Our Queen of Scream, Bookseller Ryan, has created a list for you of her favorite Horror Novels! Be sure to stop into the store to see our Horror Section in person!
Scroll down to the very bottom of this page for more curated Horror lists, including Horror by BIPOC authors, Queer Horror, and Horror for Young Folks!
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"Wildly entertaining."-The New York Times
"Ingenious."-The Washington Post
New York Times bestselling author Grady Hendrix takes on the haunted house in a thrilling new novel that explores the way your past—and your family—can haunt you like nothing else.
“Why run from a haunted house when you can stay and ignore the ghosts?
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates this groundbreaking anthology of all-new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation.
A sweet sapphic romance takes a deadly dark turn in this sharp-as-a-knife novella with the slow build menace of Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber—from a New York Times-bestselling author hailed by Chuck Wendig as "a storyteller working at the top of her class.”
Five harrowing novellas of horror and speculative fiction from the singular mind of the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box
Josh Malerman is a master weaver of stories—and in this spine-chilling collection he spins five twisted tales from the shadows of the human soul:
“What Kind of Mother mixes Southern Gothic, a missing child story, and body horror into an entertaining brew sure to inform your nightmares.”—Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A small town is transformed when seven strange trees begin bearing magical apples in this masterpiece of horror from the author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents.
“This masterful outing should continue to earn Wendig comparisons to Stephen King.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle.
“Complex and fully realized, Kerin’s vampire apocalypse has a palpable beating heart."—Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six
Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin takes a bite out of vampire lore in this blood-soaked novel about the darkest secrets we hide and how monstrous we can be to the ones we love most.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau and Mexican Gothic comes a fabulous meld of Mexican horror movies and Nazi occultism: a dark thriller about the curse that haunts a legendary lost film—and awakens one woman’s hidden powers.
Alison Rumfitt’s Tell Me I’m Worthless is a dark, unflinching haunted house story that confronts both supernatural and real-world horrors through the lens of the modern-day trans experience.
“Smart, seething social horror…Rumfitt gives her worms the grotesque and triumphant glory they demand.” —The New York Times Book Review
From Alison Rumfitt, the author of Tell Me I’m Worthless — “a triumph of transgressive queer horror” (Publishers Weekly) — comes Brainwyrms, a searing body horror novel of obsession, violence, and pleasure.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
A blood-soaked and nauseating triumph that cuts like a scalpel and reads like your darkest nightmare.
New York Times bestselling author Andrew Joseph White returns with the transgressive gothic horror of our time!
Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.
An insidious darkness threatens to devastate a rural New England village when occult forces are conjured and when bigotry is left unrestrained.After a recent string of disappearances in a small Connecticut town, a grieving widower with a grim secret is drawn into a dangerous ritual of dark magic by a powerful and mysterious older gentleman named Heart Crowley.
“A masterpiece of supernatural horror.”—The Washington Post
“An enchanting, shattering, once-in-a-lifetime reading experience.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)
INSTANT USA TODAY & INDIE BESTSELLER
A Best Book of the Year (Vulture) • A Best Horror Book of the Year (Esquire) • An Indie Next Pick!
“A joyful, furious romp through dark places, Tingle proves he's as good at fear as he is at love.” ―T. Kingfisher, bestselling author of What Moves the Dead
From Cassandra Khaw, USA Today bestselling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth, comes The Salt Grows Heavy, a razor-sharp and bewitching fairy tale of discovering the darkness in the world, and the darkness within oneself.
“This brilliant novella is not to be missed.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
A Best Horror Book of the Year (Esquire)!
A terrifying Gothic thriller about grief and death and the depths of a father's love, Johnny Compton's The Spite House is a stunning debut by a horror master in the making—The Babadook meets A Head Full of Ghosts in Texas Hill Country.
What if the whole world fell asleep...and didn’t wake up again?
Nat Cassidy is at his razor-sharp best again with his horror novel Nestlings, which harnesses the creeping paranoia of Rosemary's Baby and the urban horror of Salem's Lot, set in an exclusive New York City residential building.
NPR Books We Love 2023
Best Horror of 2023 (so far!)—Den of Geek
New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is best known for his supernatural thrillers set in deadly, distant locales...but in this suburban Halloween drama, Golden brings the horror home.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Who is Mister Magic? Former child stars reunite to uncover the tragedy that ended their show—and discover the secret of its enigmatic host—in this “skin-crawling story of pop culture fandom and ‘90s nostalgia” (Melissa Albert, author of The Hazel Woods) from the author of Hide.
A Best Horror Book of the Year (Esquire) • An Indie Next Pick!
"This is gory and brutal and beautiful and painful and terrifying and a pure delight."—Stephen Graham Jones
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER • A Best Book of the Year (Vulture) • A Best Horror Book of the Year (Esquire) • An Indie Next Pick • A LibraryReads Hall of Fame Pick!
