Witchy and Magical Staff Picks (10/28/26)

Happy spooky season! There’s no better time to fall into a witchy or magical world—here are some of our recommendations! 

AMANDA’S PICK: THE DREAMWITCH BY MONIQUE HAZEL

This is a fresh, thrilling gothic romantic horror fantasy debut! A true genre mashup. It is set in a world inspired by a revisionist, Victorian England with modern trappings at a crumbling manor. Matiah is a dreamwitch, someone who can traverse and manipulate the realm of dreams, and when a lord’s nephew suffers from crippling and pervasive nightmares she is hired to help. While Matiah hurries to uncover Wolford’s secrets and prevent the nightmares from poisoning the rest of the household, she must rely on a handsome, brooding bodyguard for protection as strangeness seeps from the Manor like blood from an open wound. It also features the absolute best tropes—enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, and a slow burn. A gorgeous standalone debut for horror-fantasy fans.

EMILY’S PICK: MAGIC FOR CROSSWISE WITCHES BY AVA MORGYN

I don’t know about you, but I’m personally very excited about the sequel to Practical Magic. If you also can’t get enough of the Owens family and their magical secrets, allow me to introduce you to the Thorngood family. Truly Thorngood was raised to inherit her family’s magic, but after a deadly confrontation with the most powerful and corrupt man in her small town, Truly runs away to New Orleans and swears off magic forever. But when her mother vanishes thirteen years later to the date, Truly is forced to return home, where she must reckon with the witch she was meant to become and finally claim her power. This is a haunting and moody Southern gothic about legacy, love, and the power of sisterhood. It’s perfect for readers who love darkly magical stories and secrets that refuse to stay buried.

MARGO’S PICK: WITCH DANCE BY ISABEL IBAÑEZ 

I have a lot of niche historical interests, and near the top of that list is the dancing plague of 1518—so you can imagine my excitement when I heard about WITCH DANCE! Isabel Ibañez has returned with another atmospheric, historical fantasy, this time set in the city of Strasbourg, where the citizens are dancing themselves to death. Brilliant med student Evelina arrives determined to stop the plague before the quarantined city collapses, all while hiding a fatal secret: she’s a witch who left her coven to pursue medicine. But as the city’s sickness defies everything she knows about healing, there’s one dangerous man who may have caught on to her secret—a man who will threaten to use it against her. This perfectly blends forbidden magic, a deadly mystery, and an enemies-to-lovers romance in Renaissance Europe.

HALLIE’S PICK: CONJURE THE BONES BY DHONIELLE CLAYTON

There is no better setting for magic and immortal wards than New Orleans. In CONJURE THE BONES, Dhonielle Clayton braids the city’s rich history and culture into innovative world-building, reimagining it as a magical kingdom with an intoxicating sense of place and community. The story follows Collette, who inherits a notorious Conjure House and discovers her mother’s power came from a stolen card in the Deck of Life. Will Collette become the next Lady Red? Clayton’s adult debut and the start of the Immortal Wards series has everything you want in a fantasy: high magic, second-chance romance, and a brilliant, diverse supernatural setting.