Spooky Season Reading Challenge: 31 October Prompts
A 31-day October reading challenge with a prompt for every day, no scary books needed. Starting October 1st.
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This Starts on October 1
The Spooky Season Reading Challenge runs from October 1 to 31: one reading prompt for every day of the month, with three tiers, from 5 prompts to all 31. Pick your first book and join in on the fun.
This isn't a readathon (that's a weekend sprint), and it's not a menu of challenges you can run in any month either (here are nine of those). It's one month, with Halloween being the finish line. I never really got around to reading horror (I read mostly nonfiction). That means most of the prompts also work without a single scary book.
Line up your October stack
Add the books you're eyeing to the free TBR Stack Planner, set October 1 as the start date, and see the day you'd finish each one at your pace.
Plan your October stackThe 31 Prompts
A prompt counts as completed when something you read fits it (ten pages are enough). One book ticks every prompt it fits, in whatever order. Screenshot the table and mark the prompts off as you go.
| Day | Prompt |
|---|---|
| 1 | A book with a house on the cover |
| 2 | A classic you were assigned in school and never read |
| 3 | Something under 200 pages |
| 4 | A book you own and have never opened |
| 5 | A ghost story |
| 6 | A book set in October |
| 7 | Read for ten minutes by lamplight only |
| 8 | A book with a one-word title |
| 9 | Something published before 1900 |
| 10 | One story from a short story collection |
| 11 | A book someone recommended and you ignored |
| 12 | A book with black on the cover |
| 13 | A book translated from another language |
| 14 | A book set in a forest |
| 15 | The first chapter of a book you're scared to start |
| 16 | A book you've only ever seen the movie of |
| 17 | A book with a number in the title |
| 18 | An author you've never read before |
| 19 | Nonfiction about something that frightens you |
| 20 | A book you could finish in one sitting |
| 21 | A book set in a weird house |
| 22 | A cover with a bird, a cat, or a moth on it |
| 23 | Reread ten pages of a book that scared you once |
| 24 | A staff pick from a library or bookstore |
| 25 | A book with weather in the title |
| 26 | A public-domain classic (free) |
| 27 | A book you would never normally pick up |
| 28 | A book with an unreliable narrator |
| 29 | Read outside, after dark, in a coat |
| 30 | A book you've been saving |
| 31 | Finish something before midnight |
One short classic can tick four prompts in a single evening. I read Kafka's The Metamorphosis in German class (as Die Verwandlung) back in the day, and it's a great example: it's translated, about 70 pages long, short enough for one sitting (roughly 90 minutes at an average reading speed), and a public-domain classic that's free on Project Gutenberg. Read it by lamplight, and that's five prompts completed already.
Five prompts (7, 15, 23, 29, and 31) are things to do. For day 23, mine would be one of the Goosebumps books (Gänsehaut, in German) that scared me as a kid.
Pick Your Tier
Pick one before you start, and write it down:
- Trick or Treat: 5 prompts. One evening with a short book can do it, like the Kafka above. It's the tier for anyone whose October is already pretty busy.
- Haunted House: 13 prompts. Two or three books and a few of the "do" prompts get you there. The tier most people should pick.
- Full Moon: all 31, each on its own day. You read something for each day's prompt from October 1 to 31 (a chapter, a short story, or ten pages). It's a reading streak in costume.
Moving down a tier still counts as a finished challenge. Miss October 14 on Full Moon, and the 13 prompts you've ticked since the 1st already finish Haunted House. Starting late? The first two tiers count prompts instead of days.
How many books fit in your October?
The free Reading Goal Planner turns your reading speed, daily minutes, and usual book length into books per month, so you can pick the tier best suited for your October.
Plan your reading goalBuild Your Stack Tonight
A challenge that starts on October 1 with "what should I read?" is quick to fall behind. Pull three or four books from your TBR (no more), look for ones that tick several prompts each, and include one short enough to finish in a night for a week that might go wrong (here are six). The TBR Stack Planner shows which of them you'd finish by October 31.
Your stack doesn't need horror. There's none on my fall list, and it still covers a good part of this challenge: Piranesi alone ticks three prompts (a one-word title, set in a weird house, and an unreliable narrator), Sapiens was translated from Hebrew, and Four Thousand Weeks has a number in its title.
For the older prompts, Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks have free editions. Even the ghost story can be a gentle one: Charles Dickens subtitled A Christmas Carol (1843) "Being a Ghost Story of Christmas."
If You Fall Behind
Life can sometimes get in the way. When I read every morning for 30 days in August, an overnight flight in the fourth week shrank some of my mornings to three or four minutes. They still counted, because I didn't set a 'minimum length'.
This challenge works the same way. Ten pages tick a prompt. A day you read at all is already a win, and finishing one book you enjoyed beats 31 prompts you resented.
See You on November 1
The best part of a dated challenge is that it ends, so you can go all in without signing up for a new lifestyle. Pick your tier and your first book tonight, and just get started.
Run the whole month without losing track
ReadingHabit times every session and keeps track for you. Join the waitlist for early access.