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Blue skies, empty land—and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. A woman with a past, a mysterious trunk, a town on the edge of nowhere, and an “absorbing, powerful” (BuzzFeed) new vision of the American West, from the award-winning author of The Changeling.
AN INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER!
Vampires, vaqueros, and star-crossed lovers face off on the Texas-Mexico border in this supernatural western from the author of The Hacienda.
WANTED - Bloodmaid of exceptional taste. Must have a keen proclivity for life’s finer pleasures. Girls of weak will need not apply.
A young woman is drawn into the upper echelons of a society where blood is power in this dark and enthralling Gothic novel from the author of The Year of the Witching.
In this gripping, horror-laced debut, a young Cree woman’s dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community and the land they call home.
"I tore through this urgent, timely, and deeply disturbing tale.”—Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here
A small-time criminal. A has-been rock star. A shadowy government agency. And a severed hand whose dark powers threaten to destroy them all.
“Rosson’s novel plays out like a nightmare—one that’s nearly impossible to put down.”—Tor
From award-winning author Elizabeth Hand comes the first-ever novel authorized to return to the world of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House—a "scary and beautifully written" (Neil Gaiman) new story of isolation and longing perfect for our present time.
Open the door . . .
Heart-Shaped Box meets The Haunting of Hill House in Schrader's Chord, Scott Leeds's chilling debut about cursed vinyl records that open a gateway to the land of the dead.
I told you they were real.
"[A]n essential read for horror enthusiasts." —Booklist
An unsettling, immersive, and wildly entertaining debut novel from "a major new talent!" (R.L. Stine), for fans of Paul Tremblay and Stephen Graham Jones.
Longlisted for The Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize
“An extraordinary novel about the quiet and not so quiet horrors of war.” —Roxane Gay
Stephen King meets Tim O’Brien in John Milas’s The Militia House, a spine-tingling and boldly original gothic horror novel.
Bestselling authors Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey have teamed up to deliver a dark new story with magic, monsters, and mayhem, perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: “Are you ready to be un-settled?”
“Never failed to surprise, delight, and shock.” —Nick Cutter, author of The Troop and Little Heaven
Featuring stories by:
“Old-school horror.” ―Stephen King
The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, by way of Midnight Mass, in Boys in the Valley, a brilliant coming-of-age tale from award-winning author Philip Fracassi.
“A sublimely chilling story.” —Library Journal, STARRED review
St. Vincent's Orphanage for Boys.
T. Kingfisher meets Cassandra Khaw in a chilling horror novel that illustrates the fine line between humanity and monstrosity.
RECOMMENDED BY GILLIAN FLYNN ON THE TODAY SHOW • A young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside her white rust belt town. But she's not the first—and she may not be the last. . . .
“I read this thriller that is Get Out meets The Vanishing Half in one night.”—BuzzFeed
An American documentarian travels a haunted highway across the frozen tundra of Siberia in New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden’s Road of Bones, a “tightly wound, atmospheric, and creepy as hell” (Stephen King) supernatural thriller.
One of Goodreads Most Popular Horror of 2022
Named one of Esquire's Best Horror of the Year
"Brutal and shocking." - emily m. danforth
“Razor-sharp. This one will cut you.” - Christopher Golden
This genre-defying, Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker award-winning thriller follows a father desperate to salvage what's left of his family—even if it means a descent into violence.
Buried in debt due to his young daughter’s illness, his marriage at the brink, Mario reluctantly takes a job as a hitman, surprising himself with his proclivity for violen
“If you’re searching the horror horizon for a dark star, your next must-read, the silhouette you see coming your way is Jonathan Janz." - Josh Malerman, New York Times best selling author of Bird Box and Malorie
Fearing that mankind is heading toward nuclear extinction, a group of geneticists unleash a plot to save the world.
“If you’re searching the horror horizon for a dark star, your next must-read, the silhouette you see coming your way is Jonathan Janz.”— Josh Malerman, New York Times best selling author of Bird Box
Book 2 in The Raven series
Three years ago the world ended when a group of rogue scientists unleashed a virus that awakened long-dormant stran
Likely available, but must be ordered by email/phone
"...this is what werewolf horror is supposed to feel like: gruesome, bloody, dark, angry, messy, and downright terrifying." - Howling Libraries
Aside from a quaint amusement park, the small town of Lakeview offers little excitement for Duane, Savannah, and their friends.
It has been twenty years since the serial killer known as The Black Heart Killer terrorized the town of Newport in 1979. Life mostly returned to normal after the killer was captured. All the townspeople have to do is stay out of the woods where the bodies were abandoned-their chests ripped open, and their hearts torn out...
The Stoker Award-winning chilling anthology of 18 short stories in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson, collecting today’s best horror writers.
Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand and more.
