your taste, this will be right up your alley.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is in the same vein of The Fault in Our Stars. This funny yet sad story centers around friends who are forced into an unlikely friendship after one of them is diagnosed with leukemia. It’s similar to how the Midnight Club have all found each other after being admitted to Brightcliffe Hospice.
You really can’t go wrong with any of R.L. Stine’s books if you’re a fan of Christopher Pike. They all provide the thrills, chills, and mystery you’re looking for, and The New Girl is no different. Just like Ilonka is new to Brightcliffe, Anna is the new girl in town. However, after Anna disappears, Cory risks his life trying to find her.
The New Girl is part of the Fear Street series, which has also been adapted into a Netflix series.
From Stine to Pike, the ‘90s really was the time for YA horror books. If you never ventured into Stine’s Goosebumps franchise, now may be the time, and Welcome to Dead House is the perfect introduction. The story is about two kids who move into a new house that may or may not be haunted. It’s very similar to Ilonka moving into Brightcliffe, and starting to see mysterious things as well.
Each episode of The Midnight Club reveals a different scary story that you can share at your own spooky bonfire night or midnight hang. However, if you’d like to read more haunted tales, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes is a collection of three more horror stories that you may want to share with your friends as well.
One of the creators of The Midnight Club series, Mike Flanagan, is also known for The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor — which are also available on Netflix. Basically, if you’re a fan of is entire IMDb page, you may be interested in reading the Edgar Allan Poe story he’s developing for his next series — The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales.
The Fall of the House of Usher tells the story of a person who is invited to a creepy house that has the same dark vibes you may have gotten from Brightcliffe.
Of course, if you’re a horror fan who hasn’t read The Haunting of Hill House, what are you waiting for? This haunted house story is the perfect followup to all the ghost stories told in The Midnight Club. You could also watch the Netflix series right after to give you even more things to enjoy this Halloween season.
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