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Every Halloween season, I feel like I find spooky inspiration from a classic horror film. For 2024, this Halloween season has to go to the 1992 masterpiece Death Becomes Her, starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis. After all, this film was the inspiration for Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste” video. It’s a video that will surely inspire many people’s Halloween costumes this season—mine included (no, really).
If you’ve seen either (or both), you know the vibe. Toxic rivalries between women. The fascination and obsession with youth and beauty at the expense of everything else. While we’re at it, we could also throw in Coralie Fargeat’s new horror film The Substance in the mix. It’s all anyone’s talking about right now. Glam girl frenemy horror is the vibe for Halloween 2024. You heard it here.
But what horror books can you read this Halloween to pass the vibe check? I’m so glad you asked. If you wanna leave quite an impression and be a Horror It Girl this Halloween season, you gotta read these books.
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
The search for perfection that comes with a terrifying cost? It doesn’t get much more unsettling than Ling Ling Huang’s Natural Beauty. This story follows an unnamed narrator who gets wrapped up in a high-end beauty company called Holistik. Our narrator strikes up a friendship with Helen, the niece of Holistik’s owner. But you know this Halloween season, you gotta beware of evil beauty products and your gorgeous friends. A girl just isn’t safe anywhere.
Rouge by Mona Awad
If you’re dying for a book about toxic female friendships, check out Mona Awad’s iconic novel Bunny. But I’m assuming most of you glamorous horror girlies have already read Bunny five times. So next up, put Rouge on your TBR list for a book about the horrors of the beauty industry. Rouge follows Belle, a dress shop clerk who is lured into a cult-like beauty spa called La Maison de Méduse after the mysterious death of her mother.
So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
This was one of my first horror reads this October, and it’s such a perfect fit if you’re looking for horror with toxic friendships à la Death Becomes Her and the “Taste” music video. So Thirsty is a fresh take on vampire mythology. When Sloane goes on a weekend getaway with her best friend Naomi, she is expecting a chill weekend of wine tasting and relaxing. But Naomi has other plans, and a night of wild partying quickly turns into something far beyond their control when it turns out they’ve encountered a coven of vampires.
Horror hotties, I hope you have the most fabulous Halloween reading season. And remember: if you plan on living forever, don’t let your best friend kill you.
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