A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by, and in tribute to, Shirley Jackson.
A bone-chilling anthology from legendary horror editor, Ellen Datlow, Screams from the Dark contains twenty-nine all-original tales about monsters.
WINNER of the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in an Anthology!
A Shirley Jackson and Locus Award Finalist! A World Fantasy Award Nominee!
2022 Splatterpunk Award Winner
STARRED REVIEW] "Hugo Award-winning editor Datlow (Edited By) brings together 29 spine-tingling tales of body horror to terrify even the most seasoned horror reader."
--Publishers Weekly
Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly.
Just Like Home is a darkly gothic thriller from nationally bestselling author Sarah Gailey, perfect for fans of Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House as well as HBO's true crime masterpiece I'll Be Gone in the Dark.
"Amongst the Top 50 Horror Books of All Time" - Cosmopolitan
Three dark and disturbing horror stories from an astonishing new voice, including the viral-sensation tale of obsession, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. For fans of Kathe Koja, Clive Barker and Stephen Graham Jones. Winner of the Splatterpunk Award for Best Novella.
Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, about a remote house, a sinister haunting, and the woman pulled into their clutches...
With his "highly visual and cinematic worldbuilding" (Booklife by Publishers Weekly), Brian Asman spins a horrifying and imaginative tale of an ordinary family and their extraordinary new house...
“A Gothic-punk graveyard tale about what haunts history and what haunts the human soul. An addicting read that draws you into its descent from the first page.”—Chuck Wendig, New York Times best-selling author of The Book of Accidents
A young woman in need of a transformation finds herself in touch with the animal inside in this gripping, incisive USA Today bestselling novel from the author of Cackle and The Return.
A group of friends reunite after one of them has returned from a mysterious two-year disappearance in this edgy and haunting debut.
A darkly funny, frightening novel about a young woman learning how to take what she wants from a witch who may be too good to be true, from the author of The Return.
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A darkly funny take on mothers and daughters, about a woman who must take drastic measures to save her husband and herself from the vengeful ghost of her mother-in-law.
“A quirky, gruesome, utterly original feminist horror experience.” —The New York Times Book Review
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo comes a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege, and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite.
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER • A Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy Award Finalist! • An Indie Next Pick! • An October LibraryReads Pick! • 2022 RUSA Reading List: Horror Winner!
Cassandra Khaw's Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a gorgeously creepy haunted house tale, steeped in Japanese folklore and full of devastating twists.
Nightmare Fuel by Nina Nesseth is a pop-science look at fear, how and why horror films get under our skin, and why we keep coming back for more.
Do you like scary movies?
Have you ever wondered why?
Nina Nesseth knows what scares you. She also knows why.
Through the lens of horror--from Halloween to Hereditary--queer and trans writers consider the films that deepened, amplified, and illuminated their own experiences.Horror movies hold a complicated space in the hearts of the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings.
Finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction
“[These stories] vibrate with originality, queerness, sensuality and the strange.”—Roxane Gay
“In these formally brilliant and emotionally charged tales, Machado gives literal shape to women’s memories and hunger and desire. I couldn’t put it down.”—Karen Russell
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
The award-winning author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post makes her adult debut with this highly imaginative and original horror-comedy centered around a cursed New England boarding school for girls—a wickedly whimsical celebration of the art of storytelling, sapphic love, and the rebellious female spirit.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A family returns to their hometown—and to the dark past that haunts them still—in this masterpiece of literary horror by the New York Times bestselling author of Wanderers
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
VOTED GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD BEST HORROR NOVEL OF 2021
A Good Morning America Buzz Pick
“The horror master…puts his unique spin on slasher movie tropes.”-USA Today
“This funny and fresh take on a classic tale manages to comment on gender roles, racial disparities, and white privilege all while creeping me all the way out. So good.”—Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of The Other Black Girl
Soon to be a major motion picture.
From the New York Times best-selling author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying
Vampires, this unholy hybrid of Beaches and The Exorcist blends teen angst and unspeakable horrors into a pulse-pounding supernatural thriller.
From the New York Times best-selling author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires comes a hilarious and terrifying haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting: a furniture superstore.
A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle’s house, leading to madness and terror in this gripping new novel from the author of the “innovative, unexpected, and absolutely chilling” (Mira Grant, Nebula Award–winning author) The Twisted Ones.
Pray they are hungry.
Kara finds the words in the mysterious bunker that she’s di
***LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION***
Named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time
“An extraordinary and dazzlingly original work from one of our most gifted and interesting writers” (Emily St. John Mandel, author of The Glass Hotel).
THE MIND-BENDING CULT CLASSIC ABOUT A HOUSE THAT’S LARGER ON THE INSIDE THAN ON THE OUTSIDE • A masterpiece of horror and an astonishingly immersive, maze-like reading experience that redefines the boundaries of a novel.
NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES
The instant New York Times and #1 international bestseller. “You should read Behind Her Eyes…It’s bloody brilliant.” —Stephen King
WINNER OF THE 2015 BRAM STOKER AWARD FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL
A chilling thriller that brilliantly blends psychological suspense and supernatural horror, reminiscent of Stephen King's The Shining, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, and William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist.
A propulsive and chillingly prescient novel of suspense and terror from the Bram Stoker award–winning author of The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts.
“Absolutely riveting.” — Stephen King
A New York Times Bestseller
From the bestselling co-author of It Devours! and Welcome to Night Vale comes a fast-paced thriller about a truck driver searching across America for the wife she had long assumed to be dead.
Now a Netflix Film starring Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, and Rosa Salazar
The inspiration for the Netflix Film Bird Box Barcelona
From the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Malorie comes a chilling story that revolves around a mysterious small town, revealing its sinister secrets one by one.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL • “Must-read horror.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
From Josh Malerman, the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Malorie, comes the legend of Pearl, a strange new monster unlike any other in horror (previously published as On This, the Day of the Pig).
Horror has a new name: Daphne. A brutal, enigmatic woman stalks a high school basketball team in a reimagining of the slasher genre by the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box.
“A superb serial killer novel and a great coming-of-age story.”—Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home
From the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Malorie comes a haunting tale of love and mystery, as the date of a lifetime becomes a maddening exploration of the depths of the heart.
From the author of the hit literary horror debut Bird Box (“Hitchcockian.” —USA Today) comes a chilling novel about a group of musicians conscripted by the US government to track down the source of a strange and debilitating sound
The New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box returns with a supernatural thriller of love, redemption, and murder.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NEWSWEEK
Boys are being trained at one school for geniuses, girls at another. Neither knows the other exists—until now. The New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box invites you into a world of secrets and chills in a coming-of-age story like no other.
"A horror story for all midnights." — The Boston Globe
A young boy is haunted by a voice in his head in this acclaimed, bestselling epic of literary horror from the author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
One of The Year's Best Books (People, EW, Lithub, Vox, Washington Post, and more) We can swallow our fear or let our fear swallow us. Single mother Kate Reese is on the run.
It: Chapter Two—now a major motion picture!
Stephen King’s terrifying, classic #1 New York Times bestseller, “a landmark in American literature” (Chicago Sun-Times)—about seven adults who return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they had first stumbled on as teenagers…an evil without a name: It.
The acclaimed Couture Classics with cover designs by Ruben Toledo have become collector's items in the worlds of literature, fashion, design, and popular culture.
A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “It’s Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America, and after a slow-burn start Mexican Gothic gets seriously weird.”—The Guardian
Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel
In her quickly gentrifying rural lake town Jade sees recent events only her encyclopedic knowledge of horror films could have prepared her for in this latest chilling novel that “will give you nightmares.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From USA TODAY bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones comes a “masterpiece” (Locus Magazine) of a novel about revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition.
Winner of the 2022 Australian Shadows Award for Best Long Fiction
Nominated for the 2023 British Fantasy Award for Best Novella
"Intelligent, compassionate and unsettling."—The New York Times
Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner P. Djèlí Clark returns with Ring Shout, a dark fantasy historical novella that gives a supernatural twist to the Ku Klux Klan's reign of terror
“A fantastical, brutal and thrilling triumph of the imagination...Clark’s combination of historical and political reimagining is cathartic, exhilarating and fresh.” —The New York Times
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Prepare to be entranced by this addictively readable oral history of the great war between humans and zombies.”—Entertainment Weekly
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The #1 New York Times bestselling author of World War Z is back with “the Bigfoot thriller you didn’t know you needed in your life, and one of the greatest horror novels I’ve ever read” (Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter and Recursion).
One of Entertainment Weekly’s Must-Read Books for July | People Magazine's Book of the Week | One of Bustle's "Fifteen Books With Chilling Protagonists That Will Keep You Guessing" | One of PopSugar's "25 Must-Read Books That Will Make July Fly By!" | One of the "Biggest Thrillers of the Summer"—SheReads | A Barnes and Noble Blog Best T
Shirley Jackson meets The Shining in this richly atmospheric and thrillingly tense novel from the acclaimed author of the "deliciously creepy" Baby Teeth (New York Post).
One mother's love may be all that stands between her family, an enigmatic presence—and madness.
After years of city life, Orla and Shaw Bennett are read
"The buzz...is real. I've read it and was blown away. It's a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end." —Stephen King
“DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK. Authentically terrifying.” —Stephen King
WINNER of Best Hardcover Novel at the ITW Thriller Awards • Finalist for the Bram Stoker and Locus Awards • Shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel • LibraryReads Top 10 Pick • A GoodReads Choice Award Finalist for Best Horror!