Vampires, werewolves, dragons, zombies–as Halloween approaches, now is the time to start reading up on your scary mythical creatures. And we’ve got something for every creature imaginable.
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
A thinking person’s vampire novel. A literary thriller revealed in multiple time frames, The Twelve is a suspenseful tale of the human capacity for sacrifice and the transformative power of renewal. In the present day: As three strangers attempt to navigate the chaos cast upon civilization by a U.S. government experiment gone wrong, their destinies intertwine. More than a hundred years in the future: Amy, Peter, Alicia and the others introduced in The Passage pinpoint the weaknesses of the twelve original vampires . . . even as they confront a betrayal by one of their own.
Bitten: Women of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong 
Elena is leading the normal life she has always dreamed of–a stable job and a live-in boyfriend. As the lone female werewolf in existence, only her secret midnight prowls and her occasional inhuman cravings set her apart. Adopted by the Pack when bitten, she spent years struggling with her resentment at having her life stolen away. Torn between two worlds, her only option for control was to deny her awakening needs and escape. But now the Pack has called Elena home to help them fight an alliance of renegade werewolves who want to expose and annihilate the Pack. Elena vows not to be swept up in Pack life again, no matter how natural it might feel. She has made her choice. Trouble is, she’s uncertain if it’s the right one.
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty’s anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high. Seraphina has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered. While a sinister plot to destroy the peace is uncovered, Seraphina struggles to protect the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan
Jake Marlowe is the last werewolf. Now just over 200 years old, Jake has an insatiable appreciation for good scotch, books, and the pleasures of the flesh, with a voracious libido and a hunger for meat that drives him crazy each full moon. Although he is physically healthy, Jake has slipped into a deep existential crisis, considering taking his own life and ending a legend that has lived for thousands of years. But there are two dangerous groups—one new, one ancient—with reasons of their own for wanting Jake very much alive.
Dearly, Departed: A Zombie Novel by Lia Habel
It’s the year 2195 in New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. After her beloved parents die, Nora Dearly is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible. But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever.
Hi, I totally agree with The Twelve, am reading it right now, but I think for someone new to the book it would make much more sense to start with the first book in the trilogy, The Passage. It was excellent and I couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait for the 3rd book!
I can’t wait for the third book either. But I think I’ll need to reread the first two books before it comes out, so that should tide me over a little bit at least!