This season, we have selected three additional titles united by the theme of unease – although each book explores it in a completely different way. We have cosmic dread from a master of the genre, a claustrophobic psychological thriller, and finally, the existential weight from this year’s Nobel Prize winner.
This series is not sponsored. The sole criterion for awarding the symbolic Books Factory seal of quality is the subjective value of the publications themselves.
Three Books for Autumn Evenings
Existential Unease: László Krasznahorkai, The Melancholy of Resistance
We begin with prose of the heaviest calibre. László Krasznahorkai, the Hungarian master of long sentences and apocalyptic atmosphere, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Melancholy of Resistance is perhaps his most important work. The plot unfolds in a sleepy, isolated Hungarian town visited by a mysterious circus. Its main attractions are the stuffed carcass of a giant whale and an enigmatic demagogue known as “The Prince”. The arrival of these visitors shatters the residents’ torpor and unleashes a wave of destructive energy within them.
This is not a novel one reads for fast-paced action. It is a hypnotic, dense tale about the collapse of social order, passivity, and the chaos lurking just beneath the surface of everyday life. Krasznahorkai builds an atmosphere of existential unease that resonates perfectly with autumnal melancholy.
Arthouse cinema enthusiasts may recognise this story from the acclaimed film adaptation, Werckmeister Harmonies, directed by Béla Tarr. A demanding read, but one that leaves an indelible impression.
Claustrophobic Unease: Freida McFadden, The Housemaid
We now move to a completely different literary pole. The Housemaid is one of the biggest publishing phenomena of recent years in the domestic noir category.
The main protagonist is Millie, a young woman with a criminal past who desperately needs a job. A perfect opportunity comes her way: a position as a housemaid in the luxurious estate of the wealthy Winchester couple. However, it quickly turns out that the perfect housewife, Nina, is extremely unstable, and dark secrets are hidden within the perfect home.
Freida McFadden masterfully builds a sense of claustrophobia and paranoia. The reader, along with Millie, tries to understand what is real and what is manipulation in this luxurious prison. This is a rapidly paced psychological thriller, full of twists, perfect for one (or perhaps two) autumn evenings.
Cosmic Unease: Stephen King, It
An autumn recommendation list would not be complete without a horror classic. Stephen King’s It is a monumental novel that, for many readers, defines literary horror.
In the sleepy town of Derry, Maine, something is hunting children. An ancient, shapeshifting entity, most often taking the form of Pennywise the clown, awakens every twenty-seven years to feed on fear. A group of friends from the “Losers’ Club” confronted it as children. Now, as adults, they must return to their hometown to face the evil once more.
Over more than a thousand pages, King does not just frighten. Above all, he creates a moving treatise on the power of friendship, childhood trauma, and the memory that shapes adulthood. It is the perfect book for autumn – lengthy and captivating.
And for those who wish to delve even deeper into the town’s dark history, HBO has prepared a prequel series to the recent film adaptations of It (set in the present day and the ’80s). The production is titled Welcome to Derry and takes viewers back to the 1960s.
For Every Mood, As Long As It’s Thrilling
Regardless of whether you are looking for the ambitious prose of a Nobel laureate, a dynamic thriller, or a classic horror novel – these three books will provide the thrills necessary to survive the autumn. Each of them explores unease in a different way, proving that literature is the best way to tame the darkness.
Both the darkness outside the window and the darkness within ourselves.