The Finals

OCT. 31, 2025

The Finals

Welcome to our first-ever horror pop-up, a weeklong tournament where you decide which book you want to advance—and your comments and upvotes could sway the outcome of every match. Here’s a recap of how it works.

It’s up to you: Are you ready to cast your votes?

Tell us which book should win the _______________. To help us fill in the blank, we’ve added a poll with award names suggested earlier this week by @Chico McDirk and @Cutty Flam. (And while we agree the suggested name of “The Raven” would be a perfect for this, we didn’t include it only because the Mystery Writers of America beat us to it in 1953.) Please note, only votes registered before midnight ET will be counted. The polls are now closed.

POLL RESULTS

Frankenstein 49.5% — The Haunting of Hill House 50.5%

Or do you want to join the discussion?

In the final match, the comment that receives the most upvotes in favor of one of the books will have 5X those upvotes awarded to that title’s poll tally. Please note, only upvotes added before midnight ET will be counted. The main discussion has now concluded, and the most-upvoted comment was by @Mara the Librarian, who added 55 extra votes in favor of The Haunting of Hill House.

FINAL RESULTS

With a final score of 58.6%-41.4%, The Haunting of Hill House takes home (so to speak?) our very first RoOoOoster, the accolade that won our naming contest—thank you again to @Chico McDirk for the suggestion.

Happy Halloween to all, and to all a good night!