( CNN ) -- Zombies , ghosts , even the devil himself are jumping off the page in this week 's hot reads for Halloween . So if you 're in the mood for something wicked , we 've got you covered with some brand-new bone-chilling best-sellers . Although they 're never actually called zombies in Colson Whitehead 's `` Zone One , '' this is a zombie novel with real brains , a panache of pop-culture references and post-9/11 New York gloominess . n this darkly comic take on the apocalypse , a plague has killed off most of the world 's population , leaving behind a wave of walking dead , called skels and stragglers . One of the survivors and the narrator of the novel , Mark Spitz , leads a team of `` sweepers , '' clearing the undead out of Zone One in lower Manhattan . While on its surface , this appears to be a zombie tale , it 's really a survivors ' story ; most suffer from PASD , post-apocalyptic stress disorder . While the novel is speculative , it gives you a very realistic sense that the apocalypse , zombies and all , could happen anywhere , anytime . Whitehead , an up-and-coming voice in American literature , is not your run-of-the-mill horror writer . He 's an award-winning novelist , a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant , author of a series of online essays on competing in the World Series of Poker and a frequent , funny and sardonic contributor to Twitter . You can follow him @ colsonwhitehead . But he was raised on horror and science fiction stories , comic books and movies . He counts George Romero 's classic `` Night of the Living Dead ' as a key influence . While Whitehead puts his own fresh spin on the genre , the touchstones are there for old-school horror fans . Whitehead himself says , `` I like my zombies like I like my women : slow and implacable . '' Read an excerpt from `` Zone One . '' `` Are you there , Satan ? It 's me , Madison , '' begins the 11-year old narrator of Chuck Palahniuk 's new novel , `` Damned . '' It 's the story of a little girl , the daughter of a film star and a billionaire , who dies unexpectedly and then has to navigate her way through the underworld . Accompanied by hell 's version of `` The Breakfast Club , '' she treks through the Dandruff Desert , across the River of Vomit and up the Mountain of Toenail Clippings to face off with Satan . Like most of Palahniuk 's work , it 's not for the faint of heart or the easily offended . With a career spanning 15 years and 11 novels , including the iconic `` Fight Club , '' here , Palahniuk imagines hell as a bit like `` Dante 's Inferno '' meets `` South Park , '' a land where `` The English Patient '' plays on endless repeat and the damned constantly interrupt your dinner from their afterlife call center . Palahniuk , who 's lived through some pretty tough episodes himself , says his mother 's battle with cancer was the inspiration for `` Damned , '' leaving him wondering about heaven and hell and what the afterlife holds . Here , he 's come up with a thoroughly original vision , satiric and horrifying , enough so you 'll want to repent after you read . Read an excerpt from `` Damned . '' The `` Saw '' movie franchise has been a favorite of horror fans for years . Now , the authors behind several in the slasher series have moved from the big screen to books . Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan wrote the screenplays for `` Saw IV , '' `` Saw V , '' `` Saw VI '' and `` Saw 3D . '' They 've teamed up with Stephen Romano , an acclaimed author , screenwriter and illustrator , on their debut novel , `` Black Light , '' which comes across like `` Ghostbusters '' on steroids . Paranormal private eye Buck Carlsbad sees dead people in this supernatural noir . He 's an exorcist for hire , ready to get rid of your ghosts , for a fee . Haunted by his past , Buck has spent years seeking out the person , or thing , that murdered his parents and left him for dead . In his latest case , Buck is hired to ride shotgun on a high-tech bullet train as it speeds across the desert version of the Bermuda Triangle at 400 miles per hour . The triangle is a place where Buck almost died a few years ago and where he swore he would never return . Now he 's back to brave myriad ghouls , ghosts and spirits and hopefully solve the most harrowing unfinished case of his career . Visceral and cinematic , `` Black Light '' is over-the-top fun , the action nonstop , and a bit like a haunted house ride at an amusement park . Read an excerpt from `` Black Light . ''
New bone - chilling best - seller are perfect first ##s . Colson Whitehead 's ` ` Number One '' is a darkly comic take on the apocalypse . Chuck Palahniuk 's ` ` Damned '' follows a young girl as she navigates the underworld . ' ` ` Saw '' movie writers have joined a third writer for ` ` Black Light , '' a supernatural noir .